‘Weekly Post. Anno Domini 2023 July 29

Beloved of the Lord:

Today is Saturday, 29 July, in the year of our Lord 2023. The scheduled services are as-follows:

• Saturday (today): 5:00 PM, Mass, S. Martha, Virgin.
• Sunday: 8:30 & 10:00 AM, Mass, Trinity VIII.
• Monday: 10:00 AM, Mass, S. Iñigo of Loyola, Confessor.
• Tuesday: 5:30 PM, Mass, S. Peter's Chains.
  6:30 PM, Holy Rosary, Sung Evensong.
• Wednesday: 12:10 PM, Mass, S. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop, Confessor, Doctor.
• Thursday: 6:30 PM, Mass, S. Nicodemus, Confessor, followed by Soup & Study.
• Friday: 9:00 AM, Mass, S. Dominic, Confessor.
  Immediately following, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
• Saturday: 5:00 PM, Mass, S. Oswald, King & Martyr.
• Sunday: 8:30 & 10:00 AM, Mass, Transfiguration of Christ (Comm. Trinity IX).

'Another standard week in Trinitytide, with nothing exceptional to report. There have been some issues with toilets, in both restrooms. These have now been fixed. We will also, probably in August, be replacing the red carpet in the Nave, and in the Sanctuary. Once we've gotten firm dates for this work, they will be announced, as to save money on installation, we will be moving the furniture ourselves.

For those of you who are observant of details, you've likely noticed a small, gold cross before the Tabernacle, at the Altar. Technically, it hadn't ought to be directly in-front-of the Holy Sacrament, but given the lay-out of our Altar, this was pretty-much the only spot in which it is clearly visible. It is, in point of fact, a Reliquary, or device used to hold Relics of The Saints.

The oldest Reliquaries took many forms ~ caskets, capsules, ampullas, and also crosses, which were especially used to hold relics of the True Cross. Rings and purses have been used, as-well-as caskets and boxes of all sizes. For the reception pf the whole remains of a Saint, the gabled shrine was a favourite in the Middle Ages. At this same period, smaller Relics were housed in containers shaped like arms, legs, and especially heads and busts. By the later Middle Ages, the Monstrance form, which, with it's glass window, facilitated exposition, became frequent.

Some of the earliest Altars were the flat tops of the sarcophagi of Christian martyrs and Saints in the Catacombs. Thus, even through today, all proper Altars have an Altar Stone embedded in the midst of the mensa (literally table, or the top). Cemented-into this stone is the Relic of a Saint, over which the Consecration of the Elements is to take-place. We have such a stone at S. Matthew's; the Relic is purportedly that of an Eastern Saint, though the name has been lost to us.

Relics come to us in three Classes. A First Class Relic is a portion of the Saint's body, ranging from a chip of bone or bit of skin to limbs or entire remains. A Second Class Relic can be something that the Saint actually owned and used, such as a Crucifix, prayer book, Rosary, etc. It can also be a part of something that the Saint wore, such as a glove, or shirt. A Third Class Relic is an object that has been physically touched to a First- or Second Class Relic.

The Reliquary at our Altar was placed there when Pepper died, and contains a First Class Relic of S. Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of Animals, a rather rare relic in and of itself. This Reliquary also contains two other Relics; one that appears to be of S. Francis de Sales, and a third that I've yet to identify. These are a portion of my personal set of Relics.

Saints may be spoken-to, and also asked for their intercessions ~ prayers ~ on our behalf, precisely as you'd ask a friend or loved-one for the same. We may venerate ~ honour ~ them for the lives they lived, or for the deaths they died, showing us the way to greater sanctity. We may NEVER pray to them ~ this is reserved for the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity. We may NEVER worship them ~ this is reserved for the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity. The Saints are that great cloud of witnesses, by which we are surrounded, and through which, we may receive God's love. I remain

in His praise,

The Rev'd Canon. T. L. Crowder

Pastor, Saint Matthew's Parish