The staff of Ascension Episcopal Parish wishes you a blessed Christmas Season!
Christmas at Ascension
One Combined Said Mass for the Fourth Sunday of Advent
Sunday, December 24, 10:00 A.M.
There will be only one morning service on December 24. This Mass will take place in the Requiem Chapel.

Christmas Eve Family Mass 
Sunday, December 24, 5:00 P.M.
A service of lessons and carols with Eucharist, in which our parish children participate.

Christmas Eve Festival of Lessons & Carols
Sunday, December 24, 9:00 P.M.
A traditional festival of Lessons and Carols led by our Advent Choir, who will sing works by Yon, Willcocks, Cleobury and more. The Eucharist will follow the Lessons and Carols.

Christmas Day Said Mass with Carols
Monday, December 25, 10:00 A.M.
A joyful Mass with carols in celebration of the Nativity. 
Christmas Greenery for the Chapel

Our annual Greening of the Chapel will take place on Saturday, December 23. Please please bring  greens, like  fir, spruce, cedar, juniper, holly, etc., to the church on  Saturday the 23 , and the Altar Guild will use these to green the parish for the Christmas season.

You may also use the Memorial Christmas Offering slips in your Advent bulletins to make donations for Christmas flowers and greenery in memory of a loved one or in thanksgiving for blessings in your life.
Upcoming Events

Dec. 24, 10:00 A.M.: One Combined Mass for Advent IV

Dec. 24, 5:00 P.M.: Christmas Eve Family Mass

Dec. 24, 9:00 P.M.: Christmas Eve Festival of Lessons & Carols

Feb. 9, 7:00 P.M.: "The Snow Is Dancing:" A Winter Recital
Emma Riggle, piano

Feb. 10, 1:00 P.M. "The Snow Is Dancing:" A Children's Concert
Reflection

The House of Christmas
by G.K. Chesterton  (1874-1936)

There fared a mother driven forth
Out of an inn to roam;
In the place where she was homeless
All men are at home.
The crazy stable close at hand,
With shaking timber and shifting sand,
Grew a stronger thing to abide and stand
Than the square stones of Rome.

For men are homesick in their homes,
And strangers under the sun,
And they lay on their heads in a foreign land
Whenever the day is done.
Here we have battle and blazing eyes,
And chance and honour and high surprise,
But our homes are under miraculous skies
Where the yule tale was begun.

A Child in a foul stable,
Where the beasts feed and foam;
Only where He was homeless
Are you and I at home;
We have hands that fashion and heads that know,
But our hearts we lost - how long ago!
In a place no chart nor ship can show
Under the sky's dome.

This world is wild as an old wives' tale,
And strange the plain things are,
The earth is enough and the air is enough
For our wonder and our war;
But our rest is as far as the fire-drake swings
And our peace is put in impossible things
Where clashed and thundered unthinkable wings
Round an incredible star.

To an open house in the evening
Home shall men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home.
If you have a quotation you'd like to suggest for a future Reflection in The View, please email it to Emma Riggle at music@ascensionepiscopalparish.org.
Prayer Requests

The family of Dodd Fisher; Claude Schrader; Libbie Schrader; Tony Johnson; Janet Mersereau; Fr. Steve Norcross; 
for all who serve at Ascension during the Christmas season.


Today in the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer:

Salem: Prince of Peace. Margaret McMurren, vicar. 
PRAY for a spirit of welcome, compassion and cooperation in this congregation and the world which is in need of God's peace that passes human understanding. 

Salem: St. Paul. Anne Emry, rector; Andy McQuery, curate. 

Salem: St. Timothy. Brandon Filbert, rector. 
PRAY that God will energize the people of St. Timothy's in their life of Christian formation through liturgy, study, prayer and outreach, that they may show the love of Christ.

Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Advent: 

Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Final Smile



STAY CONNECTED: