Wednesday, August 15, 2012

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary


"For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17)

"And the temple of God in heaven was opened; and the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm. And the temple of God in heaven was opened; and the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm. A great wonder appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." (Revelation 11:19--12:1)

Hymn 278 - "Sing the chiefest joy of Mary when on earth her work was done, and the Lord of all creation brought her to his heavenly home; where, raised high with saints and angels, in Jerusalem above, she beholds her Son and Savior reigning as the Lord of love."

O God, who hast taken to thyself the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of thine Incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of thine eternal kingdom; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Bishop Donald Parsons at FIFNA


This is Bishop Donald Parsons' address at the 2012 Assembly of Forward in Faith, North America. I always love hearing Bishop Parsons give a talk--a cross between Fulton Sheen and Johnny Carson. His Grace is the Sometime Bishop of the Diocese of Quincy and the Sometime Dean of Nashotah House (where he still teaches). It is also worth noting that as far as I am aware (shhhhhhh), he's the last Catholic bishop in the Episcopal Church USA.