ChristSophia Mass
What is ChristSophia Mass? Why do we celebrate ChristSophia? Who is She?
What is a ChristSophia Mass?
The ChristSophia Mass Liturgy is on the fourth Sunday of Advent. It is not a feminization of the traditional Christmas or a New-Age-Goddess-take on the Solstice. Advent at herchurch is about returning. The season and word itself is about coming, hope, and the anticipation of re/birthing the divine in her world. It is also a season of darkness in which we often retreat into ourselves or the darkness of the unconscious. This darkness is both holy and safe. It is the darkness of the Divine Womb.
On the Sundays leading up to the ChristSophia Mass, we honor the return of and returning to the Ancient Mother (Advent 1), the Black Madonna (Advent 2) and the Guadalupe (Advent 3). These returnings are marked by liturgies filled with music, dance, poetry, visual arts, drumming, bread blessing and connecting with old and new understandings of the divine feminine and her power for restoring and repairing the web of life.
Out of the darkness of the divine womb, the fulfilling of the promise of restoration and healing are birthed. We recognize the Great Mother makes herself known in her very body of the universe that contains us as well as in the least of our sisters and brothers.
Why do we celebrate ChristSophia?
In blessed darkness, as in the womb, we gather to celebrate the birth of the Wisdom and Light for the World, God/dess incarnate, our hope and our life. In this liturgy, ChristSophia is present among us – in the world of grace and peace proclaimed to us as well as in the blessing and sharing of the bread and our acts of justice, peace and love!
Who is ChristSophia?
“Most people still think of God as masculine and refer to God as “He.” Because of centuries of association of ‘God’ with male pronouns and imagery, this word generally evokes male images. Many of the hymns in this collection balance the noun ‘God’ with feminine pronouns. I refer to God as ‘She’ and ‘Her’ not because I believe that God is literally a woman, but in order to balance the masculine with the feminine. In addition, calling God ‘She’ surprises us away from an unquestioning masculine naming of divinity. The Creator of the Universe is both male and female and more. The Source of All cannot be limited to a single gender or a single set of metaphors. Many of the hymns in this collection balance the masculine name ‘Christ’ with the feminine name ‘Sophia,’ (the word for ‘wisdom’ in the original Greek language of the Christian Scriptures.)
“The name ‘Christ-Sophia’ makes equal connections between male and female, and Jewish and Christian traditions, thus providing a model for a community in which all live in partnership rather than a dominant-submissive relationship. Writers of Christian Scripture link Christ to Wisdom, a feminine symbol of deity in Hebrew Scripture. Wisdom symbolizes creative, redemptive, and healing power. In their efforts to describe this same power in Christ, the apostle Paul and other Christian Scripture writers draw from the picture of feminine Wisdom in Hebrew Scripture.” – Jann Aldredge-Clanton
herchurch ChristSophia Mass and Luncheon
The ChristSophia Mass is the culmination of the Advent season. The ChristSophia is the eternal and incarnational wisdom of the sacred and the Divine Feminine. Although a Judeo-Christian metaphor, She is the one who needs to be re-birthed into the world over and over again. The ChristSophia was present before all time and continues to break into our world with the promises of hope and restoration to the web-of-life. The Liturgy is one of Candles and Carols to herald her coming!
We share a meal afterwards. This is a day not to be missed.
