Weekly Update from Fr. van Dooren 9.26.25
Dear members and friends of our dear parish,
We will celebrate the beloved and ancient Feast of St. Michael and All Angels this Sunday (anticipated from it’s fixed date of September 29), and a promise of deep blessings awaits all who attend! It is one of my favorite feasts of the year, and how cherished we are in a church so bathed with images of angels that have “attended” our parishioners for over 176 years!
Our music for this feast is filled with songs that glorify and explain the angels. The Prelude by the English Renaissance composer Richard Dering uses the text from the book of Isaiah- “Two angels stood by the throne of God singing Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Sabaoth! Heaven and earth is full of Thy glory.” The two angels are sung by two solo singers. Great hymns include Christ, the Fair Glory of the Holy Angels and Ye Holy Angels Bright. At communion, the full choir of Men and Boys & Girls, who we welcome back this week, sings the familiar and beloved Panis Angelicus (Bread of Angels).
We welcome The Rev’d. Fr. Nadim Nassar back to the parish as our guest preacher this Sunday. Fr. Nassar is the Executive Director and founder of the London-based international Awareness Foundation. He studied theology in Beirut for seven years during the Lebanese Civil War, which strengthened his faith and gave him a life-long passion for peace. The only Syrian-born priest in the Church of England, Fr. Nadim is a passionate and captivating author, preacher, and speaker in his mission to build ecumenical and interfaith bridges in a world torn by strife and devastating warfare. He travels the globe to encourage and inspire informed and enlightened dialogue among Christians, Jews, and Muslims. His book, "The Culture of God", was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2018. Click here to read more about the Awareness Foundation.
This Sunday, September 28 at 1 pm in the Holy Family Chapel, our next Adult Christian Education series "A Great Cloud of Witnesses" begins! Christopher Walsh will lead our discussion on Lancelot Andrewes, who was at one time the Bishop of Chichester, Ely and Winchester successively, serving both Queen Elizabeth and King James. He is noted for his contributions in translating the King James Bible, his devotional work "Preces Privatae” or "Private Prayers" and for his writing on Eucharistic theology, as well as his many sermons. Come learn about this "Anglican Divine", considered one of the most learned churchmen of his day and who influenced and contributed to the Christian faith and our Episcopal tradition. For the full schedule, click here.
Our Midday Music Concert series continues this Tuesday, September 30th at 1:00pm with "One West / One East.” Our series this fall is a collaboration with Marble Collegiate Church. Tuesday's concert will be held here at the Little Church, with Audrey Fernandez-Fraser, Soprano, and Janet Sora Chung, harpsichord performing “Love and Lament: Early Arias from Italy and England”. Suggested donation is $10.
We have an extra special concert coming up on Friday, October 3 at 7 pm featuring two of our dear parishioners. Matei Varga, piano and Susan Olsen Maren, hardanger fiddle will be performing The Original Hardanger Fiddle Tunes and The Complete Norwegian Peasant Dances, Op. 72 for piano By Edvard Grieg. Suggested donation is $25 for general admission and $15 for students and seniors. To purchase tickets in advance, click here.
Please plan on joining us for the yearly celebration of our Foundation Day, Sunday, October 5th. To make the day special, we are hosting a special reception following the 11:00am mass. Donations of salads and desserts, as well as volunteers to assist with the clean up, would be greatly appreciated. Please email the parish office parishoffice@littlechurch.org to coordinate food offerings.
Also on Sunday, October 5th, we will have our annual pet blessing in the garden. If you have a well-behaved pet, please bring them to this special mass. We will meet in the garden roughly at 12:30 pm for our annual pet blessing. Pets of all faith traditions are welcomed to receive a blessing.
As you may know, our Jewish brothers and sisters celebrated Rosh Hashanah this past week - the Jewish new year!. For those who are interested in ancient religious text, we share this online exhibit that provides an opportunity to learn about the devotional and religious culture of Judaism across the Western world. Click here to view this exhibit from the Grolier Club.
The Holy Rosary will be prayed in the Family chapel at 9:30am this Sunday. We will pray the Glorious mysteries in honor of the Holy Angels.
We continue to live-stream each Sunday’s mass at 11:00am, and a link is sent out each Sunday morning at 8:00am. We live-stream on Facebook and YouTube. Please email the parish office (parishoffice@littlechurch.org) if you would like to pray the morning and evening offices with us by Zoom.
Thank you for your continued faith, support, and love for the parish.
Fides Opera
With loving wishes,
Fr. van Dooren