Anno Domini 2025 February 25

Beloved of the Lord:

To-day is Tuesday, 25 February, in the year of our Lord 2025. The scheduled services are as-below:

• Tuesday (today): 6:30 PM, monthly Parish Requiem.
• Wednesday: 12:10 PM, Mass, Feria.
• Thursday: 6:30 PM, Mass, Blessed George Herbert, Priest, followed by Supper and Study.
• Friday: 9:00 AM, Mass, Feria, using the Gregorian Canon.
  Immediately following, Stations of the Cross, and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
• Saturday: 10:00 AM, Holy Communion, S. David, Bishop & Confessor.
• Sunday: 8:30 AM, Deacon's Liturgy, Quinquagesima.
  10:00 AM, Mass, Quinquagesima.

This-coming week-end is the running of the One City Marathon. Of-course, this is run on a Sunday, and traffic is altered on some streets, most notably Warwick Blvd., for our purposes. More precise information may be found at: Newport News News Flash

One week from today will be Shrove Tuesday, and the attendant Pancake Supper. All men of the Parish are encouraged to participate ~ this meal is our duty to prepare. We will need both cooks and dishwashers, though not too many of the latter, as we use disposable dinnerware, leaving mostly the cooking vessels to scrub.

The day after Shrove Tuesday is, of-course, Ash Wednesday. Please make immediate plans to return ANY and ALL blessed palms from Palm Sunday last to the Parish. I will incinerate them, thereby removing the blessing placed-upon them, that they may receive the blessing of Ashes, and be placed-upon us, and worn throughout Ash Wednesday, signifying ourselves as Christians, for all the world to see. Before retiring on Ash Wednesday, wipe the blessed ashes away with a tissue, place them in a plastic or paper bag, and take them to the Parish, so that they may receive proper disposal.

It is my sad duty to report that we've recently discovered that our own Val Rasieleski, who held a number of important positions in our Parish, before moving to Rhode Island to be nearer to her children and grandchildren, entered the gates of larger life, this-past November. Val served on the Vestry, and was very active with the Altar Guild, among other duties. She will not soon be forgotten in Saint Matthew's.

Val's passing, and the late discovery of it by the Parish, highlights the need for proper end-of-life planning. Each of us should have a packet, folder, or thumb-drive containing the contacts and documents necessary in the event of our passing. The telephone numbers for the Parish, and the Priest, should be included. You should also meet with your Clergy, preferably before any indication of your mortality manifests, and plan your Requiem. As Anglican Catholics, memorial services are discouraged, as the Mass is the only service proper to the ending of a life.

Lastly, in this same packet, copies of your estate planning, including those elements pertaining to the Church, should be placed. In nearly thirty years of Ordained ministry, I've only personally witnessed one instance in which provision for the decedent's Parish were made. Every glorious stone Church, every beautiful edifice, every magnificent organ, was built largely, if not solely provided, through memorial gifts or bequests. It has never ceased to amaze me that our Movement, founded in the attempt to preserve tradition and orthodoxy, has done such a poor job of building the fabric of Holy Church, as did our fathers, who taught us the value of such things. Lent will give us the opportunity to contemplate these, and other, essential matters. I remain

in His praise,

The Rt. Rev'd T. L. Crowder

Pastor, Saint Matthew's Parish