Church of the Ascension & Saint Agnes 
12th and Massachusetts Ave, NW  - Washington, DC 20005 - 202.347.8161
Wherever your are in your spiritual life, we invite you to be part of our community. We are a community that expresses its love for our Lord Jesus Christ in ancient worship forms. We are a community that seeks to understand what it prays. We are a community that asks the Holy Spirit to teach us to love one another, and the world beyond our church walls. By God’s grace, we are growing.  We would love for you join us!


​CHRIST IS RISEN
Χριστός Ανέστη

INDEED HE IS RISEN
​Αληθώς Ανέστη

Worship Services

Sundays
  • 7:40 am -- Morning Prayer, St. Agnes
  • 8:00 am -- Quiet Mass, St. Agnes
  • ​10:00 am -- Childcare, Nursery
  • 10:30 am -- Sunday School (CGS), Atrium
  • 10:30 am -- Festive Mass, Church
  • 12:00 am -- Coffee Hour, Undercroft ​ 
Wednesdays
  • 5:30 pm -- Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Church
  • 6:40 pm -- Evening Prayer, Lady Chapel
  • 7:00 pm -- Quiet Mass, Lady Chapel​

Monthly Mass at Thomas House — The parish will facilitate a monthly Mass for the residents of Thomas House, a retirement community at 1330 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Father Richard (Rick) Houghton, a resident, will celebrate. Deacon Mary McCue will assist. The first will be Thursday, May 10 at 11:00 in the Chapel (first floor). All are welcome to attend. If you'd like to assist with this, please contact Deacon Mary.

​To see our full calendar click here.
May Crowning of the BVM
May 19, 2019


Different traditions, some dating as far back as the 13th century, link the month of May to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Devotion to her, declared "Mother of God" or "Theotokos" at the Council of Ephesus in 431, has been expressed in different ways. To honor her as queen (by virtue of Jesus, King of Kings), we have a "May Crowning."

Bear in mind, as was stated by St. John of Damascus (+749) and reiterated at the Council of Trent (1545-1563), that "icons are not idols but symbols. One is not worshipping the symbol, but merely venerating it. And such veneration is not directed toward wood, or paint, or stone, but towards the person  depicted. Therefore, relative honor is shown to material objects, but worship is due to God alone."

Today's ceremony concludes with a crown of flowers for Mary, to whom the Fathers of the Church, and the church over the centuries, applied floral imagery. We crown the one who has been given to us by Jesus: "Behold your mother." (John 19:27)

SALVE REGINA
ALL HAIL our Queen : mother of mercies, hail!
Our life, our sweetness, and our hope: all hail!
To thee we clamour, exiled brood of Eve,
to thee we sigh. We sob to thee, we grieve,
        wandering weeping through this wretched vale.
Therefore, sweet champion, drop thine eyes to gaze
        pitifully on us, that when our days
        of exile here are done,
thou mayest show the Fruit thy blest womb bore,
and we may gaze upon Him evermore:
       even on Jesus Christ, thy Son.
O merciful, O kind, O sweetest Lady!
All hail forever, maiden-mother Mary!
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
—​A new translation by Richard Major © 2002
​With the spirit I shall pray, and with the mind:
Sing psalmody with the spirit, and with the mind also.
​ — I Corinthians 14:15