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.
First Sunday in Lent
Coming up
Quick link to Feb, 2024 Lent Calendar
Quick link to March, 2024 Lent Calendar
Lent began Feb. 14 (Ash Wednesday)
The Prelude – Shrove Tuesday pancake supper
Lent Basics
3 key points about Ash Wed
Ash Wed. 2024, 7pm service
Photographs – Ash Wed
Videos – Ash Wed
Lectionary
Bulletin
The Ash Wed service
Art for Ash Wed
“Letting Go”, Diocese of Atlanta
Conversation about Ash Wed
Lent Stations:Vices & Virtues
Lent at St. Peter’s
Ministries
God’s Garden- Learning the Lord’s Prayer
God’s Garden – The Alleluia Banner, Part 2
The Alleluia Banner, Part 1
Souper Bowl Sunday results
Discretionary Fund donations Feb. 11
Lenten Study – The Creeds
Village Harvest Jan., 2024
Bingo Night Jan 26, 6pm-7:30pm
Sacred Ground, Jan., 2024
Black History Month, Feb., 2024
Black History month
Absalom Jones remembered Feb. 13
Rosa Parks birthday Feb. 4
Visit to Belle Grove, Feb. 2018
A Case for Love
Case for Love Journal – After the Movie
The Way of Love – a summary
How can we walk in the Way of Love?
Lent 1, Year B Lectionary Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024
I.Theme – Developing covenant relationships
"The Peaceable Kingdom" – Edward Hicks, 1834
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Genesis 9:8-17
Psalm – Psalm 25:1-9 Page 614, BCP
Epistle –1 Peter 3:18-22
Gospel – Mark 1:9-15
Connections between the readings – Noah enters the waters in the ark, sojourns for a time adrift, and emerges with a new covenant of co-creative transformation; In 1 Peter, the covenantal relationship of co-creative transformation that emerges from the Flood is now taken up and extended in the covenant of new life in Christ that is marked and sealed in baptism. The saving power of baptism lies in its role as “an appeal to God for a good conscience,” an active connection to God that brings an intensive and intimate knowing of God’s aims and intentions for our actions. In the Gospel reading, Jesus enters into John’s baptism, sojourns for a time in the wilderness, and emerges with a new proclamation of the reign of God.
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"One of the greatest theologians the world has ever known, St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), wrote about his prolonged, drawn-out search for God and the revelation he finally had that God had been with him all along:
"I have learnt to love you late, Beauty at once so ancient and so new! I have learnt to love you late! You were within me, and I was in the world outside myself. I searched for you outside myself…. You were with me, but I was not with you."
Confessions, Book X.27, St. Augustine
"Waking to the reality of this very present Eternal Life, this "Beauty ever ancient, ever new," is a transforming experience. This life-giving Presence is always with us and within us. The problem, of course, is that we are often distracted by many cares and occupations that keep us far away from God and from ourselves. It is as if we spend much of our lives wandering "in a land that is waste," while God constantly calls to us to return–to ourselves, to our true life in God.
"The forty days of Lent serve as a time for Christians to return to the Sacred Presence, to the God who has never left us, even though at times we have been far away. Lent is a time to renew classic disciplines of prayer and reflection, as well as ancient practices such as fasting and Bible study. All of this is designed to renew a right spirit within us and to prepare us for the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection at Easter."
‐The Rev. Gary Jones
By Kimberly Knowle-Zeller
God of mystery and wisdom, be with us this Lenten season. It’s been a long way, already sickness, worry, isolation, fear, waiting our hearts are heavy our souls are weary our bodies are hurting our hope is wavering yet, you are with us.
God of mystery and wisdom, be with us this Lenten season. Show us your grace in the small moments of silence the prayers offered in person or virtually the kindness of a stranger the lighting of a candle the listening to a friend the care of neighbors, you are with us.
God of mystery and wisdom, be with us this Lenten season. Settle our hearts revive our spirits increase our faith spread our love.
God of mystery and wisdom, be with us this Lenten season. In ashes and dust reading and listening wandering and walking praying and singing eating and fasting show us the way forward.
God of mystery and wisdom, be with us this Lenten season. As we walk to the cross keep our eyes fixed on you and your love – caring for others crossing boundaries reaching out to the poor taking our pain transforming death into life over and over again.
God of mystery and wisdom, be with us this Lenten season.
Commentary is by Daniella Zsupan-Jerome, assistant professor of liturgy, catechesis, and evangelization at Loyola University New Orleans.
This scene of The Temptation of Christ is a 12th–century detail of the magnificent mosaic program of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. In its full context, it is situated in the barrel vault of the south arm of the transept. The temptation scene is right above the scene of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.
On a golden background depicting the heavenly realm, the mosaic tells the story of Jesus’ temptation through a series of symbols. Moving from left to right, the figures of Christ and the devil repeat in a pattern. Each set evokes one of the temptations of Christ through key images: bread, the pinnacle of the Temple, and the mountain top with all riches of the world. The angels on the right who come to minister to Christ close the visual narrative, as the devil flees downward under them to escape the scene.
This presentation of the temptation story assumes that the viewer is familiar with it. Each of the symbols serves to jog our memory and help us recall the story we already know. In this sense, the mosaic relies on the viewer to be the real storyteller, while the artwork simply summarizes the highlights as reminders along the way. By casting the viewer as storyteller, the artwork invites us into the story in a special way, challenging us to share the Good News of it with others.
The figure of Christ in this mosaic sequence is unique—it is not the man who endured the desert for 40 days among wild animals, but Christ the Lawgiver, holding a scroll in one hand, strong, steady, and wearing dignified robes. Christ the Lawgiver reminds us that each time he rebuked the devil, he did so by referring to the written Word, the truth of God manifest in the Scriptures. Each time the hunger for food, for assurance from God, and for an easier way tempted him, Jesus found steady ground again recalling the Word of God—the source of where he came from and who he was called to be.
For people of faith encountering this mosaic within St. Mark’s Basilica, worship in this space was an occasion to find steady ground again, to become more fully who they were as Christians in Word and in sacrament. This mosaic spoke to them of this steady ground, but also invited them to be storytellers so that through them, others could find this steady ground as well.
This is Bishop Wright’s invitation to a Holy Lent and to participate in a 5-part Lenten teaching series. “Letting Go” is letting go of those things and ways that hold us back- weights, obstacles, and sin.
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