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The New Year 2006
-- We are in the process of updating our website, please check back frequently --
Schedule for week of January 1st
The New Year 2006 -- We are in the process of updating our website, please check back frequently -- Schedule for week of January 1st
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The Parish Messenger March 1999
This one simple word stands at the head all the publications of the Society of King Charles the Martyr. "Remember." Memory seems a commodity in short supply these days. Everywhere I go, I hear people saying that they have a difficult time remembering things. I find myself often in the same boat. It used to be I would go downstairs and wonder what I had gone down for. Now, when I find myself downstairs, I wonder whether I’m heading down or going up. Memory is an important part of our lives as human beings. Without it we have no sense of who we are, of where we’ve been, of what we’ve done. Without it we would have to repeat tasks over and over. Without it we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes. We are called here this morning to remember. We need to ask ourselves what it is we are to remember. Is it the life, death and witness of a King who lived many years separated from us? Is it the succession of men who stand in the footprints of the Apostles - a line which gives us legitimacy, definition, tradition, history? These things sound so far removed from us, so academic, so lifeless. Are we only here to eulogize, to "museumize," to spend a few moments among dusty subjects only to return to our daily tasks no better for the time spent here? Without memory this would be the case. We would simply be dusting off the dry bones of history merely to put them back on the shelf until the next time they are toted out. But the remembering that we do is not about the past - it is about the present and the future. The very word, "remember," has its roots in action. "Remember" is a verb in the active case. It has to do with putting together again - with re-gathering that which has been separated, spread apart and putting it back into a unified whole. This ability to "re-member" is what’s missing in persons with memory disorders. They recall disassociated bits and pieces, but are not able to put them back into a unified whole. When we remember, we gather together scattered fragments into a once again living entity - much like the dry bones in Ezekiel’s vision are clothed anew in muscle and flesh. What then would Charles have us remember? The January snow reddened by martyr’s blood? The sight of a king marching resolutely to the block? We are riveted by the sight of a king being led to the gallows. Charles would have us look to a different king being led to the gallows - the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, hung upon the Saving Tree. It is for this King that Charles gave his life. It is this King that he would have us remember. It is this King whose subjects we are and to whom we owe the allegiance of our lives in faithful service. At the heart of the matter, Charles didn’t give his life for stale formulas or lifeless doctrines. He gave his life in obedience to his Lord and Master. Listen to the words he wrote to his son from his prison cell. "With God, I would have you begin and end, who is the King of Kings … the true glory of princes consists in advancing God’s glory." In a few moments we will sing a hymn that was unknown to Charles, but with whose sentiments he would heartily agree. It speaks of vowing service to country - of remembering who we are and what our duties are as an earthly community. But it goes beyond that to remind us of the greater Kingdom of which we are citizens - the Kingdom for which Charles truly gave his all. It is about "another country we’ve heard of long ago." It is about a Kingdom which we are called to remember - "remember" in the sense of calling to mind and "remember" in the sense of putting back together. Her fortress is a faithful heart - her pride is suffering. It is the Kingdom for which Charles shed his blood, as Her King had done for Her centuries before. It is this Kingdom to which we are called to become living stones. It is about the Kingdom of Heaven - and about Her Lord and Master, Christ Crucified. It is to this Kingdom, and Her glorious Lord, that we are called by Charles, and by countless numbers of the martyr’s host, to be thankful, to be faithful, and to remember. + -Sermon preached on February 6th, 1999, The Rev. Fr. Robert Scheiblhofer, Rector of St. Barnabas Church
Why are the statues veiled in purple? For many years, it was customary to veil the statues of the
Church on Passion Sunday, that Sunday previous to Palm Sunday. The liturgical
changes combined these two Sundays (as is evidenced by the Prayer Book title, "The
Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday"). As originally ordered, the statues
were veiled for a two week period. When the Sundays were combined, most places gave
up veiling the statues - it is a lot of work to undertake for one week. At St. B's we veil
the statues at the beginning of Lent. There were several original purposes for the
veiling of the statues. First, veiling the statues and religious images removes all
distractions that keep us from focusing on the message of Lent - repentance and solemn
preparation for the Paschal Feast. Second, the veiling symbolizes an inward drawing
which is characteristic of this season - a focus on the interior life of the soul to
assess its health and vitality. Third, it announces, without doubt, that this is a
different season of the Church's year; a season with its own "feel," its own
character, its own important message. Lastly, it is a sign of penitence - the saints
themselves being draped in the color of fasting and shriving. It is beneficial to us
to be reminded of all these things in such a concrete and striking fashion throughout the
entire Lenten season. March 14 IV Lent March 21 V Lent March 25 The Annunciation March 28 Palm Sunday |
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