Advent, Christmas & Epiphany Services

 

Normal weekday services will continue except between Christmas Day and New Year's Day. When a major holy day occurs on a weekday, the usual 8.30am Morning Prayer service will become a Eucharist.

 

 

Throughout Advent and Christmas, we encourage everyone to make a gift to the annual Christmas Bowl Appeal.

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Advent

 

The season of Advent marks the beginning of the Christian year and extends across the four Sundays prior to Christmas. The liturgical colour for Advent is purple (representing the call of God's kingdom on our lives, as purple was associated with the Emperor in Ancient Rome), and a common symbol for Advent is the advent wreath with its four coloured candles and a central white candle. as we light each successive candle at the first service of week, we offer prayers for different spiritual blessings.

 

 

Sunday, December 1 • First Sunday of Advent

9.00am Christ Church Cathedral: Sung Eucharist

 

Sunday, December 8• Second Sunday of Advent

9.00am Christ Church Cathedral: Sung Eucharist

11.00am All Saints, Lawrence: Eucharist

 

Sunday, December 15 • Third Sunday of Advent

9.00am Christ Church Cathedral: Sung Eucharist

6.00pm Christ Church Cathedral: Nine Lessons & Carols

 

Sunday, December 22 • Fourth Sunday of Advent

9.00am Christ Church Cathedral: Sung Eucharist

11.00am All Saints, Lawrence: Christmas Eucharist

6.30pm Carols at Copmanhurst (to be confirmed)

 

 

Christmas

 

The common name for this festival of Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ is derived from the older name, Christ Mass (just as Halloween is derived from All Hallows Eve). In the Western Churches the celebration last 12 days, as the old Christmas Carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas, reminds us. (Sadly, that song also reminds us that religious prejudice and fear of people whose religious practices are different from our own is not a new thing.) In the Eastern Churches, Christmas is celebrated on several different dates, with January 6 (our Twelfth Day, the Feast of the Epiphany) as the most common date. The liturgical colour for this special season is white or gold.

 

 

Tuesday, December 24 • Christmas Eve

5.00pm Christ Church Cathedral: Children’s Christmas Service

11.00pm Christ Church Cathedral: Midnight Mass

 

Wednesday, December 25 • Christmas Day

9.00am Christ Church Cathedral: Sung Eucharist

 

Sunday, December 29 • Feast of the Holy Family

9.00am Christ Church Cathedral: Sung Eucharist

 

 

 

Sundays after Epiphany

 

The Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord Jesus Christ marks the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas. It is a special day to celebrate the visit to the Christ Child by the Oriental sages (the magi, or even "wise men") who were not part of the Jewish faith tradition but sensed God calling them closer in the birth of Jesus. The Sundays that follow Epiphany invite us to explore different ways that God is revealed to us today: in Jesus, in nature, in the Bible, in other people, etc. The liturgical colour for the Sundays after the Epiphany is green, even though the proper colour for Epiphany is white or gold.

 

NB: No services at Copmanhurst or Lawrence during January

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Sunday, January   5 • The Epiphany of the Lord Jesus

Sunday, January 12 • Feast of the Baptism of the Lord Jesus (9.00am Sung Eucharist)

Sunday, January 19 • Second Sunday after Epiphany (9.00am Sung Eucharist)

Sunday, January 26 • Australia Day Celebrations (9.00am Sung Eucharist)

 

Sunday, February   2 • Fourth Sunday after Epiphany (9.00am Sung Eucharist) – Cathedral only

Sunday, February 9 • Fifth Sunday after Epiphany (9.00am Sung Eucharist) – 11am at All Saints, Lawrence

Sunday, February 16 • Sixth Sunday after Epiphany (9.00am Sung Eucharist)  11am at Holy Apostles, Copmanhurst

Sunday, February 23 • Last Sunday after Epiphany (9.00am Sung Eucharist) with Parish AGM after the service

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