Flag week, Orsiesius the Cenobite, Juneteenth

June 14 is Flag Day, and the week in which June 14 occurs is National Flag Week, which encourages Americans to display the flag outside their homes and businesses. Although Flag Day is not a federal holiday, Americans everywhere continue to honor the history and heritage it represents.



The Flag of the United States of America is a symbol of freedom and liberty to which Americans pledge their allegiance. It consists of thirteen alternating red and white stripes and fifty white stars on a blue field, with each star representing a state.







The colors on the flag represent:







•Red: valor and bravery



•White: purity and innocence



•Blue: vigilance, perseverance, and justice







June 15 St. Orsiesius c.380 Abbot of the first true monastic cloister in Tabennisi, north of Thebes, in Egypt



Orsiesius was a favorite disciple of Saint Pachomius at Tabennisi, and his assistant in drawing up the rules for the cenobites. He succeeded Pachomius as abbot. He was praised by Saint Antony and Saint Athanasius, but some 12 years before his death he was forced by his monks to resign because of the harshness of his rule. He resumed that office several years later. He is the author of an ascetical treatise that Saint Jerome translated into Latin (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

June 19 is Juneteenth is derived from the words June and nineteenth to commemorates June 19, 1865, the day Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived on Galveston Island, Texas to take possession of the state and enforce General Order No. 3 which read:



The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.



Juneteenth celebrations began in Texas in 1866. Within a few years, these celebrations spread to other states and are now an an annual tradition. Celebrations often open with praying and religious ceremonies, and include a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation which was announced on January 1, 1863, with little effect on most slaves, particularly in Texas, which was for the most part under Confederate control. Food is central to the celebrations, with barbecued meats being especially popular.

Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will.

Photo: The Star-Ledger

Saturday June 11th, 2011 members of St. Barnabas Church in Newark participated in "A Day of Peace" organized by POP (Peoples Organization for Progress) serving refreshments to the participants at Washington park in Newark.


This highlights the need for prayer for the city, please pray for the peace and prosperity of the city of Newark.

Pray for Newark Daily!

As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Today is The Day of Pentecost. The Great 50 Days of Easter draw to a close at Pentecost, a feast of the Church which commemorates the Descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles, fifty days after the Resurrection of Christ, on the ancient Jewish festival called the "feast of weeks" or Pentecost (Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:10). Pentecost is also called Whitsunday from the white garments which were worn by those who were baptized at Eastertide. Whitsunday commemorates the disciples receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit after a period of ten days of waiting and prayer in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. Pentecost is often known as the birthday of the Church. It is a favorite day for Baptism.

History of St. Barnabas pt. 2

*Rev. Robert Laughlin Pierson, priest-in-charge of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church (1960-1967?) was arrested with a group of 15 Episcopalian priests during the Freedom Rides of 1961 in Mississippi for trying to enter the lunchroom of a Trailways bus terminal in Jackson, Miss. Father Pierson and 11 other white priests were placed in one large cell while the Black priests were placed in another cell. He was later sentenced to four months in jail. The case was eventually dismissed, but it received much national attention because it involved clergymen and because Father Pierson's father-in-law at the time was Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller.

The Rev. Robert Pierson and Ann Clark Rockefeller were married in 1955. They shared an interest in social causes, like racial equality, women's rights and the welfare of migrant workers. They supported a black dance group in Brooklyn, subsidized James Baldwin's ''Blues for Mister Charlie'' at the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA) Theater, and flew to Moscow in 1965 in a citizens exchange project to thaw the Cold War.

In the 1970's the Basement of the Parish Hall was utilized for a coffee house Called "The Edge" that brought in many of the neighborhood youth. North Porch Women's & Infants Center began its existence at Saint Barnabas also in the 1970's and has been moved to Park Place. In the 1980's the Gymnasium in the Parish Hall was used to minister to the community's youth. The Share program that began in the 1980's evolved into a food pantry that still distributes food twice a week.

The Aids Resource Center opened 1990 and resided here until 2007.

The basement of the Parish Hall currently houses the Jamar Carter Operation Turnaround boxing gym.

A short history of St. Barnabas Church Roseville, Newark, NJ Pt. 1

St. Barnabas' Church, on the triangle formed by Warren Street (West Market Street), Sussex and Roseville avenues, began its existence when the first service of the parish was held in a dwelling-house on September 12, 1852. The following year it was fully organized. William Dusenberry, a layman, was chiefly instrumental in establishing the parish. By a deed dated 1st October 1853, Cyrus Peck and wife conveyed the lot upon which the church and school-house are now erected, to the Rectors, Wardens, and Vestrymen of the Church of St. Barnabas, Roseville, in the city of Newark, in fee, upon the condition that a church and school-house should be erected thereon, and which church edifice should be consecrated, appropriated, and devoted forever exclusively to the service of Almighty God, according to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The Sunday school was organized October 9, 1852. The first church edifice was of wood and consecrated in 1855 by Bishop George W. Doane. It was burned in 1862. The present stone structure, without the transepts, was consecrated on St. Barnabas' Day, 1864. The transepts were added in 1869. The rectory was built in 1869, and the parish house in 1889. The porch at the entrance facing Warren Street was added in 1913. The succession of rectors follows: Rev. G. N. Sleight, 1855; Rev. Mr. Leech, 1856; Rev. E. S. Watson, 1860; Rev. William J. Lynd, 1863-1867; Rev. Robert McMurdy, D. D., LL. D, 1868-1869; Rev. William G. Farrington, 1870; Rev. George F. Flichtner, 1873-1883, Rev. Stephen H. Granberry, 1884-1915,Rev. Walter F. Hayward, Rev. Marshall F. Montgomery, Rev. Harry Bruce, Rev. Robert E. B. Hall, Rev. Robert Laughlin Pierson(1960-1967?) *, Rev. R.J. Smith, The Rev. Canon Dr. Paul Ekezie, the Revd. Canon Elizabeth Kaeton and the Rev. Mildred J. Solomon Since 2003 the Church has been served by Supply Priests 

In 1865, a dedicated group of women known as the Ladies Society of Saint Barnabas established The Hospital of Saint Barnabas in a private home. Eliza Titus, who was the first patient, gave her small estate to help in creating the first hospital on McWhorter Street in Newark, It Latter moved to High Street in 1869 and then to Livingston on November 29, 1964. When the hospital laid the corner stone to the High Street address on June 11th, 1869 (Saint Barnabas Day), the rector Rev. McMurdy, John Suydam a Warden of Saint Barnabas Church, and Dr. Sanford B. Hunt were elected to the Board of Managers of the Saint Barnabas Hospital Association. 

During the Great Depression (1930's), Saint Barnabas Church boasted over five hundred Parishioners, and supported two priests and two organists. 

Among the prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch of Syria were Barnabas, Simeon (called “the black man”), Lucius (from Cyrene), Manaen (the childhood companion of King Herod Antipas), and Saul. Acts 13:1 (New Living Translation) ."

“Among the prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch of Syria were Barnabas, Simeon (called “the black man”), Lucius (from Cyrene), Manaen (the childhood companion of King Herod Antipas), and Saul. Acts 13:1 (New Living Translation) ."

 Today is our "Patronal Feast Day," the celebration of the saint after whom our Church is named, that is, St. Barnabas. Barnabas went to live with the Christians in Jerusalem after selling his estate and giving the money to the apostles. He was one of the Fathers of the church in Antioch, where the disciples were first called Christians. Barnabas is said to have been stoned to death by a heathen mob in Cyprus holding a copy of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, written in Hebrew by St. Barnabas himself. Thus, as we celebrate the life of our Patron,  who has inspired mission work in the church throughout the centuries.In England the Feast of St. Barnabas is sometimes known as Barnabee's Day. It is usual in some churches to decorate the altars with garlands of flowers.

Saint Barnabas the Apostle

St. Charles Lwanga and The martyrs of Uganda

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Martyrs canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1964. The 22 young court servants were martyred for their faith by the Buganda King Mwanga in 1886. Along with them were 80 young Anglicans. June 3

Other saints:
http://saints.sqpn.com/3-june/

Ascension Day

God has gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.

Psalm 47:5 RSV

Ascension Day

The Ascension originated as a Thursday celebration because of the story of the event from the opening of the Acts of the Apostles. There, Luke says that Jesus rose from the dead, appeared to believers for 40 days and then ascended to the heavens. Even though the accounts of the ascension in the Gospels suggest it took place after a shorter period of time, the liturgy of the church has honored the chronology from Acts by celebrating the Ascension on Thursday of the sixth week of Easter.