Day 37: Worship

As I went inside on Sunday evening, I noticed the cool shadows the porch light was making on this wooden cross (a gift from my friend Noko) that hangs next to our front door. It seems a fitting photo for a Sunday.... :)

Day 20: Reminder

In last Sunday's sermon at Alpine Anglican Church of the Blessed Trinity (which I receive via e-mail), Father Acker reminded us of this Collect and asked us to copy it down and put it somewhere we would see it regularly. So I copied it and taped it to my desk lamp...a much-needed reminder that God leads and guides us in what is right and true in our relationships with Him and with others.

(And don't ya love my little bust of Shakespeare? I bought it last fall at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre gift shop....)

The Tenth Day of Christmas at Alpine Anglican Church of the Blessed Trinity

The Free Teen Guitar Class plays at Blessed Trinity

The Free Teen Guitar Class worships at Blessed Trinity (J is 2nd from left)

Saints Philip and James, Apostles

On Friday we celebrated two Apostles, Philip and James, who were part of the Twelve. Rather than the celebratory white/cream and gold that is usually worn during Eastertide, Father Acker's vestments were red, remembering the martyrdom of these two faithful Apostles.

B helps Father Acker tidy up after Communion.

Father finishes cleaning the chalice and starts a Prayer of Thanksgiving after Communion.

Holy Saturday Vigil

Icon of Jesus storming hell, conquering death


Father Acker and B, at Holy Saturday Vigil

Good Friday Ecumenical Stations of the Cross

At noon on Good Friday, the Alpine Christian Ministerial Association hosts a Biblical Way of the Cross. Several churches, Catholic and Protestant, over 100 people in all, joined together to walk the fourteen Stations of the Cross, listening to a Scripture passage and then singing a related verse of "Were You There" as we slowly walked to the next Station. Father Acker and his Free Teen Guitar Class (including J) accompanied the singing. It was a quietly meditative way of pondering Christ's suffering and death for us all, a truly valuable way to spend Good Friday. More about the day will be posted on my other blog, Meditative Meanderings.

Father Acker reads the Scripture at the First Station, Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives.

The Fourteenth and last Station: Jesus is Buried. J and Father Acker, along with the other Free Teen Guitar Class, accompany the final verse, "Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?"

Day 85: Anglican Service

One of my favorite parts of liturgical worship is icons. Eastern Orthodox Christians, and to a lesser extent Roman and Anglo Catholics, view icons as "windows to heaven." On the most basic level they provide a reminder to us of an incident in biblical or church history and were very important in earlier times when very few Christians were literate. Icons were like Bible stories to many early and medieval believers, recalling a certain story to mind as one looked at the icon.

Eastern Christians pray before, or in their words, "through" icons. I love learning about how icons are written (not painted), with the black and dark colors going on first, then finishing with the light colors, especially white and gold, reminding us that Christ brought the Light of His salvation to a dark world.

This icon hangs on the wall of Victoria House, the parsonage of Alpine Anglican, in the dining area where we worship during the colder months, during Lent, and on special holy days. The Annunciation is depicted here, which is timely as this biblical event is celebrated by the church on March 25 (T's birthday this week), nine months before Christmas. I can sit before an icon for a very long time: praying, admiring the skill and colors, meditating on the event and/or people portrayed in the icon. I have two small ones of my own that hang above my prayer corner next to my bed.