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.

2025 Sun March 16

St. Patrick, March 17

St. Patrick, apostle of Ireland, was born in England, circa 386. Surprisingly, he was not raised with a strong emphasis on religion.  

When St. Patrick was 16 years old, he was captured by Irish pirates and brought to Ireland where he was sold into slavery. His job was to tend sheep. He came to view his enslavement of six years as God’s test of his faith, during which he became deeply devoted to Christianity through constant prayer. In a vision, he saw the children of Pagan Ireland reaching out their hands to him, which only increased his determination to free the Irish from Druidism by converting them to Christianity. 

The idea of escaping enslavement came to St. Patrick in a dream, where a voice promised him he would find his way home to England. Eager to see the dream materialize, St. Patrick convinced some sailors to let him board their ship. After three days of sailing, he and the crew abandoned the ship in France and wandered, lost, for 28 days—covering 200 miles of territory in the process. At last, St. Patrick was reunited with his family in England. 

Now a free man, he went to France where he studied and entered the priesthood. He never lost sight of his vision: he was determined to convert Ireland to Christianity. In 431, St. Patrick was Consecrated Bishop of the Irish, and went to Ireland to spread “The Good News” to the Pagans there. Patrick made his headquarters at Armagh in the North, where he built a school, and had the protection of the local monarch. From this base he made extensive missionary journeys, with considerable success.

To say that he single-handedly turned Ireland from a pagan to a Christian country is an exaggeration, but is not far from the truth. He baptized thousands and ordained many priests to lead new communities of Christians. His explanations of God was so simple that he was criticized during his lifetime for his lack of learning. However, he was known for his passion and zeal.

“Patrick was really a first—the first missionary to barbarians beyond the reach of Roman law,” Thomas Cahill writes in How the Irish Saved Civilization. “The step he took was in its way as bold as Columbus’s, and a thousand times more humane.”

Through preaching, writing and performing countless baptisms, he convinced Pagan Druids that they were worshiping idols under a belief system that kept them enslaved. By accepting Christianity, he told them, they would be elevated to “the people of the Lord and the sons of God.” 

Patrick is said to have used the shamrock to explain the Trinity, demonstrating that God is both three (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), yet one, as the shamrock is both three-leafed, yet a single plant. While no hard data proves that Patrick actually went around teaching via plant life, it was a brilliant move if he did. Shamrocks were sacred plants for the Druids, symbolizing eternal life. There is a consistent record of Celtic Christianity’s reinterpreting the culture into Christian forms, and this is a profound example of that.

St. Patrick died in 461 in Saul, Ireland. Though he was never formally canonized by a pope, St. Patrick is on the List of Saints, and was declared a Saint in Heaven by many Catholic churches. 

The Episcopal Church annually honors St. Patrick with the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, the date of his death, which falls during the Christian season of Lent. 

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What to remember about St. Patrick on March 17?

Today is March 17, St. Patrick’s day. Among all the saints, St. Patrick’s day is easily remembered. You can’t forget it with all the celebrations. In our time it is connected with parades, wearing green, and drinking green beer among others.

Many things may be surprising about his life. No, he didn’t wear green. He wasn’t Irish but British. His original name wasn’t Patrick. Plus there may be parts of his original story made up by him to promote his cause. British professor Philip Freeman, author of a biography on St. Patrick has tried to strip away the legends – That he was “kidnapped from Britain, forced to work as a slave, but managed to escape and reclaim his status, is likely to be fiction.” Were the stories a way to escape his place in England?

So what is left and what’s in it for us in 2023? Plenty! Subtitle – how to succeed in the world? First, you must have a mission. Then you must pursue it with all of your talents. You must have a unique angle, different from others. Call it creativity and add in some luck. Let’s take each one.

1. He succeeded in his mission which is his objective and also includes his methods. He was determined to convert Ireland to Christianity from the Druids. In 431, St. Patrick was consecrated Bishop of the Irish and went to Ireland to spread “the Good news” there. He baptized thousands and ordained many priests to lead new communities of Christians. Patrick made his headquarters at Armagh in the North, where he built a school, and had the protection of the local monarch. He had a stable base! From this base, he made extensive missionary journeys, with considerable success.

2. He was known for his passion and zeal and was creative at the same time. He was totally dedicated as a priest for 40 years. Patrick is said to have used the shamrock to explain the Trinity, demonstrating that God is both three (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), yet one, as the shamrock is both three-leafed, yet a single plant. Shamrocks were sacred plants for the Druids, symbolizing eternal life. So he re-interpreted known symbols.

3. He is considered the first writer in Irish history. He has left us an autobiography (called the Confessio), a Letter to Coroticus (cruel ruler who persecuted Christians) in which he denounces the slave trade and rebukes the British chieftain Coroticus for taking part in it, and the Lorica (or “Breastplate” a poem of disputed authorship traditionally attributed to Patrick), a work that has been called “part prayer, part anthem, and part incantation.”Breastplate” is in the Episcopal Hymnbook. The version tune we sing was written by Mrs. Cecil F. Alexander, for St. Patrick’s Day, 1889, and sung generally throughout Ireland on that day

“Christ be within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ inquired, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.”

A possible 4. Tell your own story which he did!

Growing up in Christ! A Lenten series from the Diocese of Atlanta, Part 2 – Maladjusted

“To grow up in Christ will make you maladjusted to the world. In Paul’s day, Roman citizenship was the platinum standard. As a Roman citizen he was distinct, privileged and protected. Though Roman citizenship was the premium of his age he still writes, “But our citizenship is in heaven….” What subordinated Roman citizenship for Paul? What are the costs, responsibilities and privileges of this heavenly citizenship?

“As we grow up in Jesus, we get a glimpse how how we have adjusted ourselves to a world in open opposition to truth, peace, love and justice. The affect of this adjustment is that it reduces Christ to our personal chaplain and our heavenly citizenship to an ineffectual pie -in -the -sky theology. But to imitate Jesus, adopting his words and ways and seeing as he sees will result in us being maladjusted to the world as it is. The closer to Christ we walk the more palpable the tension becomes. Is it any wonder why people keep Jesus at a Sunday only safe and superficial distance? Yet, this tension, this feeling of being maladjusted to the world mustn’t go unnoticed, be repressed or become guilt, defeat or despair. In fact, it is a part of the fuel for a faithful life.

“We must become as Dr. King has said, “creative” in our maladjustment. Or, as Paul writes in another place, “transformed…so we can prove the good….” Picture a former President teaching Sunday school after building homes for the poor. Or, picture a Nobel Laureate leaving lofty company to support sanitation workers in their quest for fair wages. Creative maladjustment doesn’t take the weight of the world on it’s shoulders, only God can carry that burden. But it does as a first step. Shift our personal pronouns and primary considerations from I, me and my, to we, us and ours! What does this superior citizenship cost and what are its responsibilities and privileges? It costs courage to see the gaps between what we say on Sunday and how we live on Monday. It’s responsibility is to God and neighbor simultaneously and it’s privileges are clarity, purpose, joy and partnership with the God of all the nations.”

Philippians 3:17-4:1
Romans 12:2

Part 1 of this series

Sunday Links, Second Sunday in Lent, March 16

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  • Location – 823 Water Street, P. O. Box 399, Port Royal, Virginia 22535
  • Staff and Vestry

  • Wed., March 12, 10am, Ecumenical Bible Study in the Parish House reading the Lectionary for March 16, Second Sunday in Lent
  • Sun., March 16, 11am, Holy Eucharist, Second Sunday in Lent

  • All articles for Sunday, March 16, 2025

    • Recent Articles, Second Sunday in Lent , March 16, 2025


    Second Sunday in Lent

    Lectionary – Second Sunday in Lent, Year C
    Visual Lectionary Vanderbilt, Lent 2
    Lectionary review, Lent 2
    Today, Tomorrow, and the Third Day (Luke 13: 31-35)
    The Gospel this Sunday – Jesus as a mother hen!
    Growing up in Christ! Part 2

    Remembering Harriet Tubman, March 10
    St. Patrick, March 17
    What to remember about St. Patrick on March 17?

    LENT BASICS
    The Call to a Holy Lent
    Origins of Lent
    Introduction to Lent, 2024
    Lent – From Ashes to Alleluias
    Season of Lent
    Facts about Lent
    5 Lenten Questions – Diocese of Atlanta
    Voices of Lent

    EIGHT LENTEN PRACTICES
    “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.” (Book of Common Prayer, page 265)

    What are these practices?
    1. Prayer during Lent
    2. Daily Readings
    3. Pretzels in Lent
    4. Daily Examen
    5. Express Yourself
    6. Reducing your carbon footprint
    7. Fasting and Feasting
    8. Building Happiness in Lent

    STATIONS OF THE CROSS
    The Stations of the Cross began as the practice of pious pilgrims to Jerusalem who would retrace the final journey of Jesus Christ to Calvary.
    Later, for the many who wanted to pass along the same route, but could not make the trip to Jerusalem, a practice developed that eventually took the form of the fourteen stations currently found in almost every church. Many explore the stations on Good Friday.

    3 versions of the stations
    1. VTS version – video and reflection guide
    2. Mary Peterman – paintings
    3. Creighton – Catholic version

    Lectionary – Lent 2 Year C

    I. Theme – We should trust in God’s covenants

    “ Fox and the Hen”

    The lectionary readings are here  or individually:

    Old Testament – Genesis 15:1-12,17-18 Psalm – Psalm 27 Epistle – Philippians 3:17-4:1 Gospel – Luke 13:31-35

    Today’s readings invite us to trust in God’s covenant promises. Each of the readings speaks about a future, a not yet. This week, try letting your heart break for the world in a new way, knowing that God will transfigure and transform every valley, every sorrow, and every cross knowing that God. is already doing to transfigure despair into hope, mourning into dancing, hate into love. Let your goal in your prayers this week be to deepen both your compassion for the world and your trust in God’s transforming presence all around.

    Abraham’s involves continuation of the tribe and of the name, and of the covenant.  His confidence in the lord’s promise is counted as righteousness. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, trusts in the coming of the Savior and the transformation of our bodies.    Paul wants his readers to be tied to the future that is the Kingdom of Heaven, and the future of Jesus is the future of the true prophet who delivers God’s final word on what will be. The gospel reminds us that although God’s covenant promises are for everyone, nevertheless our effort is required if we are to participate.

    While Advent calls us to awareness, awakening and alertness, Lent helps us appreciate the cloud, the shadow, the wisdom of deep sleep. God’s covenant with Abram is not forged beneath the brilliant blaze of noon but in a deep and terrifying darkness, after the sun has set. That such an important event should happen at night prompts us to question our usual assumptions that everything good occurs in the light.

    Jesus introduces another puzzle when he implies that the order of sanctity may not be as rigid as we might think. “Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” He turns this twist into a concrete example in his lament over Jerusalem: site of the magnificent temple. To his listeners, it’s grandeur must seem close to heaven. Yet it is the city that kills the prophets; it will be the scene of his death.

    Furthermore, the people most revered in that society, its religious leaders and scholars, wait outside a closed door, seething in bitterness and frustration. Because they have rejected Jesus’ overtures, they have missed their chance to enjoy the banquet of God’s reign.

    The question must come to our minds as it did to Jesus’ first hearers. If the elite don’t get in, who does? Perhaps those who are willing to be gathered like chicks, those who admit their vulnerability, those who do not pride themselves on their virtue, those who know they don’t have a corner on truth.

    As we grow in loving God, we become more skeptical of the idols that compete for our loyalty. When bureaucrats are inefficient and heroes corrupt, when the traffic is crazy, when time and energy dribble away, when we lose our favorite project, our finest self or our dearest love, when the oppressors triumph, the greedy profit and the innocent are bludgeoned, then we remember Paul’s claim that “our citizenship is in heaven.”

    Too much is awry in this world to ever claim it for permanent residence or lasting citizenship. Knowing that the terrestrial stakes are small and the earthly city doesn’t last forever helps us “stand firm in the lord” as Paul would have the Philippians do.

    So do not lose heart, as we are reminded in 2 Corinthians. Lent is a journey, and our spiritual lives are a journey. We do not see the end but we know the way we are going. Living for Christ means living for others and not for ourselves. Living for Christ means following God’s ways of love and justice and seeking justice for others. Living for Christ means knowing that the way of this world—to put ourselves first, to seek earthly success and gain, to “have it all”—means to lose it all in the end. Living for Christ means we trust in God, we trust in the hope of God for us, as Abraham and Sarah did so long ago, as Jesus taught us, and as the psalmists sang and Paul preached—we know we shall see the goodness of God in our lives, and we share that hope with others.

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    Today, Tomorrow, and the Third Day (Luke 13: 31-35)

    Today where sun rises on hills of fresh sorrow tomorrow where stars set upon fields of old pain we will do the day’s work to bring comfort and healing for this is Christ’s labour, fulfilled the third day

    Today where souls suffer, despairing and fearful tomorrow where whole lives are crushed under strain we will do the day’s work to bring peace, to bring courage for this is Christ’s labour, fulfilled the third day

    Today where the parched and scarred earth yields no bounty tomorrow where war-weary ground gives no grain we will do the day’s work to bring hope to the hungry for this is Christ’s labour, fulfilled the third day

    Today where the foxes of evil still threaten tomorrow where tenderness so often is maimed we will do the day’s work to bring love and compassion for this is Christ’s labour, fulfilled the third day

    Today where the forces of greed rule the kingdoms tomorrow where powers of death hold their sway we will do the day’s work to bring justice and caring for we are Christ’s labour, fulfilled the third day

    – Andrew King