E-News from Emmanuel Episcopal Church 1/21/21

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EMMANUEL EPISCOPAL CHURCH

203 S. KENSINGTON AVENUE

LA GRANGE, ILLINOIS 60525

(708) 352-1275

(866) 668-2086 (FAX)

www.emmanuel-lagrange.org

January 21, 2021 Emmanuel's E-News

Greetings from

Emmanuel Episcopal Church!

Greetings!

This Sunday is the Third Sunday after the Epiphany.

The Season of Epiphany: Wise men Still Worship Him

Epiphany means "manifestation" and is the official Season for proclaiming the identity of Christ. Epiphany begins at sundown the day before January 6, the day commemorating the Wise Men coming to Bethlehem to worship the Baby Jesus (in the Western Church -- the Eastern Church commemorates our Lord's baptism on January 6). Epiphany is a season of worship, as the whole world follows the Wise Men to find and honor Jesus. The color of Epiphany is green.

Today we tend to celebrate our Holidays (Holy Days) as individual days, and so we like to celebrate the Magi as part of the Christmas Nativity---why single them out again in early January?

In previous times (and still in some countries, such as Mexico) it was "the twelve days of Christmas" (like the Song), and then the Wise Men "arrive", and while they are "here" it is the Epiphany Season.

The Baptism of Our Lord, on the Sunday after the Epiphany
The Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple
The Last Sunday after the Epiphany is Transfiguration Day

Source: www.prayerfoundation.org

Emmanuel Pipe Organ Project

Our Casavant 3062 is currently being refitted by Jeff Weiler of Chicago.

The POP Organ Committee has reluctantly agreed to postpone the Clive Driskill-Smith rededication concert, due to COVID related delays and travel restrictions. New dates for September or November are being discussed.

UPDATE: Like a giant jigsaw puzzle, the crew is painstakingly restoring, piece by piece, reconnecting, and refitting all of the thousands of parts, pipes et al.

The Organ is coming on in leaps and bounds, and now looks recognizable as a pipe organ. The work is very detailed, and tests are conducted after each section is installed.

The console is now mostly complete. At least to an amateur, it looks more complicated than the control console of the Spacex Dragon module that is now docked at the Space Station!

We salute you George!

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Donations to POP Fund and Friends of Casavant are still much needed, especially as we have had to cancel yet another fundraiser. Although we have only one relatively small payment left to make, we now have to pay the bank back. Thank you to all who continue to support the project. If you have not yet given or feel able to top up or simply fulfill your pledged amounts- now is the time.

The Pipe Organ Project has earned a total of $268.96 from Amazon Smile!

Thank you to all who have made these purchases with Friends of Casavant 3062 nominated - literally every penny helps! As we count down to our Organ completion don't forget to use Amazon Smile and add Friends of Casavant 3062 as your chosen charity.

Online Pledge Form

Please click on the POP Pledge Form at right to download a copy. The downloaded form may be filled out and emailed to Judy in the office, or printed out and mailed.

Donations may also be made online at: https://emmanuel-lagrange.org/donate_77078

The Annual Meeting- Social Distancing Style

Save the date! Emmanuel's Annual Meeting will be held on January 31st.

Plans are conduct the Annual Meeting on the same Zoom link that we use for Sunday morning service. Estimated start time is 10am.

We will send out a link to download the reports packet some time next week. If you need a hard copy packet, please let Judy know and we will try to make arrangements to have one available for pick-up.

If you use the giving envelopes, the 2021 envelopes have arrived. We wish to thank Kathy Lampert for her efforts in distributing the envelopes.

Please contact the office if you have not received your envelopes.

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Wishing the following a

very Happy Birthday

for this week in January:

Charles (C J) A, Tom C, John B, Jenn V, Brian S, Kathy L, Matt L

Saints of the Week:

St. Cecilia and St. Agnes: Martyrs

Feast Day: January 21

According to her legend, Agnes was a young girl who refused to sacrifice to pagan idols, even when exposed in a brothel by the Piazza Navonna, and who was then executed by stabbing in the throat, around 304 A.D. She was buried in the catacomb given her name. When the Emperor Constantine's daughter, Constantia, died, she was buried in a mausoleum beside Agnes' catacomb, 354 A.D.

Each year, on her feast of 21 January, two lambs, garlanded and crowned with roses, are brought into the Basilica in baskets, placed on that altar above her tomb, below the mosaicked apse with her portrait, and blessed at Mass. These are then taken to the Basilica of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, their wool spun and woven by the Benedictine nuns of St. Cecilia there into the pallium the Pope next blesses on the altar above St Peter's Tomb, then gives to each metropolitan archbishop, the pallium signifying their rank in the Church's hierarchy.

Saint Cecilia's legend is even more shrouded in mystery than is Saint Agnes', yet here again we have the body. She is said to have lived in the time of Pope Urban I (222-230), but in his reign there were no persecutions against the Christians. Married to the young Valerian, she insisted on retaining her virginity and converted both him and his brother Tiburtius to Christianity.

For refusing to sacrifice to pagan idols they were all martyred, Saint Cecilia first steamed in her own bathhouse, now beneath her church, then executed with three sword blows, but after which she continued to live for three more days, preaching to the Roman people and giving her house to the Church.

Much later, she came to be associated with the playing of the organ and thus the Patron Saint of Music.

Saint Cecilia's uncorrupted body, garbed in exquisite cloth of gold, was then discovered, because of his dream vision of her, in the Catacomb of her name by Pope Paschal I in 821. He had it brought back to her palace which she had bequeathed to be a church, and laid it beneath the altar there, placing above it a fine mosaic of her beside himself, wearing the pallium, and Saints Paul and Peter, flanking the figure of the blessing Christ.

Later, in the sixteenth century, the titular Cardinal of the church rediscovered her body. Pope Clement VIII and all the peoples of Rome rushed to see it, finding it still clothed in tissue of gold, lying modestly on its side, the neck wound covered with a golden amulet. Stefano Maderno, who created the fountains in St Peter's Piazza, was then commissioned to sculpt what he saw.

Adapted from http://www.umilta.net/cecilia.html

Annual Meeting 111111January 31, 2021

Vestry Meeting February 16, 2021

Listen to Emmanuel Sunday Sermons Online

If you were truly inspired by any of the sermons you hear, don't forget you can listen again to the sermons from Emmanuel. They are normally available on our website within a few days of the Sunday service.

Short Takes

Send us your news! We would like to celebrate your and your family's achievements. Did your child get into the college he/she wanted? Did they make the honor roll? Are they performing in a concert or play? How about a work promotion or achievement for you or your spouse? Let us know so your church family can celebrate with you.

2021 Vestry Nominations

The vestry is the leadership council of the parish, and new vestry members are elected at the January annual meeting. They work closely with the rector to define the mission and direction of the parish and manage the parish's operations, finances, and property. Vestry members are an example of commitment, participation, and support of the life of the parish.

Over the three-year term, their responsibilities include:

Representing the congregation as the fiduciary decision-making body of the parish
Serving as a council of advice and support to the clergy
Serving as liaisons on commissions and as members of assigned committees
Attending monthly and special meetings, as well as retreats and training sessions; (Vestry meets the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 7pm)
Assisting the clergy to seek out and promote lay leadership for present and future needs of the parish
A nominee for vestry must be a member of Emmanuel Episcopal Church, a faithful worshiper and communicant, a pledger, active in the life and mission of Emmanuel Church, and cannot be a person rotating off the vestry or the spouse or partner of a person remaining on the vestry.

This year we are looking for three people to serve 3-year terms, one person to serve a 1-year term, and a Junior Warden who would then go on to be Senior Warden the following year.

If you feel called to serve in this ministry, or would like to nominate someone else, click on the Vestry pin graphic for the nomination form. Forms can also be found at the table outside the church office.

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