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.

Music

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) – musician, writer, prophetess – and saint

We celebrate Hildegard’s life on September 17.

Accounts written in Hildegard’s lifetime  (1098-1179) and just after describe an extraordinarily accomplished woman: a visionary, a prophet (she was known as “The Sibyl Of The Rhine”), a pioneer who wrote practical books on biology, botany, medicine, theology and the arts. She was a prolific letter-writer to everyone from humble penitents looking for a cure for infertility to popes, emperors and kings seeking spiritual or political advice. She composed music and was known to have visions

Here is what Gay Rahn, former Associate Rector at St. George’s Fredericksburg, wrote about her several years ago – “Hildegard of Bingen was a twelfth-century mystic, composer, and author. She described the Holy One as the greening Power of God. Just as plants are greened, so we are as well. As we grow up, our spark of life continually shines forth. If we ignore this spark this greening power, we become thirsty and shriveled. And, if we respond to the spark, we flower. ”

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A Unique Monastery in Africa

Keur Moussa means ‘House of Moses’. The House of Moses Monastery was founded in Senegal in Western Africa in 1961 by French monks from the order of St Benedict. The monastery is known for its art, music and its service with both African and European forms. You can see this in the following video.

Today, Keur Moussa has 30 to 40 brothers. The abbey also sponsors an elementary school and dispensary, run by sisters and laypeople. The monks themselves live from the work of their hands, tending fruit trees, making cheese, and hand-crafting their musical instrument known as koras.

The altar has images on both the wall and ceiling.

It also has one of the unique Death of John the Baptist depictions.

Robert Harding, photographer, took a series of photos there. This one is “Head of Baptist, mural by Father George Saget (1963) fits in with the Gospel on July 14.

This image shows not just the execution but a diverse crowd reaction. People on the far right are very sad and withdrawn, a natural reaction. Those two to the left have their hands up. This can mean several things – they don’t want to be associated with it, they are appalled by it, they are reviled by it. They have at least confronted it.

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Larry’s new guitar, June 16, 2024

Larry Saylor played the prelude and offertory today June 16, 2024. What’s significant is that he played them on a new guitar. Not one bought but the second one he made! (His first one debuted in Feb. 2022). This one took 1.5 years compared to 3 years of the first one.

This guitar has a different design. It is closer to a Romantic guitar, smaller with two less frets. It was modelled after a Martin 1920’s model. Another quality is that Larry designed the moldings and resonator board himself rather than buying them. Thus this instrument has been more personalized

Two performances :

Prelude – “Study in A”

Offertory- “In the bulb there is a flower”

Trinity Sunday- Hymn of the Week – “Holy, Holy, Holy”

Reginald Heber (1783 – 1826) was an English clergyman, traveller, man of letters and hymn-writer who, after working as a country parson for 16 years, served as the Anglican Bishop of Calcutta until his sudden death at the age of 42.

Reginald Heber wrote "Holy, Holy, Holy" while serving as vicar of Hodnet, Shropshire, England. He was the first to compile a hymnal ordering hymns around the church calendar. Wanting to celebrate a triune God, Heber wrote "Holy, Holy, Holy" for Trinity Sunday–a day that reaffirmed the doctrine of the Trinity and was observed eight Sundays after Easter. The hymn was first published in 1826.

Years later, John Dykes composed the tune Nicaea especially for Heber’s "Holy, Holy, Holy."

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The Little Falls Bluegrass Band returns for Pentecost

The Little Falls Bluegrass Band from Stafford returns this Pentecost to entertain us as they did in 2023.

The gentlemen have played bluegrass music for many years in many bands, including this one. They have played for weddings, social and church services. They are tight both in music and friendship – and it shows! Several attend Community Baptist Church in Stafford.

Rogation Hymns

Rogation Sunday is the day when the Church has traditionally offered prayer for God’s blessings on the fruits of the earth and the labors of those who produce our food  

Our hymns today reflect the themes of Rogation Sunday. Here are two examples:

1. “Not here for high and holy things”

Geoffrey Anketel Suddert-Kennedy, 1883-1929

First three verses

Not here for high and holy things
we render thanks to thee,
but for the common things of earth,
the purple pageantry
of dawning and of dying days,
the splendor of the sea,

the royal robes of autumn moors,
the golden gates of spring,
the velvet of soft summer nights,
the silver glistering
of all the million million stars,
the silent song they sing,

of faith and hope and love undimmed,
undying still through death,
the resurrection of the world,
what time there comes the breath
of dawn that rustles through the trees,
and that clear voice that saith:

This list of “common things” is so long that it occupies three full stanzas of the hymn, culminating in that tantalizing “that clear voice that saith:”.

The remaining verses – continue this – the lark in the sky, giant sun soars up,

The last verse focuses on God

“to serve right gloriously the God who gave all worlds that are,
and all that are to be.

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The Good Shepherd in our hymns

“The Good Shepherd” – Jorge Cocco

The hymns today speak of the qualities of the Good Shepherd

1 Savior, like a shepherd lead us . Author  Dorothy Ann Thrupp (1779-1847) speaks of Jesus as guardian of us in our lives,  keeping away from sin and coming after us when we go astray, freeing us in the process. She calls upon Jesus help us do His Will in general

Thrupp compiled several hymnbooks for children. Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us appeared unsigned in her Hymns for the Young, published in 1836, but is commonly attributed to her.

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The 23rd Psalm Sung by Bobby McFerrin

From the SALT Project. “From the SALT project. “Bobby McFerrin’s virtuosic reimagining of that ancient, beloved song.

“The translation helps us hear the lyrics afresh, and the musical setting helps us feel the song’s emotional depths, echoing across the centuries.”

Bobby McFerrins VOCAbuLarieS featuring SLIXS & Friends, live in Gdansk, Poland at the Solidarity of Arts Festival, 17 August 2013