The Season of Lent 2024 @ Saint Matthew's

About Sunday Worship

For the season of Lent there are a few changes in our Sunday eucharistic worship. These are meant to assist us in allowing the season to take on its own specific feel and tone:

There is no entrance procession on the Sundays of Lent.
The altar party - priest, crucifer, acolytes and choir on Choir Sunday - will take their places 10 minutes before the scheduled opening of the liturgy.
These 10 minutes are kept in silent prayer by all who are entering the church and taking their seats.
At the appropriate time, the priest will rise and begin the celebration without an opening hymn.
At the conclusion of the Eucharist the altar party will process through the church and to the Common Room, accompanied by a recessional hymn.
During Lent we use Rite 1 of the Eucharist. You can access and review it beginning on page 319 of the Book of Common Prayer and continuing to page 340.
During Lent there are no flowers adorning the altar.

Lenten Opportunities for Prayer & Learning

Parish Book-Read for Lent

Join us in reading David Brooks' compelling 2023 work, How to Know a Person. We will meet Wednesday evenings (with some exceptions) throughout the season in the Parlor of the Parish House.

This book calls us both as individuals and as a society to find our way to reconnect to one another for the sake of the good of us all. It is an important message, and a delight to read. All are welcome!

Learning Meditation during Lent

All through life people are encouraging us to pray. But are they ever advising us how to begin? There are myriads of ways to pray, and probably no wrong ones. But the rediscovery in our time of Christian meditation, quietly being with the Lord and allowing God's work in us, is transforming lives. Join us this season in meditating. Two groups: Mondays @ 10AM and Tuesdays @ 6:30PM. Both in the Chapel of Saint Clare. Sign-up on Sunday at church or online here. Our guide? Laurence Freeman, OSB. You can find the book on Amazon or as an e-book.

St. Matthew's Quiet Day for Lent 2024 | Practicing Forgiveness

Give yourself the gift of a day of quiet, prayer, and spiritual conversation with friends old and new during this Lent. Using the seasonal resource of Living Compass, we will consider together the call and gift of forgiveness.

You can sign up to indicate your intent to make the Quiet Day beginning this Sunday at church or online here. All are welcome!

The Future Is Now: Parish Survey & Continuing Listening Sessions

Many have already completed our 2024 Parish Survey. And thanks to all who participated in the Listening Session last Sunday following the Sunday service. Here's news about more opportunities to share your point of view on the hope in Saint Matthew's future:

You are still welcome to complete the Parish Survey online until Saturday February 10. It only takes a few minutes to complete!
We will hold two more Listening Sessions, conversations about our future together in faith. The first will take place this Sunday, February 11 in the Parlor following the Sunday service. If you couldn't be here last week, grab a coffee or your fav after church this week and then head to the Parlor to help shape a vibrant future for our parish.
The other Listening Session will take place online using Zoom for your convenience on Monday, February 12 at 5:00pm. Email to [email protected] and place in the subject line: Online Listening Session. You will receive the Zoom information in response. Thank you!

Complete our Parish Survey here!

COMMUNITY BREAKFAST COMING UP ON SATURDAY FEBRUARY 17TH!

Our first Community Breakfast is coming soon! The College of the Holy Cross is working with us to provide a good breakfast and an experience of neighborhood community on Saturday February 17, opening at 8:30AM. This is an opportunity for us to meet and talk with our neighbors around the church face to face and get to know one another. A parish is as strong as its living link to its immediate surroundings. These are the streets and the homes out of which our parish was born.

Please plan to join us, whether to volunteer or to simply come and enjoy the gathering!

Volunteers are needed this week to distribute fliers to the homes around our church. You can do this on any day or time this coming week that works for you. Volunteers will be needed also the morning of the event to make and serve coffee, to welcome our guests from the College and the neighborhood, and to make new friends and celebrate established friendships. You can sign up to volunteer at church this Sunday (2/11) or online here.

Click here to volunteer! And huge thanks to you!