Christmas Midnight Mass - Fr Simon Aiken - "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us"

Remembrance Sunday 13 November 2011: Sermon by the Dean, the Very Revd Fr Simon Aiken

"Treasure within" - a sermon by the Very Revd Fr Simon Aiken, 24 July 2011, St Cyprian's Cathedral Kimberley

Solemn Evensong & Procession: Feast of Corpus Christi

Announcing:
Archdeaconry of the Karoo: Kimberley & Roodepan Clusters

Solemn Evensong & Procession

Feast of Corpus Christi

Sunday 26th June, 6pm

at the Cathedral

Preacher: The Rt Rev’d Oswald Swartz
Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman

All Servers invited to robe

Service followed by Hot Soup

All are welcome

The Archdeacon's Charge: The Very Revd Fr Simon Aiken in his capacity as Archdeacon of the Karoo, St Cyprian's Cathedral, 8 May 2011

The Prayer of St Richard of Chichester

An adaptation of The Prayer of St Richard of Chichester (1197-1253) as set to music by Martin How was sung as the Communion Motet this day:

Day by day, Dear Lord, of thee three things I pray:
To see thee more clearly, Love thee more dearly,
Follow thee more nearly, Day by Day

As Bishop of Chichester, St Richard set out statutes for the organization of Church life in his Diocese. 

Inter alia he ruled that:

Archdeacons were to visit the churches regularly, to see that the services were duly ministered, the vessels and vestments were in proper order, the canon of the Mass correctly observed and distinctly read, as also the ‘Hours’. Priests who clipped or slurred their words by rushing were to be suspended.

           (From the article on St Richard of Chichester, Wikipedia)

Easter Sermon: The Very Revd Fr Simon Aiken, Dean of Kimberley (with images mainly from the Easter Monday Ordination and Chrism Mass)

The Dean Writes… (Easter Day)

     Firstly, a very warm welcome to our Cathedral worship on Easter Day. Easter is sometimes referred to as the Queen of Feasts and certainly there has been a lot of activity to make our observance of Holy Week and Easter truly regal.
     Our journey began with beautifully made palm crosses - thank you to the Confirmation Candidates and their facilitators who made them - and a magnificently decorated Cathedral. Everywhere we looked were huge palm branches (I counted over seventy) that really made a statement that this was Palm Sunday. Thank you to the senior servers who laboured long and hard to make that happen.
     We have journeyed quietly through the beginning of Holy Week at the Eucharist - thank you to our assistant clergy who have faithfully ministered at the Altar. Thank you to those who were willing to have their feet washed and impress upon us our ministry of service. Also to those who read prayers on Good Friday witnessing to the Intercessions being the 'Prayers of the People'.
     Thank you to those who made preparations for new fire to be kindled in the darkness of the night of Easter Eve and the celebration Holy Baptism.
     We are grateful to Sacristans and flower arrangers for a week full of activity to make everything happen so smoothly. Also to Servers and Sidesmen and women for work at Altar and welcome at Door, we say thank you.
     Christ wrought our salvation all by himself - to celebrate that wonderful gift, St Cyprian's has deployed an excellent and expert team. Thank you priests and people for all that has enhanced our journey to the Easter Victory.

Ash Wednesday Homily: The Very Revd Fr Simon Aiken, Dean of Kimberley

THE DEAN WRITES:

     Today (Sunday 27 February 2011) the Church commemorates George Herbert, priest and poet who died in 1633. The words of all the hymns and today’s motet are by this remarkable Anglican cleric. From a noble and wealthy family, Herbert forsook the opportunity for academic success and popularity at court, in order to take up parish ministry as an Anglican priest. Although he only had a short ministry he is held up as the model pastor. He loved the people of his little parish of Bemerton, just outside Salisbury. His hymns, his poems and other writings are so very Anglican and express the middle way. For many Anglican priests he is their hero and their exemplar. His contemporary Richard Baxter wrote of him, “heart-work and heaven-work make up his books”. We give   thanks for George Herbert and enjoy the beauty and the prayerfulness of his hymns today.

Hymns: AMR nos. 337 Teach me, my God and King, 178 The God of love my Shepherd is, 367 King of glory, King of peace, 375 Let all the world in every corner sing. Motet The call, set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

* TO LISTEN TO THE SERMON by the Dean, the Very Revd Fr Simon Aiken, 16 January 2011, go to the BLOG ARCHIVE (to the right of your screen) and click on "January" and then select (click again on) "Sermon by the Dean..." OR follow this link:

http://stcypskimberley.blogspot.com/2011/01/blog-post.html

ARRANGEMENTS FOR LENT, HOLY WEEK AND EASTER

     Lent is just around the corner and in fact Ash Wednesday is on 9 March. There will be a said Mass at 6:00 a.m. and a sung Mass at 6:00 p.m. that day. The imposition of ashes will be available at both services. Further Wednesdays in Lent up to Palm Sunday will see a Mass at 9:00 a.m. together with readings from spiritual writers. On Wednesday evenings at 6:00 p.m. the Cathedral Parish is invited to enrol in a course of study and discussion surrounding the Sacrament of Baptism. This will take the form of a presentation and discussion in the Cathedral ending by 7:30 p.m. When we get to Holy Week, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will see a said Mass at 7:00 p.m. in the evening, Maundy Thursday will see the traditional foot-washing and other ceremonies of the evening Mass beginning at 7:00 p.m. Good Friday will see an exciting development with our Junior Church presenting a whole day’s programme of special activities for young people – watch this space for further details. For the rest of us the Stations of the Cross will be prayed at 12 noon and the Liturgy of the Day will begin at 1:30. The sacrament of Baptism and the Easter Ceremonies will begin at 7:00 p.m. on Holy Saturday and the Festal Mass for Easter will be at 8:30 a.m. on Easter Day itself. There is a lot for us to prepare and be busy with and I am grateful to priestly colleagues and the many, many lay people who assist in preparing and presenting our liturgical life. They will all have their work cut out and I know will contribute generously and joyfully to our observance of Lent, Holy Week and Easter. Sundays in Lent will have the usual Cathedral Mass at 8:30 a.m. and Stations of the Cross at 6:00 p.m.

The Dean Writes:

     “… In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.”  Words from a familiar hymn to most of us, and the hymn which I believe to most strongly communicate our resurrection faith. Not, in fact, to be restricted to funeral services but actually any occasion when we wish to sing of our hope through death in God’s  eternal love and power for us. (See Hymn AMR 27).

     In our African context we are richly blessed in many different cultural and domestic approaches to death. It is part of the richness we enjoy. There seems to be particular variation in how we view the body of the deceased person at the time of death and leading up to the funeral. For some people the body is quite rightly taken care of by the funeral director and is only brought out for the funeral service. For others it is important that great ceremony is made of the body being brought home the night before the funeral, and prayer and liturgy focussing around that arrival and through the night form an important preparation for the funeral service proper. Yet others take great comfort in the body of the deceased person being received into church the night before the funeral service where it can “rest in state” in the Holy Place, the place where, in life, the deceased person has come close to God and been united to Christ in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

     All of these different approaches in fact are represented in the long history of Christianity. But from very early times the night before the funeral has been seen as a pastorally and emotionally special, significant and sensitive time. The fact that death touches us all in different ways simply reinforces the fact that there needs to be a great variety of approach when it comes to observing this special time.

     Here at the Cathedral all the Clergy are committed to servicing the special, unique and individual needs of families who are bereaved. There is certainly not a case of “one size fits all” and we are all committed to coming close to the family and discussing their particular and special needs to observe the parting of their dear ones and celebrating our common faith in Christ’s victory over sin and death and opening up the way to eternity for us all.

     Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

* TO LISTEN TO THE SERMON by the Dean, the Very Revd Fr Simon Aiken, 16 January 2011, go to the BLOG ARCHIVE (to the right of your screen) and click on "January" and then select (click again on) "Sermon by the Dean..."

A note in Commemoration of Mother Cecile of Grahamstown (1906)

Cecile Isherwood, born in England in 1861, went to South Africa to work in the Diocese of Grahamstown in 1883. At the request of the Bishop, Allan Becher Webb, she founded a sisterhood, The Community of The Resurrection of Our Lord. Its focus was education and social work. Mother Cecile led this community until her death, at the early age of forty-four, on 20 February 1906. She had also founded a training college for teachers, schools, orphanages and missions. 

St Cyprian's Grammar School Contact Details:

Tel 053-8315066  Fax 0867509960 

P.O. Box 10139, Beaconsfield 8315

6 February 2011: To be salt and light

Today's Gospel, St Matthew 5:13-16, which bids us to be salt and light in the world, prompts us to ponder what God desires to manifest through us, and to wrestle with what hinders this.

We pray for the faithful departed: Sakkie Bredenkamp, Drydon Goliath, Michael Oliver, Noeleen Marthinus and Canon Dan Peters' son, Daniel. Fr Dan was to have preached in the Cathedral this morning. Bishop Patrick Matolengwe stepped in at short notice and delivered an inspired sermon on the theme of today's Gospel reading.

* TO LISTEN TO THE SERMON by the Dean, the Very Revd Fr Simon Aiken, 16 January 2011, go to the BLOG ARCHIVE (to the right of your screen) and click on "January" and then select (click again on) "Sermon by the Dean..."

The Dean Writes - 30 January 2011

Sunday 30 January 2011.
After discussion with the Bishop, it has been announced that the Revd Carol Starkey will take up a new portfolio of responsibilities sometime early in 2011. Mother Carol has already had a concern in her ministry in the area of HIV/Aids, and it has been agreed that this will become a full-time responsibility for her throughout the Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman. Along with the expansion of this work will also be responsibility for the Kimberley hospitals and the Diocesan Gender Desk. Fr Gawie Bouwer continues to look after the hospital for the next month or so until arrangements are finalised. Mother Carol continues her responsibilities as Chaplain of St Cyprian's Grammar School until Easter.

Mother Carol continues to have a liturgical and preaching base at the Cathedral.

It seems the new year is bringing exciting new developments in priestly ministry for which we give thanks to Almighty God.

Perhaps this is a reminder to all of us, priests and people alike, that we must always be ready to listen to God's guiding voice and take up those challenges and responsibilities that will best further the building up of his Kingdom.

* TO LISTEN TO THE SERMON by the Dean, the Very Revd Fr Simon Aiken, 16 January 2011, go to the BLOG ARCHIVE (to the right of your screen) and click on "Sermon by the Dean..."

Prayers of the Church : 30 January 2011

Loving God, you promised through your Son Christ Jesus to hear us when we pray in his name;

We pray for your Holy Church throughout the world, praying especially for Oswald our Bishop and Thabo our Metropolitan; we pray for all the clergy and people of our Diocese and of our Cathedral and cluster partners at St Alban’s and St Peter’s Greenpoint.             

We pray for John, Bishop of our Link Diocese of Oxford, and all those working for the success of our various partnerships including our ministry in the area of HIV/Aids. 

We pray for Mother Carol as she takes up responsibility for the HIV/Aids ministry and the Gender Desk at diocesan level and for her continuing ministry at the Cathedral.

May we be especially attentive to all those in need,

the poor, the hungry, those who are sorrowful, and the persecuted.

Awaken, enliven and empower your Church for its mission. May our church be provided with everything necessary for its spiritual growth: schools to educate children in your love and service; ministers to do your work in this area; and churches in which to worship and glorify you.

Lord in your mercy … hear our prayer.

We thank you, Creator of all, for the resources of the world.

Stir in us a sense of awe, and of humility at the hugeness of earth and its powerful forces.

Make us also aware of its fragility and finitude.

Everything in heaven and in earth is yours, and all things come from you.

Lord in your mercy … hear our prayer.

God of truth, we pray for the community of nations and for all in authority.  Guide our leaders; and inspire all people with a spirit of compassion to uphold the dignity of each one, especially those peacemakers whom Jesus has called Blessed.

Lord in your mercy … hear our prayer.

God of wisdom, you choose what the world counts as folly and weakness.  Teach us to hear your guiding voice in all our endeavours - to act justly, to love loyalty, and to walk humbly with our God.

We pray for situations of strife – all instances where people differ in opinion.

We are made with two ears and one mouth, it is said,

so that we should listen twice as much as we speak.*

May your people be able, freely, to air their differences,

whether within or between religious communities, or political parties, or any other walk of life,

May we help one another in this way to grow into our best selves,

contributing richly to our common life.

Lord in your mercy… Hear our prayer

At this time, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, we remember the utter horror of the Holocaust, its cold rationalism and its appalling godless strength.

May we remember its victims and the victims of all genocide, persecution and oppression;

We uphold those who have sacrificed and witnessed to protect or rescue victims.

We are still scarred by certainties and rationalisations that diminish or destroy others’ lives on grounds of race, religious belief, disability or sexuality, and we know that genocide, anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia and other forms of discrimination continue.

May we condemn the evils of prejudice

and pledge to make sure that the lessons of these events are fully learnt.

Lord in your mercy… Hear our prayer

We pray for our families and friends and those with special claims upon us. Fill our community with joy and fellowship, that we may nurture one another and celebrate our common life.

We pray for our Cathedral family, particularly our youth and for all involved in teaching and all those who learn. We pray especially for those who are preparing for Confirmation.

Almighty and eternal God, increase their faith and understanding and sustain them all as faithful members of your chosen family.

Lord in your mercy … hear our prayer.

God ever-present, Let your healing power be with those for whom we pray, especially those in our prayer list. Shelter and assist those afflicted by flooding and natural disasters in our region and beyond. May we offer shelter and help to all who are in need.

Comfort and restore all who suffer: may they know the power of your healing love and have the joy of receiving your help in their need.

Lord in your mercy … hear our prayer.

God of hope, you turn death into life and bring all your people to your heavenly feast.  We remember before you those who have died.

Rest eternal grant unto them O Lord

And let light perpetual shine upon them

Give comfort to those who are sorrowful and mourn

and bring them consolation and peace in their time of loss.

Lord in your mercy … hear our prayer.

Strengthen our mission, O God, to reveal Christ crucified, your wisdom in folly; your power in weakness.

Fill us with this blessing – that we may hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Revive in us a pure and gentle heart, that we may see our God. Lead us to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God.

Through Jesus Christ, our risen Saviour, to whom be glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

* Citing Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, 3 Feb 2010, speaking with the Chief Rabbi of South Africa on The Moral State of the Nation.

Sermon by the Dean of Kimberley, the Very Revd Fr Simon Aiken, 16 Jan 2011