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.

 

 

 

Advent

 

The season of Advent marks the beginning of the Christian year, and extends across the four Sundays prior to Christmas. This year, Advent 4 is also Christmas Eve. 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 2 • First Sunday of Advent

9.00am Christ Church Cathedral: Sung Eucharist

11.00am Holy Apostles, Copmanhurst: Eucharist

 

Sunday, December 9 • Second Sunday of Advent

9.00am Christ Church Cathedral: Sung Eucharist

11.00am All Saints, Lawrence: Eucharist

 

Sunday, December 16 • Third Sunday of Advent

9.00am Christ Church Cathedral: Sung Eucharist

11.00am Holy Apostles, Copmanhurst: Eucharist

6.00pm Christ Church Cathedral: Nine Lessons & Carols

 

Sunday, December 23 • Fourth Sunday of Advent

9.00am Christ Church Cathedral: Sung Eucharist

11.00am All Saints, Lawrence: Christmas Eucharist

 

 

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.

 

 

Monday, December 24 • Christmas Eve

5.00pm Christ Church Cathedral: Children’s Christmas Service

7.30pm Holy Apostles Church, Copmanhurst: Christmas Service

11.00pm Christ Church Cathedral: Midnight Mass

 

Tuesday, December 25 • Christmas Day

9.00am Christ Church Cathedral: Sung Eucharist

 

Sunday, December 30 • 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.

 

Sunday, January   6 • The Epiphany of the Lord Jesus

Sunday, January 13 • Feast of the Baptism of the Lord Jesus (9.00am Sung Eucharist)

Sunday, January 20 • Second Sunday after Epiphany (9.00am Sung Eucharist)

Sunday, January 27 • Australia Day Celebrations (9.00am Sung Eucharist)

 

Sunday, February   3 • Fourth Sunday after Epiphany (9.00am Sung Eucharist)

Sunday, February 10 • Fifth Sunday after Epiphany (9.00am Sung Eucharist)

Sunday, February 17 • Sixth Sunday after Epiphany (9.00am Sung Eucharist)

Sunday, February 24 • Seventh Sunday after Epiphany (9.00am Sung Eucharist) Parish AGM after the service

 

Sunday, March  3 • Last Sunday after the Epiphany (9.00am Sung Eucharist)