ST. ELIZABETH'S
EUCHARISTIC ORATORY CHAPEL
A Eucharistic Oratory Chapel
Within
The Evangelical Orthodox Old Catholic Church in America
San Jose, California
St. Elizabeth
Feast Day: November 5th
For more information on St. Elizabeth and who
she was, please refer to the bottom
of this page.
The Reverend Mother Shirley J. Williams is a priest of this
jurisdiction and has a ministry of Eucharistic Prayer and Devotion.
Her ministry covers a wide range of counseling and is a trained
"Grief Counselor" with over 20 years of experience.
The Reverend Mother Shirley J. William
Email: spiritlead1@earthlink.net
Daily: Please contact by Email for times of services -
- Prayers of Eucharistic Devotion
- Intercessions and prayer requests.
- Celebration of the Holy Eucharist (The Body and Blood of our
Lord, Savior and God Jesus Christ)
- Confessions and Counseling by appointment.
To Contact Her Bishop:
The Most Reverend Perry R. (Joseph Benedict) Sills, O.C.,
S.T.D.
Residence/Office of the Bishop Primate
1213 N. San Pedro Street
San Jose, CA 95110-1436
Phone: (408) 453-8947
email: (spiritlead1@earhlink.net)
For more information, please feel free to
contact her at:
The Reverend Mother Shirley J. Williams (spiritlead1@earthlink.net)
St. Elizabeth
("God is an oath" -- Exodus 6:23).
The
name Elizabeth,
which has been borne by several saints, means in Hebrew "worshiper of
God."
All that we know of Elizabeth, wife of Zachary and mother of John the
Baptist,
is to be found in the book of Luke. A descendant of the priestly line
of
Aaron, she was a kinswoman—how close we are not told—of the Virgin
Mary.
According to the Gospel, Elizabeth had lived a blameless life with her
husband
in one of the hill-towns of Judea. Having reached an advanced age with
her
prayers for a son unanswered, she thought that her barrenness was a
reproach.
One day, while Zachary was serving in the temple, the Angel Gabriel
appeared
at the right of the altar, and announced that a son would be born to
Elizabeth.
It was in the sixth month of her pregnancy that the Virgin Mary came to
visit
her—a touching and beautiful scene pictured by many great artists. The
Angel
Gabriel, having lately announced to Mary the destiny that awaited her,
also
told her that her kinswoman Elizabeth was with child. The Virgin Mary,
eager
to share in Elizabeth's happiness and to confide that she too would
bear
a child, traveled down the dusty road from Nazareth. On Mary's arrival,
she
was amazed when Elizabeth, having foreseen knowledge, greeted her as
"mother
of my Lord." Elizabeth's salutation was in these words: "Blessed
art thou
among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And how have I
deserved
that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, the moment
that
the sound of thy greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leapt
for
joy. And blessed is she who has believed, because the things promised
her
by the Lord shall be accomplished." The Gospel story tells us
further
that at Elizabeth's delivery her friends and neighbors rejoiced with
her,
and when the child was brought to be circumcised, they were going to
call
him after his father Zachary, but his mother said, "His name shall be
John."
1st
century. Elizabeth and Zachary were the parents of John the Baptist,
forerunner of Jesus. All we know about them is found in the first
chapter
of Luke's Gospel. "Both were righteous in the eyes of God, observing
all
the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly" (Luke 1:6,
NAB). Zachary was a priest of the Old Covenant and Elizabeth was of the
family
of Aaron.
Having
reached middle age
without the blessing of children, Zachary, while officiating in the
temple,
had a vision of an angel who told him that his prayers for a son would
be answered. Zachary was incredulous. Perhaps to prevent Zachary from
sinning against hope, he was struck dumb until the birth of his son who
was to be called John, "who shall be filled with the Holy Spirit even
in
his mother's womb and who should bring back many of the sons of Israel
to the Lord their God."
Elizabeth
was visited by Mary, the Mother of God, at which time Mary spoke the
hymn of praise now known as the Magnificat, although a few
manuscripts indicated it was Elizabeth who sang it.
Generally
a child is named after a dead relative. This is what Elizabeth and
Zachary's friends and neighbors expected. Yet his mother insisted that
he was to be named John, and his father wrote that he agreed.
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