SERVICES

Two services are usually held every Sunday, a low mass at 8:00 AM and a high mass with music, Gregorian chant and Latin canticles, at 10:00 AM. For most of the year, services are also held on Saturday evenings at 5:00 PM. All services include the holy communion in which all persons, adults and children, are welcome to participate.

Sunday school is usually held at 10:00 AM in the church basement in such a way that the children can go upstairs and join the service during the Peace, in time for the communion.

At each service, there are three readings from the Holy Bible. A lesson from the Old Testament and a lesson from the New Testament are read by lay readers who are volunteers. A lesson from one of the four Gospels is then read by the priest. The readings are specified in a Lectionary, which is to be found in the Book of Common Prayer. The Lectionary for Sundays is arranged in a three-year cycle, in such a way that by the end of the cycle, the most significant parts of all the books in the Bible will have been covered. The Holy Bible and the Book of Common Prayer are the basic documents of the Episcopal Church. Versions written in modern English are used. The Book of Common Prayer contains the Outline of the Faith, or Catechism, and the 39 Articles of Religion.

The principal events in the Church calendar are the season of Advent, leading up to Christmas; the Epiphany, on January 6, when Christ was made manifest to the Wise Men; and then the season of Lent, commencing with Ash Wednesday and leading up to Palm Sunday. This marks the beginning of Holy Week, which runs through Maundy Thursday and Good Friday to Easter Day, the day of the resurrection.

Ascension Day falls some six weeks after Easter, while the eighth Sunday after Easter is Whitsunday or the Day of Pentecost. The Assumption of the Virgin Mary on August 15 is celebrated less in the Episcopal Church, than in, for example the Roman Catholic Church. All Souls' Day, commemorating those who have departed, is celebrated early in November. It is preceded by All Saints' Day on November 1, which is a lesser celebration. All Saints' Day itself is preceded by Halloween (All Hallows' Eve) on October 31, which has now become a non-religious festival.