“Uniformity is not nature’s way. Diversity is nature’s way. “ - Vandana Shiva

Well it has come in the mail!! If you would like to join St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church in Florence, SC on Saturday, March 2nd we’ll be showing this documentary about the first 11 women ordained in the Episcopal Church!!! Wooooo!!!! More information will be coming!!

God in all and all in God!💖🙏🏼☮️

This Sunday after worship we’ll be having pizza and a movie in the parish hall!! This is the movie we’ll be seeing!! Come one! Come all! And bring a friend!!💖🙏🏼☮️

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Rough translations Hope nonetheless. Hope despite. Hope regardless. Hope still. Hope where we had ceased to hope. Hope amid what threatens hope. Hope with those who feed our hope Hope beyond what we had hoped. Hope that draws us past our limits. Hope that defies expectations. Hope that questions what we have known. Hope that makes a way where there is none. Hope that takes us past our fear. Hope that causes us into life. Hope that holds us beyond death. Hope that blesses those to come. - Jan Richardson Image: Sister Thea Bowman whom the Roman Catholic Church is in the process of naming as a saint.

Good point!💖🙏🏼☮️

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Love God and your neighbor as yourself!😊💖🙏🏼

Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. - Robert Louis Stevenson

We are loved beyond measure!💖🙏🏼

“We don’t say a person “will be going to heaven.” We say this person is “a child of the world to come.” Heaven is not just somewhere you go. It is something you carry with you.” Rabbi Tzvi Freeman…

No words needed... Just let yourself drift... To your place of beauty. Your place of peace. Your sacred place within... where pain is no more where life endures along the shores of eternity embraced in the deepest love possible where effort is never heard of where flow and ease are a way of life lights gathering the moons the ground speaking in tongues of joy forgiveness is not needed... nothing aches nobody hurts one another the body sings in waves of passion unearthed from the echoes of time spilled ink on pages of bark the soul awakens... it was never asleep The Soul keeps watch over lives it attempts to save with rushes of love oceans of love flowing where abuse still is gathering silence that speaks louder than thunders Oh, dear Soul You are grander than the stars made of dust from the breath of the unknown you have endured so much you are free now free to roam the destiny of space as you please Nothing holds you back Fear no more Doubt no more Hide no more Have courage, my love Have courage, my love ......................................... Poem by Archaeology for the Woman’s Soul Corina Luna Dea

You truly matter!! 💖💖💖💖💖🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Happy Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day!!! 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

Amen!! Spread it everywhere!💖🙏🏼

Thankfully, I was not raised with negative messages about God. So the symbolism of the Lamb of God has always been dear to my heart. It reminds me of the gentleness of God’s love, who will never force God’s self on us, but rather courts us with God’s everlasting love. - Rev. Eunice +

Amen!💖🙏🏼☮️🌸

Amen!!!💖🙏🏼☮️

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has been moved from the intensive care unit of the hospital to a regular room, where he will continue his recovery from the reoccurrence of a subdural hematoma. Please continue to hold him and his family in your prayers.💖🙏🏼

Boom!!💖🙏🏼

“I won’t take no for an answer, God began to say to me when He opened His arms each night wanting us to dance.” - St. Catherine of Siena

Amen!

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has been diagnosed with a reoccurrence of the subdural hematoma he experienced in early December of 2023. He will be undergoing surgery this morning to treat this issue, and updates on his health will be provided as they become available. Please be in prayer for Bishop Curry, his family, and his medical team.

Amen!💖🙏🏼

“It is in the deepest depths of God’s wisdom, that you will learn what God is, and what miraculous sweetness it is for the lovers to live in each other, in such a way that neither can distinguish themselves from the other. They revel, in total reciprocity, in each other, mouth to mouth, heart to heart, body to body, soul to soul. One soul, Divine nature courses through them, weaving them together, and this is how they must remain.” - Love is Everything: A Year with Hadewijch of Antwerp Translated by Andrew Harvey 

I don’t know why I never thought of the Prophet Anna as joyful. I like this rendition. The Prophetess Anna Greets the Christ Child Artist: Lester Yokum

A new beginning!!! God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Hugs and blessings!!💖🙏🏼💖🙏🏼🎊🎉🎊🎉

So true. We were never meant for isolation. The only way to live is to be there with and for one another!💖💖💖💖🎄🎄🎄🎄

How can “church” be a better friend to all? An alcoholic friend of Philip Yancey once said to him: “When I’m late to church, people turn around and stare at me with frowns of disapproval. I get the clear message that I’m not as responsible as they are. When I’m late to AA, the meeting comes to a halt and everyone jumps up to hug and welcome me. They realize that my lateness may be a sign that I almost didn’t make it. When I show up, it proves that my desperate need for them won out over my desperate need for alcohol.”

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“An Integral Trinity might look like this: A 3D Christmas reflects that Infinite Cosmic Mystery as God-Beyond-Us came to walk as God-Beside Us in Jesus to reveal that we, too, are God-Being-Us in the living waters of awakened consciousness. People of all religious traditions and those of none can join Christians as we celebrate the birth of Jesus. As a prototype of evolved humanity, he came to tell us all that, as our deepest, truest Self, we are timeless, transcendent spirits walking an earthly path for a brief lifetime in the span of eternity.” - Integral Christian Network

Lord, you came to us as a miracle of love. Surround us with that love in such a way that we not only believe in it by faith but know it deep within ourselves for it will bring us peace beyond all our understanding, hopes and dreams and a never failing love that abides with us always no matter our circumstances. Amen! Prayer by Patricia Ramsden

St. Catherine’s is ready for Christmas service!! 10:30am tomorrow morning! Y’all come!

Today, December 23, is the seventh and final day for the “O Antiphons” preceding Christmas. The familiar Advent hymn “O come, O come, Emmanuel” is based on these Antiphons. Today’s Antiphon, of course, is the basis of the first verse which begins “O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel.”

Today, December 22, is the sixth day for the “O Antiphons” preceding Christmas. The familiar Advent hymn “O come, O come, Emmanuel” is based on these Antiphons. Today’s Antiphon is the basis of the verse which begins “O come, Desire of nations, bind in one the hearts of all mankind.”

Today, December 21, is the fifth day for the “O Antiphons” preceding Christmas. The familiar Advent hymn “O come, O come, Emmanuel” is based on these Antiphons. Today’s Antiphon is the basis of the verse which begins “O come, thou Dayspring from on high, and cheer us by thy drawing nigh.”

Today, December 20, is the fourth day for the “O Antiphons” preceding Christmas. The familiar Advent hymn “O come, O come, Emmanuel” is based on these Antiphons. Today’s Antiphon is the basis of the verse which begins “O come, thou Key of David, come, and open wide our heavenly home.”

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Our Patron Saint. Hugs and blessings dear ones.

St. Catherine’s is just about ready for our Christmas hymn sing tomorrow at 4! There will be a ton of desserts! Y’all come! 💜💜💜🎄🎄🎄🎄

Tomorrow afternoon is the Christmas Carol Hymn Sing at 4pm!! Bring some friends! So far we have eggnog pie, pumpkin pie, Stollen, cookies, hot chocolate, tea and coffee! Y’all come!

Hehe Amen!❤️🙏🏼🎄🎄🎄🎄

Y’all come!

Ahem! Hehe

Inner Child prayer: “O Beautiful Child, hidden deep within me, you who are sometimes afraid to show your face, you who resides within my body, please be welcomed into my heart. In the past, I have shunned you, for that I am truly sorry. I ask that the rupture between us be repaired. Your wisdom and shadow I embrace. May I now Mother you as Our Lady mothers us all.” With practice, we can see that our wounded child is not only us. Our wounded child may represent several generations. Our mother may have suffered throughout her life. Our father may have suffered. Perhaps our parents weren’t able to look after the wounded child in themselves. So when we’re embracing the wounded child in us, we are embracing all the wounded child in our past generations. This practice is not a practice for ourselves alone, but for numberless generations of ancestors and descendants. Thich Nhat Hanh Art: Debra Bernier

(This just knocks my socks off!) From Bob Holmes: Yes, I've Fallen I've discovered that Every time my life has fallen apart, I've fallen into something bigger than myself. I've fallen into better and kinder people. Yes, I've fallen in with the Mystics and they catalyze my soul. I've found people who companion me in my suffering. Allowing my forgotten trauma to arise and be transmuted. I've learned 'The path of descent is the path of transformation.' It disentangles and disembodies our ego from our souls. I've learned that we are transformed in our mess and not apart from it. Sometimes kicking and screaming, but as we let go, we fall apart into a larger and deeper grace. I do the deep work, but now it's more of a working out where I integrate my transformation less it remains as an unsprouted seed in my soul. I've learned that when one of us, in our divine humanity in Christ, is catalyzed with another human being, there is a quantum entanglement of souls, and there we are on the brink of a new way to be human as life-givers. Here are some awesome words from St. Hildegard, the 13th-century German mystic who sang in other languages, painter, poet, abbess, herbalist, and a mother of modern science. “I am the fiery life of the essence of God; I am the flame above the beauty in the fields; I shine in the waters; I burn in the sun, the moon, and the stars. And with the airy wind, I quicken all things vitally by an unseen, all-sustaining life. ~ Hildegard von Bingen

Sorry, but I still think this is hilarious!💖🙏🏼☮️

Nicholas was the fourth-century bishop of Myra, a city in Lycia, a province of Asia Minor. As with many of the saints, however, we are able to capture the relationship which Nicholas had with God through the admiration which Christians have had for him—an admiration expressed in the colorful stories which have been told and retold through the centuries. Perhaps the best-known story about Nicholas concerns his charity toward a poor man who was unable to provide dowries for his three daughters of marriageable age. Rather than see them forced into prostitution, Nicholas secretly tossed a bag of gold through the poor man’s window on three separate occasions, thus enabling the daughters to be married. Over the centuries, this particular legend evolved into the custom of gift-giving on the saint’s feast. In the English-speaking countries, Saint Nicholas became, by a twist of the tongue, Santa Claus—further expanding the example of generosity portrayed by this holy bishop.

A friend took this picture from the chapel at Trinity Retreat and Conference Center. Isn’t hope just like that? It shines in the midst of difficulties and you realize that we’re being accompanied by an unfathomable love. Blessed Advent!💙🙏🏼☮️

https://www.episcopalchurch.org/publicaffairs/presiding-bishop-michael-curry-recovering-from-surgery/

The evidence is pretty clear. If St. Catherine’s is going to grow bring a friend to one of our services. Let’s spread the Good News of God’s love for everyone- no exceptions!!💖🙏🏼☮️💜🎄

If there is to be peace in the world, There must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the nations, There must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the cities, There must be peace between neighbors. If there is to be peace between neighbors, There must be peace in the home. If there is to be peace in the home, There must be peace in the heart... ~ Lao-Tse ~ Artist Credit : Iris Esther

Blessed Advent.💖🙏🏼😇

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The season of Advent means there is something on the horizon the likes of which we have never seen before...So stay. Sit. Linger. Tarry. Ponder. Wait. Behold. Wonder. There will be time enough for running.... ​ Wait. Something is on the horizon." ​ ―Jan L. Richardson

The restored Bells of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The new bells are: The bourdon "Marie" (6.023 kg; 206.5 cm in diameter), dedicated to Our Lady. It is the largest of the nine bells. The "Gabriel" bell (4.162 kg and 182.8 cm in diameter), dedicated to the Archangel Gabriel of Annunciation fame. The bell "Ana Genoveva" (3.477 kg; 172.5 cm in diameter), dedicated to Saint Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary,, and Saint Genoveva, patron saint and protector of Paris. The "Dionysus" bell (2.502 kg; 153.6 cm in diameter) named for Saint Dionysus, first bishop of Paris. The "Marcelo" bell (1.925 kg; 139.3 cm in diameter), named in memory of Saint Marcelo, ninth bishop of Paris, much revered by Parisians for his charity to the poor and the sick. The "Stephen" bell (1.494 kg; 126.7 cm in diameter) named after the cathedral of Paris that preceded the current one and was dedicated to Saint Stephen. The "Bento-Jose" bell (1.309 kg; 120.7 cm in diameter) in reference to the Pope Benedict XVI and Saint Joseph. The “Mauritius” bell (1.011 kg; 109.7 cm in diameter) in memory of Mauricio de Sully, 72nd Bishop of Paris, who laid the first stone of Notre Dame Cathedral in 1163. The bell "Jean-Marie" (782 kg; 99.7 cm in diameter), the smallest of the bells, named after Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger.

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Soul, If by chance you forget where I am, do not rush around here and there. If you want to find me, seek me inside yourself. Soul, you are my room, you are my house, you are my dwelling. If, through your distracted ways, I ever find your door tightly closed, do not seek me outside yourself. To find me, it will be enough simply to call me, and I will come quickly. Seek me inside yourself. - St Teresa of Avila

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Gee, I guess Elvis studied the Desert Mothers and Fathers! Be a hunk of burning love for God and neighbor! Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, 'Abba, as far as I can I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?' Then the old man stood up and stretched his hands towards heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire and he said to him, 'If you will, you can become all flame.'

"The gifts they leave behind! We know that they will be with us! Happy Thanksgiving !!!💖💖💖🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🦃🦃🦃

A poem by Jessica Powers. Have a blessed day!!💖🙏🏼☮️

“Each of us has the urge to be monos, no matter what our way of exterior life. It refers to the Only - Begotten, the Single, Only One, the Holy One of God, that is, Jesus, the Christ, whose life is meant to indwell in us. It means unity in the sense of healing of fragmentation, and unity amongst one’s fellow humans. It means single-heartedness, that is, chastity, sometimes expressed in celibacy, with which it is frequently confused. But above all it means the kenotic, self emptying life that makes a person one with God, or rather allows God to enter in so that in a very real way one becomes and pours out the power of God. It is precisely of the lust for control that we must be emptied so that God‘s love can be poured through us.“ - The Foundation and the Furnace: The Way of Tears and Fire by Maggie Ross 

St. Catherine’s packs gifts for the Provence IV Bishops who will be meeting at Camp St. Christopher next month.💖💖💖💖💖💖

I once had a thousand desires, but in my one desire to know You, all else melted away. - Rumi

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“Our only task - a task that “costs no less than everything” – is to seek willingness. God‘s love will do the rest. Even as we struggle to be still, love seeks to enter and transform. But as we are changed, we realize that our continuing rebirth itself demands further willingness, and finally a willingness for whatever.” - Maggie Ross The Fountain and the Furnace: The Way of Tears and Fire 

Finding God is like learning to write: if you truly want to acquire this skill, you’ve got to practice long and hard at it, even when it seems difficult, if not impossible; you have to begin by learning how to form each letter, committing it to memory until you no longer need to concentrate on it. It’s the same with God: learn to break through things to the point that you find God’s radiance within them all, even in the dark abyss of silence. - Meister Eckhart’s Book of darkness and light Meditations on the Path of the Wayless Way Jon M. Sweeney and mark S. Burrows

“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.” - Maya Angelou

You Carry an Inner Radiance A great teacher once said that if we think of God as a word, then God is spoken; but if God is a word unspoken, then God is beyond speaking and knowing, beyond words – but not beyond you, since you carry an inner radiance which also is beyond speaking and knowing, but not beyond you in the nobility of who you are in your soul; there, in that spark, the unspoken God becomes radiant. - Meister Eckhart’s Book of Darkness and Light John M. Sweeney and Mark S. Burrows

“for Christ plays in ten thousand places,, Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his To the Father theough the features of men’s [and women’s] faces.” Gerard Manley Hopkins Image: Norman Rockwell “Golden rule”

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God sits on a chair of darkness in my soul. He is God alone, supreme in His majesty. I sit at His feet, a child in the dark beside Him; my joy is aware of His glance and my sorrow is tempted to rest on the thought that His face is turned from me He is clothed in the robes of His mercy, voluminous garments - not velvet or silk and affable to the touch, but fabric strong for a frantic hand to clutch. and I hold to it fast with the fingers of my will. Here is my cry of faith, my deep avowal to the Divinity that I am dust. Here is the loud profession of my trust. I need not go abroad to the hills of speech or the hinterlands of music for a crier to walk in my soul where all is still. I have this potent prayer through good or ill: here in the dark I clutch the garments of God. - Sr. Jessica Powers

Amen!!💖🙏🏼☮️

The annual clergy picture at the 233rd Diocesan Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina held at St. James, Charleston on James Island.

“Youth is not an age but a state of mind. I know for I am growing younger each year. As my body slows down my spirit speeds up, running out before me like the little boy I once was, chasing new dreams before the old ones have time to grow tired. The adventure is just beginning. The span of our lives is not measured in numbers, but in the love we have known and given in return.” - Bishop Steven Charleston

Blessed All Saints Day! After having my heart broken open so many times my favorite verse from the hymn For All The Saints is: And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long, steals on the ear the distant triumph song, and hearts are brave again, and arms are strong. Alleluia, Alleluia! Artist: John August Swanson

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Pray for peace.💖🙏🏼☮️

Silent movie tonight 6pm!!

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Come, Great Spirit, come. Through the smoke and flames of war, come. Through the crowds of unsettled humanity, come. From within the hope of every nation, come. Out of the natural world, come. Come and come again, until the wars are ended, the refugees sheltered, the nations at peace, and the Earth secured. Come Great Spirit, come to redeem your creation. - Steven Charleston.

"The problem in middle life when the body has reached its climax of power and begins to lose it, is to identify yourself, not with the body, which is falling away, but with the consciousness of which it is a vehicle. And when you can do that, and this is something learned from myths, what am I? Am I the bulb that carries the light, or am I the light of which the bulb is a vehicle? And this body is a vehicle of consciousness, and if you can identify with the consciousness, you can watch this thing go, like an old car, there goes the fender, there goes this. But it's expected you know, and then gradually the whole thing drops off and consciousness rejoins consciousness. It is no longer in this particular environment... and this is the problem which can then be metaphorically understood as identifying with the Christ in you, and the Christ in you doesn't die. The Christ in you survives death and resurrects." - Joseph Campbell

This Friday at 6pm!! St. Catherine’s will show the silent movie Phantom of the Opera with Dr. Jackson Borges playing all the music right in front of us!! There’s no charge, but donations will be gratefully accepted. Please join us!!

If we were accused of being Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you? And they’ll know we are Christians by our love!! If it ain’t about love, it, ain’t about God! Do justice, Love kindness, Walk humbly with God!

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Columbia, SC last night!! We had so much fun!!!

If it ain’t about love, it ain’t about God!💖🙏🏼🌈☮️

Famously Hot South Pride Parade is this Friday! Anyone wishing to march with the church I serve, st. Catherine’s Episcopal Church, meet us at the church at 5pm! 1806 West Palmetto Street in Florence!! Wear all the rainbow gear you want! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9 NRSVUE) From The Office of Public Affairs of The Episcopal Church: Episcopalians everywhere are invited to observe a day of prayer and fasting on Tuesday, October 17 to pray without ceasing for justice, reconciliation, peace, and an end to hatred and war. We join in this effort with the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, the leading ecumenical group representing senior Christian leaders in the region, which includes Archbishop Hosam Naoum of The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East. The Collect for Peace is from The Book of Common Prayer, p. 258. Almighty God, kindle, we pray, in every heart the true love of peace, and guide with your wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth, that in tranquility your dominion may increase until the earth is filled with the knowledge of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Living God, today we pray for all the people in Israel/ Palestine, that they may discover the courage and humility to build peace together and that they will seek a just path of reconciliation. For our Muslim brothers and sisters in Israel/Palestine this day, we pray "Assalamu Alaikum". For our Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel/Palestine this day, we pray "Shalom Aleichem". For our Christian brothers and sisters in Israel/Palestine, this day, we pray "The Peace of Christ". Amen.

Eternal Love: Your truth lights the day and your way unfolds into love. Whatever dreams and difficulties the dark hours delivered, I am rising this morning to receive your eternal love. Words can’t capture its velocity. Images can’t contain its mass. Your love is infinite, immediately present under, beyond, in, and through every sense, thought, and feeling I have about myself or another. Like the sunrise, you change everything. I lift my heart in praise. Amen. - Centering Prayers

From the Jewish Voice for Peace: "The loss of Israeli lives is being used by our government to justify the rush to genocide, to provide moral cover for the immoral push for more weapons and more death. Palestinians are being dehumanized by our own government, by the media, by far too many U.S. Jewish institutions. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel is “fighting human animals” and should “act accordingly,” As Jews, we know what happens when people are called animals. We can and we must stop this. Never again means never again — for anyone. A future of peace and safety for all, grounded in justice, freedom and equality for all, is still the only option."

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May peace prevail!!!💖🙏🏼🌈✝️☪️🕉️☸️✡️🔯🕉️☯️

God is Love! Never forget!💖🙏🏼