News and Notices

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Notices for the week of March 14, 2010

Lenten Opportunities

Wednesdays in Lent:  Centering Prayer: a Journey to the Inner Room, five weeks beginning February 24. This year we offer the opportunity not only to study and discuss an aspect of Christian spirituality, but also to find a place for us to be silent, to be still and to learn to rest in God.  The rudimentary principles and practice of Centering Prayer available in the five-week series will also give us the tools for practice that can make profound changes in our lives as individual and corporately.  The book we will use is Manifesting God by Thomas Keating. Click here to buy the book from amazon.com. The schedule is:
  • 5:45 PM     Evening Prayer, Church
  • 6:00 PM     Mass, Church
  • 7:15 PM     Silent meal with readings, Dining Hall
  • 7:45-8:15 PM     Silent contemplation, Church
  • 8:15 PM     Compline, Church
Fidelitas and Carpe Deum are hosting the suppers and will provide entreés; attendees should bring potluck side dishes such as bread, salads—no desserts.  A donation of $5 per supper will be welcomed.  Extra funds will go to the Casserole Network which will be used for parishioners in time of need.
 
Stations of the Cross is held in the Church again this year on Friday nights in Lent at 6:30 PM, following the evening Low Mass.

FRIDAYS IN LENT this year will be on The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis.  Click here to buy the book from amazon.com. We will begin a six-week journey with a meatless pot luck on Friday, February 19, in the Dining Hall.  Though not strictly necessary in order to enjoy the program, Fr. Humphrey recommends individuals and families read the first three chapters in advance of the first session.  Please bring the book to the program.  To volunteer to help with any aspect of the series (food, decorations, or technical assistance), please contact Fr. Humphrey at humphrey@stpauls-kst.com or 202-337-2020, ext. 11.

Sunday

Preschool & Middle School meet at 10:15 AM.  Preschool through grade 5 meets in the Good Shepherd Atria on the Lower Level of Pillsbury House; the Middle School class in the Undercroft Classroom.
 
Ponticus, the St. Paul’s group for high school students (grades 9-12), meets at 10:15 AM in the Undercroft Youth Room. 
 
The Rector’s Forum meets from 10:30-11:10 AM in the Dining Hall.  Please grab a cup of coffee in the Atrium and make your way to the second floor of Pillsbury House, where we continue our study with chapter 6 of The Wound of Knowledge by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.  Looking at heresies and the voices of great saints of the Church through the 16th Century, Williams explores the profound contradictions that give rise to an authentic life of faith and prayer. Click here to buy from amazon.com. Fr. Sloane will continue with Chapter 7 next week.
 
More of the Wright Stuff:  Today the Adult Discussion Group meets in the Guild Room at 10:30 AM to discuss Bishop N.T. Wright’s study guide on 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus.  Each week we discuss a chapter or so of these Epistles based on Bishop Wright’s guide.  All are welcome. Click here to buy the book from Amazon.
 
This afternoon, Fidelitas (St. Paul's group for newly and nearly married couples) goes bowling!  Meet at 1:00 PM at U.S. Bowling in Alexandria (http://www.usbowlingva.com) and bring about $20 for lanes and shoes. We also may head to the nearby Mediterranean Bakery for a late lunch of Alexandria’s best falafel and shwarma afterward.  Directions: From DC, drive south on 395 and exit at Duke Street eastbound.  After about half a mile, turn right on Pickett Street and the bowling alley is just ahead on your left.  From downtown Alexandria, head west on Duke and turn left on Pickett.
 
Carpe Deum meets tonight at 7:00 PM  in the Common Room.

This Week
 
The Inner Room meets Monday at 6:30 PM in the Dining Hall, Carwithen Parlor and Church.
 
Religion & Science Book Study meets Monday from 7:00 to 8:00 PM in the Common Room.  We are about to start a new book, God After Darwin: A Theology of Evolution, by John F. Haught. Click here to buy the book from Amazon.

Pilgrims in Christ meets Monday at 6:30 PM in the Guild Room.
 
The Commission on Mission meets on Tuesday at 6:30 PM in the Guild Room.
 
The Commission on Evangelization meets Tuesday at 6:30 PM in the Carwithen Parlor. 
 
Education for Ministry meets Tuesday at 6:30 PM in the Common Room.
 
The Pilgrims in Christ class will make an all day retreat on Saturday March 20 at the Virginia Theological Seminary.
 
The Society of Mary meets Saturday at the Lady Altar following the morning Mass.  Brunch follows in the Dining Hall.
 
The Inner Room Group (Matthew 6:6) will meet Saturday at 6:00 PM in the Common Room for Lenten movie and pizza night.
 
Upcoming
 
Thursday, March 25 is the great feast of the Annunciation, the beginning of the Christian story.  Our principal celebration will be a Procession and Solemn Mass at 6:30 PM.  Our own Fr. Humphrey will be the preacher.  The music will be Mozart’s Missa Brevis C-dur, K. 220 and Hans Leo Hassler’s Dixit Maria ad angelum.
 
HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE:
  • Palm Sunday, March 28:  Please note time changes: early Mass will begin at 7:30 AM (preceded by Morning Prayer at 7:15 AM); the two later Masses will begin (weather permitting) at Washington Circle for the blessing and procession of palms at 8:45 AM and 11:15 AM respectively. 
  • Maundy Thursday, April 1:  Solemn Liturgy Mass at 6:30 PM
  • Good Friday, April 2:  Stations of the Cross at Noon and Solemn Liturgy at 6:30 PM
  • Holy Saturday Vigil, April 3: the Great Vigil of Easter and First Solemn Pontifical Mass of the Resurrection is at 9:00 PM.  The celebrant is Archbishop Drexel Gomez, Archbishop of the West Indies, retired.
 
Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday represent essentially one great liturgy which commemorates the central defining and saving events of the Christian Faith. This one liturgy provides not only the means of commemorating the Paschal Mystery but also of our very participation in our time and space in those events.  Fr. Sloane therefore urges everyone to make attendance at these three evening liturgies an absolute priority and promises that, with open hearts and minds, there will be transformation corporately and individually.  He pleads guilty to putting all eggs in the Holy Week basket!  Child care will be available at all these services.

General

St. Paul’s Parking:  Thank you to all who have looked for street parking and/or made use of Metro these past few months.  It has helped significantly!  During this Lenten season parking  spaces  behind church are often at a premium.  Sunday activity is  especially busy during this time, particularly between the services, so we ask your continued patience as we help people departing and arriving.  Weekday services will also be very demanding with the parking lot often full by 5:30 PM for a 6:30 PM Mass.  We can only suggest that you arrive early or use street parking or utilize the Ritz-Carlton garage as discussed below.
 
As of today, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel at 1150 22nd Street NW has kindly agreed to offer discounted parking to St. Paul’s parishioners on Sundays (and on Saturdays when there is a special event, such as the Great Vigil of Easter, Saturday, April 3rd at 9:00 PM)!  The cost is $4.00 for up to 6 hours of parking on Sundays, and the vouchers for the garage may be purchased from the St. Paul’s parking lot attendants; feel free to purchase multiple vouchers so that you do not need to come to the Snows Court lot every Sunday (or Saturday the 3rd, when you will doubtless be attending the Great Vigil of Easter).  Please try to have dollar bills for payment, though the attendants can make change if necessary.  

To get to the garage (avoiding Washington Circle), turn right out of Snows Court onto 25th Street, then right onto the K Street access road in front of the church.  Turn left at the light onto 24th Street, then right on L Street and finally left onto 22nd Street, turning left into the first driveway you come to, which is the entrance to the parking garage.  Once at the parking garage it is necessary to push the button to receive a ticket to enter the garage.  When it is time to exit you will need both the ticket from the garage and the voucher to exit.  Put the ticket into the machine and then the voucher.  If you have parked for 6 hours or less, the voucher will cover the full cost and you can exit the garage.  Should you need to stay at the garage for more than 6 hours, you will need the voucher plus an additional $2.00 in cash to exit the garage.  
The hotel is about a five minute walk from the church, and about a three minute drive from Snows Court.  Please consider using the Ritz-Carlton regularly so that the Snows Court lot may be utilized primarily by our less mobile parishioners and families with small children.  Many thanks to the Commission on Evangelization, seminarian Charles Smith, parish administrator Melva Willis, and the parking lot attendants for arranging and coordinating this parking solution for our parishioners.

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