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Fr David’s Poet,
Priest & Prophet:
Bishop John V.
Taylor, published in
London in 2002, has
been back in the top
ten selling
religious books in
the UK in the past
few weeks... |
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Grace
Church prides itself on
being a parish strong on
teaching. By dipping
into the pages on Jesus
Christ, the sacraments,
weekly homilies,
pastoral letters and
reports, you too can be
challenged, uplifted and
informed as we are every
Sunday.
"All
guests who present
themselves
are to be welcomed as
Christ."
Eastertide
In its first centuries
the Church seems to have
adopted an Easter Season
of fifty days from its
Jewish heritage where a
“week of weeks” – that
is, fifty days – is
observed from Passover
to
Pentecost. By the end
of the fourth century, a
separate feast to
commemorate the
Ascension begins to
emerge on the fortieth
day. Eastertide for most
of Christian history has
been a season of forty
days.
The liturgical
reforms of the 1960s,
among a wide consensus
of Western Christians,
restored the earlier
practice. The Ascension
is observed by the
Church as a major feast
on the fortieth day of
Easter, although it may
also be transferred to
the nearest Sunday. The
Church calendar is not
really as rigid as many
might like it to be!
The Church also
strengthens the
character of the Easter
season in a number of
ways liturgically. We
use the great Easter
greeting and dismissal
with their alleluias
through Pentecost. For a
number of years our
congregation has
continued to sing the
exulted hymn “Sing
choirs of heaven” from
the Easter Vigil at
every Sunday Eucharist.
Fridays are not to be
observed by special acts
of discipline and
self-denial in
commemoration of the
Lord’s crucifixion – as
is the custom on the
ordinary Fridays of the
rest of the year.
“Alleluia,” that is,
“Praise to the Lord,” is
also added to various
acclamations during
Eastertide.
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"Christ, look upon us in this city
and keep our sympathy and pity fresh
and our faces heavenward,
lest we grow hard."
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