Easter Photos

From the Dean of Trinity Cathedral, the Very Rev. Nicholas Knisley, whose blog can be found here.

Weekend at the Monastery

This Saturday I went with some folks from church to visit St. Anthony's Orthodox monastery. It's a beautiful campus, situated eight miles outside of Florence, AZ. Florence is a tiny town about 40 miles southeast of Phoenix.

Ringing the call to Vespers:

Trinity at Christmastide

Since all the cool kids are doing it, here a few photos of my home parish all dressed up for Christmas:

Christus Rex

Wishing everyone a very happy and pleasant Christ the King Sunday!


Or, in modern parlance:


Err....right.

...


Anyway, I'm glad Pentecost is over soon. I'm so sick of green.

All Souls

All Souls' and All Saints'/Eve are among my favourite holidays. They're a celebration of the darkness, of the unknown, of mystery and ritual and antiquity. (I don't know why I feel that ancient things automatically adopt a degree of holiness, it just feels right.)

If you do not celebrate the death/darkness, it isn't a whole celebration of life/light. It's a reminder that physical death (even if it meant a final end) is not the worst kind of death.

This fondness for All Souls' day is problematic. You see, I don't personally know many dead people. As life goes on, I'm sure my appreciation and perception of this day will morph into something new. Some day, I will have pictures to place on the altar, and the day will assume a different hue, likely more somber.

Secondly, none of my ancestors have been members of the communion of saints for about 150 years, and I just can't conceive of receiving a visit from them.

So, I placed some incense and food on my home altar anyway, lit a candle, said a prayer and opened the window for any wandering spirits who cared to stop by. (This is the one time of year where I afford myself a certain amount of superstition and elect to walk by intuition.)

I felt it was a night well-spent.

I'm Just Sayin'...

"My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty. " (Malachi 1:11)

If It's Worth Doing....

It's worth doing right!

Trinity Cathedral on YouTube

My home parish in Phoenix, Trinity Cathedral, finally got on the YouTube bandwagon. Their first video is out. I guess they're doing a series on the Sacraments and other good churchy stuff. Check it out:



Also available in Spanish.

Hosanna, And All That

Happy Palm Sunday and yadda yadda yadda. I'm grumpy because I've been sick for the past week, and therefore, today, missed Palm Sunday '08 forever. This is for any church-administration-types listening:

Do you want to know how to "get more young people in the church?"
Really?



STOP HAVING MASS AT 9 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING.


Oy.