Selected Wednesday evenings, Sept. 17 - Dec. 17 | 7:30 PM | St. Mary's Chapel -
In the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, finding moments of quiet reflection and spiritual connection can feel like a challenge. St. John's Exploring Spirituality Ministry is delighted to continue offering a ley-led opportunity for parishioners and the wider community to pause, breathe, and seek God's presence through short presentations on topics relevant to our prayer lives, time for quiet meditation, and closing with a Compline service. As Sari reminded us in sermons earlier this year, carving out time to hear God speaking to us is a vital practice often lost in the busyness of life. These Wednesday evening services are offered to provide a setting that fosters prayer, meditation, and the possibility of deeper spiritual connection.
All programming will be held in the quiet, candle-lit space of St. Mary's Chapel, on selected Wednesdays, starting at 7:30 pm. Spoken Compline will be offered on September 17, October 1 and 15, and November 5 and 19; sung Compline will be offered three Wednesdays in Advent: December 3, 10, and 17.
Explore Timely Observances from the Episcopal Church’s Book of Lesser Feasts and Fasts
Each session will include a brief presentation that focuses on topics relevant to our prayer lives and highlights a saint who is commemorated by a proximal Episcopal lesser feast or fast.
Starting in 1950, The Episcopal Church, as part of its process for amending the Book of Common Prayer, started to explore the need for a more expansive calendar of saints and other commemorations, consistent with the traditions of the fuller Anglican Communion. The product of that work, first in 1964 and updated most recently in 2024, is the Episcopal Church’s Lesser Feasts and Fasts. It is an official liturgical resource from the Episcopal Church that supplements the Book of Common Prayer by providing specific prayers, readings, and biographies for numerous saints and occasions that are not major feasts. This is a spiritually and historically rich tradition, and we will be using it to briefly discuss commemorations of saints and events associated with dates proximal to our Compline services:
- Sept. 17: Hildegard of Bingen
- Oct. 1: Francis of Assisi
- Oct. 15: Teresa of Avila
- Nov. 5: Richard Hooker
- Nov. 19: Queen Margaret of Scotland
- Dec. 3: Francis Xavier
- Dec. 10: Jane de Chantal
- Dec. 17: John of the Cross
Please download this flyer for the schedule and short descriptions of the saints and commemorations that will be discussed.
Questions?
Complete this form to connect with parishioners Cindy Anderson and Tom Hebert.