Category: Prayers and liturgy

Prayers and liturgy

The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The collect for today, The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canada, 1962):

WE beseech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our hearts; that, as we have known the incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ by the message of an angel, so by his cross and passion we may be brought unto the glory of his resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson: Isaiah 7:10-15
The Gospel: St. Luke 1:26-38

Lorenzo di Credi, The AnnunciationArtwork: Lorenzo di Credi, The Annunciation, 1480-85. Tempera on wood, Uffizi, Florence.

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Prayers and liturgy, Sermons

Lenten Meditation #4: The Penitential Psalms in the Pilgrimage of Lent

This is the fourth in a series of four Lenten meditations. The first is posted here, the second here, and the third here.

The Penitential Psalms in the Pilgrimage of Lent
Christ Church, Lent 2021

Lenten Meditation # 4: “But there is forgiveness with thee; /
therefore shalt thou be feared” (Psalm 130. 4)

Our Lenten evening meditations upon the Penitential Psalms bring us to Passiontide and end upon the beginning of the course of human redemption with the Annunciation of The Blessed Virgin Mary which falls this year in the week of Passion Sunday. Christ comes and goes, we might say with John Donne who noted the coincidence of the Passion, meaning Good Friday, falling upon the Annunciation in 1608. It prompted a profound reflection upon “th’ Abridgement of Christs story, which makes one … Of the’ Angels Ave, ‘and Consummatum est” of Christ crucified (The Annuntiation [sic] and Passion, 1608/9).

The Annunciation marks the beginning in time of Christ’s Incarnation. It celebrates his conception in the womb of Mary. In an elaborate and intense poem entitled the Annunciation in La Corona, a circle of seven sonnets, Donne explores all the paradoxes of relationship that belong to the event of the Annunciation through the role of Mary in the economy of human salvation. It is a literary and theological tour-de-force that focuses on the interplay of the human and the divine through Mary; incarnation and redemption are inescapably united. “Ere by the spheares time was created,” Donne says of Mary, “thou wast in his minde,”… “whom thou conceiv’st, conceiv’d”… “thou art now thy Makers maker.” Language is stretched to the uttermost to conceive of the inconceivable; “immensity cloistered in thy dear womb”, the sonnet concludes, as the expression beyond expression of the wonder of the salvation that is near “to all that will.” “Salvation to all that will is nigh.” It is just that interplay of the human and the divine which speaks to our Lenten programme on the Penitential Psalms in the interplay of voices belonging to the mysteries of human redemption.

Christ’s coming on the way of his going belongs to the inner movement of God’s love and that love as turned outwards to us. Such is the deeper meaning of the way of the Cross. Passiontide sets the Cross before us as veiled, at once seen and unseen, as “in a glass darkly.” Such is the problematic of human sin and ignorance about the very purpose of the Incarnation – to reveal God to man and to redeem man to God. We glimpse but in an enigma. Yet central to what we glimpse is Mary, the chosen vessel of our Lord’s appearing which is nothing less than the reality that is the love of God. Mary is the pure source of the pure humanity of Jesus. She is, to speak in the tones of orthodox devotion and doctrine, the Mother of God because she hears and bears the Word and Son of God into the world. Through her, God becomes man; through her all the graces of God flow forth upon the world. Mary, the Mother of God, is the Mother of grace but only because she is the Mother of humility. “Behold the handmaid of the Lord,” she says, “Be it unto me according to thy word.”

Humility is at the heart of these songs of penitential adoration. It is at the heart of all prayer and praise. Humility alone counters our demonic pride and opens out to us the will of God and thereby all the graces of God. Humility yields freely and fully to the Word of God and magnifies not herself but the God of all grace and glory. In Mary we see what that yielding and openness mean: the active willing of the will of God. Such are the essential notes of prayer and praise, the notes that belong to the Penitential Psalms. In this sense, we may say that the Penitential Psalms are the voice of our true humanity, at once the voice of Mary and the voice of Christ.

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Prayers and liturgy

Audio file of 8:00am Holy Communion service, Passion Sunday

Click here to listen to an audio recording of the 8:00am service of Holy Communion at Christ Church on Passion Sunday.

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Prayers and liturgy

The Fifth Sunday in Lent

The collect for today, the Fifth Sunday in Lent, commonly called Passion Sunday, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

WE beseech thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people; that by thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Hebrews 9:11-15
The Gospel: St. Matthew 20:20-28

Arcangelo di Jacopo del Sellaio, Christ with Instruments of the PassionArtwork: Arcangelo di Jacopo del Sellaio, Christ with Instruments of the Passion, c. 1485. Tempera on panel, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama.

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Prayers and liturgy

Cuthbert, Missionary and Bishop

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Cuthbert (c. 634-87), Bishop of Lindisfarne, Missionary (source):

Almighty God,
who didst call thy servant Cuthbert from following the flock
to follow thy Son and to be a shepherd of thy people:
in thy mercy, grant that we may so follow his example
that we may bring those who are lost home to thy fold;
through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Epistle: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10
The Gospel: St. Matthew 6:24-33

Ernest-Ange Duez, Saint CuthbertArtwork: Ernest-Ange Duez, Saint Cuthbert, 1879. Oil on canvas, Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

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Prayers and liturgy

Thomas Ken, Bishop and Poet

The collect for today, the commemoration of Thomas Ken (1637-1711), Bishop of Bath and Wells, Non-Juror, Hymn Writer (source):

O God, from whom all blessings flow,
by whose providence we are kept
and by whose grace we are directed:
assist us, through the example of thy servant Thomas Ken,
faithfully to keep thy word,
humbly to accept adversity
and steadfastly to worship thee;
through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

With the Epistle and Gospel for a Bishop, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962)
The Epistle: 1 Timothy 6:11-16
The Gospel: St. Luke 12:37-44

Wells Cathedral, Bishop Ken windowOrdained an Anglican priest in 1662, Thomas Ken served as rector in several parishes before becoming chaplain to members of the royal family and, in 1685, Bishop of Bath and Wells. A man of principle and strong conviction, he was one of seven bishops imprisoned for refusing to sign King James II’s “Declaration of Indulgence”, the purpose of which was to allow Catholics to resume positions of political power in England. After strong expressions of popular support by the people of London, Bishop Ken was quickly tried and acquitted.

King James II was forced to flee the country when King William and Queen Mary were invited to become co-monarchs of England. William and Mary demanded oaths of allegiance from all persons holding public positions, including the bishops. Thomas Ken and others (known as the Non-Jurors; the older meaning of “juror” is “one who takes an oath”, hence “perjurer” as “one who swears falsely”) refused to take the oath on the grounds that they had sworn allegiance to James and could not during his lifetime swear allegiance to another monarch without making such oaths a mockery. Bishop Ken took this stand as a matter of principle despite his strong disagreement with much that James had done. In 1690, he and the other surviving non-jurors were deposed.

(Most of the bishops of Scotland also refused the oath; William and Mary retaliated by disestablishing the Episcopal Church in Scotland and making the Presbyterian Kirk the established state church there instead.)

Bishop Ken was also a poet and hymn-writer. He wrote the text for the well-loved doxology “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow“, which is actually the last verse of his longer hymn, “Awake My Soul, and with the sun“.

A prayer of Thomas Ken:

God, our heavenly father, make, we pray, the door of this Cathedral Church wide enough to welcome all who need human love and fellowship and a Father’s care; but narrow enough to shut out all envy, pride, and lack of love. Here may the temped find help, the sorrowing receive comfort, the careless be awakened to repentance, and the penitent be assured of your mercy; and here may all your children renew their strength and go on their way in hope and joy; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Artwork: Thomas Ken window, Wells Cathedral, installed in 1885 to celebrate the bicentenary of his consecration as Bishop of Bath and Wells.

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Prayers and liturgy

Saint Joseph

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Joseph of Nazareth, Guardian of Our Lord, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Patron Saint of Canada, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O GOD Most High, who from the family of thy servant David didst raise up Joseph the carpenter to be protector of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Lord: Grant that we may so labour in our earthly vocations, that they may become labours of love and service offered unto thee, our Father; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Epistle: Galatians 4:1-7
The Gospel: St. Matthew 1:18-25

Georges de La Tour, Young Christ with St. Joseph in the Carpenter’s ShopArtwork: Georges de La Tour, Young Christ with St. Joseph in the Carpenter’s Shop, c. 1642. Oil on canvas, Louvre, Paris.

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Prayers and liturgy

St. Patrick, Missionary and Bishop

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Patrick (c. 390-c. 461), Bishop, Missionary, Patron of Ireland (source):

Almighty God,
who in thy providence chose thy servant Patrick
to be the apostle of the people of Ireland:
keep alive in us the fire of faith which he kindled,
and in this our earthly pilgrimage
strengthen us to gain the light of everlasting life;
through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 2:2b-12
The Gospel: St Matthew 28:16-20

Click here to read the prayer known as St. Patrick’s Breastplate.

Carlow Cathedral, St. Patrick Preaching to the KingsArtwork: Franz Mayer & Co., St. Patrick Preaching to the Kings, 19th century. Stained glass, Cathedral of the Assumption, County Carlow, Ireland.
© Copyright Andreas F. Borchert and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

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Prayers and liturgy

Audio file of 8:00am Holy Communion service, Fourth Sunday in Lent

Click here to listen to an audio recording of the 8:00am service of Holy Communion at Christ Church on the Fourth Sunday in Lent.

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Prayers and liturgy

The Fourth Sunday in Lent

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

GRANT, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve to be punished, by the comfort of thy grace may mercifully be relieved; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Epistle: Galatians 4:26-5:1
The Gospel: St. John 6:5-14

Domenico Feti, Miracle of the Loaves and FishesArtwork: Domenico Feti, Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes, c. 1615. Oil on canvas, Palazzo Ducale, Mantua.

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