NEXT CHAPEL OF SAINTS SERGE & BACCHUS MASS, This Coming SUNDAY, February 7, 500 PM at Ecclesia Gnostica

HOPE TO SEE YOU AT OUR NEXT CHAPEL OF SAINTS SERGE & BACCHUS MASS,

This Coming SUNDAY, February 7, 500 PM at Ecclesia Gnostica,

3363 Glendale Blvd. (nearest x-street Revere)

Rev's; John, Donna, Gerry & Amber



"Almighty Father, your Son, by His holy love for His Disciple John, sanctified man's love for his brother, We ask You to sanctify our love for one another, and to bless all Gay & Lesbian members of our Ecclesia wherever they are..."

excerpt from our Pre-Eucharistic Prayer, The Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus at Ecclesia Gnostica

"Behold how good and pleasant it is for Brethren to dwell together, of Serge & Bacchus the pair filled with grace, let us sing…" excerpt from The Collect of Ss. Serge & Bacchus, The Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus at Ecclesia Gnostica



Candlemas Day: White. Mass of same (p. 119).

http://gnosis.org/ecclesia/lect119.htm


MEDITATIONS
Candlemas Day

Intent: Kindling of the Light in Darkness

THE COLLECT

O Lord of Light and Lady of Love, eternal, ineffable mystery of the Godhead, grant that enlightened by the flame of consciousness, we may successfully journey into the far and glorious kingdom beyond the aeons, and join the great flame as sparks flying upwards.
Amen.

THE LESSON

The lesson is taken from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah:

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand forever. Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him, and His work before Him. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

THE GOSPEL

The gospel is taken from the Gospel according to St. Thomas:

Jesus said: I shall choose you, one out of a thousand, and two out of ten thousand, and they shall stand as a single one. His disciples said: Show us the place where thou art, for it is necessary for us to seek it. He said to them: Whoever has ears let him hear. Within a man of light there is light and he lights the whole world. When he does not shine, there is darkness. Jesus said: Love thy brother as thy soul, guard him as the apple of thine eye.


Notes on Candlemass from THE GNOSTIC CALENDAR
A Mandala of Wholeness:

http://www.gnosis.org/ecclesia/cal_mandala.htm

"CANDLEMAS. After the darkest season of the year, 43 days after the winter solstice, Candlemas is a festival of the coming of the Light. The dark season is passing away, yet the Light has not yet triumphed. In the pagan tradition, the darkness is ruled by the Horned God, Cernunnos, a paternal and virile male deity. To the ancients, this festival symbolized the impregnation of the Goddess or feminine principle by the masculine. The Dark God lights up his house with candles to receive the Light Goddess and impregnate her.

Within the Christian tradition, this is the day when all the candles used during the year are to be blessed in the church. The candle is a symbol for the vehicle of consciousness. One can make oneself a shining receptacle for the creative and regenerative forces. Thus the power of the Dark God can greatly stimulate the personality. We may say that spiritual and intellectual fertility are available to us in great measure. By utilizing the creative force of darkness, we prepare ourselves for the regeneration of consciousness and Light in the coming season.

A flame is a great symbol of consciousness, and the presence of lighted candles serves to remind us that we are sparks of consciousness. Just as the candle's light cannot be seen well in sunlight but needs the darkness to receive the illumination, so our consciousness must be measured by the background of unconsciousness out of which we arise. So it is fitting to bless candles forty days after the darkest day of the year, and to recognize our own dark unconscious beginnings in our journey to the light."