Deborah Gyapong: November 2009

Monday, November 30, 2009

Eve of St. Andrew

The Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of St. Andrew today. We would ordinarily celebrate it this day also, but it has been displaced to Tuesday so we can have a First Evensong.

The Order for Evening Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer

Minister. O Lord, open thou our lips;
People. And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.
Minister. O God, make speed to save us;
People. O Lord, make haste to help us.

Here, all standing up, the Minister shall say:
GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and the the Holy Ghost;
People. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Minister. Praise ye the Lord;
People. The Lord's Name be praised.

The Psalter, Book of Common Prayer, Canada (1962)

PSALM 116. Dilexi, quoniam.

MY delight is in the LORD, / because he hath heard the voice of my prayer;

2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, / therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

3 The cords of death compassed me round about, / and the pains of hell gat hold upon me.

4 I found trouble and heaviness, and I called upon the Name of the LORD: / 'O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.'

5 GRACIOUS is the LORD, and righteous; / yea, our God is merciful.

6 The LORD preserveth the simple: / I was in misery and he helped me.

7 Turn again then unto thy rest, O my soul; / for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.

8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, / mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

9 I will walk before the LORD / in the land of the living.

10 I TRUSTED even when I spake; but I was sore troubled: / I said in my haste, 'All men are liars.'

11 What reward shall I give unto the LORD / for all the benefits that he hath done unto me?

12 I will take the cup of salvation, / and call upon the Name of the LORD.

13 I will pay my vows unto the LORD / in the presence of all his people.

14 Right dear in the sight of the LORD / is the death of his saints.

15 Behold, O LORD, how that I am thy servant: / I am thy servant and the son of thy handmaid; thou hast broken my bonds in sunder.

16 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, / and will call upon the Name of the LORD.

17 I will pay my vows unto the LORD / in the presence of all his people;

18 Even in the courts of the LORD's house, / and in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD.

Glory be ....world without end. Amen.

PSALM 117. Laudate Dominum.

O PRAISE the LORD, all ye nations: / laud him, all ye peoples.

2 For his merciful kindness is ever more and more towards us: / and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise the LORD.

Glory be ....world without end. Amen.

Then the FIRST LESSON as appointed.

Ecclesiasticus 14:

20 Every work that is corruptible shall fail in the end: and the worker thereof shall go with it.

21 And every excellent work shall be justified: and the worker thereof shall be honoured therein. 22 Blessed is the man that shall continue in wisdom, and that shall meditate in his justice, and in his mind shall think of the all seeing eye of God. 23 He that considereth her ways in his heart, and hath understanding in her secrets, who goeth after her as one that traceth, and stayeth in her ways: 24 He who looketh in at her windows, and hearkeneth at her door: 25 He that lodgeth near her house, and fastening a pin in her walls shall set up his tent nigh unto her, where good things shall rest in his lodging for ever.

26 He shall set his children under her shelter, and shall lodge under her branches: 27 He shall be protected under her covering from the heat, and shall rest in her glory.

And after that shall be sung or said Magnificat (or the Song of the Blessed Virgin Mary).

MAGNIFICAT. St. Luke 1:46

MY soul doth magnify the Lord, / and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded / the lowliness of his handmaiden.
For behold, from henceforth / all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath magnified me; / and holy is his Name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him / throughout all generations.
He hath showed strength with his arm; / he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat, / and hath exalted the humble and the meek.
He hath filled the hungry with good things; / and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He remembering his mercy / hath holpen his servant Israel;
As he promised to our forefathers, / Abraham and his seed for ever.
GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, / and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, / world without end. Amen.

Then THE SECOND LESSON as appointed.

1 Corinthians 4

⁹For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.

¹⁰We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.

¹¹Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;

¹²And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:

¹³Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.

¹⁴I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.

¹⁵For though ye have ten thousand instructers in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

¹⁶Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.

And after that shall be sung or said Nunc Dimittis (or the Son of Simeon).

NUNC DIMITTIS. St. Luke 2:29.

LORD, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, / according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, / which thou has prepared before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles, / and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, / and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, / world without end. Amen.

Then shall be said or sung the Confession of the Faith, called the Apostles' Creed.

I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; The holy Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body, And the Life everlasting. Amen.

And after the Creed these prayers following, all devoutly kneeling, the Minister first pronouncing:
The Lord be with you;
People. And with thy spirit.
Minister. Let us pray.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.

OUR Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. Amen.

Then the Priest standing up shall say:
O Lord, show thy mercy upon us;
People. And grant us thy salvation.
Priest. O Lord, save the Queen;
People. And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee.
Priest. Endue thy Ministers with righteousness;
People. And make thy chosen people joyful.
Priest. O Lord, save thy people;
People. And bless thine inheritance.
Priest. Give peace in our time, O Lord;
People. And evermore mightily defend us.
Priest. O God, make clean our hearts within us;
People. And take not thy Holy Spirit from us.

Then shall follow THE COLLECT OF THE DAY, together with any other Collects appointed to be said, and these two prayers in order.

ALMIGHTY God, who didst give such grace unto thy holy Apostle Saint Andrew, that he readily obeyed the calling of thy Son Jesus Christ, and followed him without delay: Grant unto us all, that we, being called by thy holy word, may forthwith give up ourselves obediently to fulfil thy holy commandments; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, now and ever. Amen.

The Second Collect, for Peace.

O GOD, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed: Give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give; that our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments, and also that by thee we being defended from the fear of our enemies may pass our time in rest and quietness; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

The Third Collect, for Aid against all Perils.
LIGHTEN our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Here may follow an Anthem or a Hymn.

Here may be said the prayers found at this point in Morning Prayer or selections from the Prayers and Thanksgivings or such other prayers as are contained in this Book or set forth by lawful authority, always ending with the Prayer of St Chrysostom and the Grace.

A Prayer of Saint Chrysostom.
ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee; and dost promise that when two or three are gathered together in thy Name thou wilt grant their requests: Fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of thy servants, as may be most expedient for them; granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. Amen.
2 Corinthians 13:14.

THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all evermore. Amen.

Minarets in Switzerland when there are churches in Saudi Arabia?

Gerald Warner writes:

The consistent principle is an attack on European Christian civilisation,
complemented by subservience to all the enemies of that civilisation, secular or
Islamic.
The Swiss voters have not forbidden the practice of the Muslim
religion: they have simply insisted that it should not indulge in triumphalism
by towering over Christian churches. If they had really wanted to play hardball
they would have insisted that the first mosque in Switzerland could only be
built the day after the first Christian cathedral opened for worship in
Riyadh.

Combatting the spin on the Irish sexual abuse scandal

Gerald Warner at the Telegraph said the media spin seems to be placing the blame for the Irish priestly-abuse scandal on the pre-Vatican II Church. He begs to differ:

Revealingly, the Report says: “As is shown in Chapter 4, canon law appears to have fallen into disuse and disrespect during the mid 20th century.” Yes; and we all know why – the post-Vatican II anarchic denunciations of “legalism”, of “oppressive” sexual morality and Church teaching generally, promoted by the modernists. As regards implementing canon law against abusers, the Report concedes that Archbishop McQuaid “set the processes in motion but did not complete them [difficult to do when you are dead]. Archbishops Ryan and McNamara do not seem to have ever applied the canon law.”

Well, who ever did, in the trendy, let-it-all-hang-out 1970s and 1980s? The image that has sedulously been propagated is of Irish child abuse perpetrated by priests in soutanes and birettas, cowled monks muttering Latin incantations and nuns in starched wimples and mediaeval habits.

On the contrary, the nightmare orgy of relentless mortal sin recorded in this report was committed by modern priests, with a strip of white celluloid in place of a Roman collar – if they deigned to wear clerical dress – devastating their church sanctuaries as badly as they devastated childrem’s lives, abolishing all the devotions such as Benediction, the Rosary, regular confession, devotion to saints, etc that had sustained Irish faith for centuries. One priest admitted to abusing over 100 children. For that he was indulged; but if he had celebrated the Latin Tridentine Mass his feet would not have touched the ground.

The BBC (to turn to light relief) has exploited this scandal in a style that vindicates its claim to have succeeded Pravda as the leading disseminator of disinformation. A radical priest was produced on Radio 4 to testify that an excessively strict code of sexual morality in the Church was to blame: one shudders to think what excesses would have been committed if the code had been more lax.

Was clerical celibacy the problem? prompted a BBC interviewer. Of course it was. We all know that what a priestly abuser of boys (and this is mainly a homosexual scandal – the Report records a ratio of 2.3 boy victims to 1 girl) needs is a wife – ask any of the Anglican vicars who have provided a living to the red-top tabloids for generations.
Let us set the record straight.

The Afghan detainees story

Brian Lilley connects some interesting dots on the Afghan detainee story:

What made the Colvin allegations so shocking was their sweeping nature and the cold, indifferent image he painted of Canadian personnel, military and civilian, to the plight of these prisoners. That portrait, painted so vividly not two weeks ago, is fading. It is not just the generals, Hillier, Gauthier and Fraser that dispute Colvin's story, nor his boss David Mulroney, it is now also the Red Cross.

Matthew Fisher, of Canwest News Service, details comments from Eloi Fillion, deputy director of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Afghanistan, showing the organization is upset with the man opposition parties believe is a whistleblower.

Read it all.

"Whore of Babylon" watch

There have been some interesting reports in The Trumpet over recent years on the Traditional Anglican Communion and efforts on the Catholic Church on promoting unity.

Often there are many accurate details in these reports. However, one has to consider that the overall viewpoint of the "prophetic" founder of the belief system behind The Trumpet, Herbert Armstrong, believed the Catholic Church is the Whore of Babylon.

This is a telling paragraph in a recent story:

For now, the Catholic Church is willing to compromise to draw in Anglicans. But that won’t always be so. As Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote in May 2007, “Indeed, biblical prophecy indicates that full unity will not be achieved purely voluntarily. At a certain point, the mother church will abandon its efforts to woo her daughters back by flatteries and instead revert to the age-old method of preserving ‘Christian’ unity by exerting physical force.”

There is always a danger in assuming one-on-one correspondence between current events and Biblical prophecies. Also, the paper has a kind of nutty view of the power of the Catholic Church in Europe. The Church has little influence on European states, which have grown increasing secularist to the point of even having anti-Christian policies. Also Armstrong was an Arian who did not accept the Doctrine of the Trinity.

Pope Benedict XVI is, as I see it, building an Ark for the remnant of the Christian faithful.
There will never be a return to the use of physical force by the Catholic Church, because that only happens when state power exerts it.

No the force that is going to be exerted will be against the Catholic Church by the secular powers that will have adopted a religion that is anything but Catholic. Alas, the Trumpet folk are missing the real antichrists in their midst while focusing on dear Benedict.

No serious evangelical still holds that the Catholic Church is the Whore of Babylon, only those on the fringes.

He could have done better

I've got to say that I am a big fan of Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin who I think did reasonably well on his two recent TV interviews with Bill O'Reilly on Fox and Chris Matthews on MSNBC's Hardball. Here's the Matthew's interview. Keep in mind that Matthew's gets a thrill up his leg when he hears Obama speak.

The Catholic Civil Rights League in the United States was up in arms about the way Matthews treated the bishop.

Matthews proceeded with an extended and quite insulting lecture. He had absolutely no interest in a discussion on the question of the morality and legality of abortion—all he wanted to do was to make the bishop sit there and listen to his rant. Indeed, his tirade was simply over-the-top.

I think that every Catholic bishop who might do some media would do well to take a look at the Hardball interview and see what Bishop Tobin might have done better to prepare for it.

Matthews was tough and there was a point where he began interrupting and nailing Tobin with the same question about what laws would he support and how would he punish women who had abortions.

Sorry, bishops, but Matthews, as unpleasant as he was, was doing his job. He pushed on this point because he sensed weakness in the bishop's argument. It was Gotcha! The bishop was unprepared and Matthews struck.

The solution is not to duck these kinds of interviews, but to prepare for them.

This is war. This is battle. One must prepare for the fray. One must consider ahead of time what one's message is and hammer it home with the same force the interviewer is trying to hammer his or her opposite message.

Yes, the interviews have negative assumptions they set out to prove in these adversarial settings.

This is not going to change.

Now Bishop Tobin knows that he has to have something to say about what kind of legislation he and other bishops would support from a Catholic politician.

If abortion is to be illegal, exactly how? Would women be thrown in prison?

Or could he have said something about how the Church has a great deal of sympathy for women who believe they have no choice but abortion and as an institution does more than any other group to help women caught in these circumstances to give them a real choice: adoption, care during pregnancy and so on. As for the prospective laws---he has to have clearer messaging on what principles need to be involved in legislation against abortion.

I think Bishop Tobin came out standing after his Chris Matthews pummeling. But I hope he will not duck further confrontations but instead will be better prepared.

Do NOT expect time to be able to think on your feet in a segment like this. It is a good idea to have someone play devil's advocate with you in advance and think of the very toughest questions you can imagine with the nastiest tone you can imagine. Then craft IN ADVANCE your arguments and hone them until they become second nature.

Then trust the Holy Spirit to bring them to bear appropriately in the interview context.

What might get lost in translation

Here's an interesting article about the challenges of translating the Latin of the Mass and the corresponding priestly gestures into other languages where the cultures are very different.

Despite what the cardinal says, the recent history of Catholic Christianity shows that for the Vatican, "the unity of the Church" precisely "require(s) a uniformity that ignores cultural diversity."

The Church in Japan and the rest of Asia is preparing new Mass translations. The rule that Rome has issued for this work is that Asian Catholics must celebrate a Western liturgy using literal translations of a Latin text as well as gestures that come from a Mediterranean cultural context.

So, Japanese bishops have had to argue repeatedly against re-inserting the kissing of the altar into the liturgy here. In Japan, the kiss is a sexual gesture, not one of reverence as it sometimes is in European countries. Yet, the Roman insistence on uniformity has made even that little recognition of cultural diversity a struggle. It appears that since sex enters the picture, the curial officials involved have finally agreed to back down and allow some form of bow instead.

The response to the greeting, "The Lord be with you," presents another difficulty. The Latin text that must be translated literally is, "Et cum spiritu tuo" (And with your spirit).

However, there is no Japanese equivalent to the Latin word, spiritus. The only words that come remotely close mean "spook" or a word that is usually used in a hyper-nationalistic way about "the Japanese spirit." The curial response to native-Japanese-speakers who try to point out that difficulty has been that they just do not know their own language well enough.

But there is also the danger of syncretism and of letting the culture change the Catholic faith rather than the Catholic faith change the culture. Interesting challenges, for sure.

David Warren on Advent and Christmas

He fights manfully in this Ottawa Citizen column now posted on his website. May we also stand up for our faith like he does. He writes:

In the name of a redefined "tolerance" -- a virtue itself originally inferred from the explicitly Christian injunction to "judge not that ye be not judged" -- a campaign of progressive intolerance towards the Christian majority has become a feature of contemporary public life, throughout the "Western" -- i.e., originally Christian -- world. The bureaucracies of the European Union, too, have gone to tireless lengths to strip visible Christian symbolism out of public life across Europe, on the same grounds: that toleration today demands "zero tolerance." Not merely the anti-Christian tone, but the malicious inversion of the meaning of the word "tolerance" would have shocked our native-born ancestors only two generations ago. Many alive today are simply befuddled by the scale of this revolution in public life, and of the general inversion of societal values they have witnessed within their own lifetimes.

Elsewhere in the world, in many countries where they are minorities instead of majorities, Christians are actively persecuted. From what I can learn, this is the case in most countries where Christians are a minority. It is not as if our Western "secularization" were a response to some planetary trend, to soften public expressions of religious sentiment, for the sake of peace and quiet. To the contrary, especially in the Islamic world, but even in predominantly Hindu India, state sponsorship of religious identity has been dramatically increasing.

Against this background, it is incumbent upon Christians, everywhere, and as ever, to ignore intimidation. As the old parable goes, do not hide your lamp under a basket, but use it to cast light all around. Do not hesitate to make an example of yourself, or if need be, to be made an example of.

May you have the tears of joy that come with repentance, waiting, expectation and hope during this Advent Season.

Morning Prayer for the Eve of Saint Andrew

Morning Prayer for the Eve of Saint Andrew

Minister. O Lord, open thou our lips;
People. And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.
Minister. O God, make speed to save us;
People. O Lord, make haste to help us.

Here, all standing up, the Minister shall say:

GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
People. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Minister. Praise ye the Lord;
People. The Lord's Name be praised.

Our King and Savior draweth nigh: O Come let us worship

Venite Exultemus Domino. Psalm 95

O COME, let us sing unto the LORD: / let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, / and show ourselves glad in him with psalms.
For the LORD is a great God, / and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are all the corners of the earth: / and the strength of the hills is his also.
The sea is his, and he made it: / and his hands prepared the dry land.
O COME, let us worship, and fall down, / and kneel before the LORD our Maker.
For he is the Lord our God; / and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
TO-DAY, O that ye would hear his voice: / 'Harden not your hearts as in the Provocation, and as in the day of Temptation in the wilderness;
When your fathers tempted me, / proved me, and saw my works.
Forty years long was I grieved with that generation, and said, / "It is a people that do err in their hearts, for they have not known my ways";
Unto whom I sware in my wrath, / that they should not enter into my rest.'
GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, / and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, / world without end. Amen.

Our King and Savior draweth nigh: O come let us worship

Then shall follow THE PSALMS.

The Psalter, Book of Common Prayer, Canada (1962)

PSALM 45. Eructavit cor meum.

MY heart overfloweth with a good matter: I recite my verses for the king: / my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

2 THOU art fairer than the children of men; / full of grace are thy lips; therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.

3 Gird thee with thy sword upon thy thigh, O mighty one, / according to thy glory and thy majesty.

4 And in thy majesty ride on to victory in the cause of truth, and of meekness and righteousness; / and let thy right hand teach thee terrible deeds.

5 Thy arrows are very sharp in the heart of the king's enemies, / and the peoples shall be subdued unto thee.

6 THY throne, O God, endureth for ever: / the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.

7 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; / wherefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

8 All thy garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia; / out of ivory palaces stringed instruments make thee glad.

9 Kings' daughters are among thy honourable women: / upon thy right hand doth stand the queen in a vesture of gold.

10 HEARKEN, O daughter, consider, and incline thine ear; / forget also thine own people and thy father's house;

11 So shall the king have pleasure in thy beauty; / since he is thy lord, bow thou down to him.

12 And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift: / even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favour.

13 The king's daughter within the palace is all glorious; / her clothing is of wrought gold.

14 She is brought to the king in raiment of needlework: / the virgins that be her fellows bear her company, and are brought unto thee.

15 With joy and gladness are they led along, / as they enter into the king's palace.

16 INSTEAD of thy fathers thou shalt have sons, / whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.

17 I will make thy name to be remembered from one generation to another; / therefore shall the peoples praise thee, world without end.

Glory be . . . world without end.

Then shall be read THE FIRST LESSON

Isaiah 3

¹For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water.

²The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,

³The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.

⁴And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

⁵And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.

⁶When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand:

⁷In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.

⁸For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

⁹The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

¹⁰Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

¹¹Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

¹²As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

¹³The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.

¹⁴The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.

¹⁵What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

dditional Canticles, Book of Common Prayer, Canada (1962)

SURGE, ILLUMINARE. Isaiah 60. 1.

ARISE, shine, for thy light is come, / and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people.

But the LORD shall arise upon thee, / and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, / and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

Thy gates shall be open continually; / they shall not be shut day nor night.

The sons also of them that afflicted thee / shall come bending unto thee;

And all they that despised thee / shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet.

And they shall call thee the City of the LORD, / the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, / wasting nor destruction within thy borders.

But thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, / and thy gates Praise.

The sun shall be no more thy light by day, / neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee,

But the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, / and thy God thy glory.

GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, / and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, / world without end. Amen.

Then shall be read in like manner THE SECOND LESSON

Mark 1

¹The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;

²As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

³The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

⁴John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

⁵And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁶And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;

⁷And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.

⁸I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.

⁹And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.

¹⁰And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:

¹¹And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

¹²And immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness.

¹³And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.

¹⁴Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,

¹⁵And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

¹⁶Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

¹⁷And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

¹⁸And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.

¹⁹And when he had gone a little farther thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets.

²⁰And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.

Benedictus. St Luke 1:68

BLESSED be the Lord God of Israel; / for he hath visited and redeemed his people;
And hath raised up a mighty salvation for us, / in the house of his servant David;
As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets, / which have been since the world began;
That we should be saved from our enemies, / and from the hands of all that hate us;
To perform the mercy promised to our forefathers, / and to remember his holy covenant;
To perform the oath which he sware to our forefather Abraham, / that he would grant us
That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies / might serve him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before him, / all the days of our life.
AND thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest: / for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
To give knowledge of salvation unto his people / for the remission of their sins;
Through the tender mercy of our God; / whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us;
To give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, / and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, / and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, / world without end. Amen.

Then shall be said or sung the Confession of the Faith, called the Apostles' Creed.

I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; The holy Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body, And the Life everlasting. Amen.

And after the Creed these prayers following, all devoutly kneeling, the Minister first pronouncing:
The Lord be with you;
People. And with thy spirit.
Minister. Let us pray.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.

OUR Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. Amen.

The Priest standing up shall say:
O Lord, show thy mercy upon us;
People. And grant us thy salvation.
Priest. O Lord, save the Queen;
People. And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee.
Priest. Endue thy Ministers with righteousness;
People. And make thy chosen people joyful.
Priest. O Lord, save thy people;
People. And bless thine inheritance.
Priest. Give peace in our time, O Lord;
People. And evermore mightily defend us.
Priest. O God, make clean our hearts within us;
People. And take not thy Holy Spirit from us.

Then shall follow THE COLLECT OF THE DAY

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, now and ever. Amen.

The Second Collect, for Peace.

O GOD, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom: Defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in thy defence, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Third Collect, for Grace.

O LORD our heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God, who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day: Defend us in the same with thy mighty power; and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger; but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance, to do always that is righteous in thy sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for the Clergy and People.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift: Send down upon our Bishops and Clergy, and all Congregations committed to their charge, the healthful Spirit of thy grace; and that they may truly please thee, pour upon them the continual dew of thy blessing. Grant this, O Lord, for the honour of our Advocate and Mediator, Jesus Christ. Amen.

A Prayer for all Conditions of men.
* This to be said when any desire the Prayers of the Congregation.
O GOD, the Creator and Preserver of all mankind, we humbly beseech thee for all sorts and conditions of men; that thou wouldest be pleased to make thy ways known unto them, thy saving health unto all nations. More especially we pray for the good estate of the Catholic Church; that it may be so guided and governed by thy good Spirit, that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life. Finally we commend to thy fatherly goodness all those, who are any ways afflicted or distressed in mind, body, or estate; [* especially those for whom our prayers are desired;] that it may please thee to comfort and relieve them, according to their several necessities, giving them patience under their sufferings, and a happy issue out of all their afflictions. And this we beg for Jesus Christ his sake. Amen.
A General Thanksgiving, to be said by the Minister alone, or by the Minister and people together.
* This to be said when any that have been prayed for desire to return thanks.
ALMIGHTY God, Father of all mercies, We thine unworthy servants do give thee most humble and hearty thanks For all thy goodness and loving-kindness To us and to all men; [* particularly to those who desire now to offer up their praises and thanksgivings.] We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; But above all for thine inestimable love In the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; For the means of grace, And for the hope of glory. And we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, That our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, And that we show forth thy praise, Not only with our lips, but in our lives; By giving up ourselves to thy service, And by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, To whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
A Prayer of Saint Chrysostom.
ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee; and dost promise that when two or three are gathered together in thy Name thou wilt grant their requests: Fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of thy servants, as may be most expedient for them; granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. Amen.
2 Corinthians 13:14.
THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Evensong on the First Sunday of Advent

The Order for Evening Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer

Minister. O Lord, open thou our lips;
People. And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.
Minister. O God, make speed to save us;
People. O Lord, make haste to help us.

Here, all standing up, the Minister shall say:
GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and the the Holy Ghost;
People. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Minister. Praise ye the Lord;
People. The Lord's Name be praised.

Then shall follow THE PSALMS.

PSALM 50. Deus deorum.

THE LORD, even the Most Mighty God, hath spoken, / and called the world, from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
2 Out of Sion, the perfection of beauty, / God hath shined forth.
3 Our God cometh, and keepeth not silence; / there goeth before him a consuming fire, and a mighty tempest is stirred up round about him.
4 He calleth to the heavens from above, / and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 'Gather my saints together unto me: / those that have made a covenant with me with sacrifice.'
6 And the heavens declare his righteousness; / for God is judge himself.
7 'HEAR, O my people, and I will speak; / I myself will testify against thee, O Israel; for I am God, even thy God.
8 I will not reprove thee because of thy sacrifices; / as for thy burnt offerings, they are alway before me.
9 I will take no bullock out of thine house, / nor he-goats out of thy folds.
10 For all the beasts of the forest are mine, / and so are the cattle upon a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds upon the mountains, / and the wild beasts of the field are in my sight.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; / for the whole world is mine, and all that is therein.
13 Thinkest thou that I will eat bulls' flesh, / and drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving, / and pay thy vows unto the Most High;
15 And call upon me in the time of trouble; / so will I deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.'
16 BUT unto the ungodly saith God, / 'Why dost thou preach my laws, and takest my covenant in thy mouth;
17 Whereas thou hatest to be reformed, / and hast cast my words behind thee?
18 When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst unto him, / and hast been partaker with the adulterers.
19 Thou dost let thy mouth speak wickedness, / and with thy tongue thou dost set forth deceit.
20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother, / and dost slander thine own mother's son.
21 These things hast thou done, and I held my tongue, and thou thoughtest that I am even such a one as thyself; / but I will reprove thee, and set before thee the things that thou hast done.
22 O CONSIDER this, ye that forget God, / lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.
23 Whoso offereth me the sacrifice of thanksgiving, he honoureth me; / and to him that ordereth his way aright will I show the salvation of God.'

Then the FIRST LESSON as appointed.

Isaiah 2

10Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
11The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
12For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
13And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
14And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,
15And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall,
16And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
17And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
18And the idols he shall utterly abolish.
19And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
20In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;
21To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
22Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of ?

And after that shall be sung or said Magnificat (or the Song of the Blessed Virgin Mary).

MAGNIFICAT. St. Luke 1:46

MY soul doth magnify the Lord, / and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded / the lowliness of his handmaiden.
For behold, from henceforth / all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath magnified me; / and holy is his Name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him / throughout all generations.
He hath showed strength with his arm; / he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat, / and hath exalted the humble and the meek.
He hath filled the hungry with good things; / and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He remembering his mercy / hath holpen his servant Israel;
As he promised to our forefathers, / Abraham and his seed for ever.
GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, / and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, / world without end. Amen.

Then THE SECOND LESSON as appointed.

John 3

1There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
3Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
9Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
10Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
11Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
12If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
13And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

And after that shall be sung or said Nunc Dimittis (or the Son of Simeon).

NUNC DIMITTIS. St. Luke 2:29.

LORD, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, / according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, / which thou has prepared before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles, / and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, / and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, / world without end. Amen.

Then shall be said or sung the Confession of the Faith, called the Apostles' Creed.

I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; The holy Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body, And the Life everlasting. Amen.

And after the Creed these prayers following, all devoutly kneeling, the Minister first pronouncing:
The Lord be with you;
People. And with thy spirit.
Minister. Let us pray.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.

OUR Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. Amen.

Then the Priest standing up shall say:
O Lord, show thy mercy upon us;
People. And grant us thy salvation.
Priest. O Lord, save the Queen;
People. And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee.
Priest. Endue thy Ministers with righteousness;
People. And make thy chosen people joyful.
Priest. O Lord, save thy people;
People. And bless thine inheritance.
Priest. Give peace in our time, O Lord;
People. And evermore mightily defend us.
Priest. O God, make clean our hearts within us;
People. And take not thy Holy Spirit from us.

Then shall follow THE COLLECT OF THE DAY, together with any other Collects appointed to be said, and these two prayers in order.

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, now and ever. Amen.

The Second Collect, for Peace.

O GOD, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed: Give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give; that our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments, and also that by thee we being defended from the fear of our enemies may pass our time in rest and quietness; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

The Third Collect, for Aid against all Perils.
LIGHTEN our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Here may follow an Anthem or a Hymn.

Here may be said the prayers found at this point in Morning Prayer or selections from the Prayers and Thanksgivings or such other prayers as are contained in this Book or set forth by lawful authority, always ending with the Prayer of St Chrysostom and the Grace.

A Prayer of Saint Chrysostom.
ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee; and dost promise that when two or three are gathered together in thy Name thou wilt grant their requests: Fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of thy servants, as may be most expedient for them; granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. Amen.
2 Corinthians 13:14.

THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.

Archbishop Prendergast on Advent One

He writes:

Today the Church celebrates the First Sunday of Advent and the beginning of
a new liturgical year. The Advent liturgy opens with that great yearning cry of
the prophets of Israel to the Messiah and Redeemer whose advent they awaited.
"Come!" God is not deaf to His people's cry. Fulfilling the promise of salvation
made to our first parents at their fall He sent His Son into the world.

He goes on to explain more about this beautiful season of preparation, repentance, waiting and expectation. Our readings in the Anglican Catholic Church are slightly different though the overall themes are the same for this season.

From the Book of Common Prayer:

THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT
BEING THE FOURTH SUNDAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS DAY

THE COLLECT.

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, now and ever. Amen.

This Collect is to be repeated every day after the other Collects in Advent, until Christmas Eve.

THE EPISTLE. Romans 13. 8.
OWE no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth his neighbour hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

THE GOSPEL. St Matthew 21. 1.

WHEN they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say aught unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet, saying,

Tell ye the daughter of Sion,
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee,
Meek, and sitting upon an ass,
And a colt the foal of an ass.

And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them; and brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple; and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Morning Prayer for the First Sunday in Advent

Morning Prayer for the First Sunday in Advent

Minister. O Lord, open thou our lips;
People. And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.
Minister. O God, make speed to save us;
People. O Lord, make haste to help us.

Here, all standing up, the Minister shall say:

GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
People. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Minister. Praise ye the Lord;
People. The Lord's Name be praised.

Our King and Savior draweth nigh: O Come let us worship

Venite Exultemus Domino. Psalm 95

O COME, let us sing unto the LORD: / let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, / and show ourselves glad in him with psalms.
For the LORD is a great God, / and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are all the corners of the earth: / and the strength of the hills is his also.
The sea is his, and he made it: / and his hands prepared the dry land.
O COME, let us worship, and fall down, / and kneel before the LORD our Maker.
For he is the Lord our God; / and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
TO-DAY, O that ye would hear his voice: / 'Harden not your hearts as in the Provocation, and as in the day of Temptation in the wilderness;
When your fathers tempted me, / proved me, and saw my works.
Forty years long was I grieved with that generation, and said, / "It is a people that do err in their hearts, for they have not known my ways";
Unto whom I sware in my wrath, / that they should not enter into my rest.'
GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, / and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, / world without end. Amen.

Our King and Savior draweth nigh: O come let us worship

Then shall follow THE PSALMS.

PSALM 9. Confitebor tibi.

I WILL give thanks unto thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; / I will speak of all thy marvellous works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee; / yea, my songs will I make of thy Name, O thou Most High.
3 WHILE mine enemies are driven back, / they shall fall and perish at thy presence.
4 For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; / thou art set on the throne, thou that judgest right.
5 THOU hast rebuked the nations, and destroyed the ungodly; / thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.
6 The enemy are come to a perpetual end, and left desolate for ever: / even as the cities which thou hast destroyed, the remembrance of them is perished.
7 BUT the LORD shall endure for ever; / he hath also prepared his throne for judgement.
8 For he will judge the world in righteousness, / and minister true judgement unto the peoples.
9 THE LORD also will be a defence for the oppressed, / even a refuge in the time of trouble.
10 And they that know thy Name will put their trust in thee; / for thou, LORD, hast never failed them that seek thee.
11 O PRAISE the LORD who dwelleth in Sion; / show the people of his doings.
12 For he that avengeth blood remembereth them, / and forgetteth not the complaint of the poor.
13 HAVE mercy upon me, O LORD; consider the trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, / thou that liftest me up from the gates of death;
14 That I may show all thy praises within the gates of the daughter of Sion: / I will rejoice in thy salvation.
15 THE nations are sunk down in the pit that they made; / in the same net that they hid is their foot taken.
16 The LORD hath made himself known; he hath executed judgement; / the ungodly is trapped in the work of his own hands.
17 THE wicked shall be turned into hell, / and all the nations that forget God.
18 For the poor shall not alway be forgotten; / the patient abiding of the meek shall not perish for ever.
19 UP, LORD, and let not man have the upper hand; / let the nations be judged in thy sight.
20 Put them in fear, O LORD, / that the nations may know themselves to be but men.

Then shall be read THE FIRST LESSON

Isaiah 1

1The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
3The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
4Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
5Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
6From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
7Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
9Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
10Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
11To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
12When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
13Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
14Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
15And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
16Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
17Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
18Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
20But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

TE DEUM LAUDAMUS.

WE praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting.
To thee all Angels cry aloud, the Heavens and all the Powers therin.
To thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry,
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts;
Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy glory.
The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee;
The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise thee;
The noble army of Martyrs praise thee;
The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee,
The Father, of an infinite Majesty;
Thine honourable, true, and only Son;
Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.
THOU art the King of Glory, O Christ.
Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.
When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb.
When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge.
We therefore pray thee, help thy servants, whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with thy Saints, in glory everlasting.
O LORD, save thy people, and bless thine heritage;
Govern them, and lift them up for ever.
Day by day we magnify thee;
And we worship thy Name, ever world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin.
O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us.
O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us, as our trust is in thee.
O Lord, in thee have I trusted: let me never be confounded.

Then shall be read in like manner THE SECOND LESSON

Revelation 2

1Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
2I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
3And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
4Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
5Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
6But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.
7He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
8And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;
9I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
10Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
11He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
12And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;
13I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
14But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
15So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.
16Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
17He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Benedictus. St Luke 1:68

BLESSED be the Lord God of Israel; / for he hath visited and redeemed his people;
And hath raised up a mighty salvation for us, / in the house of his servant David;
As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets, / which have been since the world began;
That we should be saved from our enemies, / and from the hands of all that hate us;
To perform the mercy promised to our forefathers, / and to remember his holy covenant;
To perform the oath which he sware to our forefather Abraham, / that he would grant us
That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies / might serve him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before him, / all the days of our life.
AND thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest: / for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
To give knowledge of salvation unto his people / for the remission of their sins;
Through the tender mercy of our God; / whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us;
To give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, / and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, / and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, / world without end. Amen.

Then shall be said or sung the Confession of the Faith, called the Apostles' Creed.

I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; The holy Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body, And the Life everlasting. Amen.

And after the Creed these prayers following, all devoutly kneeling, the Minister first pronouncing:
The Lord be with you;
People. And with thy spirit.
Minister. Let us pray.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.

OUR Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. Amen.

The Priest standing up shall say:
O Lord, show thy mercy upon us;
People. And grant us thy salvation.
Priest. O Lord, save the Queen;
People. And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee.
Priest. Endue thy Ministers with righteousness;
People. And make thy chosen people joyful.
Priest. O Lord, save thy people;
People. And bless thine inheritance.
Priest. Give peace in our time, O Lord;
People. And evermore mightily defend us.
Priest. O God, make clean our hearts within us;
People. And take not thy Holy Spirit from us.

Then shall follow THE COLLECT OF THE DAY

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, now and ever. Amen.

The Second Collect, for Peace.

O GOD, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom: Defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in thy defence, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Third Collect, for Grace.

O LORD our heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God, who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day: Defend us in the same with thy mighty power; and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger; but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance, to do always that is righteous in thy sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for the Clergy and People.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift: Send down upon our Bishops and Clergy, and all Congregations committed to their charge, the healthful Spirit of thy grace; and that they may truly please thee, pour upon them the continual dew of thy blessing. Grant this, O Lord, for the honour of our Advocate and Mediator, Jesus Christ. Amen.

A Prayer for all Conditions of men.
* This to be said when any desire the Prayers of the Congregation.
O GOD, the Creator and Preserver of all mankind, we humbly beseech thee for all sorts and conditions of men; that thou wouldest be pleased to make thy ways known unto them, thy saving health unto all nations. More especially we pray for the good estate of the Catholic Church; that it may be so guided and governed by thy good Spirit, that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life. Finally we commend to thy fatherly goodness all those, who are any ways afflicted or distressed in mind, body, or estate; [* especially those for whom our prayers are desired;] that it may please thee to comfort and relieve them, according to their several necessities, giving them patience under their sufferings, and a happy issue out of all their afflictions. And this we beg for Jesus Christ his sake. Amen.
A General Thanksgiving, to be said by the Minister alone, or by the Minister and people together.
* This to be said when any that have been prayed for desire to return thanks.
ALMIGHTY God, Father of all mercies, We thine unworthy servants do give thee most humble and hearty thanks For all thy goodness and loving-kindness To us and to all men; [* particularly to those who desire now to offer up their praises and thanksgivings.] We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; But above all for thine inestimable love In the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; For the means of grace, And for the hope of glory. And we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, That our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, And that we show forth thy praise, Not only with our lips, but in our lives; By giving up ourselves to thy service, And by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, To whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
A Prayer of Saint Chrysostom.
ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee; and dost promise that when two or three are gathered together in thy Name thou wilt grant their requests: Fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of thy servants, as may be most expedient for them; granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. Amen.
2 Corinthians 13:14.
THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Evensong for Advent Eve

The Order for Evening Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer

Minister. O Lord, open thou our lips;
People. And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.
Minister. O God, make speed to save us;
People. O Lord, make haste to help us.

Here, all standing up, the Minister shall say:
GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and the the Holy Ghost;
People. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Minister. Praise ye the Lord;
People. The Lord's Name be praised.

Then shall follow THE PSALMS.

PSALM 134. Ecce nunc.
BEHOLD now, praise the LORD, / all ye servants of the LORD;
2 Ye that by night stand in the house of the LORD, / even in the courts of the house of our God.
3 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, / and praise the LORD.
4 The LORD that made heaven and earth / give thee blessing out of Sion.
PSALM 135. Laudate Nomen.
O PRAISE the LORD, laud ye the Name of the LORD; / praise it, O ye servants of the LORD,
2 Ye that stand in the house of the LORD, / in the courts of the house of our God.
3 O praise the LORD, for the LORD is gracious: / O sing praises unto his Name, for it is lovely.
4 For why? the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, / and Israel for his own possession.
5 FOR I know that the LORD is great, / and that our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven and in earth, / and in the sea, and in all deep places.
7 He bringeth forth the clouds from the ends of the world, / and sendeth forth lightnings for the rain, bringing the winds out of his treasuries.
8 HE smote the first-bom of Egypt, / both of man and beast.
9 He sent signs and wonders into the midst of thee, O thou land of Egypt, / upon Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He smote many nations, / and slew mighty kings;
11 Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og the king of Bashan, / and all the kingdoms of Canaan;
12 And gave their land to be an heritage, / even an heritage unto Israel his people.
13 THY Name, O LORD, endureth for ever: / so doth thy memorial, O LORD, from one generation to another.
14 For the LORD will avenge his people, / and be gracious unto his servants.
15 As for the idols of the heathen, they are but silver and gold, / the work of men's hands.
16 They have mouths, and speak not: / eyes have they, but they see not.
17 They have ears, and yet they hear not: / neither is there any breath in their mouths.
18 They that make them are like unto them, / and so are all they that put their trust in them.
19 PRAISE the LORD, ye house of Israel: / praise the LORD, ye house of Aaron.
20 Praise the LORD, ye house of Levi: / ye that fear the LORD, praise the LORD.
21 Praised be the LORD out of Sion, / who dwelleth at Jerusalem.

Then the FIRST LESSON as appointed.

12 For who shall say to thee: What hast thou done? or who shall withstand thy judgment? or who shall come before thee to be a revenger of wicked men? or who shall accuse thee, if the nations perish, which thou hast made? 13 For there is no other God but thou, who hast care of all, that thou shouldst shew that thou dost not give judgment unjustly. 14 Neither shall king, nor tyrant in thy sight inquire about them whom thou hast destroyed. 15 For so much then as thou art just, thou orderest all things justly: thinking it not agreeable to thy power, to condemn him who deserveth not to be punished.
16 For thy power is the beginning of justice: and because thou art Lord of all, thou makest thyself gracious to all. 17 For thou shewest thy power, when men will not believe thee to be absolute in power, and thou convincest the boldness of them that know thee not. 18 But thou being master of power, judgest with tranquillity; and with great favour disposest of us: for thy power is at hand when thou wilt. 19 But thou hast taught thy people by such works, that they must be just and humane, and hast made thy children to be of a good hope: because in judging thou givest place for repentance for sins. 20 For if thou didst punish the enemies of thy servants, and that deserved to die, with so great deliberation, giving them time and place whereby they might be changed from their wickedness:
21 With what circumspection hast thou judged thy own children, to whose parents thou hast sworn and made covenants of good promises?

And after that shall be sung or said Magnificat (or the Song of the Blessed Virgin Mary).

MAGNIFICAT. St. Luke 1:46
MY soul doth magnify the Lord, / and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded / the lowliness of his handmaiden.
For behold, from henceforth / all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath magnified me; / and holy is his Name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him / throughout all generations.
He hath showed strength with his arm; / he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat, / and hath exalted the humble and the meek.
He hath filled the hungry with good things; / and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He remembering his mercy / hath holpen his servant Israel;
As he promised to our forefathers, / Abraham and his seed for ever.
GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, / and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, / world without end. Amen.
Or Cantate Domino, Psalm 98, page 455.

Then THE SECOND LESSON as appointed.

Revelation 5
1And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
2And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
3And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
4And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
5And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
6And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
7And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.
8And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
9And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
10And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
11And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
12Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
13And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
14And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

And after that shall be sung or said Nunc Dimittis (or the Son of Simeon).

NUNC DIMITTIS. St. Luke 2:29.
LORD, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, / according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, / which thou has prepared before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles, / and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, / and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, / world without end. Amen.
Or else Deus Misereatur, Psalm 67, page 409.

Then shall be said or sung the Confession of the Faith, called the Apostles' Creed.

I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; The holy Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body, And the Life everlasting. Amen.

And after the Creed these prayers following, all devoutly kneeling, the Minister first pronouncing:
The Lord be with you;
People. And with thy spirit.
Minister. Let us pray.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.

OUR Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. Amen.
Then the Priest standing up shall say:
O Lord, show thy mercy upon us;
People. And grant us thy salvation.
Priest. O Lord, save the Queen;
People. And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee.
Priest. Endue thy Ministers with righteousness;
People. And make thy chosen people joyful.
Priest. O Lord, save thy people;
People. And bless thine inheritance.
Priest. Give peace in our time, O Lord;
People. And evermore mightily defend us.
Priest. O God, make clean our hearts within us;
People. And take not thy Holy Spirit from us.

Then shall follow THE COLLECT OF THE DAY, together with any other Collects appointed to be said, and these two prayers in order.

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, now and ever. Amen.

The Second Collect, for Peace.

O GOD, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed: Give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give; that our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments, and also that by thee we being defended from the fear of our enemies may pass our time in rest and quietness; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

The Third Collect, for Aid against all Perils.
LIGHTEN our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Here may follow an Anthem or a Hymn.

Here may be said the prayers found at this point in Morning Prayer or selections from the Prayers and Thanksgivings or such other prayers as are contained in this Book or set forth by lawful authority, always ending with the Prayer of St Chrysostom and the Grace.

A Prayer of Saint Chrysostom.
ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee; and dost promise that when two or three are gathered together in thy Name thou wilt grant their requests: Fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of thy servants, as may be most expedient for them; granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. Amen.
2 Corinthians 13:14.

THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.

Deborah Gyapong: November 2009

Monday, November 30, 2009

Eve of St. Andrew

1 Corinthians 4

Minarets in Switzerland when there are churches in Saudi Arabia?

Combatting the spin on the Irish sexual abuse scandal

The Afghan detainees story

"Whore of Babylon" watch

He could have done better

More interesting posts on why not women's ordination

What might get lost in translation

David Warren on Advent and Christmas

Morning Prayer for the Eve of Saint Andrew

Isaiah 3

SURGE, ILLUMINARE. Isaiah 60. 1.

Mark 1

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Evensong on the First Sunday of Advent

Archbishop Prendergast on Advent One

Morning Prayer for the First Sunday in Advent

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Evensong for Advent Eve

Deborah Gyapong

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