Spiritual solace with – Quiet day – Bible studies – Evensong… Oasis Concert. Food for the imagination with “Annabel” and Birks Lecture…Community events with Lunch n’ Chat, Journées de la culture, Ordination, plus a warning about a plumbing disaster and fascinating facts from the choir room
Dear Friend of the Cathedral
We are busy – of course – so you might be glad of some opportunities to soothe your spirit and calm your soul.
Spiritual opportunity #1: Quiet Day
The spiritual directors of the Diocese, invited have organised a quiet day on Saturday, October 13, in which we can “Come apart and rest awhile with the Lord,” just as Jesus did during his public ministry. Vivian Lewin, a Cathedral member who served as chair of the Spiritual Direction group for ten years, says that this Diocesan Quiet Day called REFLECTIONS OF LOVE is planned both as an introduction for new pray-ers and as a refreshment for experienced ones. It will be held in Cathedral Place with options to meditate in the Cathedral. Themes for the day are (1) Opening the Door to the Quiet (2) Healing of the Heart, and (3) Meditations on Divine Love. Participants will gather in Fulford Hall at 9:30. Each of the short talks will present material or questions to explore during the subsequent silence, supported by each other in prayer. The day will conclude with a celebration of the Holy Eucharist, led by Bishop Mary Irwin-Gibson, and wrap up by 3:30. Lunch and coffee will be provided. The day is free, though a free-will offering will be gratefully received to cover the cost of lunch and coffee. However, the organisers need to know numbers for catering, so please register at spiritualdirectiongroup@montreal.anglican.ca before October 1.
Spiritual opportunity #2: Bible studies
There will be three groups engaging in bible study: The French bible study group, Pain, partage et prière, will meet this Sunday at 2 pm; the young adult group (Hungry Minds) meets for food and bible study on Mondays at 6 and Amy is organising a new house bible study group in English. The first meeting of this new group is on Wednesday, October 24th, 7:30 to 9pm at Ann Elbourne’s house. At this first meeting we will take a look at the Epistle of James. The group can then make decisions about where and when to hold future meetings and which part of the bible they would like to discuss. Please speak to Amy or Ann if you’re interested or email Elizabeth Shama cathedral.administrator@montrealcathedral.ca
Spiritual opportunity #3: Evensong
The small group who joined the pilgrimage in Southern England this summer attended choral Evensong in one of the great cathedrals almost every day. It was an uplifting experience shared by large crowds of visitors. I wonder how many of you realise that our cathedral also participates in this great Anglican choral tradition and that its choir is the equal of any of the choirs we heard? Evensong is sung every Sunday evening at 4 pm. You can listen to the service on Radio Ville Marie, but even better, come to the cathedral to refresh your soul by experiencing Evensong live. This Sunday choir and organ music will be by the great English Renaissance composers William Byrd and Thomas Tallis, and Jeffrey Mackie will be the officiant,.
Other music to solace your spirit:
Every Saturday you can enjoy a beautiful Oasis Musicale concert at 4:30. This week the performers are the Trapèze Quintet making their debut in a programme of music by Handel, Rebecca Clark and Prokofiev. https://www.oasismusicale.ca/calendrier
To charge your imagination read the Cathedral Book group’s choice for this month – Annabel by Kathleen Winter. Good Reads describes it as a stunning debut novel about the family of a mixed-gendered child born into a rural hunting community in Labrador in the 1960s … a deeply affecting portrait of life in an enchanting seaside town and the trials of growing up unique in a restrictive environment. You can read a summary of the book at goodreads
The Birks Lectures are an annual headliner event sponsored by McGill’s Faculty of Religious Studies—always sure to stimulate the theological imagination. They are happening on Wednesday and Thursday this week. And if you have joined the Corporation of Dio (the Montreal Diocesan Theological College) you’re also invited to tea with Bishop Mary ahead of time at the College. You can support Dio by joining its Corporation any time (here’s the subscription form).
Lunch n’chat will hold its monthly pot luck lunch at midday on Tuesday October 2. The theme will be Wills and Mandates.
Thanksgiving will be celebrated in the cathedral on October 7. George and his team will be overseeing the decorations on the day before, starting at 9 am. This year ESJAG is providing colourful fruit and vegetables from a local organic farm, paid for by an anonymous benefactor.
An unfortunate event: Last Sunday the toilets at the back of the church overflowed, creating a hole in the ceiling of the choir room. Consequently they are out of commission for a few days. There are toilets in the undercroft and one toilet near the sacristy which can be used by people with mobility problems.
Some reminders:
Readers and Intercessors meeting, Sunday October 14, 11:45 in the side chapel. This meeting is for anyone who is interested in these ministries and our current members. Please join us for a short demo of how to work with the mic and to discuss any concerns or questions you might have.
Journées de la culture, open house for the city, September 28 – 30. A stop press additional attraction – On Friday Patrick has offered to give his popular demonstration of how the organ works. Watch out for more details about the time of the presentation. Other events were described last week and are on the poster shown here.
Ordination, Sunday September 30 at 4 pm when Bishop Mary will ordain Tania Lesack, Joel Amis and Jhon Steeker Saint-Claire. A reception will follow. Because of the ordination, there will not be a 12:45 service. The 10 am service will be bi-lingual with the Bishop presiding and the Dean preaching. [NOTE Ann Elbourne will receive the Bishop’s Award at this service! –VL] There will be elevenses on the forecourt after the service – tea and scones!!
Music galore. It took Nicholas Capozzoli, our interim Music Co-Director, amongst his other duties, all of the famously steamy summer of 2018 to create a searchable catalogue of the Cathedral’s music collection! You can see photos of part of the trove here. “If we were to sing through our entire collection of mass settings (212) without a repeat each Sunday, it would take us more than four years,” choir member Yevgeniya Amis told the congregation on Sunday, “and if we decided to go through the entire collection of anthems (1,102), we wouldn’t start repeating any until 2040!!!”
Happy listening and happy singing!
Ann Elbourne
PS And if you want to join the choir see this poster/ or if you want to spread the word about our choir and invite others to join, take a poster from the top of the piano to display in a spot in your neighbourhood!
To receive this Newsletter earlier by email, and with it, additions like the Forum agenda, financial updates, minutes and reports, posters, photos, etc., simply send your coordinates to the Cathedral office… the failsafe method is to email both Newsletter author and parish volunteer Ann Elbourne cath_communication@bellnet.ca and Parish Administrator Elizabeth Shama cathedral.administrator@montrealcathedral.ca.
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