St. Thomas More Catholic Church (STM) invites you to join them for the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols with Benediction on Tuesday, December 23 at 7:00 p.m.
Long associated with the Anglican Church and in particular,
the Choir of King’s College Cambridge, Nine Lessons and Carols is a service of Scripture
readings which tells the story of Christmas, beginning with the fall from
grace, through the promise of the Messiah up to the birth of the Christ,
interspersed with carols, hymns and anthems.
With this service of Lessons and Carols, St. Thomas More
reaches back to the rich legacy of its Anglican heritage in words and music and
combines this with that most Catholic of devotions, Benediction of the Blessed
Sacrament. The service promises to be a wonderful way to start Christmas.
Directed by Peter Mahon, the choir of St.
Thomas More will lead the singing. This
ensemble consists of members who sing with some of the finest choirs in Canada,
including: the Toronto Mendelssohn
Choir, Tafelmusik, The Elmer Iseler Singers and The Elora Festival
Singers. 
Monsignor Jeffrey Steenson,
Ordinary of the Chair of St. Peter, called it one of the finest church choirs
in North America. Check the church
website, thomasmorechurch.com for
the music list for the service which will be posted in the next few days.
The Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter is fully a part of
the Catholic Church. Established under the authority of Pope Benedict XVI in
2009, Ordinariates in countries around the world allow groups of Anglicans to
enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church while retaining elements
of their liturgies and traditions.
The Ordinariates were established
principally in response to requests from Anglicans to be received into full communion.
Many Protestants have also entered the communion of the Church through this
ministry of the New Evangelization. Recently, Pope Francis extended the mandate
of the Ordinariates to include catechizing baptized Catholics who have not been
confirmed. Of course, all Catholics can fulfill their weekly obligation by
assisting at an Ordinariate Sunday Mass.
In response to Pope Benedict’s welcome to unity, a group of
interested people began meeting for prayer and discussion at the Newman Centre
on the campus of the University of Toronto.
In early 2012, at the suggestion of Cardinal Collins himself, representatives
of the group approached Paroisse Sacré-Coeur
about making a home there. L’Abbé Justin and the parish welcomed
them warmly and the first Mass was held in May of that year. Sung Mass has been
celebrated every Sunday afternoon since at 1:45 pm.
At first, Masses were celebrated by Fr. Eric Rodrigues, the
Cardinal’s Executive Assistant, assisted by other diocesan priests. However, in late 2013, Fr. John Hodgins and
Fr. James Tilley were ordained to the diaconate by Cardinal Collins and in
December, to the priesthood by Archbishop Prendergast in Ottawa.
The Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter covers all of
North America. St. Thomas More belongs
to the Canadian deanery within the Ordinariate. On November 9 just past, STM
was raised to the status of Quasi or Mission Parish. Though small, since its inception, STM has
seen steady growth. In addition to the
regular parish choir, the mission has now established a children’s choir, which
is open to members of the wider community.
The Mission Parish of St. Thomas More can be found at
Paroisse Sacré-Coeur, 381 Sherbourne St.
Toronto at the corner of Sherbourne and Carlton.
Sung Mass is at 1:45 pm every
Sunday.
The service of Nine Lessons and Carols with Benediction is
Tuesday, December 23 at 7:00.
Christmas Eve Sung Mass is at 4:00 pm – Families
and children are most welcome at this early Christmas Eve celebration.
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