News from St. Mary's Church - February 19, 2021

Ancient worship. Affirming Faith. Genuine love.

First Sunday in Lent

February 21, 2021

Sung Mass begins at 4:00 p.m. Saturday, and 10:00 a.m. Sunday.

Join in-person (reservations are required to limit seating - click here to register).

You can join the Sunday service online via Facebook here, or YouTube here.

Sung Compline During Lent

Join us online for Sung Compline each Sunday during Lent at 7:00 p.m. Because the service will be not be open to the public, the schola will be able to spread out and sing some really nice choral music. You won't want to miss this beautiful service as part of your Lenten discipline!

Praying the Rosary

Praying the Rosary is a powerful Marian devotion that helps deepen our faith and strengthens our will to follow Christ. It combines repetition of familiar prayers with meditation on the mysteries of faith, asking for the intercession of St. Mary the Virgin.

Please join us online, via Zoom, for this contemplative time each Friday night at 8:00 p.m. by clicking here.

You will find a copy of the prayers here. To learn more about the Marian Rosary prayers, click here.

If you have questions, please contact Nicholas Heide via email.

Lenten Study Group

The season of Lent is a time for deepening faith, as we are called to be disciples of Jesus in our daily living. This Lent, you are invited to join a virtual group study, using Walter Brueggemann's devotional book "A Way Other Than Our Own: Devotions for Lent".

"Brueggemann's thought-provoking reflections for the season of Lent invite us to consider the challenging, beautiful life that comes with walking the way of grace."

We will meet online (Zoom) each Monday evening February 22, March 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29 @ 6:00 p.m.

We will be discussing Pages 2-13 during the meeting on Monday, February 22.

Click here to purchase the book (click here instead if you've already signed up for Amazon Smile, and St. Mary's will receive a portion of the proceeds).

To join online, click here.

Outreach Matching Donation

The outreach program at St. Mary's has designated a special line item for funds that go specifically to the ministry of breaking the cycle of social, material and spiritual poverty. For the sake of transparency, our church administrator, Raja Reed, keeps a detailed list of how these funds are spent, so that all who donate can be certain that their donations are used in good faith.

St. Mary's is extremely grateful to have a generous anonymous donor who has agreed to match all donations given to the our outreach program up to $1,000.00. Please prayerfully consider giving to this matching fund; and know that every dollar will be used toward the benefit of building community with our brothers and sisters on the margins of society.

Please click on the donate button to give (designation - Outreach).

Thank you so much for your support.

Outreach Donation

Liturgical Notes

For most of the history of the Church, the Eucharistic Prayer has been prayed by the priest in a quiet voice. At the time of the Reformation, most Protestants, including our forbears in England, forbade this practice and required each word spoken by the priest to be sung or spoken in a loud voice, ostensibly so that the faithful can more fully participate in the liturgy. The Eastern churches (both Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic) continue with this practice to this day, and rubrics of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (commonly referred to as the Latin Mass) continue to require the priest to pray the Eucharistic Prayer quietly.

During Lent, we are observing this practice at St. Mary’s on Sundays. The words spoken by the priest will be printed in the leaflet in case you wish to follow along, but you are encouraged to meditate on the mystery of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist as the choir sings.

The bread and wine are consecrated between the singing of the Sanctus and the Benedictus. The reason for the silence is that, at a very early stage in the Church's liturgical awareness, it was realized that the miracles of grace that occur during the Eucharistic Prayer should not risk trivialization by being spoken out loud as if the sacred words which effected these miracles were simply in the normal run of ordinary speech. The mystery of the Real Presence, the subsequent pleading of the oblation, all this is the stuff of heaven, heaven come down to earth. Perhaps it is better said that in the Eucharistic Prayer, earth is raised to heaven. This practice does not send the Church sinking into silence. The truth of the matter is that we rise into silence – a contemplative, anointed silence – over which the Holy Spirit is hovering, a timeless silence which breathes the life of heaven.

Sunday Morning Online Reception

Because we are unable to meet in person for our Sunday Reception, we are making every effort to stay connected with a virtual coffee hour after the Sunday worship. Grab a cup of coffee and hop on your computer or phone as we break bread together. Even if you can't stay long, pop in and let us know how you are doing during this time of social distancing. We'd love to hear from you.

Click here (password is STM2020) and someone will be there to welcome you into this virtual gathering.

Communion by Appointment

If you have not been attending Mass in-person because of the pandemic or illness, the clergy of St. Mary's would be honored to bring Holy Communion to you at home. Alternatively, you can meet with a member of the clergy at the church by appointment. Click here to sign up!

Click here to access recent sermons preached at St. Mary's!

Daily Mass

Daily Mass is open for in-person worship (6pm Wednesdays; 12:00 M, T, Th, F). Attendance is limited to 10 people at any one service. Click here to preregister to attend.

Private Confession

A priest will be available to offer spiritual guidance and sacramental confession each Saturday from 3:00-3:45 in St. George's Chapel.

Enter the church under the green awning off of the parking lot, and wait for the priest in the new living room area on the far side of the parish hall. Please bring your mask!

Artist's Inspiration Hour | Tuesday's @ 6:30 p.m.

Do you have an artistic goal? Do you find it rather hard to stay focused during the very stressful time. Won’t you consider joining the St. Mary’s Artists’ working group, via Zoom. We will meet weekly on Tuesday’s at 6:30 PM CST. Come to discuss an ongoing project or proposed project for which you want feed back or encouragement. Please also join us if you are looking for ideas or inspiration.

For questions, or more information, contact Sylvia Augustus at [email protected]. Click here to join.

Liturgy Nerds | Wednesday's @ 6:30 p.m.

This group traditionally met at a local pub each Wednesday after Evening Prayer for drinks and discussion. There is no official topic or agenda, but the group is known for liturgy geeks and theological chatter -- expect to hear about maniples, monstrances, and papal liturgical straws. During the lockdown we are meeting weekly via Zoom....BYOB.

For questions or more information, contact Chris McQueeny at [email protected].

Click here to join.