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ST. MATTHEW’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
8134 MESA DRIVE
AUSTIN, TX 78759
WWW.STMATTSAUSTIN.ORG
512-345-8314
2015 LENTEN NEWSLETTER
Lent at St. Matthew’s
February 18 - April 5
This brochure is a shorthand guide for Lent at St. Matthew’s. Look for more details on our website, in the
Weekly Words, and on our Facebook page.
The Season of Lent by the Rev. Merrill Wade
Ash Wednesday is February 18 this year. At the service the Celebrant says the
following as an introduction to the season:
Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our
Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a
season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith
were prepared for Holy Baptism... I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and
by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.
Why bother with Lent?
Why should we interrupt our busy lives and “keep” Lent? We should seek to observe Lent because Jesus is Lord and worthy of our devotion, and his passion and
death are the source of our life as Christians and as a church. I would argue that we
need Lent, especially in our cultural “daze of digital distraction”. Look back at the
Dear People of God address above – if we are going to observe a holy Lent with devotional practices like self-examination, prayer, fasting, and reading and meditating on
Scripture, then we have to be still. Lent is a special time for listening, to incline our
hearts to hear fresh reminders that God knows and loves us. I recall this “centering
prayer”:
Be still. Ask nothing. Say nothing. Let God be God. Let God, in your stillness and
silence, look upon you and love you.
There are spaces and times for communal silence or gatherings that include silence.
Read through this Lenten brochure and take note of the Labyrinth, Daily Evening
Prayer, Contemplative Holy Eucharist Sundays at 5:15 pm, and Maundy Thursday
Vigil Prayers. It helps to gather with others in quiet reflective services to support
your private prayers.
SPECIAL POINTS OF
INTEREST:
 Pancake Supper
 Ash Wednesday
 Lenten Speaker Series
As well, Lenten listening is a time for challenge and calls from God for us to selfexamine and repent, to change our ways. The scriptures give flesh to the idea that
God loves us as we are and simultaneously seeks to transform us, with our wills engaged in that process, into whom we are
called to be. Lent is a clear reminder of
that dual assurance of God’s presence and
purpose in our lives.
 Noon Concerts
 Contemplation Workshop
 Children/Youth Activities
 Ensemble Concert
 Holy Week
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Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, February 17
5:30-6:30 pm. in Huffman Hall
Music by Martha Galie and Jean Fuller with cooking by Boy Scout Troop 511 and Brotherhood of St. Andrew.
$4 per person; $11 for family of three; $14 for family of four or more
ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICES
7:00 am
9:05 am
Eucharist & Ashes, Sanctuary
Day School Chapel & Ashes, Sanctuary
Noon
6:00 pm
Eucharist & Ashes, Sanctuary
Family-friendly Service, Huffman Hall
7:00 pm
Eucharist & Ashes, Sanctuary
HOLY WEEK
Holy Week is the primary period of special devotion to the passion and resurrection of the Lord. Here is
the calendar of the week’s special services.
March 29
March 30
March 31
April 1
April 2
April 3
April 4
April 5
April 6
Palm Sunday – 10:30 am - Liturgy of the Palms in the Courtyard and special reading of the
Gospel story of the Passion and death of Jesus
Monday in Holy Week – Noon - Holy Communion – B-14 (Wilson Room)
Tuesday in Holy Week – Noon – Holy Communion - B-14 (Wilson Room)
Wednesday in Holy Week –
7:00 am – Holy Communion – Wilson Room
Noon – Healing and Holy Communion – Wilson Room
Maundy Thursday – 7:00 pm in the Sanctuary followed by Prayer Vigil 8:00 - 11:00 pm
at the Labyrinth
Good Friday (Church office closed)
8:00 am - Noon: Prayer Vigil—B-14 (Wilson Room)
9:00 am - 11:00 am: Wilderness Stations of the Cross - Bull Creek area, meet at church
Noon: Good Friday Liturgy – Sanctuary
5:45 pm - Children’s Stations of the Cross begins in B-21
6:00 pm - Adult Stations of the Cross – Sanctuary
Holy Saturday Liturgy – 10:00 am – Sanctuary
Easter Sunday Services at approximately 6:30 am, 9:00 am and 11:00 am
Easter Monday - church office closed
FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Combined Services (in Sanctuary) on March 15
Palm Cross Making & Pizza Party—Wednesday, March 25, 5:00 pm, Huffman Hall
Family Day of Service—March 28, 10:30 am, Huffman Hall
Good Friday—April 3, 5:45 pm, Children’s Stations of the Cross, B-21
Easter Egg Hunt—Easter Sunday, April 5, immediately following the 9:00 and 11:00 am services
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LENTEN NOONDAY CONCERTS
St. Matthew’s Music Department will present the sixth Lenten Sacred Concert series every Thursday during Lent
beginning at 12:05 pm. and ending at approximately 12:35 pm. in the sanctuary. The musicians presenting each
concert are closely connected to St. Matthew’s; they have a relationship to the ministry of St. Matthew’s and continue to support it throughout the year with musical offerings. Great music was written for this season of preparation—the Passions of Bach, the Requiems of Mozart, the Lenten cantatas of past and present composers. Make
time for reflection
Feb. 26:
March 5:
March 12:
March 19:
March 26:
Malia Grace – singer/songwriter; Jean Farris Fuller, piano
The UT Horn Choir – Dr. Pat Hughes, Director
Readings and Music Offerings for Lent
– The Staff of St. Matthew’s
Classical Guitar
The Anderson High School Concert Chorale—-David Beussman, director
LENTEN CONCERT
7:30 pm - Saturday, March 28, 2015 – “Musical Meditations on the Passion of Christ”
The Schola of St. Matthew’s (students, musical colleagues, and singers from the Chamber Choir of Chorus Austin) will present
choral works by Marbach, Finzi, Viadan, Elder, Raminsh, and Mealor. Most of the works will be a capella with Jean Fuller
providing organ accompaniment as needed.
The program:
Kyrie - Paul Marbach
Lo, The Full Final Sacrifice – Gerald Finzi
O Sacrum Convivium – Lodovico Viadana (men only)
Seven Last Words from the Cross – Daniel Elder
Ave Verum Corpus - Imant Raminsh (women only)
Stabat Mater – Paul Mealor
“…AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS
AGAINST US.”
St. Matthew’s Lenten Speaker Series on Forgiveness
Wednesday evenings, 7:00 pm, Sanctuary
February 25
March 4
March 11
March 25
Michael Morton
Paul Reed
Frank Cooksey
The Rt. Rev. John McKee Sloan, Episcopal Bishop of Alabama
Light refreshments will be served after each talk. Childcare will be available with a reservation;
please contact Susan Goodman at sgoodman@stmattsaustin.org or call St. Matt’s at 512-3458314.
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CONTEMPLATION AND PRAYER
DAY OF CENTERING PRAYER
At the Seminary of the Southwest on Saturday, March 21, sponsored by the Heart of Texas Contemplative
Outreach. Please visit this link for more information and to register. http://www.heartoftexas-co.org/udp
MEN’S LENTEN DISCIPLINE
Thursdays at 6:30 am, beginning Feb. 19—breakfast followed by lessons and discussion.
LABRINYTH
Walk in prayer Sunday, February 15 through Good Friday, April 3.
Located in the Sanctuary; please see the office (hours M-F, 8:00 am - 4:00 pm) for keys if doors are locked.
Sunday, February 22, 5:15 pm: Contemplative Eucharist in the labyrinth
Wednesday, March 18, 5:30 - 7:00 pm: Open Mind, Open Heart walking the labyrinth
ANNUAL WOMEN’S RETREAT, “ANCHORED BY SISTERHOOD”
February 27-March 1, Balcones Springs Retreat Center
CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER
Saturdays, 9:00 - 10:30 am in B-14 (Wilson Room)
CONTEMPLATIVE HOLY EUCHARIST
Sundays, 5:15 pm in B-14 (Wilson Room)
Our Spring 2015 series began on February 8 at our new location, Iron Cactus
Restaurant, on Stonelake Blvd just off Capital of Texas—a beautiful new setting for
our gatherings with a wonderful partner in Iron Cactus. Our shows will begin at 6:30
pm. You are encouraged to come early and enjoy the fine food and drink of Iron
Cactus at 10001 Stonelake!
Here is our Lenten lineup:
Feb 22 – no gathering (Oscars night)
March 1 - Elizabeth McQueen
March 8 - Pat Harris
March 15 - Noëlle Hampton and André Moran of the Belle Sounds
March 22 - Pirates Canoe from Japan, here for SXSW Music
March 29 - Kelley Mickwee of the Trishas
April 5 – no gathering
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