Good Friday

Prayers before the Icon of the Crucifixion

Today the one who hung the earth upon the waters is hung upon the cross.

The one who is the king of angels receives a crown of thorns.

The one who wraps the heavens with cloud is wrapped in the purple cloak of mockery.

The one who set Adam free by his baptism in the Jordan is struck upon the face.

The bridegroom of the church is pierced with nails.

The son of the Virgin is pierced with a lance.

We venerate your passion O Christ!

Let us see as well your glorious resurrection!

Having beheld the resurrection of Christ, let us worship the holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless one!

Your cross, O Christ, we venerate!

Your holy resurrection we glorify!

You are our God and we know no other.

We call upon your name!

Good Friday at Nashotah began in reverent silence.  The community choir practices every Thursday afternoon for this day.  We sang Anglican chant Gradual Psalm 22:1-2, 7-8, 14-21.  The Liturgy included the singing of the Passion according to St. John and the Solemn Collects, a particularly ancient form of the Prayers of the People, during which the Church remembers before God the world for which his Son died.  After the Collects, an unveiled Crucifix was carried into the Chapel by Dcn. Brad VanDeventer.  The congregation was invited to come forward to venerate the Cross.  The custom is to walk barefooted and to prostrate or genuflect (on both knees) three times while coming forward to kiss the Cross.  During this time the choir sang a glorious reproach called Veneration of the Cross; Agios O Theos.  It was a beautiful song.  I was honored to be among the choir this day.  The last element in the Liturgy of Good Friday is Communion from the Reserved Sacrament which is brought from the Altar of Repose.



Triduum Sacrum

Maundy Thursday, there were no classes, which allowed the seminarian tim to prepare (spiritually, as well as liturgically) for Triduum Sacrum ("the sacred three days").  The Eucharist was celebrated at 5pm today including several unique elements.  The first was the foot washing.  The Dean washes the feet of members of the congregation, in imitation of our Lord's service to his disciples.  Jesus' said, "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet."  What a powerful statement of love and servanthood in Christ.   

After Communion of Maundy Thursday, the Blessed Sacrament was carried from the Chapel of St. Mary the Virgin to the Altar of Repose in the Red Chapel (as pictured above).  The congregation followed the procession (in the chilly spring air - I might add) and devotions were read in the Red Chapel before returning in silence to St. Mary's Chapel.  The final action of the evening is the stripping of the Altar in preparation for Good Friday.

This Cup

And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."

Holy Week at Nashotah is the week that stands out above all others throughout the year.  This is what Nashotah is about.  The liturgy, the study of Jesus, contemplative prayer, and a renaissance of our spiritual journey.  Monday and Tuesday lecture studies were offered for all after evening prayer.  Last night we discussed the gospel of Mark to understand the death of Jesus.  What I would like to share with you is my thoughts on the lecture of "This Cup".  Jesus refers to his impending suffering as “this cup” (Mark 14:36; 10:38-39).  Dr. Anderson explains that the cup is a stock metaphor for God's wrath, judgement, or imposition of shame.  Some would argue that this less than heroic protest to the Father puts Jesus in a subjectively "less courageous" light than that of martyrs who are routinely portrayed as accepting their death with great pride.  Could it be that Jesus' death (the drinking of the cup) was different than theirs and he understood it so?  Jesus sweat blood in the garden this night while praying to the Father before his impeding Crucifixion.  He knew of the suffering and events of the next day.  He also knew that it was God's will not his own that could only support the prophecy.  "This is the blood of the covenant poured out for many" (14:24) This phrase identifies Jesus with the "Suffering Servant" of Isaiah 52-54.  He is to be the lamb sacrificed for us, therefore again, "it is not what I will, but what you will."  He understands this to be so.  Ethically, Jesus’ voluntary, obedient submission is the pattern for all our dealings with others and our path of discipleship.

Tonight we celebrated a Tenebrae service in a sung psalter, in the chapel.  Sitting in the choir stalls in utter darkness gives a meditative experience of the historical holy week.  The gospel words then the crescendo of the slam of the tomb to startle us into awareness of that fateful evening.  The service ends in silence, and we all make our way out in the darkness to reflect on the words of Christ's death.  In close I hope you enjoy this old hymn "Why Me, Lord" by The Gaither Vocal Band
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3iy7NcZCEo&feature=related

March 30

Hello my friends,
March has flown by and we are approaching the time of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I am happy to say that the weather is slowly getting nicer, the children are starting to be seen in the peaks circle on a more frequent basis.  Time for cabin fever to end!  I wanted to share a picture of the completed Archangel Michael icon writing that I have done.  See right corner of blog.  My first icon was a beautiful experience of discipline and devotion.  I am already head into my second icon - The Guardian Angel.  I love this prayer devotional that I am being taught by Judy Kaestner.  What a beautiful and spiritual lady!  Thank you Judy!  As we come to a close of Lent, I will be starting an aggressive approach of fundraising for this summer's mission trip to Honduras.  As many of you know, Roy and I have been involved in HOI (Honduras Outreach International) for the past 4 years.  This year our daughter Heather will be joining the group for the first time.  I am so excited to share this experience with her.  Many of you have been a tremendous support to us already in many ways.  If I can impose upon your generosity one more time, and if you feel the call to support global mission, please let me know.  There are so many needs to consider.  We are looking for individuals that can make a tax deductible donation to help defer the travel expenses ($1500 per person), we are looking for individuals that would be committed to intercessory prayer for the group and/or individual missionaries,  those that wish to write letters for us to take and distribute while away from home, and first aid supply donations.  Last year we collected band aids, gauze, neosporin, tums, Tylenol, and antiseptic wipes and put together 100 miniature first aid kits to distribute in the village.  If you would like to contribute please let me know and I will give you details on how.  You can comment, email me at m_allison01@msn.com, or facebook me.  We will be collecting the first aid supplies all during the month of April/May so please consider.  Also, if you have unused medications that you are no longer in need of - maybe your prescription has changed, I would be happy to take that medication off your medicine shelf and donate to the clinic in desperate need of medication in Honduras. 

Roy is doing well in seminary.  He took a midterm today that we was confident about.  He is the upcoming senior chapel scholar so he has been busy completing the ROTA for Holy Week among other chapel scholar duties.  He is active in his field work duties at Zion - he is preaching again on Sunday. 

Heather is doing well.  She is still horseback riding, just started driving school, and trying to keep a positive attitude about the drama of high school.  :-) I am sure you all remember those days.  She is active in acolyting at Zion and has helped host a family visiting Nashotah with a teenager about her age.  It helps soften the blow so to speak when a teen can let a new teen know that life isn't over when you come to "The House".  A point that a good friend said in a recent sermon was "The good news is, we live in community.  The bad news is we live in community."  Those words are so true.  The good thing is everyone knows everything - we support each other when in need, we pray for the sick (some mighty healing has happened here), we cook meals for those that have had surgery or illness, and we look out for each other.  The bad thing is - everyone knows everything... lol we don't need to give examples there, lets just say "there are no secrets at Nashotah House".

Now that I am figuring out how to blog from my phone, I will keep you posted with more pictures and "on the spot" news.  I love you and look forward to seeing all our friends and family back home very soon.

Love,

Marcia

Token?

Snowpalooza

Well, if you hadn't heard already this past week has been very exciting for us.  Almost immediately upon Roy and the Malawi mission team's arrival home we went into blizzard mode.  At least they made it home with minimal delay.  This past week we have had not only about 12 - 15 inches of snow accumulation we've had severe wind gusts that is moving the snow in crazy directions.  On Wednesday morning we woke up to about 2 foot of snow up against the front door.  Digging out was kinda crazy.  The snow plows have been trying to keep the roads clear, but it has been a challenging job.  The piles they are leaving are taller than vehicles and almost reaching roof top heights.  Driving through campus is interesting.  It is like driving through a corn maze.  Only enough room plowed basically for maneuvering one vehicle down the road.  It has been crazy cold.

Heather on the other hand is on a plane headed to Florida for Happening #65.  I can only attribute this wonderful opportunity to the awesome generosity of Holy Trinity and their youth program.  Barb Kunath orchestrated this chance in getting Heather's airfare and weekend fee's covered to give her the chance to attend.  What a blessed weekend.  Haley Brown is the rectora and a dear friend to Heather so she is very excited. 

I continue my progress on my icon writing.  I hope to be completed with my first one very soon. Roy is back in class for second semester of his middler year.  So much to be thankful for. 

We have had some difficulty with cyber bullying from an ex-boyfriend and mean friends toward Heather.  So I ask your prayers for her to be strong and not allow words of people cut her self esteem.  Please, if you have children - talk to them about the power of words.  Talk to them about safe texting and cyber usage.  Also, do not think you are alone if you become a victim of cyber abuse.  The police take this seriously now.  So does the internet services.  Did you know for example, if someone creates a false facebook page about another person, uses slanderous or leud language that Facebook can and will send a notice to their internet provider and their service will/can be dropped!!  Way to go Facebook people! 

Hope you all stay warm and enjoy the weekend. 

Love,
Marcia

Letter from Fr. Sumani in Malawi - The Beginning Not the End

Counting down days- but we were so jealous because we wanted the mission crew to remain with us for many more days. Their stay with us has been so beneficial. The teaching from Friday to Wednesday morning was amazing. The crew mixed so well with everyone- it was like they had been here before- we loved it. Praise God for who He is.


I thank God for the fulfillment of this trip. When we first begun to talk about it, it was like building a castle in the air- but look at what the Lord has done. I am convinced that God wanted them here. My prayer is that this will be the beginning and not the end. The presence of youngsters like Shane, Mark was a testimony that God is indeed at work even in the lives of young people.

My gratitude goes to all the spouses and family members who allowed their husbands to come to Malawi. I believe the decision to come here was heavily based on trust in God. May the good Lord continue to bless you.

In Christ-service,
Andrew+