St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Port Royal, VA
We are a small Episcopal Church on the banks of the Rappahannock in Port Royal, Virginia. We acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Port Royal, the Nandtaughtacund, and we respect and honor with gratitude the land itself, the legacy of the ancestors, and the life of the Rappahannock Tribe. Our mission statement is to do God’s Will in all that we do.
Ben Hicks 
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, Oct. 6
A Pet Blessing for St. Francis day, Oct. 4
The blessing -“Our pets have already blessed us. On St Francis Day, we get to bless our pets.” St Francis of Assisi, who lived from 1182 to 1226, had a great love for animals and the environment. He understood the earth and everything in it as God’s good creation and believed that we are brothers and sisters with everything in creation. So on this day, we remember St Francis and thank God for the gift of our pets.
When you have a moment with your pet, offer this blessing written by Bishop Mark S. Sisk:
Live without fear. Your Creator loves you, made you holy, and has always protected you. May we follow the good road together, and may God’s blessing be with you always. Amen.
“Who was St. Francis? ” – a link collection
“Brother Sun, Sister Moon”- trailer
Director Franco Zeffirelli’s “Brother Sun, Sister Moon” focuses on the early years of Francis of Assisi in this 1972 film.
Poem by Jan Richardson from the “Painted Prayerbook”
Addressing myths about St. Francis
St. Francis preaching to the birds
Paintings by Giotto on St. Francis
Rhonda Mawhood Lee: “Go a little crazy on St. Francis Day”, a sermon preached at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, Durham, N.C
“It’s appropriate to go a little crazy on St. Francis Day, because during his own lifetime, many people thought Francesco Bernardone was insane.”
Rohr is a Roman Catholic priest and writer. He is the founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation which brings together action and contemplation .
He recently created a video on St. Francis.
Rohr discusses St. Francis and his connection with nature which he refers to as “The First Bible”. Some points
1 The early Franciscans taught that the whole natural universe is the first Bible
2 if we murder and mangle and manipulate and destroy, how would we possibly have the skills to reverence and use, correctly, the written Bible?
3 You grant respect and reverence to nature and you let the animals talk back to you. Once you’re inside the enchanted universe where everything is granted subjectivity, you’re never lonely
The Upper Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi.
“St. Francis’ affinity for the environment influenced the artist Giotto (ca. 1270–1337), who revolutionized art history by painting figures which were three dimensional and including natural elements in his religious works. By taking sacred images away from Heaven and placing them in an earthly landscape, he separated them definitively from their abstract, unapproachable representation in Byzantine art.
“Giotto’s works are distinctive because they portray daily life as blessed, thus demonstrating that the difference between the sacred and profane is minimal. Disseminating the new ideas of St. Francis visually was very effective, as the general populace was illiterate. Seeing frescoes reflecting their everyday lives in landscapes that were familiar changed their way of thinking. The trees, plants, animals and rocky landscapes were suddenly perceived as gifts from the Creator to be used, enjoyed and respected. Furthermore, Giotto recognized that the variety of dramatic landscapes would provide spectacular visual interest in the works.”
From St. Francis and Giotto: The Saint and the Artist Started the Ecological Movement
What is World Communion Sunday? Churches this Sunday all over the world celebrate oneness in Christ in the midst of the world ever more in need of peacemaking and the universal and inclusive nature of the church. The tradition originated in the Shadyside Presbyterian Church in 1933, was adopted throughout the US Presbyterian Church in 1936, and subsequently spread to other denominations. The Episcopal Church also remembers students serving abroad, particularly the Young Adult Service Corp in the Episcopal Church.
Poem for World Communion Sunday
THE TABLE WITH NO EDGES by Andrew King
We will sit down where feet tire from the journey. We will sit down where grief bends the back.
We will sit down under roofs wrecked by artillery. We will sit down where cries sound from cracked walls.
We will sit down where heat beats like hammers. We will sit down where flesh shivers in cold.
We will sit down where bread bakes on thin charcoal. We will sit down where there is no grain in baked fields.
We will sit down with those who dwell in ashes. We will sit down in shadow and in light.
We will sit down, making friends out of strangers. We will sit down, our cup filled with new wine.
We will sit down and let love flow like language.We will sit together at the table with no edges. We will sit to share one loaf, in Christ’s name, in one world.
I. Theme – Relationships
Cerezo Barredo – Mark 10:2-16
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
You may want to call this “relationship” Sunday- Man to Woman, God to Man Genesis is about the creation of women (“helper” who married and becomes “one flesh” and the Gospel when Jesus is questioned about divorce from the pharisees (yet another relationship). The Psalm is about the dominion of God but brings in Man. “God made humans “a little lower than God.” Well how much lower ? Sometimes we are really “low” but echoing Genesis we have dominion over the earth and there is assertion we are royal creatures. ” Hebrews considers a special Christian community and relationships to others. Christ is seen as the model who walked a difficult road with the realization of something greater lay ahead
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