Christmas is over and the season of Epiphany has begun, but miraculously our organists and choir are still making beautiful music. You are all invited to the service of music and readings for Epiphany, this Sunday evening at 4 pm. It will be broadcast as usual by Radio Ville-Marie (91.3 FM) and also streamed live over the internet.
The Sunday morning Eucharists this week are also special celebrations. In the introduction to Sunday’s bulletin Paul writes “The weeks after January 6th celebrate the Manifestation of God among us, with the arrival of the Magi, the Baptism of Jesus and the first miracle of water and wine at Cana in Galilee. At today’s feast – the Baptism, all three Persons of the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—are revealed and the feast is called the Theophany in Orthodox Churches, meaning not just manifestation, but manifestation of God. This is the day when they traditionally bless holy water for use in church and at home. In this service we will use water as a sign of repentance, forgiveness and a reminder of our own baptism.”
If you’re curious about our music do join Patrick Wedd on January 18 during coffee time after the 10am Eucharist as he tackles one of the questions about the organ and music at the Cathedral posted on the I WONDER board in the baptistry. And please keep posting your questions.
The reading group meets over coffee and cookies on Sunday at 7 pm to discuss The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West. This is a very short book which can be downloaded for free or for a couple of dollars – so you can easily make an impulsive decision to read the book and come along for the discussion!
Some sad pieces of news about former Cathedral members: Sylvia Stutchbery, wife of our former vicar, Ian Stuchbery, died just before Christmas and Mark Gudwin, also a former priest at the Cathedral, died this week. His funeral will take place at the Cathedral, on a date to be announced.
A much happier piece of news: Bishop Barry is engaged to marry former archdeacon Janet Griffith in the Spring in Brantford, Ontario. He writes that both of them will continue in their respective ministries–he in Montreal and Janet in Brantford and asks us all to uphold them in prayer.We offer our congratulations and wish them every happiness.
I’m sure we were all shocked and horrified by this week’s terrorist attack at the Paris offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Read the response of the Archbishop of Canterbury here.
The weekly sessions of contemplative prayer have resumed on Tuesdays at 5:45pm after Evensong. There will be silent meditation on January 13.
L’Oasis Musicale concert this Saturday will be given by the young pianist Helena Hyesoo who is currently studying with Kyoko Hashimoto in the Master’s program at McGill University. The programme includes virtuoso works by Beethoven, Debussy and Liszt.
The concerts team are now serving fair trade coffee and bars of fair trade chocolate made in Montreal by Concept Chocolat, one of a few expert chocolatiers serving the fine palates of chocolate lovers in North America. All proceeds support the concert series.
The organisers of L’Oasis Musicale are looking for a volunteer to help with keeping track of the expenses for the Concert programmes, and someone to advise on sound engineering to set up recording microphones which do not conflict with our current system. Please contact the cathedral office if you are able to help.
The next diocesan PWRDF meeting takes place on Jan 15th, at noon. Mr and Mrs Raymond and Penny Noel will share their experiences of recent visits to Masasi and other areas of Africa, where they have seen the results of PWRDF projects first-hand. All welcome! Light refreshments will be served. You are also welcome to bring your lunch.