Angelus
The Christ Church Bordentown Weekly Newsletter
www.ccbtown.com - 609.298.2348 - Fr. Matt (pastoral emergencies) 732.859.5823
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.

In This Issue
Lessons & Carols
Jewelry
Last Call
Altar Guild Advent Prep
Dinner & Carols
HomeFront
Stewardship
Nominations
Pageant
Christmas Masses
Thirsty Thurdays for Bordentown's Bravest
Upcoming Events
The Propers
The Music
Serving This Week
Quote of the Week
Church Schedule
This Week in Church History
Saint of the Week
Parish Prayer List
Sermon Blog
Posting in the Angelus
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John of Damascus
December 4, 2014

Advent Lessons & Carols
December 7, 7pm

Join us as we recite the history of
salvation in lessons and carols. 

Advent Lessons and Carols
w. Vox Fidelis
December 7, 7pm
Reception in the Rectory   
  

 

Jewelry Fundraiser
December 7, Between the Masses

Once again, our fellow parishioner Dana Vlahovic will be holding a Jewelry demonstration of her fabulous line, Premier Designs, on December 7th between the 8 and 10:00 masses. If you have attended before you know how great the jewelry is and if you have never seen it, you are in for a delightful surprise. if you can't make it in person, here is Dana's website with an online catalog- which directly connects to her email. So if you can't make it that day, you can peruse the main and Christmas catalog and order directly with Dana in advance. Here is the link to the catalog: dana6.mypremierdesigns.com and the catalog code is Dana. Her email address is on the webpage and they can either email her from there or fill out the attached order form. Dana generously donates all her profits to Christ Church - so come join her either on line or in person to get some holiday shopping done and support Christ Church! 

Last Call for Semper Fido Boxes

 

Have you turned in your custom-made Semper Fido bank? Stop in to turn in your bank or bring it this Sunday, and thank you for supporting Semper Fido and the men and women of our Armed Forces who suffer from PTSD.

Advent Prep Day & Advent 1
 

Many thanks to all those who came out for the Altar Guild Workshop & Advent Prep Day last Saturday. The church looks great and the sacred items of the parish are ready for a holy Advent and Christmas. Then our Church School made great Advent Wreaths!

Dinner & Carols
December 12

Members of the Christ Church Choir will be singing Advent & Christmas Carols during dinner service at Oliver, a Bistro, on December 12. Make your reservations now to have a fine meal and hear great music! 

 

Our Parish HomeFront Efforts Need Your Help!

Each month our HomeFront meal ministry feeds around 70-110 homeless people, and we are desperately in need of help. The people that we feed are housed in local motels and have very limited resources to sustain themselves. We could use any contributions of time or money that you are able to offer--whether occasional or regular. There are envelopes on the welcome table at the entry to the church. Any thoughts, questions or considerations, please contact Gloria Jukes at 609-883-9895. Thank you!
2015 Stewardship Materials

In an effort to save time, paper, and postage, it is our intent to use email to circulate our 2015 Pledge Cards and Stewardship materials. Please email office@ccbtown.com with your updated email information. If you prefer to  receive this material in paper form, we will have packets in the back of the Church for pick up. If you are interested in eliminating paper - please see our electronic giving option on the Church's website. Any questions, call the office or Darrell Vigh.
Nominations

In preparation for the Parish Annual Meeting, names are being submitted to the nominating committee; terms will be ending for a warden, three vestry posts, Diocesan Convention delegates and alternates as well as convocation representatives. Names to be considered for the proposed slate may be directed to Mary Ellen Carty at 298-4337.
Advent Pageant
Saturday, December 20, 5:30pm

Join our Parish children on Saturday, Dec. 20, at 5:30pm for our annual Advent Pageant and Vigil Mass. All are invited to the Pizza and Bring a Dessert to Share Party following the pageant and Mass 

Christmas Mass Schedule
 
Christmas Eve

6pm: Family Mass
11pm: Sung Mass

Christmas Day
10am: Said Mass w. Hymns

If you or someone you know cannot make it to Mass due to frailty or illness, please let Fr. Matt know
so that he can offer the Blessed Sacrament this Christmas.

Thirsty Thursdays for Bordentown's Bravest
Every Thursday, 5pm-10pm

Christ Church has partnered with the Farnsworth House to raise money for our city's fire companies. Come out to the Farnsworth House on Thursday's from 5pm to 10pm, and $1 from any beverage purchase (even coffee and other soft drinks) will go to Consolidated Fire Association and Hope Hose Humane.  

Upcoming Events

December 7, 8:45am: Jewelry Fundraiser 

December 7, 7pm: Advent Lessons & Carols w. Vox Fidelis 

December 11, 8:30pm: Football w. Fr. Matt (Farnsworth House) 

December 20, 5:30pm: Advent Pageant, Vigil Mass, Pizza Party

December 24, 6pm & 11pm: Christmas Eve Masses

December 25, 10am: Christmas Day Mass w. Carols

January 4, 10am: Christmas Lessons & Carols

January 6, 7pm: Sung Mass w. the Blessing of Chalk, Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh    

January 17, 3pm: Evensong & Fr. Salmon made Canon (Cathedral) 

 

Every Thursday, 5pm-10pm: Thirsty Thursdays for Bordentown's Bravest at the Farnsworth House.  

The Propers
For Sunday, December 7

This Sunday is the Second Sunday of Advent

OT:  Isaiah 40:1-11  
Psalm 85:7-13
NT:  2 Peter 3:8-15,18
Gospel:  Mark 1:1-8

  

Collect:
  Merciful God, who sent thy messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen  
The Music
For Sunday, December 7

Ordinary - Communion Service in D - Leo Sowerby
Organ - Nun komm der Heiden Heiland - Johann Sebastian Bach
Anthem - Peace be to you, and grace from Him - Paul Manz
Organ - Improvisation on Veni Emmanuel - S.C. Bearse
 
Serving This Week
For Sunday, December 7                            
 
Lectors:
5:30pm: Eliza Peterson
8am: Barbara Fusco
10am: Susan Preston & Andy Law

Ushers:
8am: Linda Voorhees
10am: Kate Williamson

Acolytes:

8am: Wayne Voorhees, Richard Trout, Alex Vigh
10am: Mary Ellen Carty, Chris Neal, Brittani Kintner

Altar Guild:
Preparation: Joan Corbo
Linens: Kate Williamson 
Quote of the Week
 

"Advent, like its cousin Lent, is a season for prayer and reformation of our hearts. Since it comes at winter time, fire is a fitting sign to help us celebrate Advent...If Christ is to come more fully into our lives this Christmas, if God is to become really incarnate for us, then fire will have to be present in our prayer. Our worship and devotion will have to stoke the kind of fire in our souls that can truly change our hearts. Ours is a great responsibility not to waste this Advent time." 

                                ~ Edward Hays, A Pilgrim's Almanac 
Church Schedule
The Week of December 7, 2014 
 
Saturday, 6 December :: The Vigil of the Second Sunday of Advent (Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, 342)
� 5:30 p.m. - Vigil Mass (Lady Chapel) 


Sunday, 7 December :: The Second Sunday of Advent
� 8:00 a.m. - Low Mass (Church) 

� 8:00 a.m. - Church School (Church & Classrooms)
� 9:00 a.m. - Jewelry Fundraiser
� 10:00 a.m. - Sung Mass (Church)
� 11:15 a.m. - Coffee Hour (Parish Hall)
� 7:00 p.m. - Advent Lessons & Carols w. Vox Fidelis (Church)
� 7:00 p.m. - A.A. Meeting (Parish Hall)

Monday, 8 December :: The Immaculate Conception of the BVM
� Church Office Closed
 � 12:10 p.m. - Low Mass (Lady Chapel)

Tuesday, 9 December :: Advent Feria
� 8:00 a.m. - Morning Prayer w. Angelus (Lady Chapel) 
� 12:10 p.m. - Low Mass (Lady Chapel)

� 7:30 p.m. - Vestry Meeting (Sacristy) 
 
Wednesday, 10 December :: Advent Feria
� 8:00 a.m. - Morning Prayer w. Angelus (Lady Chapel)   
� 6:00 p.m. - Tai Chi (Parish Hall) 
� 6:30 p.m. - Rosary (Lady Chapel) 
� 6:50 p.m. - Low Mass (Lady Chapel) 
� 8:00 p.m. - A.A. Meeting (Parish Hall)


Thursday, 11 December :: Advent Feria
� 8:00 a.m. - Morning Prayer w. Angelus (Lady Chapel)       
� 10:00 a.m. - Low Mass w. Anointing (Lady Chapel) 
� 8:30 p.m. - Football w. Fr. Matt (Farnsworth House)   

Friday, 12 December ::
Jane Frances de Chantal, 1641
� 8:00 a.m. - Morning Prayer w. Angelus (Lady Chapel) 
� 12:10 p.m. - Low Mass (Lady Chapel) 
� 6:00 p.m. - Wedding Rehearsal (Church)
 
Saturday, 13 December :: The Vigil of the Third Sunday of Advent (Lucy, Martyr in Sicily, 304)
� 3:00 p.m. - Kotora Wedding (Church) 
� 5:30 p.m. - Vigil Mass (Lady Chapel) 


Sunday, 14 December :: The Third Sunday of Advent
� 8:00 a.m. - Low Mass (Church) 

� 8:00 a.m. - Church School (Church & Classrooms)
� 9:00 a.m. -Adult Ed: Church Music
� 10:00 a.m. - Sung Mass (Church)
� 11:15 a.m. - Coffee Hour (Parish Hall)
� 7:00 p.m. - A.A. Meeting (Parish Hall)

The Parish Office hours are Tuesday-Friday from 8:30am to 2:00pm.

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

 

November 26, 1883: Evangelist and abolitionist Sojourner Truth (whose real name was Isabella Van Wagener), dies in Battle Creek, Michigan. Born a slave, Truth experienced visions and voices, which she attributed to God, and was one of the most charismatic abolitionists and suffragists of her day.

 

November 28, 1757: English Christian mystic William Blake is born in London. A poet, sculptor, and engraver, he was unschooled but fascinated with Milton, Shakespeare, Dante, and the Bible. He experienced visions all his life, beginning at age 4 when he saw God looking in his window.

 

November 28, 1863: The the first annual national Thanksgiving Day is celebrated. Back in October, President Lincoln had proclaimed the fourth Thursday of each November from that time forward as a national day of thanks.

 

November 29, 1530: Thomas Wolsey, cardinal and Lord Chancellor to England's King Henry VIII, dies. Known as "a statesman rather than a churchman," Wolsey dismantled monasteries to fund Oxford University and devoted his life to king and country.

 

November 29, 1847: Missionary physician Marcus Whitman, his wife, and 12 others are killed by American Indians in Washington's Walla Walla valley. Whitman had recently returned from a 3,000-mile journey to convince the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions not to close down one of his three mission stations. He was successful, and returned with a fresh group of immigrants-and the measles virus. Many Indians died of the disease, some of them because Whitman gave them vaccinations. The Indians accused Whitman and other missionaries of black magic and murdered them.

 

November 29, 1780: The Congregational Church of Connecticut licenses Lemuel Hayes to preach, making him the first black minister certified by a predominantly white denomination. Hayes later became the first black minister to pastor a white church.

 

November 30, 1554: Recently crowned Queen of England, Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII, restores Roman Catholicism to the country. Nearly 300 Protestants would be burned at the stake by "Bloody Mary," including Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer, and Nicholas Ridley. Nearly 400 more died by imprisonment and starvation.

 

November 30, 1979: John Paul II attends an Eastern Orthodox service, the first pope in 1,000 years to do so.

 

December 1, 1170: Banished earlier by king Henry II because he sided with the church against the crown, archbishop of Canterbury Thomas a Becket returns, electrifying all of England. Henry orders his former friend's execution, and Becket is slain by four knights while at vespers December 29.

 

December 1, 1989: Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Pope John Paul II meet at the Vatican, announcing an agreement to reestablish diplomatic ties. Gorbachev also denounced 70 years of religious oppression in his country.

 

December 2, 1697: St Paul's Cathedral in London, designed by Christopher Wren, is dedicated. It replaced a medieval cathedral at the site that had burned in the Great Fire of 1666.

 

December 2, 1980: Three American nuns and a lay churchwoman are killed by death squads in El Salvador. Some 70,000 Salvadorans are estimated to have died because of terrorists or civil war during the 1980s, including many Catholic clergy.

 

--taken from Christianity Today
Saint of the Week
St. Eligius
Bishop, 660                       

 

Eligius (also known as Eloi) was born around 590 near Limoges in France. He became an extremely skillful metalsmith and was appointed master of the mint under King Clotaire II of Paris. Eligius developed a close friendship with the King and his reputation as an outstanding metalsmith became widespread. With his fame came fortune. Eligius was very generous to the poor, ransomed many slaves, and built several churches and a monastery at Solignac. He also erected a major convent in Paris with property he received from Clotaire's son, King Dagobert I. In 629, Eligius was appointed Dagobert's first counselor. Later, on a mission for Dagobert, he persuaded the Breton King Judicael, to accept the authority of Dagobert. Eligius later fulfilled his desire to serve God as a priest, after being ordained in 640. Then he was made bishop of Noyon and Tournai. His apostolic zeal led him to preach in Flanders, especially Antwerp, Ghent, and Courtai where he made many converts.  

 

Eligius died on December 1, around 660, at Noyon. He is the patron of metalworkers and his feast day is December 1. The use of one's talents and wealth for the welfare of humanity is a very true reflection of the image of God. In the case of St. Eligius, he was so well liked that he attracted many to Christ. His example should encourage us to be generous in spirit and kind and happy in demeanor.  

 

 -Catholic Saints & Angels 
Parish Prayer List

Of your charity, please pray for:

the sick: Steve Vigh, Paula Flesch, Bob Bernard, Alice Ward Carriger, Pat Temple, Danielle Morgan, Jai Autar, Emma Burris, Kelly Jones, Ardelle Zervous,   Kelley Gilger, Lynn Ford,  Michael Slaper, Sister Gussie, Nancy Biocco,  Lorraine Kunkel, Jane Humble, Michael Chahanovich, Cheryl Leavers-Morrow, Greg Cole, Gary Rutherford, Jackie Papp, Morgan Ackerman,  Lorriane Sickels, Nicole Pelligra, Cole Carver, Addolorata Martelli, Suzie Mertz, Nancy Hayes, William Sweeney, Fran Gripp, and Raymond Witte. 

   

and those who have long term illnesses:  Jean Weitzel, John Moscatiello, Mark Casais, Kevin Kintner, Arthur Jukes, Dixon Leavers, Robin Kintner, John McCoy, The Rt. Rev. George Councell, Karen Campbell Hillman, Carla Douglas, Richard Cook, Ryan Murray, Lester Sickels, Justin McCafferty, Zachary McCafferty, Jeanine Walker, Kevin Kochie,  Brianne Nicosia, Mario Batist, Treavor Curtis,  Dean Curtis,  Robert Ackerman, Paul Wesley Morrison, Bob Liberman, Kelly Bergen, Bill Yale, Hannah McNinch, Gabe Fresco, Fr. Ted Anderson, Norma Stirpe, Linda Sue Slone, R. Loraine Burke, Katherine Carter, Shawna Catarinicchia, Patricia Dixon, Mackenzie Sutter,  Daniel Applegate, Alma Poksay,  Roberta Cash, Patti Baddia, Geobel Marin, Jennifer Vigh, Peggy Tunney, Jean Fithian, Gwen Boner Nancy Dix, and Jim Tranter.

 

for those in military service: 

Ben Skarzynski, USMC; Maxwell W. Warrack, USMC; Col Kelly Scott, USAF; Neil Gerrish, USNG;  Abbygale Albert, USN, CSM John Seelhorst, USA; James F. Preto, USNG; Frank L. Blades, USA. 

 

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
Posting in the Angelus

Please let Fr. Matt know if you would like any announcements to be included in the weekly Angelus. Submissions must be made by Tuesday noon.
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 William H. Stokes, 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,

Fr. Matt+
Rector