Ely Diocesan Prayers

Ely Team Ministry:  Stuntney Holy Cross
Rector:    Alan Hulme
Vicars:    Margaret Harper; Margaret Talbot
NSMs:    Jane Hulme; Mike Hughes
LLMs:    Judy Kerridge; Piers Coutts;
        David Noble; John Dickinson
ALMs:    Christine Laughton; Sarah Lorden
Chennai (Form. Madras) (South India) – The Rt Revd V Devasahayam

Filed under: Prayer Cycle

Catherine of Siena

Catherine Benincasa was born in 1347, one of twenty-five children. She became a Dominican tertiary combining contemplative prayer and mystical experience with active care for the poor and sick.

She also had a suprisingly effective political role, acting as became increasingly sought out as an ambassador and adviser to the pope and influencing his decision to return to Rome from Avignon, and helping the Italian states live in peace.  She died on this day in the year 1380. She was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1970. She is one of the two patron saints of Italy, together with Francis of Assisi.

 

Collect

God of compassion,
who gave your servant Catherine of Siena
a wondrous love of the passion of Christ:
grant that your people
   may be united to him in his majesty
and rejoice for ever in the revelation of his glory;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Note: with Catherine I complete my year of Celebrating the Saints. If I have time at some point I will create an index page for the entries, but for now please use the search box as a shortcut to find a saint you are looking for.

Filed under: Celebrating the Saints

Ely Diocesan Prayers

Ely Team Ministry:  Stretham St James
Rector:    Alan Hulme
Vicars:    Margaret Harper; Margaret Talbot
NSMs:    Jane Hulme; Mike Hughes
LLMs:    Judy Kerridge; Piers Coutts;
        David Noble; John Dickinson
ALMs:    Christine Laughton; Sarah Lorden
Chelmsford – The Rt Revd John Gladwin ; Chelmsford – Barking – The Rt Revd David Hawkins ; Chelmsford – Bradwell – The Rt Revd Laurie Alexander Green ; Chelmsford – Colchester – The Rt Revd Christopher Heudebourck Morgan

Filed under: Prayer Cycle

Peter Chanel, Missionary in the South Pacific

Peter Chanel was born in France in 1803 and became a Marist missionary in 1831, leaving in 1836 for the islands of the South Pacific. His mission took medicines as well as the gospel and was much loved and respected. On the island of Futuna in the Fiji group, however,  the chief’s son asked for baptism, which so infuriated his father that he ordered his murder, and he died on this day in the year 1841. The blood of the martyr proved the seed of the church and within a year the whole island was Christian and Peter became revered throughout the Pacific Islands and Australasia as its protomartyr.

Filed under: Celebrating the Saints

Ely Diocesan Prayers

Ely Team Ministry:  Little Thetford St George
Rector:    Alan Hulme
Vicars:    Margaret Harper; Margaret Talbot
NSMs:    Jane Hulme; Mike Hughes
LLMs:    Judy Kerridge; Piers Coutts;
        David Noble; John Dickinson
ALMs:    Christine Laughton; Sarah Lorden
Little Thetford Church of England Primary School
Chandigarh (North India) – The Rt Revd Joel Vidyasagar Mal 

Filed under: Prayer Cycle

Christina Rossetti, Poet

Image via Wikipedia

Christina Rossetti was born in 1830 and was associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Her brother, Dante, was a prominent member of the PRB, and her elder sister became an Anglican Religious. Her own poetry deals mainly with religious subjects but also the sadness of unrequited or disappointed love. She died on this day in the year 1894.

In the bleak midwinter

Frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron,

Water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow,

Snow on snow,

In the bleak midwinter,

Long ago.

 

Our God, heaven cannot hold him,

Nor earth sustain;

Heaven and earth shall flee away

When he comes to reign;

In the bleak midwinter

A stable place sufficed

The Lord God incarnate,

Jesus Christ.

Enough for him, whom Cherubim

Worship night and day

A breast full of milk

And a manger full of hay.

Enough for him, whom angels

Fall down before,

The ox and ass and camel

which adore.

 

Angels and archangels

May have gathered there,

Cherubim and seraphim

Thronged the air;

But his mother only,

In her maiden bliss,

Worshipped the Beloved

With a kiss.

What can I give him,

Poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd

I would bring a lamb,

If I were a wise man

I would do my part,

Yet what I can I give Him —

Give my heart.

When I am dead my dearest, sing no sad song for me,

Plant thou no roses at my head, nor shady cypress tree.

See the green grass above me with showers and dewdrops wet,

And if thou wilt, remember, and if thou wilt, forget.

I shall not see the shadows, I shall not feel the rain,

I shall not hear the nightingale sing on as if in pain.

And dreaming throughout the twilight that doth not rise nor set,

Hap’ly will remember, and happily will forget".

Filed under: Celebrating the Saints

Ely Diocesan Prayers

Ely Team Ministry:  Chettisham St Michael and All Angels and Ely St Peter
Rector:    Alan Hulme
Vicars:    Margaret Harper; Margaret Talbot
NSMs:    Jane Hulme; Mike Hughes
LLMs:    Judy Kerridge; Piers Coutts;
        David Noble; John Dickinson
ALMs:    Christine Laughton; Sarah Lorden
Give thanks for the appointment of Revd Margaret Talbot as Team Vicar for Chettisham who was licensed of 17 December 2009.  Pray for clear vision for the future.
Central Zimbabwe (Central Africa) – The Rt Revd Ishmael Mukuwanda

Filed under: Prayer Cycle

Ely Diocesan Prayers

Ely Team Ministry:  Ely St Mary
Rector:    Alan Hulme
Vicars:    Margaret Harper; Margaret Talbot
NSMs:    Jane Hulme; Mike Hughes
LLMs:    Judy Kerridge; Piers Coutts;
        David Noble; John Dickinson
ALMs:    Christine Laughton; Sarah Lorden
Thanksgiving: for the institution of 2 new services (9am traditional and 10.30 contemporary);  for the developing youth ministry; for the birthing of new discipleship groups.  Intercession: for deepening our relationship with the Lord and with one another; for equipping for mission.
St Mark (Trans)
St Mary’s Church of England Junior School
Central Zambia (Central Africa) – The Rt Revd Derek Kamukwamba

Filed under: Prayer Cycle

Mark the Evangelist

• Associated with John Mark of the New Testament
• Jewish by birth
• His mother was a prominent member of the earliest group of Christians in Jerusalem
• Cousin to Barnabas
• Accompanied Barnabas and Paul on their first missionary journey.
• Then went to Cyprus with Barnabas (after a dispute with Paul)
• And to Rome with first Paul and then Peter.
• His gospel is generally regarded as the earliest
• A strong theory is that it was written in Rome
• And based as much on Peter’s preaching and memories
• Traditionally said to be the man who carried water to the house where the Last Supper took place
• And also the young man who ran away naked when Jesus was arrested
• And traveled to Alexandria and formed what is now known as the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Collect

Almighty God,
who enlightened your holy Church
through the inspired witness
   of your evangelist Saint Mark:
grant that we, being firmly grounded
   in the truth of the gospel,
may be faithful to its teaching both in word and deed;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Filed under: Celebrating the Saints

Ely Diocesan Prayers

April 25 – May 1    Deanery of Ely

Rural Dean:    Revd Peter Taylor    Easter 4
Lay Chairman:    Mr Robert Skelton    Västeräs, Church of Sweden

Vocations Sunday
For the Diocesan Council for Mission and Ministry and the Evangelism Advisor and for renewal of our Churches both in worship and outreach.
PRAY for The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and The Middle East The Most Revd Dr Mouneer Hanna Anis President Bishop, Jerusalem & the Middle East & Bishop in Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa

Filed under: Prayer Cycle