Month: December 2015

Prayers and liturgy

The Second Sunday in Advent

The collect for today, the Second Sunday in Advent, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Epistle: Romans 15:4-13
The Gospel: St. Luke 21:25-33

Nicola Pisano, Last Judgment, Siena PulpitArtwork: Nicola Pisano, The Last Judgment: Christ the Judge flanked on the left by The Blessed and on the right by the Damned [detail from Pulpit, Duomo, Siena], 1265-68. Photograph taken by admin, 26 May 2010.

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Prayers and liturgy

Clement of Alexandria, Doctor

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Clement of Alexandria (c. 155-c. 215), Priest, Apologist, Doctor (source):

St Clement of AlexandriaO God of unsearchable mystery, who didst lead Clement of Alexandria to find in ancient philosophy a path to knowledge of thy Word: Grant that thy Church may recognize true wisdom, wherever it is found, knowing that wisdom cometh forth from thee and leadeth back to thee; through our Teacher Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Epistle: Colossians 1:11-20
The Gospel: St. John 6:57-63

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Sermons

Advent Meditation on Psalm 80

“Turn us again, O God; / show the light of thy countenance,
and we shall be whole”

The Psalms are the most familiar and the most used parts of the Hebrew Scriptures in the Christian liturgy and yet they are easily and often taken for granted. What are the Psalms? The Psalms are prayers and praises and they play an important role in the Christian understanding of the Gospel. The two psalms which stand out for consideration in our Advent meditations are Psalms 80 and 85. They are two of the most used Psalms in the Christian liturgy during the season of Advent.

Psalm 80 is used on The Sunday Next Before Advent at Morning Prayer, on The Second Sunday in Advent as the Introit at Mass, and on The Third Sunday in Advent as the Gradual. Psalm 85 is used as the Introit and Gradual Psalm on The Sunday Next Before Advent, as the Gradual Psalm on The First Sunday in Advent and as the Gradual Psalm for The Advent Ember days. It is even the Psalm appointed in its entirety for the evening service on Christmas Day – not the most highly attended service, to be sure. But there it is.

Our initial focus will be on Psalm 80. Augustine notes about Psalm 80 that “the song here is of the Advent of the Lord and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His vineyard.” This interpretation alerts us to an intriguing and important feature of the Psalms. They are at once the hymn book and the prayer book of Israel but become the hymn book and the prayer book, too, of the Christian Church. In a way, the Psalms gather together into song and prayer the teachings of the Law and the Prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures at the same time as illuminating something of the meaning of Christ and his Church. That is really Augustine’s point.

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