Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity

Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

News of the Order and commentary appear after the Proper Collect, Epistle and Gospel

O GOD, our refuge and strength, who art the author of all godliness; Be ready, we beseech thee, to hear the devout prayers of thy Church; and grant that those things which we ask faithfully we may obtain effectually; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: Bishop Gregory of Rome [604 AD] Compare Psalm 46 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help [Barbee and Zahl]. The petition reminds one of Jesus' promise, 21:22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Ecclesiates i., Philippians iii. 17, Psalm cxxvii,  &  St. Matthew xxii. 15
Homily of Augustine on Psalm CXXVII

 

WEEKLY BULLETIN

 

quotation

" O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold, Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old, And win with them the victor's crown of gold. Alleluia, Alleluia!

[Wm. How -- For All the Saints 1864]

calendar

click on the calendar link to see details

Alfred, King & Warrior - October 26th

Demetrius of Thessolonica - October 26th [Maximian 286-305]

In Hoc Signo Vinces & Saxa Ruba - October 27th

Simon and Jude, Apostles -- October 28th

Fidelis, Exantus, and Carpophorus - October 28th

Marcellus, Centurion - October 30th

Gaianus, Centurion of the Armageddon Chapel - October 31 [ca 225]

All Saints -- November 1st

Joannicus, Legionary, Religious Member, November 4th

 

news

bidding

Bid your prayers for the Christians who suffer persecution in the Orissa Kandhamal district of India in recent months. 

NEWS STORY HERE http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7689215.stm

commentary

 

This Saturday, 1 November, is recognized by many as All Saints Day. The Ancient Church recognized the departed saints frequently in their litanies. When persecuted, the Christians of Rome would often gather in the catacombs and celebrate Communion in the presence of the remains of the brothers who "slept" there. Even today, Altars are built over the remains of a favored saint, or a relic is embedded in the Altar stone, or in a relic cloth placed upon it for the Great Thanksgiving. The quotation above is from the English hymn, For All the Saints. Note the Alleluias (Praise the Lord) at each stanza. We praise and worship God and not the creature, and remember that All Christians are saints. I much appreciate the following old bidding and commend it for prayer on All Saints Day:

 

Ye shall yield unto God most high praise and hearty thanks for the wonderful grace and virtue declared in all his saints, who have been the choice vessels of his grace and the lights of the world in their several generations; and pray unto God, that we may have grace to direct our lives after their good examples; that, this life ended, we may be made partakers with them of the glorious resurrection, and the life everlasting.

[1928 BCP]

 

Augustine's homily today is on Psalm CXXVII. This is another Song of Degrees, and this is the only one titled "Solomon" I think it was scribed by Solomon because of its similarity to his Ecclesiastes (see the lesson one and the similarity in the theme of vanity with the psalm). Augustine wrote:

The Lord, therefore, buildeth the house, the Lord Jesus Christ buildeth His own house. Many toil in building: but, except He build, "their labour is but lost that build it." Who are they who toil in building it? All who preach the word of God in the Church, the ministers of God's mysteries. We are all running, we are all toiling, we are all building now; and before us others have run, toiled, and built: but "except the Lord build, their labour is but lost." Thus the Apostles seeing some fall bewailed these men, in that they had laboured in vain for them. [5516] We, therefore, speak without, He buildeth within. We can observe with what attention ye hear us; He alone who knoweth your thoughts, knoweth what ye think. He Himself buildeth, He Himself admonisheth, He Himself openeth the understanding, He Himself kindleth your understanding unto faith; nevertheless, we also toil like workmen; but, "except the Lord build," etc.

 

Those who ignore the standard of Holy Scripture and its meaning, as has been recognized by orthodox-catholic Christians since the beginning, and teach a "new thing" that compromises Christian standards to conform to secular social trends, do fool themselves and their cures. They build in vain. Their message is vain, and those who follow them do so in vain. All is vanity, and will blow away like chaff. However, those whose ministry is built on the Word of God, who place Christ first in all things, do build on a sound foundation; and those who follow them shall know the Salvation of Christ.

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever

[Is 40:8]

Finis