Sarah Bartenstein
Brothers from SSJE return to St. Stephen’s in Lent
B
efore the pandemic it was customary for St. Stephen’s Church to receive one or two of the brothers from the Society of St. John the Evangelist to lead a retreat here at the beginning of Lent. Last year, for obvious reasons, that did not occur. (In fact, one of the last public events we held at St. Stephen’s in 2020 before things closed down was the Lenten retreat led by Br. David Vryhof and Br. Sean Glenn.) So we’re especially pleased that Br. James Koester, the order’s Superior, and Br. Lucas Hall plan to join us the weekend of February 25, 2022, just before Ash Wednesday.
The Society of St. John the Evangelist is the Anglican Communion’s oldest religious order for men. SSJE is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near the campus of Harvard University. In addition to having the brothers come to Richmond to lead retreats, individuals and groups from St. Stephen’s often travel to the monastery in Cambridge, or to Emery House, SSJE’s retreat center in Newburyport, Massachusetts, for silent retreats, spiritual direction and refreshment, and worshiping, taking meals, and entering into the rhythm of life with the brothers.
Ruff… meow… quack
Cate Anthony selfie with Philomena
As soon as we receive additional details about their visit, we’ll communicate with you via the Spirit, the eSpirit, and our Web site (ststephensRVA.org/lent).
The annual Blessing of the Animals service took place Sunday afternoon, October 3. While most of the animals the clergy meet at this service are dogs and cats, with a few gerbils, rabbits or guinea pigs, we had an unusual visitor this year: a duck. Larry Bidwell of the parish staff brought his two dogs, and Larry’s girlfriend brought a rescue duck, Philomena. S A I N T S T E P H E N ’ S E P I S C O PA L C H U R C H
ADVENT/CHRISTMAS/EPIPHANY | WINTER 2021
21
