Dear friend of the Cathedral
Christmas lights are going up all over the city, but at the Cathedral we are planning for Advent which starts on Sunday November 30 with the annual Advent carol Service.
There will be a special ADVENT PILGRIMAGE SERIES . You are invited to join the Cathedral pilgrims in Advent as they reflect on their time in Israel in June this year. There will be four sessions on the first two Mondays and Fridays in Advent (December 1, 5, 8, 12) which will cover different portions of the pilgrimage route through photos, prayers, reflection and song.
This Sunday, November 16, the Fair Trade Kiosque in the baptistry during coffee hour will be selling hand-made crafts from Palestine, and Nativity sets in a matchbox and in a bottle from Peru, made by Manos Amigas which donates 20% of their annual surplus to feeding 400 children each Sunday and helping pay for school uniforms and supplies.
A reminder that there is contemplative prayer for an hour every Tuesday at 5:45, perhaps a good way to prepare spiritually for Christmas.
We have had a letter from a member of our community who needs our prayerful support. He writes “This season is the worst for me . as a Sierra Leonean reading about the Ebola destroying my country. I ask that the church pray for my country and help as much as you can. We need prayers.”
Aware that some people have a hard time during the Christmas season, Rhonda is putting together a Blue Christmas Service on Monday, December 22nd at 6:30pm
Spiritual practice: “The homeless become our teachers since we all are sojourners waiting for the home we hope to inherit in the heart of God.” (adapted from Hebrews 11:13-16) This week make time to listen to the homeless in an amazing public projection outside the Musee d’art contemporain (begins at nightfall Wednesday through Sunday). If you have an idea to share for this series, please speak to a member of Episkopé
Poetry Workshops Thanks to the generosity of Vallum Poetry, Jeffrey Mackie is offering two poetry workshops to Cathedral members on November 24 or 25 (to be confirmed) and December 9 at 7pm. Location at the Cathedral: room tbd. Jeffrey is a cathedral member and an internationally published and translated poet as well as a literary critic and journalist. No experience is necessary – only a desire to explore this form of self-expression as art and as a potential spiritual practice. You may attend one or both of the workshops. Please RSVP to Rhonda.
A reminder about two social events next week -the parish supper celebrating the feast of Christ the King on Saturday, November 22,at 5:30 for 6, in Fulford Hall and the following day, Sunday November 23 stirring up Christmas cakes after the 10 am service. Contact Leah Trineer before Nov.18 to reserve your supplies.
Perhaps not such a social event, but nevertheless an interesting evening, the November Forum meets in the Hollis Lounge on Tuesday, November 18. Drinks and snacks from 6 to 6:30. The meeting usually lasts 6:30 to 8:30. All members of the congregation are invited. If you are an official Forum member and can’t come, please send regrets to the Cathedral office. The minutes of the last meeting and the agenda for November 18 are attached, along with the Coordinating Committee minutes. Please print out and bring these with you to the meeting if possible.
Among the topics on the agenda is information about the Cathedral’s application to be part of the Nuit blanche celebrations at the end of February 2015. We are planning, among a host of other activities to mount an exhibition of paintings and photographs on the theme of Light. More on this later, but please get out your cameras and paint brushes and start creating! Natasha Henderson, one of the artists in our community, will be mounting the exhibition. Talk to her or to me or email me with suggestions, submissions and contacts with friends who are artists or photographers.
L’Oasis Musicale: Sat. Nov. 15 A Woman’s Life. Maude Paradis, mezzo soprano, sings Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben Op. 42, and Argento: From the Diary of Virginia Woolf; with Clarke Schaufele, piano. For more details, visit http://loasismusicale2.blogspot.ca/
Please consider sponsoring flowersin memory of someone or in thanks-giving for a special event. (Cost is approximately $60). Contact Rob Wells. Sponsors needed for Sundays in November and December.
And a suggestion from corporation to anyone who would like to make a gift to the Cathedral in memory of a loved one or in thanksgiving: . As part of renewing vestments at the cathedral for the 21st century, they want to buy a new very simple purple unlined set of Chasuble and two dalmatics for Lent, and a matching rose-pink set for Laetare Sunday. Each set of three vestments costs only $1000 (which can be tax-deductiblehttp://www.henningers.com/chasuble_set_slabbinck_1-71.html Please speak to Paul if you are interested.
Beyond the Cathedral
The Bishop’s 7th annual fundraising dinner takes place on Thursday, November 27, at the Atwater Club. Details are on the diocesan website www.montreal.anglican.ca
The University of Sherbrooke is offering three distance courses in Biblical studies in French.
Cours offert aux études libres et au Certificat en études bibliques
Pour information et inscription : Date limite pour s’inscrire : 21 novembre 2015
If you are interested contact the Cathedral Office and we will forward you the email from Diane Robitaille at the University