Oct 7:  Louise Edwards Birthday

Oct 9:  Jessica Epps Birthday

Oct 13: Dr. Stephen & Alyssan Barnes Anniversary

Oct 15: Lt. Commander Joshua McTaggart Birthday

Oct 16: Mark Plumb Birthday

Luke wrote one of the major portions of the New Testament, a two-volume work comprising the 3rd Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. In the two books he shows the parallel between the life of Christ and that of the Church. He is the only Gentile Christian among the Gospel writers. Tradition holds him to be a native of Antioch, and Paul calls him, "our beloved physician". His Gospel was probably written between A.D. 70 and 85. Luke wrote as a Gentile to Gentile Christians. This Gospel reveals Luke's expertise in classic Greek style as well as his knowledge of Jewish sources.

James of Jerusalem is referred to in the New Testament as the brother of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He was for many years the leader of the Christian congregation in Jerusalem, and is supposed to be the author of the Epistle of James, although the Epistle itself does not state this explicitly.

Outside the New Testament, James is mentioned by the Jewish historian Josephus, who calls him "the brother of Jesus the so-called Christ", and reports that he was much respected even by the Pharisees for his piety and strict observance of the Law, but that his enemies took advantage of an interval between Roman governors in 62 A.D. to have him put to death.

Pope Pius XI instituted the Solemnity of Christ the King on December 11, 1925 in his encyclical Quas Primas. At that time he saw the rise of atheistic communism and secularism as a direct result of man's turning away from Christ's sovereignty, and man's denying the authority of Christ's Church. This result was "disorder" or a move away from the Divine Order. The Feast of Christ the King was set on the last Sunday in October.

It was in the eighth century that the Church appointed a special date for the feast of All Saints, followed by a day of her soon-to-be saints, the feast of All Souls. She chose this time of year, it is supposed, because in her part of the world it was the time of barrenness on the earth. The harvest was in, the summer done, the world brown and drab and mindful of death.

Apparently how you spent the vigil of All Saints depended on where you lived in Christendom. In Brittany the night was solemn and without a trace of merriment. On their "night of the dead" and for 48 hours thereafter, the Bretons believed the poor souls were liberated from Purgatory and were free to visit their old homes. Late in the evening, and after the fire was banked and chairs set round the table for the returning loved ones, the family would recite the De Profundis (Psalm 129) again and go to bed. During the night, a townsman would go about the streets ringing a bell to warn them that it was unwise to roam abroad at the time of returning souls.

Trick or Treats - Old Style

Begging at the door grew from an ancient English custom of knocking at doors to beg for a "soul cake". In return for which the beggars promised to pray for the dead of the household. Legend tells of a zealous cook who vowed to invent soul cakes to remind them of eternity at every bite. So she cut a hole in the middle and dropped it in hot fat, and lo - a doughnut. Circle that is, it suggests the never ending of eternity.