This Week at Ascension

February 25, 2026

"Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." - Psalm 96

The Second Sunday in Lent

March 1, 2026

7:30 a.m. Morning Prayer on Zoom

9 a.m. Sung Mass

10:15 a.m. Confession

11 a.m. Solemn High Mass *

12:45 Lenten Faith Formation

in the Library

3:30 Organ Recital

4 p.m. Choral Evensong & Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament

11 a.m. Buletin here.

3:30 p.m. Recital and Evensong Bulletin here.

Image: John La Farge, Visit of Nicodemus to Christ, 1880,

Smithsonian American Art Museum

* VIA YOUTUBE or FACEBOOK LIVE 

✠ Weekday Mass Schedule ✠

12 p.m. on Monday & Friday

8 a.m. on Tuesday & Thursday

6:30 p.m. on Wednesday

View the Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Live-stream Mass here

VIA YOUTUBE or FACEBOOK LIVE

Weekday Daily Offices

7:30 a.m. Morning Prayer via Zoom

6:00 p.m. Evening Prayer via Zoom

From the Rector

“How can anyone be born after having grown old?” asks Nicodemus. To which our Lord responds, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.” On Sunday, we’ll hear our Lord speak of an act which brings a new kind of life into being. Yet, Nicodemus (and for that matter all of us) lacks the categories or insights to grasp our Lord’s words. Because being born anew requires something drastic and difficult, something deemed impossible from a human purview. How are we to be born from above? How are we born anew? 

Thankfully, our Lord tells us how: through water and the Spirit. To be born through these currents means being immersed in them -- submerged into our Lord’s life, death, and resurrection in the waters of Baptism through which we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Those of us who have been Baptized are moved to not just claim a new life in Christ but to reclaim our true identity as children of God. As I once heard the former Bishop of Chicago, Jeffrey Lee, say: “We do not baptize little babies (or anyone else for that matter) so that God will love them. God already loves them. Baptism does not make this any more true, but it makes it real. It makes it touchable, tastable, experienceable…”. 

To what great extent was God willing to bring about a new birth, a new life for us that he was willing to give up his only Son. To save us from all which seeks to consume and destroy us, and steer us back to our true identity as his children, born from water and the Spirit. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

Fr. de la Torre

Stations of the Cross &

Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament

6 p.m. on the Fridays of Lent

February 27

March 6, 13, 20, 27

“The Lord Almighty grant us a peaceful night and a perfect end.”

As we continue our journey through these great forty days, the Ascension young people’s cohort will be offering a weekly chanted service of Compline in the church each Friday of Lent at 8 p.m. During this season of examination and renewal, we hope that you can take a respite from the demands of work or studies to join us and repose upon the Lord in this evening office. No prior chant experience is necessary.

Lenten Faith Formation

Into the Desert: Monastic Wisdom for Our Lives

March 1, 8 & 15 at 12:45 p.m.

During Lent, the Church follows Jesus Christ into his forty-day fast in the desert, but the Church's monastics simply take up permanent residence in this desert, dedicating their lives to prayer, penance, and the study of Scripture. This Lent, we will explore the contours of the monastic vocation, asking how the wisdom gained from the desert can enrich our lives in the modern world. A hearty lunch will be provided. 

March 1 - The Rule of Saint Benedict 

Fr. Christopher Poore, Assisting Priest and Ph.D. Student in Theology at The University of Chicago Divinity School

March 8 - One Monk's Journey: Monasticism for Our Times

Br. Ephrem Arcement, OHC, Guestmaster at Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, NY

Guest Preacher at 9 a.m. Sung Mass & 11 a.m. Solemn High Mass

March 15 - Revival of Anglican Monastic Orders and their Companions 

Fr. Robert Petite, Assisting Priest and Oblate of the Society of St. John the Evangelist (Fellowship of St. John)

2026 Confirmation Announcement

On Saturday, April 18 at 11am, Bishop Paula Clark will be presiding over a Confirmation Mass at St. James' Cathedral. The Sacrament of Confirmation is open to all Baptized Christians seeking renewal of their Baptismal grace and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on their Christian life. 

If you're interested in learning more about the Sacrament of Confirmation or formal Reception into The Episcopal Church, please join us for an information session on Sunday, March 22, following the 11am Solemn High Mass in the upstairs Library - a light lunch will be served. 

If you wish to be Confirmed or have any questions regarding Confirmation, please email Fr de la Torre - cdelatorre@ascensionchicago.org. Additionally, please mark your calendars for a mandatory retreat on Saturday, April 11 from 9am-1pm and a Confirmand dinner with Fr de la Torre and Fr Poore on Thursday, April 16 at 6pm. 

2026 Confirmation Formation Schedule

• Sunday, March 22 at 12:45pm - Confirmation Information Session
• Saturday, April 11 at 9am - "One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism" Confirmation Retreat
• Thursday, April 16 at 6pm - Confirmand Dinner
• Saturday, April 18 at 11am - Confirmation Mass at Saint James' Cathedral

New Passion Red High Mass Vestments 

We’re once more indebted to Watts & Co, London for their exceptional work on our new Passion Red High Mass set, commissioned by a generous parishioner. This new bespoke set will be blessed on Laetare Sunday, March 15 at the 11am Solemn High Mass and used for the first time on Palm Sunday. "You shall make holy garments for Aaron, for glory and beauty!"

2026 Flower Donations

2026 flower sign-up sheets are now available on the table in the narthex. Donations may be given in memory of departed loved ones or in thanksgiving for a birthday, anniversary, or an important milestone. The donation amount to cover the cost of flowers on the High Altar is $65 and on any one of the Shrines the amount is $35.



If you are interested in donating flowers, please fill out the sign-up sheet on the table in the back of the church and pay by check. You can also make a flower donation by Zelle or by visiting Ascension PayPal page. Once you’ve made your donation, please email the parish office your personal dedication.

Help out with Coffee Hour in March

If you're looking for a way to give back and support Ascension's robust parish life, we hope you'll consider serving as a coffee hour host. With our new online sign-up sheet, it's now easier than ever to sign-up for coffee hour: https://tinyurl.com/y66pztfz.

So, what does hosting coffee hour entail? We ask that you set-up, provide and prepare snacks, and clean up Wheeler Hall. You can provide any food items you wish and there are always pastries available in the freezer for easy thawing. Coffee and cold beverages are provided by the church. Reimbursement funds are available for coffee hour expenses, but please make sure to provide a receipt in order to complete a reimbursement request. 

If you have any questions about hosting coffee hour, please speak to Father de la Torre or Hospitality Committee members Josh or Ellie Simpson, LaVerne Saunders or Carol Noren. They will be glad to help and guide you.



The Prayers of the People

As part of our Sunday offering of the Mass, we bring to God our petitions and thanksgivings. As a community, we do this by bidding the parish’s intentions in the Prayers of the People. If you wish to have someone added to the Prayers of the People, please email Father de la Torre or the Parish Office.

Lord, hear the prayers of thy people; and what we have asked faithfully, grant that we may obtain effectually, to the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.



THE PARISH PRAYER LIST

Maria Iyala, Eoin O’Donoghue, Betty Smith, Pat Carmichael, William Van’tKruis, Gwen Hubbard, Shannon Ayala, Jose Vargas, Mary Callahan, Lynette Ngumi, Leslie Sterk, Marcela Simpson, Christina Kimmel, Daynen Heldt, Nate Cole, Ed Blatz, Marlea Edinger, Elizabeth McLaughlin, MB Hwang, Juanita Malone, Claire Green, Brenda Martins

Birthdays

 Courtney Walsh, 2/22; Nancy Pardee, 2/25;

Joseph Basil Gauss BSG, 2/25

Requiescat in pace

Emily Hopkins, 2/23/26; Edward Carson Kast, 2/7/2026; Marty Stenson, 2/14/2026;

Michael Hammett, 2/2/2026; Clark Allan Montgomery, 2/22/2003; Geraldine Wilbur Ruhling, 2/22/2005; Laurence P. Myers, 2/22/2018; Rosario Vargas, 2/24/2012; Nancy Alice Holub, 2/25/1994; Patricia Wilson Laibly, 2/26/2018; James C. Krulish, 2/27/2008

Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them;

May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.



Organ and Choral Repertoire for

March 1, 2026

Approved minutes of Vestry meetings are always available online to parishioners who request the link. If you would like Internet access to these Vestry Minutes, please email the Parish Office and request the link. Once you access the web page, you can read all recent Vestry meeting minutes. The link remains live indefinitely. Any parishioner who has the link will not need to request a new link from month to month.