St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

The decennial Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops is in session July 16 through August 3, 2008. Please pray for our bishops and for the Anglican Communion.

At St. Paul’s Parish today, Saturday, July 19, 2008:

• Free Farmers’ Market at 10:00 a.m. (in the Dining Room).

The Summer issue of St. Paul’s Sword of the Spirit, our monthly newsletter, is available on line, as are the calendars of parish events for July 2008 and August 2008.

Today’s news in the Episcopal Church - Episcopal Life Online.

On the calendar tomorrow, July 20, 2008:

• The Rev. Alan James, Executive Officer of the Diocese of Ohio, joins us as Guest Presider for the morning services.
• Holy Communion at 8:00 a.m.;
• Nursery Opens at 9:15 a.m.;
• Holy Eucharist with Hymns at 9:30 a.m.;
• Children’s Story Time at 9:30 a.m.;
• Evening Prayer at 5:30 p.m.

Today on the calendar of the Episcopal Church we commemorate the Fourth Century saint Macrina the Younger (ca. 330- 380).

Macrina was the eldest child in a remarkable family which produced many who are regarded as saints. Her grandparents were martyrs. Her parents, also recognized as saints, were Basil the Elder and Emmelia, and her grandmother was Saint Macrina the Elder. Three of her brothers are also regarded as saints: Gregory of Nyssa, Basil of Caeserea, and Peter of Sebaste. Her parents saw to it that she was very well educated, and she in turn became the teacher of her younger brothers Basil and Gregory. They themselves became two of the greatest teachers in the Universal Church; together with their friend Gregory of Nazianzus and called “The Cappadocian Fathers” and are revered as defenders of the orthodox trinitarian faith.

Many scholars believe that the brothers’ success is directly attributable to their sister’s influence. In Gregory’s life of his sister, he tells the story of Macrina rebuking Basil, who had a brilliant university career in Athens, and warns him not to be so uppity—just the sort of thing one can imagine a big sister saying to a little brother! Eventually, Macrina became the head of a double monastery of women and men established under her brother Basil’s episcopal auspices. She appears to have written nothing of her own: her teaching survives only in the words of her brother Gregory, and indirectly in the influence she had on him and Basil (perhaps also on their friend Gregory of Nazianzus).

An English translation of the Life of Macrina by her younger brother St. Gregory of Nyssa, in the form of a letter to “the monk of Olympus”, is available online.

A troparian, or short hymn of praise to her as a Mother of the Church is sung on her feast on the Eastern Orthodox tradition:

The image of God was faithfully preserved in you, O Mother,
for you took up the Cross and followed Christ.
By your actions you taught us to look beyond the flesh, for it passes,
but rather to be concerned about the soul that is immortal.
Therefore, O Holy Macrina, you now rejoice with the angels.

The following is the prayer for Macrina’s commemoration in Lesser Feasts and Fasts:

Merciful God, you called your servant Macrina to reveal in her life and her teaching the riches of your grace and truth: May we, following her example, seek after your wisdom and live according to her way; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.