Season of Easter

The Sunday of the Resurrection	April 16	Easter Day, the Sunday of the Resurrection of Our Lord.
St Anselm of Canterbury Monk, Archbishop, Theologian	April 21	Anselm was an Archbishop of Canterbury, who died in 1109 and is considered the most important Christian theologian in the West between Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. For a full account, click here.
(St George)	April 23	St. George has been removed from the official Episcopal calendar, for the excellent reason that it is doubtful that he ever existed. I would never dispute the experts on such a thing, and it is probably quite a while since anyone has believed literally in the dragon part, anyway. But, a) This is a highly unofficial calendar, and b) We need him to explain certain things. Even if he didn't exist physically, he existed in folklore for a very long time, long enough to become patron saint of England, as well as several other places. His red cross , still sometimes used alone as a flag of England, has been incorporated into the Union Jack, along with those of St Andrew (Scotland) and St Patrick (Ireland). Moreover, and perhaps more to the point here, the red cross on the Episcopal Shield is also the Cross of St George. Anyway, St. George and the Dragon is a good story, much beloved of small boys, and there is probably no harm in this though one should try to make it clear that it is just a story.
St. Mark the Evangelist	April 25	Author of the Second Gospel; for a full account, click here.
St. Catherine of Sienna Reformer, Teacher	April 29	A 13th century Italian; she is the first woman to be declared a Doctor of the Church. Our own Peach McDouall has provided a brief account of her, which is given below. For a fuller account, click here.
St. Phillip and St. James Apostles	May 1	Click here for a full account, of both, and also a very interesting sorting out of the several, or many, Jameses in the Bible.
Dame Julian of Norwich Contemplative	May 8	Dame Julian has been omitted from the calendar this year for some reason, probably because her day is a Sunday which is the Sunday after the Ascension, and not only that, it is Mother's Day. Nevertheless as I have said elsewhere this is a very unofficial calendar and she is interesting so I am leaving her in. Those who have been to the St. Luke's summer parish retreat at Trinity Center will be familiar with Dame Julian, because the chapel there is dedicated to her. Comments on her by St. Luke's own Peach McDouall are below. For a full account, click here.
(Mother's Day)	May 14	Not an official church holiday, just put it here to remind people.
Ascension Day	May 25	"He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God." This commemorates the Ascension of Christ into heaven, as recounted in St. Luke 24:49-53 and St. Mark 16: 9-20
Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop and Missionary	May 26	Instrumental in the establishment of Christianity in England, Augustine was the first Archbishop of Canterbury, consecrated in the year 601. This is the English St. Augustine and should not be confused with the better-known St. Augustine of Hippo, author of The City of God. For full details on Augustine of Canterbury, click here.
The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary	May 31	Commemorates the occasion of the visit of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, see St. Luke 1:39-56. Elizabeth says "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." And Mary responds with the song that we call the Magnificat "My soul doth magnify the Lord." For a fuller account, click here.
St Justin, Martyr	June 1	Justin was a second-century philosopher who died about 167 AD. Several of his works have survived. For a full account of him, click here.
Martyrs of Lyons	June 2	Their history is given here; for an account by St. Luke's own Peach McDouall, see below (scroll down)

Our Easter Collection (to be expanded...)

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

by the Rev. Joshua Varner

Easter Story Cookies - for kids

by Audrey Nickel

Musings on the Ascension

by Audrey Nickel

God's Easter Love, A Sermon

by the Rev. Michael S. White

Easter to Pentecost

by the Rev. Michael S. White

Life of the Saints
Catherine of Siena (April 29), Dominican Tertiary, Doctor of the Church

    This fourteenth-century saint was named a Doctor of the Church in 1970, the first woman so honored. Most 'Doctores Ecclesia' are intellectuals - giants such as Augustine and Aquinas, writers of seminal works of theology. Catherine, the twenty-third child of a merchant family, was more famous for her ascetic devotion to Christ than for any treatise. She did, however, write a great many letters - almost 400 are still extant - corresponding not only with friends and family but with princes, kings, and the Pope. These letters, like her one devotional work, 'The Dialogue', reveal a persuasive style that was Catherine's most acclaimed charisma. Contemporaries sang the praises of her sweet discourse, unsurprised even when this woman of modest lineage charmed the Pope himself back from Avignon to Rome.
     The word 'persuasion' literally means, 'by sweetening'. The source of Catherine's irresistible charm in debates was, by all accounts, her visionary, devoted love for Christ. Enraptured by the Lord as a youth, Catherine had only to point toward her own ever-deepening vision of Christ's sweet worthiness and the supreme beauty of His loving holiness, and opposition melted. Nourished spiritually by daunting ascetic practice, Catherine gave every fiber of her being to 'worshiping the Lord in the beauty of holiness'. Her example encouraged others to do the same.
    Whether as evangelists in our daily life and work, or as writers of letters to editors, representatives, and bishops, let us pray for grace to hold fast to Catherine's teaching - living into, and revealing, Christ's irresistible sweetness.
               - Peach McDouall

Julian of Norwich (May 8), Anchoress (14th -15th c.)

   An anonymous woman, liturgically ‘entombed’ in a small enclosure abutting
the church of St. Julian in Norwich, England. She spends most hours of the day and night praying and meditating, receiving Eucharist through a
curtained window in the church. Through another window, she receives visitors and passers-by seeking advice. She bore a book as fruit - the first by a woman ever to be published in English. She admonishes us throughout it not to consider her, the writer, but only to rejoice in God’s
revelation for the blessing of her fellow Christians.
   The sixteen ‘showings’ this woman was given during a near-death experience in 1373 were images of the Passion of Christ. She spent the last half of her life meditating on what she’d been taught. The imagery in her book
surpasses Mel Gibson’s uncut version in graphic brutality, but the central message woven through every aspect of Christ’s suffering is incomprehensible Love. Love raises Christ to the Father’s right hand… and
mercifully draws us with Him.
   There are books aplenty full of devout ‘revelation’ these days. It’s risky business choosing which version of God’s latest news we want to trust our souls to. But there’s something about Julian’s ‘voice’ and the goodness of her News that convinces me. I read not just her words, but her life, and they all point me toward Love. Of the Trinity, our Gracious Lord Christ, the Church, and all people. And toward Humility, a quality little-displayed by most modern trumpets of God’s will.
                  Peach McDouall

Martyrs of Lyons, 2 June, 177 A.D.

    A small community of immigrants gathered around a missionary church in second-century France. They looked different. They spoke foreign languages. They kept mostly to themselves, inviting others in but not much for going out and mingling. They had secrets and odd practices. How easy they were for the native Roman-Lyonnaise population to distrust! How human it is to distrust incomprehensible, odd-looking strangers!
    When the Roman government’s policy toward the potentially subversive and destabilizing Jesus Movement took a new turn toward forceful repression, this group of Christian immigrants bore their neighbors’ growing antipathy without complaint. First, they were socially excluded; Roman homes, public baths, and marketplaces were closed to them. In this atmosphere of exclusion, violence against the Christians flourished. Insults became thrown rocks, then vandalized and burned homes. Within a year, the Christians were hauled forcibly into public places for agonizing ‘questioning’ about rumored practices of incest, cannibalism, and sexual perversion. The rumors were fueled by statements made under torture, but the source didn’t seem to matter if it offered an excuse to condemn and punish what any Good Roman Citizen despised to begin with.
    The martyrs of Lyons included a deacon, a recent convert, and a slave woman named Blandina, whose poise and perseverance under excruciating torture became legendary. She deserves a more fitting name, but I suspect what she’d prefer is for Christians to reflect on her story - which is our story - before we succumb to suspecting, slandering, imprisoning, and torturing ‘outsiders’ who look or act ‘different’.
   by Lezley (Peach) McDouall