Weekday Liturgies

Daily Mass

The reverence and spirituality of the solemn Sunday Services are continued in six weekday Low Masses celebrated in the Lady Chapel.  During the Interim, due to a shortage of staffing hours, the Low Mass on Saturdays and Mondays has been suspended.  It is hoped that these weekday Masses will soon be resumed with a new rector, as Christ Church is the one Episcopal Church in New Haven where any Episcopalian or other Christian needing the Sacrament can be comforted at the Eucharist that very day.   Rites I and II are used alternately on weekdays.  The Friday Mass is often a gathering point around the Eucharist for the St. Hilda’s House interns, who spend Friday in spiritual reflection on the week’s service work.  For many years in the past, the Thursday evening Eucharist was a Healing Mass with Unction, Laying on of Hands, and Prayers for Healing for those seeking it.   Also, for many years, the first Saturday morning Mass of the month was offered as a Requiem for all whose years mind was that month.    Desire has been expressed in the parish for these to return.  The offering of weekday services was a constant wish of the parish's founding benefactress Mary Edwards, and the condition of her bequeathal to the parish. Forty-five percent of survey respondents report they have made occasional use of daily Mass, and another 26%value its existence though they do not attend.  Yet attendance at daily Mass has been quite small throughout our history; most of us live far from the church.  The fact that the prayers of the parish, Church, city, and world are brought to God's Altar every day and joined to the Great Thanksgiving is more than a symbol to us, it is the lifting up of Christ to all who can come to Him and effectually on behalf of all who cannot.

Daily Office
  
Again, following the bequeathal wishes of our Founders from Trinity Church on the Green, the Edwards Sisters, Christ Church has a commitment to read the Daily Office daily.  Morning Prayer is offered 8:00am Monday through Friday, at 8:45am Saturdays, and at 7:30am Sundays before the first Mass. It is expected that the St. Hilda interns will attend on weekdays.  There are a few parishioners who attend, as well. Weekday Morning Prayer is officiated by parish laity or St. Hilda’s staff and interns.  Evening Prayer is read at 5:15pm before the 5:30pm Low Masses on Tuesdays and Thursdays by the acolyte of the Mass.  There have been periods in the past when simple Evening Prayer was read weekdays at 5:15pm even when Mass was not to follow.  The Daily Office publicly offered is always Rite I. Moreover, numbers of parishioners at Christ Church keep a private rule of life which includes the Daily Office, a regimen some follow in relation to one of several Episcopal Religious Orders.