Trinity Church Welcomes All through its "Big Red Doors" with Tibetan prayer flags flying in the wind. It would be hard to find a more diverse group of believers, used-to-be believers, and sort-of believers. Many of us were born into other religions and denominations, and have found ourselves to be part of the inclusiveness of God's love.

Easter

The great 50 Days of Easter ends on the Feast of Pentecost. There is no Confession of Sin. The privilege of standing, not kneeling, during the Great Thanksgiving of the 50 Days dates back to the Council of Nicaea. No fasting or abstinence.

April 9 - Celebration of the Annunciation

The Feast of the Annunciation marks the visit of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, during which he told her that she would be the mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The date is close to the vernal equinox, as Christmas is to the winter solstice.

April 9 - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

A young Lutheran pastor was only twenty-four when he participated in his first public protest against Nazism and the complicity of the Christian churches in that regime's rise to power. He was one of the leaders of the Confessing Church, a Protestant group that resisted Hitler and the Nazi party. In 1935 he was the founder and dean of a seminary at Finkenwald, Germany, which served that church body. It was there that he wrote his two most famous published works: Life Together and The Cost of Discipleship. As the Nazi ring closed in upon him and the Confessing Church, he had an opportunity for asylum in the United States, which he declined. He was arrested and jailed in 1943, and from his cell in Berlin he helped plan an assassination of Adolf Hitler. The assassination failed and Bonhoeffer's involvement was discovered, and he was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp. But his life was spared, for reasons we do not know, and he was transferred to Schoenberg Prison. There he served as chaplain to fellow inmates until on a Sunday in 1945, immediately following divine services, he was summoned by the guards and taken by automobile to Flossenburg Prison, where he was summarily hanged. That was on April 9. Bonhoeffer was thirty-nine years old. The crumbling German Reich formally surrendered twenty-eight days later.

April 10 - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

was a French idealist philosopher and Jesuit priest who trained as a paleontologist and geologist and took part in the discovery of Peking Man. He conceived the vitalist idea of the Omega Point (a maximum level of complexity and consciousness towards which he believed the universe was evolving) and developed Vladimir Vernadsky's concept of noosphere. Although many of Teilhard's writings were censored by the Catholic Church during his lifetime because of his views on original sin, Teilhard has been posthumously praised by Pope Benedict XVI and other eminent Catholic figures, and his theological teachings were cited by Pope Francis in the 2015 encyclical, Laudato si'.

April 11- Yom Ha-Sho'ah

the full name of the day commemorating the victims of the Holocaust is “Yom Hashoah Ve-Hagevurah“– literally the “Day of (Remembrance of) the Holocaust and the Heroism.” It is marked on the 27th day in the month of Nisan — a week after the seventh day of Passover, and a week before Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day for Israel’s fallen soldiers).

In 2018, Yom Hashoah starts the evening of April 11 and ends the evening of April 12.

April 14 - Edward Thomas Demby

was an African-American bishop and author. Ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church of the United States and later a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Arkansas and the Southwest, Demby worked against racial discrimination and for interracial harmony, both within and outside of his church.


April 15 - Damien, Priest and Leper, 1889, and Marianne, Religious, 1918, of Molokai.

When Jozef de Veuster was ordained a priest in the Roman church, he begged to be sent abroad as a missionary. Initially, he was refused, but when his brother, a fellow priest, fell ill, the newly named Fr. Damien was allowed to take his place. He arrived in Hawai"i in 1864. Soon after arrival, however, he found himself drawn to a further mission: tending the colony on Molokai of native Hawai"ians stricken with leprosy. Damien volunteered for the assignment to be chaplain and priest to the lepers" colony. He had to plead again, when the bishop of Hawai"i hesitated to send someone to live there because of the mortal danger of infection. Damien, though he was well, went and lived as one of the sick: saying prayers, building houses, tending crops, and, when necessary, building coffins. Six months after his arrival, he wrote to his brother back in Belgium: “I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ.” Damien broke through the physical and spiritual isolation, and he brought God"s allencompassing love and care for people who had been abandoned. He was a physical sign of Christ"s light abiding with them, even as the rest of the world seemed darkened. He died of leprosy in 1889, sixteen years after his arrival in Molokai.

In the Anglican communion, as well as other denominations of Christianity, Damien is considered the spiritual patron for leprosy and outcasts. Father Damien Day, April 15, the day of his passing, is also a minor statewide holiday in Hawaii and to this day Father Damien is the patron saint of the Diocese of Honolulu and of Hawaii.

April 16 - Mary (Molly) Brant (Konwatsijayenni)

Mohawk, also known as Mary Brant, Konwatsi'tsiaienni, and Degonwadonti, was influential in New York and Canada in the era of the American Revolution. Living in the Province of New York, she was the consort of Sir William Johnson, the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs, with whom she had eight children. Joseph Brant, who became a Mohawk leader and war chief, was her younger brother.

After Johnson's death in 1774, Brant and her children left Johnson Hall in Johnstown, New York and returned to her native village of Canajoharie, further west on the Mohawk River. A Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War, she migrated to British Canada, where she served as an intermediary between British officials and the Iroquois.[1] After the war, she settled in what is now Kingston, Ontario. In recognition of her service to the Crown, the British government gave Brant a pension and compensated her for her wartime losses, including a grant of land. When the British ceded their former colonial territory to the United States, most of the Iroquois nations were forced out of New York. A Six Nations Reserve was established in what is now Ontario.

Since 1994, Brant has been honored as a Person of National Historic Significance in Canada. She was long ignored or disparaged by historians of the United States, but scholarly interest in her increased in the late 20th century. She has sometimes been controversial, criticized for being pro-British at the expense of the Iroquois. But the Iroquois primarily allied with the British. Known to have been a devout Anglican, she is commemorated on April 16 in the calendar of the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church (USA)

April 16 - Benedict Joseph Labre

On Holy Wednesday of the year 1783, Benedict Joseph Labre, a vagabond of God, died in Rome. A native of the town of Amettes, in today's diocese of Arras in northern France, he received a modest education that allowed him to read the great spiritual texts of his time in Latin.

Benedict was very young when he sensed his calling to monastic life, but his vocational search was not easy. He was refused by several Carthusian monasteries because of his young age and poor health, and the Trappists, to whom he went next, felt he was unsuited for a traditional religious life.

Benedict did not give up, and after facing rejection and his own limitations he came to recognize his calling to a different, yet deeply evangelical form of witness. He became a pilgrim without a fixed address, in search of God's future city, and immersed himself in prayer, which never again left him. Carrying a sack that held nothing but the New Testament, a breviary, and The Imitation of Christ, he toured the major centers of Christian Europe.

At the age of twenty-eight he arrived in Rome and spent seven years there as a vagabond, wandering from one church to another and sleeping in the ruins of the Colosseum. He spent his days listening to pilgrims and the poor, making friends with heretics and unbelievers, and living, as he had dreamed of doing from his childhood, totally abandoned to God's merciful love. Patron saint of the homeless.

April 21 - Anselm

Anselm lived in an age when ignorance and raw power often went hand in hand. His life was spent in opposing these enslaving forces, especially in England. He was born of noble Christian parents in Burgundy and educated at the monasteries at St. Leger and Bec in Normandy. He joined the latter community and, after an impressive career as teacher and author, became its abbot. He first visited England at the invitation of William the Conqueror, by whom he was well-loved. His consecration as Archbishop of Canterbury met with overwhelming approval from the English people, who knew him as a wise and compassionate person. He spent years in this high office attempting to gain a lasting peace in a time of constant feuding. He championed the church"s independence from royal authority and was twice exiled by angry kings whose bidding he refused to do. Anslem was a theologian of the first order. He lectured in Rome, carried on intellectual correspondence with the most brilliant leaders of his day, and wrote a number of books that are still highly regarded among theologians. His most famous book, Cur Deus Homo, was the foremost work on the doctrine of the atonement to come out of the Middle Ages.

April 22 - Maria Gabriella Sagheddu (1914-1939) nun

Maria Gabriella Sagheddu, a Trappist who died on April 23, 1939 at the age of twenty-five, is also remembered today. Maria Sagheddu was born in Dorgali, Sardinia into a poor family of shepherds. She was a very bright child, but had to give up secondary school to help her widowed mother raise her brothers and sisters. She had little interest in religion, but everything changed for her at the age of eighteen. She found herself immersed in an intense life of prayer and began to dedicate herself to catechism and apostolic work, gradually recognizing her vocation to monastic life.

Leaving Sardinia, she entered the Trappist monastery of Grottaferrata, near Rome, at the age of twenty-one. Under the enlightened guidance of the abbess, Mother Pia, Maria discovered the spiritual ecumenism of Paul Couturier. She decided to follow the example of other sisters in her community and offer her life and sufferings for the cause of Christian unity.

After just a few months, Maria, who in the meantime had become Sr. Maria Gabriella, was diagnosed with tuberculosis. She spent the time she had left immersed in the prayer Jesus himself had prayed, when he asked his Father that those who believed in him might be one./p>

Although her story is similar in many ways to the stories of other witnesses who have had a passion for ecumenism, Maria's smallness and simplicity were immediately seen as important signs, showing the Christian denominations how they could walk together towards communion. Maria's life had a strong impact during the years in which the ecumenical movement was taking shape in the Catholic Church, and her story touched the hearts of Christians of every country and denomination.

Sr. Maria Gabriella was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1983, at the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

April 22-Earth Day

is an annual event celebrated on April 22. Worldwide, various events are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First celebrated in 1970, Earth Day events in more than 193 countries[1] are now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network.

On Earth Day 2016, the landmark Paris Agreement was signed by the United States, China, and some 120 other countries.This signing satisfied a key requirement for the entry into force of the historic draft climate protection treaty adopted by consensus of the 195 nations present at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.

In 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco, peace activist John McConnell proposed a day to honor the Earth and the concept of peace, to first be celebrated on March 21, 1970, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. This day of nature's equipoise was later sanctioned in a proclamation written by McConnell and signed by Secretary General U Thant at the United Nations. A month later a separate Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970. Nelson was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom award in recognition of his work. While this April 22 Earth Day was focused on the United States, an organization launched by Denis Hayes, who was the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations.

April 23-St. George

On April 23, all Christian calendars commemorate George of Lydda, the most widely venerated Christian martyr. He was probably born in Cappadocia and was the son of Gerontius, a pagan of Persian ancestry, and Polycronia, a Christian. After beginning a military career, George became a fervent disciple of Christ and abandoned the army, giving all of his possessions to the poor. The surviving accounts of his martyrdom are so thoroughly mixed with legend that it is virtually impossible to reconstruct what actually happened. Even the date of his death is uncertain, although we know he was buried in the Palestinian city of Lydda, where a basilica was built in his honor in 350.

George's Passio was translated into all of the languages of the Eastern and Western churches, and was often embellished in the process. It is a tale filled with miracles, some of which are truly extravagant. In one of the most famous episodes, which was immortalized by countless iconographical variations and narrated by Jacob of Varrazze in his Golden Legend, George kills a dragon that had been terrorizing the city of Silene in Libya. This traditional episode made George a symbol of the struggle against the power of evil. He is the patron saint of England, and the number of churches dedicated to him worldwide is probably beyond estimation.

April 23 - Toyohiko Kagawa

was a Japanese Christian pacifist, Christian reformer, and labour activist. Kagawa wrote, spoke, and worked at length on ways to employ Christian principles in the ordering of society and in cooperatives. His vocation to help the poor led him to live among them. He established schools, hospitals, and churches. "I read in a book that a man called Christ went about doing good. It is very disconcerting to me that I am so easily satisfied with just going about."

April 24 - The thirteen Jewish martyrs of Troyes

In 1288, the Jewish residents of the French city of Troyes were accused of ritual homicide when a corpse was found in the house of Jewish nobleman Isaac Châtelain during Passover. The corpse had been left in Châtelain's house to make him appear guilty of a murder committed by others.

The Franciscan and Dominican friars who carried out the investigation accused the city's Jewish community, and a massacre appeared imminent. To save the entire community from catastrophe, thirteen Jews, most of whom were members of the Châtelain family, sacrificed themselves by confessing to a crime they had not committed. They were burned at the stake the same day.

Other Jewish communities had already been accused of committing ritual homicide in order to celebrate Passover with a human sacrificial offering. In 1171, this absurd and slanderous accusation had been made against the Jews of the city of Blois, who were all burned at the stake.

READING

April 24 - Genocide Remembrance

During the night of April 23, 1915, mass arrests of Armenian politicians, church leaders, journalists, lawyers, and intellectuals took place in Constantinople, under the pretext that all of Turkey's Armenian residents were planning a revolt. These arrests marked the beginning of what would become history's second largest genocide in numerical terms, after the genocide of the Jews led by the Nazi regime.

Between 1915 and 1918, mass deportations and inhuman treatment resulted in the disappearance of 1,500,000 Armenians, who died on the road to exile or in the sands of Syria. Those who escaped death sought shelter in Middle Eastern refugee camps and on the far side of the first range of the Caucasus.

It is not easy to understand the intricate combination of faith, national identity, and political action in view of independence that resulted in the genocide of the Armenian people, but Armenians remember their brothers and sisters who died in the First World War as martyrs who were persecuted and despised because of their faith and their difference.

In any case, it is historically certain that very few Armenians denied the faith of their ancestors and converted to Islam in the hope of saving themselves from the Turks' destructive fury.

April 25- Mid-Pentecost

Mid-Pentecost celebrates the midpoint between the Feasts of Easter and Pentecost. "In the middle of the Feast, O Savior, fill my thirsting soul with the waters of godliness, as Thou didst cry to all: 'If anyone thirst, let him come to Me and drink' (John 7:37). O Christ God, Fountain of our life, glory be to Thee!"

April 25 - Mark

Today the Eastern and Western churches celebrate the feast of Mark the Evangelist. John, also called Mark, was the cousin of Barnabas, and it was at his mother's house that the first Christians gathered to pray, according to Luke's testimony in the Acts of the Apostles (12.12). Around the year 44, Mark accompanied Paul and Barnabas to Cyprus and Pamphylia on their first missionary journey. He later abandoned Paul, who sharply rebuked him for refusing to follow him. Later, Mark redeemed himself by remaining at Paul's side during his imprisonment in Rome. He was also a disciple of Peter, who calls Mark "my son" in his first letter, and he served as Peter's interpreter. At the request of the Christians of Rome, Mark wrote down Peter's preaching about what Jesus had said and done, and created the literary genre of the Gospel. According to some, Mark is the young man who ran away naked after Jesus' arrest.

The Coptic liturgy calls him "the witness of the sufferings of the only-begotten Son." In his Gospel, Mark fixes his gaze on the mystery of the suffering Servant in whom the Son of Man's glory is hidden, without ever hiding the failure of Jesus' own disciples to understand him during his lifetime.

The last years of Mark's life are partly shrouded in mystery. Eusebius reports that Mark went to Egypt, founded the church of Alexandria, and was martyred in Alexandria on an unknown date. According to tradition, Mark's body was transferred to Venice in 828. In 1968, Cardinal Urbani made a gift of one of his relics to the Pope of Alexandria, Cyril VI, a gesture that marked a renewal of dialogue between the Catholic and Coptic Churches after centuries of hostility and misunderstanding.

April 26 - Robert Hunt

a vicar in the Church of England, was chaplain of the expedition that founded the first successful English colony in the New World, at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607.

April 27 - Christina Rossetti

was an English poet who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional, and children's poems. She is famous for writing Goblin Market and Remember, and the words of the Christmas carol In the Bleak Midwinter.

April 29 - Catherine of Siena

One tends to think of medieval women as silent and passive dwellers in homes and convents. This was far from the case with Catherine of Siena. She exercised great influence in matters of church and state, and hers was one of the keenest minds of her day. Her father was a merchant in the flourishing Italian town of Siena. In her youth she had some extraordinary religious experiences which caused concern among her family and friends. At sixteen she joined the Third Order of St. Dominic and gave herself entirely to contemplation and the service of the sick and poor. Her reputation as a counselor and mystic soon spread far and wide. In 1376 she made a journey to Avignon and boldly confronted Pope Gregory XI , who heeded her advice and thus averted schism and bloodshed. Catherine's famous book, the Dialogue, is most unusual and highly symbolic. We have four hundred letters written by her, addressed to bishops, kings, scholars, merchants, and obscure peasants. They are excellent literature and reflect a wide range of interests. Catherine spent countless months caring for the victims of plague. Again and again she was to be found in the courts of state, interceding for justice, mercy, and peace.

April 30 - Sarah Josepha Buell Hale

was an American writer and an influential editor. She is the author of the nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb". Hale famously campaigned for the creation of the American holiday known as Thanksgiving, and for the completion of the Bunker Hill Monument.

May 1 - May Day

The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian times, with the Floralia, festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, held on April 27 during the Roman Republic era, and with the Walpurgis Night celebrations of the Germanic countries. It is also associated with the Gaelic Beltane, most commonly held on April 30. The day was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures. While February 1 was the first day of spring, May 1 was the first day of summer; hence, the summer solstice was Midsummer.

As Europe became Christianised, the pagan holidays lost their religious character and May Day changed into a popular secular celebration. A significant celebration of May Day occurs in Germany where it is one of several days on which St. Walburga, credited with bringing Christianity to Germany, is celebrated. The secular versions of May Day, observed in Europe and America, may be best known for their traditions of dancing around the maypole and crowning the Queen of May. Fading in popularity since the late 20th century is the giving of "May baskets," small baskets of sweets or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbors' doorsteps.

May 1 - St. Philip and St. James

The apostle Philip was from Bethsaida and was one of the Twelve. He is mentioned in all four gospels and figures prominently in two episodes in the Lord's ministry. In the first, the Feeding of the Five Thousand, Philip's very practical nature shows through (see John 6:5-14). The other episode is the gospel lesson for this feast (see John 14:6-14). He should not be confused with Philip, Deacon and Evangelist, who is mentioned in the fifth and eighth chapters of the Book of Acts. James the Less, son of Alphaeus, was one of the Twelve also. He should not be confused with either James, the son of Zebedee (see July 25), or James, the Lord's brother (see October 23). His agnomen "the less" may imply a small stature or youthfulness. He is mentioned only four times in Holy Scripture, and then briefly or in a list, so we know very little about him.

May 4 - Star Wars Day

is considered a holiday by some Star Wars fans to celebrate the franchise's film series, books, and culture. The date was chosen for the easy pun on the catchphrase "May the Force be with you"— "May the Fourth be with you". Even though the holiday was not actually created or declared by Lucasfilm, many Star Wars fans across the world choose to celebrate the holiday.

May 4- International Firefighters Day / St. Florian

is observed on May 4. It was instituted after proposal emailed out across the world on January 4, 1999 due to the deaths of five firefighters in tragic circumstances in a bushfire in Australia. May 4 used to be a traditional Firefighters' Day in many European countries, because it is the day of Saint Florian, patron saint of firefighters.

St. Florian was born around 250 AD in the ancient Roman city of Aelium Cetium, present-day Sankt Pölten, Austria. He joined the Roman army and advanced in the ranks, rising to commander of the imperial army in the Roman province of Noricum. In addition to his military duties, he was also responsible for organizing and leading firefighting brigades. Florian organized and trained an elite group of soldiers whose sole duty was to fight fires.

During the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians, reports reached Rome that St. Florian was not enforcing the proscriptions against Christians in his territory. Aquilinus was sent to investigate these reports. When Aquilinus ordered Florian to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods in accordance with Roman religion, Florian refused. Florian was sentenced to be burned at the stake. Standing on the funeral pyre, Florian is reputed to have challenged the Roman soldiers to light the fire, saying "If you do, I will climb to heaven on the flames." Apprehensive of his words, The soldiers did not burn Florian, but executed him by him drowning in the Enns River with a millstone tied around his neck.

On IFFD, every person in the emergency service career gets recognized; Hazardous Materials Specialists, Fire Prevention Specialists, paid firefighters, volunteer fire fighters, wild land fire fighters, heavy equipment operators/mechanics, Emergency Medical Technicians, and many more. Some of these jobs may seem insignificant; however, without all sectors of the emergency department services working together one would not hold up without the other; therefore, resulting in International Fire Fighters Day to be a time to celebrate everyone who serves in the emergency service.

May 4-St. Monica

also known as Monica of Hippo, was an early Christian saint and the mother of St. Augustine of Hippo. She is remembered and honored in most Christian denominations, albeit on different feast days, for her outstanding Christian virtues, particularly the suffering caused by her husband's adultery, and her prayerful life dedicated to the reformation of her son, who wrote extensively of her pious acts and life with her in his Confessions. Popular Christian legends recall Saint Monica weeping every night for her son Augustine. The city of Santa Monica, California, is named after Monica. A legend states that in the 18th century Father Juan Crespí named a local dripping spring Las Lagrimas de Santa Monica ("Saint Monica’s Tears") (today known as the Serra Springs) that was reminiscent of the tears that Saint Monica shed over her son's early impiety. Patron saint of Difficult marriages, disappointing children, victims of adultery or unfaithfulness, and victims of (verbal) abuse.

May 5- Cinco de Mayo

The date is observed to commemorate the Mexican Army's unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla, on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza.Not to be confused with Mexican Independence Day, which occurs on September 16.

May 8- Julian of Norwich

Dame Julian, or Lady Julian, so named from her gentle birth, was born in 1342. She claimed to be a simple, unlettered person; but though she was not learned, she was by no means uneducated. She knew her Bible and the teaching of the church, and she could express herself in vigorous English. It is possible, though there is no proof, that she became a Benedictine nun. On May 8, 1373, at the age of thirty, she received a series of "Sixteen Shewings" that are recorded in the first version of her Revelations of Divine Love. These visions came in response to prayers for "three gifts from God": to have the mind of Christ's Passion, a bodily sickness, and the gift of three wounds"of contrition, compassion, and a "willful longing toward God. Some twenty years later her Revelations were expanded as a result of "inward teaching."

May 11- Lilat al-Barat

According to Islamic tradition, on this night, Muhammad had been prostrating in prayer for so long, that his wife Aisha feared that he was dead. She moved his thumb, and when she saw that he moved his thumb back to its original position, she lay in bed, reassured of his health. After he was done praying, Muhammad explained to his wife that Shab-e-Barat is a holy night during which God forgives the believers and releases countless people from hell.

May 13- Frances Perkins

Born in Boston in 1880 with roots in Maine, Frances Perkins studied at Mount Holyoke College and completed as master's degree in economics and sociology at Columbia University. While working as a young woman in Chicago, she was drawn to the Episcopal Church and confirmed in 1905. At age thirty-one, while working for the Factory Investigation Commission in New York City, she witnessed the Triangle Shirtwaist fire that resulted in the death of 146 primarily young women. Perkins often said later, "The New Deal was born on March 25, 1911. That experience galvanized her career as an advocate for workers. At a time when few women enjoyed a professional career after marriage and children, Perkins was spurred on by the emergence of her husband's mental illness and his inability to earn an income. In 1918, New York Governor Al Smith invited her serve in his administration and, with the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt to governor in 1928, she was named Commissioner of Labor. When he was elected president in 1932, Roosevelt asked Perkins to serve as his Secretary of Labor, the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet. Throughout her twelve years as Secretary she took a monthly retreat with the All Saints' Sisters of the Poor, with whom she was a lay associate. Roosevelt called her "the cornerstone of his administration" for her tireless work in establishing the Social Security Act of 1935 and other labor reforms of the New Deal. "I came to Washington to serve God, FDR, and millions of forgotten, plain, common workingmen," she said. Her theology of generosity informed her professional life and, in turn, transformed the lives of millions of Americans. Perkins remained active in teaching, social justice advocacy, and in the mission of the Episcopal Church until her death in 1965.

May 14- National Law Enforcement

Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week is an observance in the United States that pays tribute to the local, state, and Federal peace officers who have died in the line of duty.

May 14- Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a day dedicated to honoring and recognizing the sacrifices and accomplishments of mothers. Mothers are recognized by family and friends; regardless of whether they are biological or perceived maternal figures. It is a day to honor and respect mothers for their many sacrifices; a day to show them how important they are to us. In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation recognizing the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.

May 14- Lag B'Omer

The Omer (Hebrew: ל״ג בעומר‎‎‎‎) refers to the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot. Lag B'Omer is the thirty-third day of counting of the Omer and falls on the lunar date of 18th Iyar (May). The counting of the Omer starts on the second day of Passover and culminates on the day before Shavuot (Pentecost).

May 15- St. Isidore the Farmer

Isidore was born in Madrid, in about the year 1070, of poor but very devout parents, and was christened Isidore from the name of their patron, St. Isidore of Seville. Isidore spent his life as a hired hand in the service of the wealthy Madrilenian landowner Juan de Vargas on a farm in the city's vicinity. He shared what he had, even his meals, with the poor. Juan de Vargas would later make him bailiff of his entire estate of Lower Caramanca.

It was said that he stood two meters (6.5 feet) tall. He is patron saint of agriculture, farmers and day labors.

May16- Martyrs of the Sudan

Persecution of Christians can be traced historically based on the biblical account of Jesus from the first century of the Christian era to the present day. Early Christians were persecuted for their faith at the hands of both Jews from whose religion Christianity arose and the Romans who controlled many of the land across which early Christianity was distributed. Early in the fourth century, the religion was legalized by the Edict of Milan, and it eventually became the State church of the Roman Empire.

Christian missionaries as well as converts to Christianity have been the targets of persecution ever since the emergence of Christianity, sometimes to the point of being martyred for their faith.

Schisms of the Middle Ages and especially the Protestant Reformation, sometimes provoked severe conflicts between Christian denominations to the point of persecuting each other.

In the 20th century, Christians have been persecuted by various groups, including the Islamic Ottoman Empire in the form of the Armenian Genocide, the Assyrian Genocide and the Greek Genocide, as well as atheistic states such as the Soviet Union and North Korea. During World War II members of some Christian churches were persecuted in Nazi Germany for resisting Nazi ideology.

In more recent times the persecution of Christians has increased in India according to International Christian Concern.[ The Christian missionary organization Open Doors (UK) estimates 100 million Christians face persecution, particularly in Muslim-majority countries such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

May 20- Armed Forces Day

It is a day to pay tribute to men and women who serve the United States’ armed forces. Armed Forces Day is a day to recognize members of the Armed Forces that are currently serving. In 1947, the Armed Forces of the US were united under one department which was renamed the Department of Defense in 1949. President Harry S. Truman supported the creation of a day for the nation to unite in support and recognition or our military members and their families. On August 31, 1949, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced that Armed Forces Day would take the place of other individual branch celebrations, and all branches of the military would be honored this single day. Armed Forces Day takes place on the third Saturday in May.

May 27- Ramadan

Ramadan (Arabic: رمضان‎ ) is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, during which, for a period of thirty days, Muslims abstain from eating, and drinking from sunrise to sunset. Muslims do this because it is a pillar of Islam, and obligatory for everyone. In other words, God decreed this entire month holy for Muslims so that they can increase their remembrance of life after death. Muslims also abstain from all bad deeds and habits, like smoking, swearing, backbiting, and disrespectfulness. Muslims reflect upon themselves, their religion, and the characteristics of God. Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. Fasting and abstaining from bad habits teaches Muslims self control, humility, and generosity. Ramadan is a time for charity, family, and good deeds. Muslims fast because they believe it is vital for spiritual health. Unlike the fast of Ashurah, the fasts of Ramadan are declared mandatory by God because like salah (praying towards Mecca), fasting helps Muslims maintain spiritual and physical health.

The month of Ramadan begins when the new moon of Ramadan is sighted and ends when the new moon of Sha'ban is sighted. Muslims also believe that devils are chained up during Ramadan. Ramadan comes from the word ramadaa, which means 'sunbaked' in Arabic. This is perhaps a reference to the pangs of hunger Muslims feel when fasting.

NEWARK, March 5, 2018

The Standing Committee of the Diocese of Newark is pleased to announce a slate of four candidates who will stand for election as XI Bishop of Newark at a special convention on May 19, 2018.

The candidates are:

The Bishop Search/Nominating Committee, after careful and prayerful discernment, recommended these candidates to the Standing Committee, which voted to approve the slate.

"We believe these individuals possess the skills, qualities, experience and spiritual grounding necessary for the office of Bishop, and we are excited to commend them to the Diocese of Newark," said the Rev. Joseph Harmon, President of the Standing Committee. (Note: The Rev. Joseph Harmon and the Rev. Canon John Harmon are not related.)

Following are introductions of the candidates in the form of brief bios and answers to three questions posed by the Standing Committee. Members of the diocese will have the opportunity to meet the candidates in person at "walkabouts" to be held around the diocese on May 3-6, 2018, before the May 19 electing convention.

The Service of Ordination and Consecration is scheduled for September 22, 2018 with the Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry, Presiding Bishop, officiating.

The Episcopal Diocese of Newark comprises the northern third of New Jersey with 98 congregations in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, Warren, and Union counties. The Rt. Rev. Mark M. Beckwith has served as X Bishop of Newark since January 2007.

The Rev. Carlye Hughes
Diocese of Fort Worth

The Rev. Carlye J. Hughes was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1958. (Note: Carlye is pronounced “Carl-ee.”)
The Rev. Carlye J. Hughes has served as rector of Trinity Episcopal, a program sized church in the continuing diocese of Fort Worth, TX, since 2012. She has guided Trinity to expand spiritual practices, promote strong relationships with neighborhood schools, increase outreach activity, repair infrastructure, and complete a successful capital campaign. Previously, she was rector at St. Peter’s Episcopal Peekskill for five years, a small multi-ethnic parish in the Hudson Valley. Her first call was at St. James’ Church, a large parish on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Read more.

The Rev. Lisa Hunt
Diocese of Texas

The Rev. Lisa W. Hunt was born in Pikesville, Tennessee in 1959.
Lisa Hunt is the rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas, which she has led for the past 11 years. She serves as the president of the St. Stephen’s Episcopal School Board, a pre-K-8 Montessori day school. She is also the vice president of the Faith Leaders Coalition of Greater Houston, an interfaith association of progressive clergy and is a member of the Montrose Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone Board for the City of Houston. She formerly served as rector of St. Ann’s Episcopal Church in Nashville, Tennessee. During her 17 year tenure in Nashville she was elected to the Metropolitan Nashville Board of Public Education. Prior to that, she worked as the interim assistant chaplain at University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Read more.

The Rev. Canon Scott Slater
Diocese of Maryland

The Rev. Canon Scott G. Slater was born in Long Beach, California in 1960.
Scott has served as Canon to the Ordinary in the Diocese of Maryland since 2010. Raised in a small town in Florida, Scott came into the Church as a teenager. While pursuing a career in architecture, he was also heavily involved with youth ministry as a young adult. He met his future spouse Becky on a church retreat and six years later they were off to seminary. Two sons came along and they settled into life in the D.C./Baltimore metro area. Read more.


The Liturgical Seasons

Read more

** This prayer is offer for Victims of Violence throughout of the world. Victims of verbal, physical, emotional, of hunger and thirst,economic abuse,warfare (especially Ukraine, Venezuela, parts of Africa, South America Asia and the Middle East, terrorist action, the death penalty, suicide, shootings (in our cities and neighborhoods), and other guise of violence. May their souls rest in peace and their families experience the Comfort of God. The Church bells will toll on Wednesdays @ 6:10pm.

Web Design and Build by NetView Studio.com