NEWS & EVENTS

HOLY WEEK AT ST. TIMOTHY'S

Palm Sunday
8 AM: Blessing of Palms & Holy Eucharist (spoken)
10 AM: Palm Procession & Holy Eucharist (sung)

The 10 AM service begins with the Liturgy of the Palms in the Parish Hall, with Palm Procession to the Nave, followed by the Dramatic Reading of the Passion Gospel of St. Matthew and Holy Eucharist. This is a “hybrid” liturgy: both in-person and online.

Monday & Tuesday in Holy Week
7 PM: Ante-communion, followed by confessions

We will not celebrate the Holy Eucharist during the period from Palm Sunday until Maundy Thursday. On these two days the evening service will be the first part of the Eucharist, including the readings for these days, but ending after the Lord’s Prayer.

Wednesday in Holy Week
7 PM: Tenebrae

Tenebrae, a service of shadows and darkness expressive of the gradual desertion of Christ by those around him, marks a decisive turn in Holy Week and serves as a contemplative portal into the mystery of our redemption which will be our focus in the coming days. This is a service unlike any other in the Church Year and forms the entrance into the heart of Holy Week.

THE HOLY TRIDUUM
One Liturgy Spread over Three Days

All Episcopalians are to join together for worship if physically able to do so. (Main services in underlined bold text)

Maundy Thursday

7 PM: The Maundy Thursday Liturgy
Prayer Watch following until Noon Good Friday

The first part of the service, which does not conclude until the end of the Great Vigil of Easter, this service commemorates Christ’s command to love each other as he has loved us, and his commandment to “do this in remembrance of me” by sharing in the Holy Eucharist. The Holy Sacrament is then removed to the Chapel and the altar is stripped in recollection of Christ’s arrest and being mocked. We then leave in silence as the lights are lowered.

The Prayer Watch at the Altar of Repose in the Chapel now begins, lasting until noon Friday, in remembrance of Jesus’s words in the garden of Gethsemane, when he asked his disciples to spend an hour in prayer with him. Parishioners sign up to take an hour in prayer in the chapel before Christ in the Holy Sacrament. A member of the parish will be at the church all night to let people in and walk them to their cars.

Good Friday

Noon: Stations of the Cross
7 PM: Good Friday Liturgy

The Good Friday Liturgy is the most solemn service in the Church Year. Its starkness points to the truth of both human brokenness and God’s complete identification with us in our need. The highlights are the Great Silence at the start, then the reading of the Passion Gospel according to St. John, the Solemn Collects (intercessions for all humanity), the bringing out and veneration of the Good Friday Cross, and the Communion from the Reserved Sacrament, brought from the Altar of Repose in the Chapel. Once more, we leave in silence.

Good Friday is marked by as complete a fast as health allows, from sunrise until at least 3 PM, the traditional hour of Christ’s death upon the cross.

Holy Saturday

10 AM: Little Tomb Service of the Burial of Christ

The morning service is a short, spare gathering at the now-denuded altar where we hear of Christ’s hasty burial and contemplate his lying in the tomb, even as God the Son has descended to Hades, there to liberate those long held by the Evil One. A glorious sermon from the very early Christian period is read and prayers for those who have died are offered.

Easter Eve

Saturday, 9 PM: The Great Vigil of Easter,
followed by the Agape Feast

The Easter Vigil is the heart of our life as a parish and as a people. It is our main Easter service. It must be experienced, not explained, but it consists of the lighting, blessing, and sharing of the New Fire, the great song before the Paschal Candle (The “Exsultet”), the readings of the Old Testament prophesies, Renewal of Baptismal Vows, the Proclamation of the Resurrection, the great Easter Homily of St. John Chrysostom, and the First Eucharist of Easter. This is the high point of the entire Church Year. The Vigil is followed by a grand feast in the Parish Hall, to which all are invited. Come and see!

Easter Day

11 AM: Holy Eucharist (said, with hymns)
A “hybrid” liturgy: both in-person and online.

The Easter Day Eucharist at St. Timothy’s is quite a bit simpler than the Vigil. However, it is a joyous celebration and includes the beautiful, ever-new account of Mary Magdalene meeting the Risen Christ in the garden. With this Eucharist, our celebration of Easter Day concludes…but the Great 50 Days of Eastertide has just begun.

LENT AND HOLY WEEK AT ST. TIMOTHY'S

+ Stations of the Cross are held every Friday evening at 7 PM during Lent. Join us for the Litany of Penitence from Ash Wednesday and short readings from Blessed Julian of Norwich.

HOLY WEEK

+ Palm Sunday: March 24
8 AM: Blessing of Palms & Holy Eucharist (spoken)
10 AM: Palm Procession & Holy Eucharist (sung).

+ Monday, March 25 & Tuesday, March 26
7 PM: Evening Prayer

+ Wednesday, March 27
7 PM: Tenebrae Service

THE HOLY TRIDUUM

One Liturgy Spread over Three Days (Main services in bold text)

+ Maundy Thursday: March 28

7 PM: The Maundy Thursday Liturgy

Prayer Watch following until Noon on Good Friday

+ Good Friday: March 29

Noon: Stations of the Cross

7 PM: Good Friday Liturgy

+ Holy Saturday; Easter Eve: March 30

10 AM: Little Tomb Service of the Burial of Christ

9 PM: The Great Vigil of Easter, followed by the Agape Feast

Easter Day: March 31

11 AM: Holy Eucharist (said, with hymns)

WORSHIP SERVICES AT ST. TIMOTHY'S

+ Holy Eucharist is celebrated each Sunday at 8 AM (said service) and 10 AM (sung service). The 10 AM service is also shared via Zoom for those who are physically unable to attend in person.

+ Wednesdays there is an in-person Holy Eucharist at 10AM, using the traditional-language rite. This service is followed by tea and conversation in the parish library.

+ Current masking policy: All persons may wear a face mask as a health tool. Some persons (especially those in higher-risk groups) should wear a mask. However, no one must wear a mask. The parish provides good quality face masks for those desiring them.

+ We have an upgraded HVAC air handling system to maximize the safety of our indoor environment.

+ We encourage vaccination for all eligible persons to prevent communicable disease at church or elsewhere.

+ Please contact the parish office for more information, and to be added to our Zoom invitation lists.

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+ Christmas Services

Carols & Midnight Mass
Christmas Eve
In-person and online
Carols in the Church, 10:30 PM
Midnight Mass, 11 PM

Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82206283141
Meeting ID: 822 0628 3141
Passcode: 433004
Download Service Sheet Here

Christmas Day Eucharist,
11 AM

This is a quieter, said service with hymns – particularly suitable for those unable to attend the Christmas Eve liturgy.

Word from the Rector

Beloved in Christ,

Christmas is the shortest of the Church Year's seasons, much like the fleeting period of infancy in human life. I well remember realizing that the little baby born to us so recently had grown up into a toddler and was shocked that something so long anticipated could pass so suddenly.

The character of Christmas as a season is joyful gratitude. For the entire twelve days our care should be to bring to mind the great gift of Christ. The difficulty is that our society is very good at preparing for things (shopping for them, especially), but much less skilled at celebrating anything.

A true Feast Season is a series of events, beginning with the main Feast Day itself but then passing through succeeding stages, each reflecting on a different aspect of the great mystery we celebrate and applying that mystery to our life as disciples. In other words, it takes more time and focus than a one day blowout. Christmastide is made up of a number of feasts and commemorations which together provide a summary of Christian response to the Gospel, concluding with the message that the Messiah is for all peoples and times. It is a lot to take in, indeed.

I wish you all the gift of time--taken, made, shared, and received--to celebrate Christmas deeply rather than merely busily, lavishly, or hastily. Sit with the Christ Child for a season, for he grows up so quickly and Epiphany is so soon followed by his baptism and public ministry leading to the Cross. Enjoy the Holy Family's presence and rejoice with them that God has been so generous and loving to us all. Then, live and act out of that gratitude.

Celebrate and rejoice in Christmas so deeply that, when the Epiphany comes and the season ends, you have personally experienced something of Jesus's presence--in silence, in family or friends, in service to others or worship of God, in beauty or simplicity--that you can allow this infant to grow up into the man who willingly offers himself for our salvation and follow him. By doing so you will join Mary and Joseph in the wonder that sustains through all of life's seasons, all trials, and leads to that perfect union with God which is his desire.

I bid you a holy and merry Christmastide. God is with us! Let us glorify him!.

Brandon+

[Note: As of this writing forecasts suggest a significant windstorm for Christmas Eve Day. Every effort will be made to celebrate the Christmas Eve and Day liturgies in whatever form we are able. BLF+]

The Week Ahead...

The Parish Office is closed this week. For urgent or time-sensitive concerns, please email the Parish Office (mail@sainttimothys.org) or contact Emma Glennen direct.
All other parish activities are on a break this week.

Friday, December 26: The Feast of Saint Stephen, Deacon and Martyr

Saturday, December 27: Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist
No Fasting during Christmastide

+ Sunday, December 28:
The First Sunday after Christmas

+ 8 AM: Holy Eucharist (said). In-person.

+ 9 AM: Adult Study. In-person

+ 10 AM: Holy Eucharist (sung).
In person and online.

+ Coffee Hour following the liturgy.

Please note there is no Godly Play this week, but the youth are invited to rehearse for the upcoming pageant in the Parish Hall.

Monday, December 29: Feast of the Holy Innocents (trf)

The parish office is closed on Mondays

Tuesday, December 30:

Wednesday, December 31: New Year's Eve; Frances Joseph-Gaudet, Educator and Prison Reformer, 1934

10 AM: Rite I Holy Eucharist in the Chapel
No Catechumenate this week

Prayer Requests from this Parish: Liz McClure, Margaret McMurren+, Melinda Filbert, Juanita Rivera, Scott Kohl, Caroline Gilbert, the Teeters family, Jim Whitney, Rorey DeWitt, Stephen Harrison, Adair Heard, Skip Padrick, Br. Matthew Tenney, Rich Zorko, Julie Pannel, John Hanson, Kerrie Harwood, Fr. Gary Zerr, Family Promise, Salem for Refugees, Mending Wings Youth Ministries. For Peace on Earth. For justice, mercy, and the governance of our passions in the nation, politics, and civil discourse.

For the Departed: Jeanne Walcher

For Those who Mourn: Pat Eder

For Those with Birthdays Next Week: Steve Cowgill, Paula Hartwig

In the Diocese of Oregon: Diocesan Staff

In the Anglican Communion: The Anglican Church of Canada

About this Season

+ Christmas is a 12-day season, not a single day. It begins on Christmas Eve and runs to the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6th. Instead of packing away the Christmas decorations, take some time, over the full season, to savor the wonder of the Incarnation and to celebrate! A few ideas to keep the 12 Days:

Leave your decorations up until the Epiphany.
Move the Magi (3 Kings / Wise Men) from your nativity scenes around the house every day until they reach Jesus.
Write and send Christmas cards during these 12 days
Continue to listen to Christmas music (if you enjoyed the One Advent Carol a Day, here is the follow-up with Christmas songs for the 12 days!)

+ There is no fasting during the 12 Days of Christmas.

+ The first week of Christmas is often called the Octave of the Nativity of Christ, culminating in the Feast of the Holy Name, when Christ Jesus was circumcised and named on the 8th day. This Octave is the holiest part of the season, but does not end Christmastide, and our domestic observance should continue.

+ The liturgical color for the season is gold and/or white.

+ The Advent wreath continues to burn at services through Christmastide--but with a white "Christ candle" at its center, standing for the Incarnation and for the hoped-for return of Christ at the end of the ages. Parishioners are encouraged to continue to use their Advent wreaths through Christmastide.

+ A star takes the place of the Advent Wreath in church once we arrive at Epiphany, and this star continues to burn through Candlemas on February 2nd.

Here is a link to Fr. Brandon's blog post on the 12 Days of Christmas, for more information on the season and its observance.

Zoom Recording of Last Sunday's Sermon

Sunday, December 21
Passcode: +NTs&e7+

Links will be valid for two weeks.
The Lectionary Readings for this past Sunday can be found here.

Save the Date!

Christmastide Family Social
Saturday Jan 3, 4–6 PM.

We’ll gather in the Parish Hall for some Christmas social time with refreshments and child-friendly activities. Bring a simple potluck dish to share (sandwiches, chips n dip, desserts etc.) All ages are welcome!

A Note from Your Financial Secretary

As we are drawing near to the end of the year, this is a gentle reminder that if you wish to have donations credited to the 2025 tax year, they must be postmarked to the church by Dec 31st. Any donations after this date will appear on your 2026 statement.

From Your Parish Librarian

:: Celts to the Creche, Week VII ::

God be with us at each stop and each sea;
At each lying down and each rising up;
In the trough of the waves;
On the crest of the billows;
Each step of the journey we take.

- - - - -

Tomorrow is the end of Advent and this article is the end of our Celts to the Creche pilgrimage:

“St Gertrude (c626-659) of Nivelles”

Feminists and those fighting male patriarchy and of course cat-lovers, in recent years, have shown a preference for celebrating St Gertrude on March 17 instead of St Patrick. Clearly, cats have dominion over snakes.

Icons of St Gertrude depict her holding an orange cat, and there are carvings showing St Gertrude reading scripture in the company of mice.

Gertrude was Abbess of several monasteries and convents. She visited all of them and mainly lived in the monastery founded by her mother, Ita. This monastery was infested with mice—more than the usual quorum of mice, apparently. Mice were expected in a time when grain was stored loose on the granary floor or in a grain room; but even so, there was a limit to what was considered an acceptable number of mice.

So Gertrude brought some cats to her monastery who found the accommodations acceptable. While Gertrude was busy with the administration of her many cloistered communities, the cats were busy with their duties. There doesn’t seem to be any documentation of interaction between Gertrude and the cats as there are with some anchorites and their cat companions.

Gertrude was born in Nivelles in Belgium into a devote and noble family. Her father, Pepin, was mayor of Austrasia, a Frankish kingdom that covers modern northeast corner of France, Belgium and the western side of Germany. Her mother, St Ita, was the daughter of a bishop, and she raised two Saints: Gertrude and her brother.

The catalyst was when Pepin arranged a banquet for King Dagobert, the last king of the unified Franks; during which ten-year-old (!) Gertrude would be presented, and one of the eligible noblemen in attendance would propose to marry her. Things went well, until they didn’t. Indeed there was merrymaking, indeed young Gertrude was presented and indeed a proposal of marriage was announced; but Gertrude responded to the proposal of marriage that Christ, alone, would be her bridegroom. The event had drastically turned.

Gertrude’s mother, Ita’s, protective, motherly instinct bounded and she ousted Gertrude into seclusion. In a time of predatory suitors kidnapping protesting brides, Ita built a double monastery and appointed young Gertrude as Abbess of the women’s monastery and Ita became Abbess of the entire monastery.

Gertrude’s style of leadership was to delegate the running of her monastery to experienced nuns while she spent her time in Scripture and visiting the sick.

After her mother died, Gertrude replaced her as Abbess and inherited land on which she built churches, monasteries and hospices.

After 22 years of studying, guiding and ministering, Gertrude became weak from constant fasting and keeping vigils causing her to resign; she died the next year, and her niece was her successor.

She was immediately venerated as a saint, and churches were erected in her name and miracles were attributed to her.

Here’s a late-entry Celtic Saint animal story/miracle that took place while St Gertrude was still alive:

As it happened, Irish monks that St Gertrude had befriended were out on the ocean, and a sea monster reared out of the waves at them, threatening to capsize their ship. They invoked Gertrude’s name and the monster went back into the depths.

The event gives origin to the medieval custom of seamen drinking “Gertrudenminte” or “Sinte Geerts Minne” (St Gertrude’s Love) before every voyage to ensure their safe journey.

That was the end of the sea monster, this is the end of the Celtics to the Creche pilgrimage and the end of this Advent Shelf Life series.

2026 will bring new articles including one about Pope Leo XIV that has been simmering in the back of the Librarian’s imagination.

—Bonnie Bonham—Parish Librarian—

May he, who through his Incarnation united earthly things with heavenly, fill us with the sweetness of inward peace and good will, and make us partakers with the heavenly host.
Amen

Mission Statement of St. Timothy's Episcopal Church
We gather to experience the Holy Trinity through Scripture, worship, study, and fellowship. Receiving and reflecting God’s love and grace, we are sent out to love and serve our neighbor, see the Christ in others, and share the Gospel by the example of our everyday lives.

St. Timothy's Website

St. Timothy's Facebook

Father Brandon's Blog

St. Timothy's Parish Office Hours:
Tuesday & Thursday, 9 AM - 3 PM
Wednesday, 9:30 AM - 3 PM
Friday, 9 AM - 3 PM via telephone/email/text
The Parish Office is closed on Mondays

Parish Office Contact Info
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 7416; Salem, OR 97303
Email: mail@sainttimothys.org
Phone: 503-363-0601

Rector's Days Off:
Fridays and on Saturday mornings
Please contact Fr. Brandon on his days off if you have an emergency.

St Timothy's Episcopal Church

P.O. Box 7416

Salem, Or 97303

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