St Lawrence

Categories: prayer, feast-days, other-churches

Date: 10 August 2006 12:50:01

Another glorious moonlit night: God's creation is shining bright for us this week.

Today is the Feast Day of St Lawrence of Rome, deacon and martyr. Many aspects of his life, and death ("I'm done on this side...turn me over!"), are well-known: perhaps the most well-known is the story related that when he was ordered to bring the treasures of the church, he brought forward the poor, among whom he had divided the treasure.

For the feast I visited Christ Church St Laurence, who had a Procession and High Mass for their Patronal Feast. CCSL's High Church Anglican worship is not very common in the evangelical diocese of Sydney, and, even to an Orthodox used to ceremony and sights and smells and sounds, it is certainly a step up. They also have one of, if not the, best choirs in Australia and a very talented organist.

I won't say much about the Mass itself, as I dropped a Mystery Worshipper card in the offertory plate and so I'll wait until that is published: but I will say, in answering one of the MW questions, it did definitely make me glad to be a Christian, and my spirit was indeed lifted up to the heights in worship.

Collect for St Lawrence:
Almighty God,
who made Lawrence a loving servant of your people
and a wise steward of the treasures of your Church:
fire us with his example to love as he loved
and to walk in the way that leads to eternal life;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.