St. Ed Said

PATRICK OF IRELAND Bishop and Missionary, 461 Lessons and Psalm  Ezekiel 36:33-38  Psalm 97  1 Thessalonians 2:1-8  Matthew 28:16-20  COLLECT FOR PATRICK'S DAY Almighty God, in your providence you chose your servant Patrick to be the apostle to the Irish people, to bring those who were wandering in darkness and error to the true light and knowledge of you: Grant us so to walk in that way that we may come at last to the light of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  FROM LESSER FEASTS AND FASTS 2023 Patrick was born into a Christian family somewhere on the northwest coast of Britain around 390. His grandfather had been a Christian priest and his father, Calpornius, a deacon. Calpornius was an important official in the late Roman imperial government of Britain.  When Patrick was about sixteen, he was captured by a band of Irish slave-raiders. He was carried o...

THURSDAY THOUGHTS I have gotten into the habit of bringing the dogs along with me to work. And one might think that the big Black Lab would be the biggest problem. Well, he is actually becoming trained, other than leaping up on people to give them hugs, he's coming along really well. No, the biggest problem of the two canine children is this little bugger.  This is her shortly after she climbed up on my desk, hiked across it to her pillow sitting on the side of the desk. Once there she sits and stares at me. Either telling me that the better place for her would be in my lap, or she's saying, don't move, I'm the boss of you and you must do what I tell you. I am about to go to sleep and if you leave, I will eat your toes. Then se promptly falls into a full body shaking sleep mode where she opens her eyes at every little sound that comes to her ears. Which are always raised and listening, or pulled back as they are in the next picture. Lastly, there is of course, this beas...

HARRIET ROSS TUBMAN, March 10 (Image by: By Powelson, Benjamin F. 1823 - 1885 - Collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture shared with the Library of Congress, Public Domain) Lessons and Psalm  Judges 9:50-55  Psalm 102:18-28  James 2:14-17  Luke 11:5-10 COLLECT FOR HARRIET'S DAY O God, whose Spirit guides us into all truth and makes us free: Strengthen and sustain us as you did your servant Harriet Ross Tubman. Give us vision and courage to stand against oppression and injustice and all that works against the glorious liberty to which you call all your children; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  FROM LESSER FEASTS AND FASTS, 2023 Slave births were recorded under property, not as persons with names, but we know that Harriet Ross was born sometime during 1820 on a Maryland Chesapeake Bay plantation, the sixth of eleven children born to Ben Ross and ...

SAINT OF THE DAY: Holy Men & Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints Chad of Lichfield  Bishop 672  Collect for Chad of Lichfield Heavenly Father, whose son our Lord Jesus Christ took the form of a servant for the sake of his brothers and sisters: Strengthen us with the prayers and example of your servant Chad, who became the least of all to minister to all; through the same Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns, with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Chad was born in Northern England around 634, one of four brothers dedicated to service in the church. Chad was trained by Aidan of Lindisfarne as a follower of the Celtic tradition in ritual. His elder brother Cedd had built a monastery at Lastingham, where he governed as abbot.  At his death, Cedd left the abbacy to Chad. According to Bede, Chad was “a holy man, modest in his ways, learned in the Scriptures, and zealous in carrying out their teaching.” Impressed by Chad’s qualities, the king appointed ...

Happenings Lead Article March 3, 2026 The Rev. Aron Kramer Many of my reading resources this week have been filled with the idea of Beauty. At first I was a little annoyed, because it is Lent, and I know I have been a little more uplifting this Lent than I have been in the past. Not that I have been down in Lent, I just tend to focus, I think, more on self discipline and the penitential nature of the Season. But then I came across this little gem from Rumi: “Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.” At first I thought Rumi was comparing ideas. The idea of the beauty we love being the beauty we do was inspiring. But having hundreds of way to kneel and kiss the ground seemed to minimize or shrink the idea of beauty. But then I saw it a little differently, beauty in our world tends to be held by the few, the powerful and the elite. There is a standard and an expectation about what beauty is. You have to look a certain way, behave in a ...

The Rev. Aron Kramer 2 Lent Sunday, March 1, 2026 When I was growing up, the Stillwater High School Football coach, George Thole, showed up to Church every February for a month to do his duty as an usher. It was his moment to try and recruit me to be the field goal kicker for the high school team. In hindsight, I should have taken him up on the opportunity. Shortly after I was ordained I was invited to preach at Ascension, and it happened to be a Sunday in February. Having been ordained for a minute, I was testing my chops with some of the old guard at Ascension. I was walking up to George when one of the long time members, someone who had had a long history in the military, walked up next to me and said to George, “It’s good to see you today, George, but you my friend, need to belong more regularly to the army of the Lord!” My mouth kind of dropped at that approach, I had a different quip in mind, but George responded without missing a beat, “Bill, I already belong to the army of the ...