Angelus
The Christ Church Bordentown Weekly Newsletter
www.ccbtown.com - 609.298.2348 - Fr. Matt (pastoral emergencies) 732.859.5823
In This Issue
Memorial Day Photos
Rogation Photo
Ascension Day
Prayer Book Party
Upcoming Events
Summer Schedule
Birthdays and Anniversaries
Church Schedule
This Week in Church History
Saint of the Week
Sermon Blog
Are You Being Served?
Prayer for Christ Church
Almighty and everliving God, ruler of all things in heaven and earth, hear our prayers for Christ Church Parish. Strengthen the faithful, arouse the  careless, and restore the penitent. Grant us all things necessary for our common life, and bring us all to be of one heart and mind within thy holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


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The Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord
June 2, 2011

Memorial Dedication Photos
Memorial 1
Fr. Matt reading the blessing.

Memorial 2
Vox Fidelis

Memorial 3
Andy Law, Ed Ackerman, and Rob Pecht

Memorial 4
Fr. Matt Blesses the Memorial

Memorial 5
Deacon Shea giving the final Blessing

memorial 6
Mayor Collum presents the deed to Mayor Lynch

Memorial 7
Colonel Cooke after placing a Wreath (Photo by Doan Tucker)

Rogation Photo
Rogation
Mary Ellen Carty leads the Rogation Procession
(Photo by Doan Tucker)
The Ascension of Our Lord
Today, June 2,
Low Mass at 10amAscension Edicule

The Feast of the Ascension is as old as the Church (for obvious reasons), and is marked by the dramatic extinguishing of the Paschal Candle after the proclamation of the Gospel. Here is a little background on the place from which Jesus actually ascended into heaven, from Wikipedia:
                                                        The Edicule

 

"The place of the Ascension is not distinctly mentioned in the Gospel of Mark. Luke 24:50 states that the event took place in Bethany while it appears from Acts that it took place on the Mount Olivet (the "Mount of Olives"). After the Ascension the apostles are described as returning to Jerusalem from the mount that is called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, within a Sabbath day's journey. Tradition has consecrated this site as the Mount of Ascension.

 

Before the conversion of Constantine in 312 A.D., early Christians honored the Ascension of Christ in a cave on the Mount of Olives. By 384, the place of the Ascension was venerated on the present open site, uphill from the cave.

 

The Chapel of the Ascension in Jerusalem today is a Christian and Muslim holy site now believed to mark the place where Jesus ascended into heaven. In the small round church/mosque is a stone imprinted with what some claim to be the very footprints of Jesus.[11]

The Ascension rock, inside the edicule, said to bear thAscension Rocke imprint of Jesus' right foot. (picture at right

 

St. Helena erected over the site a basilica called "Eleona Basilica" (elaion in Greek means "olive garden", from elaia "olive tree," and has an oft-mentioned similarity to eleos meaning "mercy") in 392, which was destroyed by the Sassanid Persians in 614. It was rebuilt in the 8th century, destroyed again, but rebuilt a second time by the Crusaders. This final church was also destroyed by Muslims, leaving only the octagonal structure (called a martyrium-"memorial"-or "Edicule") which remains to this day.

 

The site was ultimately acquired by two emissaries of Saladin in the year 1198 and has remained in the possession of the Islamic Waqf of Jerusalem ever since. The martyrium, though now only bare stone, enshrines the rock said to bear the imprint of the right foot of Christ as he ascended, and is venerated by Catholic Christians as the last point on earth touched by the incarnate Christ. The Crusader building was converted to a mosque but was never used by Muslims since the overwhelming majority of visitors were Christian. As a gesture of compromise and goodwill, Saladin ordered the construction of a second mosque and mihrab two years later next door to the chapel for Muslim worship while Christians continued to visit the main chapel. Though still under the control of the Muslims, this Chapel of the Ascension is currently opened to visitors for a nominal fee.

 

The Russian Orthodox Church also maintains a Convent of the Ascension on the top of the Mount of Olives."


Is Your Prayer Book Falling Apart?
Saturday, June 25, 10amLatin BCP

Ever pick up the Prayer Book from the pew rack in front of you and note how some of the pages were starting to come loose? Ever turn to page 333 and it wasn't there? There's something you can do about that! Join us on Saturday, June 25, at 10am to help identify and repair our Prayer Books that need a little help. Repairing books isn't hard work and Fr. Matt and Doan are providing pizza for lunch.  

A sign up sheet is on the board near the Office. 


Upcoming Events

June 5, 10:15am: Church School Recognition
June 19: Evensong & Benediction and BBQ
June 23, 7pm: Sung Mass & Procession, the Feast of Corpus Christi
June 25, 10am: BCP Repair Party 

 

Summer Schedule

The Summer Schedule for Sundays will begin June 26, when the 10:15 Sung Mass will move to 9:30. Look to the Angelus and bulletin for the calendar and updates. 

 

Birthdays and Anniversaries
 

JUNE BIRTHDAYS

 

1      Lisa Jones

        Nicole Casais

6      Cameron McCutcheon

        Olivia McCutcheon

        Rory McCord

8      Olivia Brovak

9       Gillian Vigh

         Jocelyn Vigh

         Lauren Novak

         Kathryn Novak

11     Hunter Hensley

          Jane Snow

14    Alexandra Vlahovic

15    Wynn Mallard

16    Logan Phillips

17    Doris Zahorsky

18    Kenneth Trout

26    Brian Marion

28     Gary Wheelock

30     Aaron Zalescik
 

JUNE ANNIVERSARIES

 

  1   Ronald & Juliana Taylor

  2   Kenneth & Colleen Trout

  6   John W. & Linda Voorhees

14   Francis & Karen Sutter

19   The Rev. and Mrs. Matthew Tucker

22   Brian and Amy McCord

23   Charles & Stella Eichinger

29   Ian & Mona Cartwright    

Church Schedule
The Week of June 5, 2011              

Saturday, 4 June :: The Vigil of the Seventh Sunday of Easter
· 5:30 p.m. - Vigil Mass (Lady Chapel)

Sunday, 5 June :: The Seventh Sunday of Easter

 · 8:00 a.m. - Said Mass (Church)  
  
 · 9:20 a.m. - Choir Call (Church)
 · 10:15 a.m. - Sung Mass w. Church School Recognition (Church)    

 · 7:00 p.m. - A.A. Meeting (Parish Hall)

Monday, 6 June ::  Norbert, Archbishop of Magdeburg, Founder of the Premonstratensians, 1134

· Church Offices Closed


Tuesday, 7 June :: Feria


Wednesday, 8 June :: William, Archbishop of York

 · 8:00 p.m. - A.A. Meeting (Parish Hall)  

Thursday, 9 June :: Columba, Abbot of Iona, 597

 · 10:00 a.m. - Low Mass w. Anointing (Lady Chapel)  

 Friday, 10 June :: Ephrem of Edessa, Deacon, 373

Saturday, 11 June :: The Vigil of Pentecost
(St. Barnabas the Apostle)
· 5:30 p.m. - Vigil Mass (Lady Chapel) 

 Sunday, 12 June :: Pentecost (Whitsunday)
· 8:00 a.m. - Said Mass (Church) 

· 9:20 a.m. - Choir Call (Church)
· 10:15 a.m. - Sung Mass (Church)   
· 7:00 p.m. - A.A. Meeting (Parish Hall)

Fr. Matt is available during normal business hours and most evenings. Please don't hesitate to call or stop by the church.

Confession is available by appointment. Please call the Church Office or Fr. Matt to schedule a time.  
  
This Week in Church History

May 29, 1453: Constantinople, capital of Eastern Christianity since Constantine founded it in 324, falls to the Turks under Muhammad II, ending the Byzantine Empire. Muslims rename the city Istanbul and turn its lavish cathedral, Hagia Sophia, into a mosque.

May 29, 1660: England's King Charles II triumphantly enters London, marking the full restoration of the monarchy. Though he promised religious liberty, he cracked down on Dissenters (including John Bunyan) following a 1661 attempt by religous fanatics to overthrow him.  

 

May 29, 1874: English essayist, poet, and writer G.K. Chesterton is born in London. The 400-pound man was occasionally absent-minded, but brilliant. He loved paradoxes, which he called "supreme assertions of truth," and used them often in his writing. Poet T.S. Eliot credited him with doing "more than any man in his time ... to maintain the existence of the [Christian] minority in the modern world." Chesterton converted from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism in 1922.

May 31, 1578: Italian archaeologist Antonio Bosio discovers the Christian catacombs in Rome. Some have mistaken them for places of refuge or worship, but Christians used them mainly as burial chambers.

May 31, 1701: Alexander Cruden, whose biblical concordance is still the standard for the King James Version, is born in Aberdeen, Scotland. Prone to erratic behavior, he worked on the concordance between mental breakdowns.


June 1, 165 (traditional date): Justin, an early Christian apologist, is beheaded with his disciples for their faith. "If we are punished for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, we hope to be saved," he said just before his death. Christians soon named him Justin Martyr.

June 2, 597: Augustine, missionary to England and first archbishop of Canterbury, baptizes Saxon king Ethelbert, the first Christian English king. The missionary's tomb in Canterbury bears this epitaph: "Here rests Augustine, first archbishop of Canterbury, who being sent hither by Gregory, bishop of Rome, reduced King Ethelbert and his nation from the worship of idols to the faith of Christ".

June 3, 1162: Thomas a Becket is consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury. Nominated by his friend, King Henry II (Becket had previously served as his chancellor), Becket underwent a radical change as archbishop. He became pious and devoted to the church, which Henry found annoying. When knights heard the king grumbling, they killed Becket as he prayed.

--taken from Christianity Today
Saint of the Week
NeriSt. Philip Neri
Priest and Confessor, 1595

According to a trusted source, St. Philip Neri was very fond of cats. Sir Griffin Von Krunchlover Tucker chose this Saint for the week.

If one had to choose one saint who showed the humorous side of holiness that would Philip Neri.

 

Born in 1515 in Florence, he showed the impulsiveness and spontaneity of his character from the time he was a boy. In fact one incident almost cost him his life. Seeing a donkey loaded with fruit for market, the little boy had barely formed the thought of jumping on the donkey's back before he had done it. The donkey, surprised, lost his footing, and donkey, fruit, and boy tumbled into the cellar with the boy winding up on the bottom! Miraculously he was unhurt.

 

After thanking his cousin, he went to Rome in 1533 where he was the live-in tutor of the sons of a fellow Florentine. He studied philosophy and theology until he thought his studies were interfering with his prayer life. He then stopped his studies, threw away his books, and lived as a kind of hermit.

 

In 1548 Philip formed a confraternity with other laymen to minister to pilgrims who came to Rome without food or shelter. The spiritual director of the confraternity convinced Philip that he could do even more work as a priest. After receiving instruction from this priest, Philip was ordained in 1551.

 

In order to guide his followers, Philip made himself available to everyone at any hour -- even at night. He said some of the most devout people were those who had come to him at night. When others complained, Philip answered, "They can chop wood on my back so long as they do not sin."

 

In 1555, the Pope's Vicar accused Philip of "introducing novelties" and ordered him to stop the meetings of the Oratory. Philip was brokenhearted but obeyed immediately. The Pope only let him start up the Oratory again after the sudden death of his accuser. Despite all the trouble this man had caused, Philip would not let anyone say anything against the man or even imply that his sudden death was a judgment from God.

 

Philip was known to be spontaneous and unpredictable, charming and humorous.

 

Humility was the most important virtue he tried to teach others and to learn himself. Some of his lessons in humility seem cruel, but they were tinged with humor like practical jokes and were related with gratitude by the people they helped. His lessons always seem to be tailored directly to what the person needed. One member who was later to become a cardinal was too serious and so Philip had him sing the Misere at a wedding breakfast. When one priest gave a beautiful sermon, Philip ordered him to give the same sermon six times in a row so people would think he only had one sermon.

 

Philip preferred spiritual mortification to physical mortification. When one man asked Philip if he could wear a hair shirt, Philip gave him permission -- if he wore the hair shirt outside his clothes! The man obeyed and found humility in the jokes and name-calling he received.

 

There were unexpected benefits to his lessons in humility. Another member, Baronius, wanted to speak at the meetings about hellfire and eternal punishment. Philip commanded him instead to speak of church history. For 27 years Baronius spoke to the Oratory about church history. At the end of that time he published his talks as a widely respected and universally praised books on ecclesiastical history!

 

Philip did not escape this spiritual mortification himself. As with others, his own humbling held humor. There are stories of him wearing ridiculous clothes or walking around with half his beard shaved off. The greater his reputation for holiness the sillier he wanted to seem. When some people came from Poland to see the great saint, they found him listening to another priest read to him from joke books.

 

Philip was very serious about prayer, spending hours in prayer. He was so easily carried away that he refused to preach in public and could not celebrate Mass with others around. But he when asked how to pray his answer was, "Be humble and obedient and the Holy Spirit will teach you."

 

Philip died in 1595 after a long illness at the age of eighty years.

 

--Catholic Saints and Angels 


Sermon Blog
Domine, non sum dignus

In case you missed it, couldn't hear it, or wish to send it to a friend, Father Matt's sermons can be found online at:

http://etsanabituranimamea.wordpress.com
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Grace and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ Church is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey, His Excellency George E. Councell, Bishop. Our parish reflects the joy found in Anglo-Catholic worship and tradition, taking the joy and strength found at the Altar and bringing it out into the world in service to our neighbours.

In Christ,

Father Matt+
Priest-in-Charge