Every Sunday of the year is a feast of our Lord Jesus Christ!
10 am Holy Eucharist is a Communion Service celebrated according to The Book of Common Prayer. The Book of Common Prayer is the official Prayerbook of the Episcopal Church. We celebrate the Holy Eucharist, the Mass, according to Rite One, with traditional language, or Rite Two, with more contemporary language. In the course of the Church year, we utilize both Rites and all six Eucharistic Prayers in our canon.
Guide to Holy Week and the Easter Season 2023
Ash Wednesday February 22nd, 2023 12pm & 6pm St. Paul’s Church. On this day we begin the Season of Lent, this is a time where we reflect, repent and prepare for Holy Week and Easter. We will gather the night before, Tue Feb 21st at St. Paul’s Hall for a Pancake supper on Shrove Tuesday!
Holy Week is the final week of Lent and begins with Palm Sunday
The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday
April 2nd, 2023 10 am at St. Mary’s Chapel
This begins with Gospel reading and the blessing of palm branches and a procession by the congregation, which can take place either outside or in the church. The procession recalls how the crowd acclaimed our Lord Jesus when he arrived in Jerusalem shortly before his Passion. The Liturgy of the Word on this day includes one of the Gospel accounts of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Passion is performed and parts read by many of our members reading the different parts including Jesus, Peter, Pontus Pilate and Mary Magdelyn. The rest of the congregation plays the role of the crowd that calls for Jesus to be crucified. The service concludes with the Holy Eucharist.
Holy Thursday
April 6th, 6pm 2023 at St. Paul’s Church
On this night that Jesus at the Last Supper gave his disciples the new commandment to love one another, as he has loved them. As his time has come and he will soon face his Passion, he establishes the Holy Eucharist. The Maundy, the Holy Thursday liturgy, includes the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. At the end of the service, the Blessed Sacrament of Holy Communion is carried reverently to an altar of repose at the rear of the Church were some flowers remain representing the Garden of Gethseneme. Nearly everything is stripped from the high altar and the church, preparing it for Good Friday. This stripping, together with the service as a whole, identifies Maundy Thursday as the first service in the Holy Triduum, the three days of the Paschal mystery. It is followed by Good Friday, the day Jesus died for our sins.
Good Friday
April 7th 6pm at St. Paul’s Church
The Good Friday service centers on the reading of the Passion account from John’s Gospel. John’s Gospel is quite different from the three Synoptic. Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. According to John’s Gospel, following Jesus and believing his words is to receive the living water of faith, and to experience eternal life, here in this life, and to be transformed by following Jesus. After the Passion Gospel, there are prayers and Holy Communion is given from the reserved sacrament. There is no celebration of the Holy Eucharist, no Mass on either Good Friday or Holy Saturday as this is the time our Lord Jesus laid in the tomb, after his Passion.
Holy Saturday
April 8th, 2023 at St. Paul’s Church
After the Good Friday service, the church still appears as it after the stripping of the Altar on Maundy Thursday. The Holy Saturday day is solemn as Jesus remains in the tomb on this day. After this the Church is cleaned and prepared for the Great Vigil of Easter and Easter Sunday.
Easter Services
The Great Vigil of Easter
April 8th 2023 6pm at St. Paul’s Church
The Great Vigil of Easter is the final service of the Holy Triduum and links Holy Thursday and Good Friday with the Paschal mystery of Easter. On this night, the early Church welcomed new members, after a long period of preparation, into the Body of Christ, through Holy Baptism.
It begins with the lighting of the Paschal candle, the Liturgy of the Word, The Renewal of Baptismal Vows, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the first Mass of Easter.
The Easter Vigil starts in the evening and includes the lighting of the Paschal candle and the singing of the Exsultet, an ancient hymn celebrating Christ’s triumph over death. The Liturgy of the Word features a series of Old Testament readings charting the divine story of God’s people. The Renewal of Baptismal Vows involves committing ourselves anew to the Christian faith based on our Baptism in Christ’s death and resurrection. The service ends with the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the first Mass of Easter. Here we receive the Body and Blood of the Risen Jesus Christ, Soul and Divinity. We are called to share this gift and by doing so we participate fully in the Paschal mystery of Easter, simply by sharing the light and love of Jesus with all people.
The Sunday of the Resurrection: Easter Day
April 9th, 2023 10 am at St. Paul’s Church & 12pm Noonday Prayer online via Zoom
This Easter Day Eucharist reflects our usual Sunday celebration because every Sunday is a Resurrection celebration. The church is richly decorated, special music is sung, and afterward children hunt for Easter eggs, signs of the new life which is ours in Christ.
- The Great Fifty Days of Easter
Sundays April 9th through May 28th. Our service is at 9 am at St. Paul’s Church starting May 14th.
Easter is not only one day, but an entire season. This season is to the year what Sunday is to the week: a celebration of Christ’s resurrection and our own. In addition to weekdays, the Easter Season includes Easter Eve, Easter Day, the Second through Seventh Sundays of Easter, Ascension Day and the Day of Pentecost.
Ascension Day
May 18th, 2023 12pm Noonday Prayer online and 6 pm at St. Paul’s Church followed by a Pot Luck Dinner at St. Paul’s Hall-Annex
One of the principal feasts of the Church, Ascension Day recalls how the resurrected Jesus was taken in great triumph to heaven. It is the fortieth day of the Easter Season and always falls on a Thursday.
The Day of Pentecost
May 28th, 2023 9 am at St. Paul’s Church
The Easter season ends with Pentecost, which celebrates the gifts of the Holy Spirit showered on the people of God. Jesus sends the Holy Spirit, the Advocate of John’s Gospel, to guide the Church, his Beloved community. The feast of Pentecost is one of the four Baptismal dates in the church year.
Save the Date-Tue Feb 21st, 2023 Pancake Supper 5pm $12. Adults $5 Children Sit down pancake supper, with take out available, your choice! Please come celebrate Shrove Tuesday, the last day of Mardi Gras before Lent begins!
Save the Date-St. Paul’s Barbacue Chicken Dinner & Flea market Fundraiser-Sat June 24th, 2023-$15. Chicken Dinners to go from 11:00am until we sell out! Please stop by and pick up a take-away dinner.
The Season after Pentecost-Summer/Fall 2023
Beginning on Sunday June 26th our Sunday 9 am Holy Eucharist-Communion Service will be held at St. Mary’s Chapel in Aquasco for the Summer and fall. Please join us! We will return to St. Paul’s for the 2nd Sunday of Christmas Dec 31st.
Christmas Eve Sun December 24th, 2023 6pm Communion Service at St. Mary’s Chapel in Aquasco.
Christmas Day Monday December 25th online service via Zoom.
Location for services subject to change due to the ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic. Please check back and see our homepage for updates.