Resurrection of Christ and Women at the Tomb by Fra Angelico, at Church of San Marco This is an interesting week for saints of the church, all of whom are connected with the crucifixion, about whom we have little of the usual information such as birth and death dates. August 1 is the day we commemorate Joseph of Arimathea, who was a wealthy member of the Sanhedrin, He went to Pilate to gain permission to take Jesus’ body and bury it before the Sabbath, and he put the body in his own tomb. On August 3, we have the three women who carried spices to the tomb. Mark names them Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. Luke adds Joanna, whom he mentions earlier as the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza (which helps us not at all). We can’t know for sure who these women are (is this the same Salome who danced for Herod?). We do know, however, that all four Gospel writers indicate that women were at the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. This was customarily a woman’s role in both Jewish and Greek cultures—it was women who brought bodies into the world and women who saw those bodies were properly washed and anointed at death. Learn more in the segment from Noonday Prayer at Christ Church, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtlKulkq65k&t=9s
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Saints Alive!
I have been privileged to offer Noonday Prayer at my church, usually on Thursdays, which doesn’t matter because it’s on Youtube forever. [It’s amazing what can be done with a smartphone and a smart, helpful parish administrator!] The service is brief, with a place for a meditation. We usually look at the Episcopal calendar of saints, who are nearly always honored on their death dates, not their birth dates. Here is a hymn by medieval saint Hildegard of Bingen to set the mood.
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