Guild of All Souls
The Guild of All Souls is a Prayer Society within the Anglican Communion which:

(1) promotes the Church’s teaching regarding the Faithful Departed;

(2) encourages Christian customs in the burial of the dead;

(3) urges the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at the time of burial according to the Propers appointed in the Book of Common Prayer; and

(4) prays for the dead, especially the departed members of the Guild, and of the families, friends, and neighbors of the Faithful Departed at the parish where Guild member worship.

The Guild also publishes and distributes literature pertaining to the life and work of the Guild, and concerning the teachings of the Catholic Church concerning the Faithful Departed.

The duties of members of the Guild are to say the prayers for the dying and for the departed members of the Guild once a week and to assist at the Requiem Mass on All Souls Day with intention for the departed members of the Guild.  More information about the Guild will be found at its website (Guild of All Souls-click here).

The Branch of the Guild of All Souls at St. Paul's Parish is dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel, Defender and Deliverer of Souls.  We are especially honored that our Rector, The Rev’d Fr. Andrew L. Sloane, is a member of the National Council of the American Branch of the Guild. The Guild promotes and encourages attendance at the monthly Parish Requiem Masses, where the Faithful Departed members of our Parish family are remembered at the Altar. The monthly Parish Requiems are now offered on the first feria (ordinary day) of the month on the Parish calendar, excluding Advent, Christmastide, and Lent. During Eastertide, a Mass of the Resurrection is celebrated with the special intention for the Faithful Departed.  The Requiems/Masses of the Resurrection for 2007 are: January 8, February 7, April 16, May 10, June 4, July 3, August 2, September 6, October 5, November 2, November 6, November 9, November 13, November 26, November 27, and November 29.

For more information about the Guild of All Souls, including membership forms, please contact Robert C. Maddox, Esq., Secretary of the St. Paul’s Branch (RbtCMaddox@aol.com or 301-365-9051). Membership forms and the semi-annual Intercessory Papers are also available in the tract rack at the back of the church. Information about the national organization is available from its website  [RCM, after James N. Ward and Kenneth Henderson.]

Society of Mary
The Society of Mary endeavors 1) to love and honor Mary, 2) to spread devotion to her in reparation for past neglect and misunderstanding, and in the cause of Christian Unity, and 3) to take Mary as a model in purity, personal relationships, and family life.  To these ends, members undertake a Rule of Life, to include such special devotions as the Angelus, the Rosary, and the Marian antiphons, as well as participation in Mass on Feasts of Our Lady.

Our Lady of the Angels Ward, the Washington chapter of the the Society of Mary, meets at Saint Paul's on the third Saturday of each month.  Members and friends of the Society gather near the Lady Altar after the 9:30 AM Low Mass to recite the Rosary, after which they adjourn to the Common Room for brunch.  Visitors are always welcome, and extra sets of Rosary beads are available for those who do not bring their own. 

For more information about the Society of Mary, visit the unofficial website.

For information about the Society of Mary at St. Paul’s Parish, contact Ward Secretary, Shawn Shafer, 571-309-2693 or shawnshafer@hotmail.com.

Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament
The history of the Church since the Oxford Movement has seen the formation of a number of devotional societies—groups that seek to bring into the Church the fullness of Catholic Faith and Practice by bearing witness to particular doctrines regarded as neglected or misunderstood: the Society of Mary, the Guild of All Souls, the Society of King Charles the Martyr, and the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. Members of these various societies are pledged to pray daily for the objectives of the society.

The Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament its one of the oldest of these. Founded in England in 1862 with the merger of other similar groups, the Confraternity began work in the United States in 1867. Members of the Confraternity belong to a society reaching from earth to heaven: The objectives of the CBS are to ensure the following:

• That due honor be given to the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament of His Body and Blood.
• Mutual intercession (especially at the Eucharist).
• The observance of the primitive and Catholic rule of receiving the Holy Communion after fasting.

The promotion of these objectives by example and prayer is binding on all associates. There is also prayer for the Reservation of the Blessed Sacrament for communion and devotion, and for the establishment of Mass as the chief service of worship on all Sundays and days of obligation.

The Confraternity also encourages frequent reception of communion, with proper preparation before and thanksgiving afterwards. The Confraternity has supplied Eucharistic vestments and wares to missions throughout the world, and its members pray daily for its intentions, contained in a quarterly Intercession Paper.

Parishioners of St. Paul’s Parish are blessed in that many of the objectives of the Confraternity have been realized here. The Feast of Corpus Christi (the ancient day of thanksgiving for the Holy Sacrament of the Altar on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday) is regarded as a day of obligation. It is observed here, with its Solemnity on the Sunday following the feast day itself.

Contact: Patrick White (202-319-9180 or pjwhiteiv@hotmail.com) or Colin Tooze (703-741-0348), Secretaries of St. Paul's ward of the Confraternity.

Walsingham Cell
The Society of Our Lady of Walsingham consists of pilgrims who support the Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham through their daily prayers. Society members undertake to say the Angelus every day as a way of remembering the Shrine in their prayers. In turn, the society is remembered each day in the Shrine Prayers at Walsingham. Local members of the society may affiliate with the Cell of the Holy House of Our Lady of Walsingham and Saint Thomas of Canterbury. The cell sponsors the daily Shrine Prayers (Monday-Saturday at 5:30 PM) at St. Paul's and promotes the observance of the Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham in October. The cell also endeavors to keep alive the spirit of pilgrimage between biannual parish pilgrimages to Walsingham. To this end, the cell will sponsor one-day local pilgrimages. Contact: Fr Sloane.