All Souls Weekly                 
Volume 3, Number 27, June 6, 2010

SUMMER PRAYERS

Whether you’re packing for a weekend away, a business trip, or a full vacation, don’t forget to take along a Prayer Book. If you don’t have your own Book of Common Prayer this might be a good time for you to get one. You might visit the bookstore at the National Cathedral and look over some of the selections. If you live in Virginia you could go to the Cokesbury Bookstore at Virginia Theological Seminary. Or you can simply look at the various selections at www.churchpublishing.org/. One can still buy a 1928 Prayer Book, but the current Prayer Book of the Episcopal Church (the edition we have in our church pews) is referred to as the 1979 Prayer Book.

Prayer Books differ in their bindings and in their size.  There is a combination Prayer Book/Hymnal version and a combination Prayer Book/Bible edition.  The Prayer Book Office is a two-volume set of books that contains the regular services of Morning, Noonday, and Evening Prayer, as well as Compline; but also contains the entire Psalter and the scripture readings appointed for each office.  (The word, “office” comes from the Latin, officium divinum meaning “divine service” and refers to the services of prayers and readings that have marked the church day for centuries.)

Some people like to begin their day with Morning Prayer or simply by reading a few of the Psalms.  Others like to end the day by reading Compline. If one notices that a particular day is a feast day, one might want to find the particular prayer for that day and offer it.  This gives a focus to the day and can serve as an intention throughout the day’s events, conversations, and activities.

 
A friend of mine has a Book of Common Prayer that is puffy and swollen, with pages that are difficult to separate.  Her Prayer Book was swept away by a wave last summer and was only retrieved when she dove into the ocean after it.  She continues to keep it because it reminds her of that summer, of that vacation, and of the prayers she offered for herself and for others while she was at the beach.  A Prayer Book can become like a good friend, something that offers a steady point of reference whether one is working at a frenzied pace or relaxing on vacation. The Prayer Book also can remind us of the continual prayers of the Church, that somewhere in the world at every hour, someone is offering prayers for peace, for love, and for God’s presence.  John Beddingfield

Around the Parish . . . Attendance on May 30, Trinity Sunday at the 8:30 a.m. Mass: 23; at the 11 a.m. Mass: 128 . . . Total pledge offerings for the week were $5,989.00 and the plate offering was $1,526.00.

Your prayers are asked for . . . Gene Dunn, Susan Johnson, Jim Wallace, Susan Kornacki, Frasier, MaryJane, Bob and Louise Osborne, Joan Shapiro, Ann Dixon, Lorenzo Martinez, Family of Tom Martin, Hugh Yeomans, Helen Horne, Erling Hansen, Tim Dill, Mona Bauer, Mary Backus, Sandy Jenkins Dixon, I. Kathryn McKewen, Thais Blanchard, Bruce MacDonald, Bob Colborn, Elizabeth McKee, Freddie Cameron, Robert Long, Barb Chaffee, Harriet Martin, Chris Cobb, Landis Vance, Vickie Drell, Stephanie Russell, Ruth & Fred Huber, Jim St. George, Mark Henderson, Martha Holdgate, Chip Meyers, Walter and Sally Jason, Arthur Andrew Warren, Mary Beth McCutcheon, Bryan Powell, Regina Dading, Julia Gutierrez, Ted Field . . . Pray for members of the parish in the foreign service and others who are working overseas, especially Tim Zladitch, Chuck Hunter, Steve Kerchoff, Brad Moore, and Michael Pate . . . Pray also for the members of our Armed Forces on active duty, especially Jack Severson. . . If you wish to participate in our ongoing Internet Prayer Circle please contact Vicki Lowe at lowevg1@verizon.net.

Liturgical Notes . . . Flowers at the High Altar are given to the glory of God and in memory of Teresa and Eduardo Lemus, Sr., given by Eduardo Lemus, Jr. and Lee Kadrich . . . The sanctuary candle burns to the glory of God and in memory of John Ponturo, given by Sydney Ponturo . . . If you would like to dedicate flowers or the sanctuary candle in memory of a loved one, in honor of someone, or in celebration of an event or occasion, please contact the parish office . . . Friday, June 11 is the Feast of St. Barnabas.  This begins our custom of observing major feast days with Matins at 7:15 a.m. and Low Mass at 7:30 a.m.   Please join us and check the parish calendar for other weekday Masses. 

Join us for the Parish Picnic . . . The All Souls parish picnic is today, June 6 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Rock Creek Park, Grove 6.  Maps are available in the church narthex.

All Souls joins in the Washington Early Music Festival . . . On Friday, June 4 at 8 p.m. there will be a concert of French Baroque vocal and instrumental music at All Souls performed by "Orpheus" as part of the 2010 Washington Early Music Festival.  Music includes the "O" Antiphons and Litanies by Charpentier, The Lamentations by Delalande, and Motets by Brossard and Bernier. Performed by Roger Isaacs (countertenor), Philip Cave (tenor), Michael McCarthy (bass) Kevin Payne (theorbo) and Scott Dettra (organ). Tickets at the door $25; Seniors, students and members of All Souls $20. Refreshments included . . . On Saturday, June 5 at All Souls, Philip Cave will lead a workshop on Baroque and Renaissance French choral music. Registration is at 9:30 a.m. and the workshop goes from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Works to be studied include Lully's Miserere and Du Caurroy's Requiem. Further details can be found at www.chorworks.com. The workshop will conclude with an informal concert at 5 p.m. in the church.  All are welcome to attend the free concert.

South Africa Mission Planning Meeting on June 6 . . . Join Marcia Anderson, Father Beddingfield, and others for a meeting to plan a trip to visit the Kwasa Centre in South Africa, probably in October of 2010.  Join us around 1 p.m. in the conference room. A light lunch will be served. 

Bishop Walker School Dedication . . . On Sunday June 6 there will be a dedication service for the opening of the new campus of the Bishop John T. Walker School for Boys.  The dedication service is at 4 p.m., followed by a celebration with music, refreshments, and tours of the new campus at the Church of the Holy Communion, 3640 Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, SE, Washington, DC, 20032.  More information can be found at www. http://www.bishopwalkerschool.org/bws/

Capital Pride Celebration June 12-13 . . . All Souls will join other Episcopal churches in the Capital Pride parade on Saturday, June 12.  The parade celebrates the DC Metro Area Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community, its friends, family, and allies . . . On Sunday, June 13, All Souls will have its own booth at the Festival, held at Freedom Plaza from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. To march in the parade or volunteer for the booth, sign up in the undercroft, or send an e-mail to ErwinSdeLeon@gmail.com