Category: Prayers and liturgy

The collect for today, Tuesday in Holy Week, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who, of thy tender love towards mankind, hast sent thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross, that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant, that we may both follow the example of his patience, and also be made partakers of his resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson: Isaiah 50:5-9a
The Continuation of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Mark
The Gospel: St. Mark 15:1-39

Artwork: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Procession to Calvary, 1564. Oil on canvas, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

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The collect for today, Monday in Holy Week, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who, of thy tender love towards mankind, hast sent thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross, that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant, that we may both follow the example of his patience, and also be made partakers of his resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson: Isaiah 63:7-9
The Beginning of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark
The Gospel: St. Mark 14:1-72

Artwork: Peter Paul Rubens, Ecce Homo, 1612. Rubens House, Antwerp. Photograph taken by admin, 12 October 2014.

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The collect for today, the Sunday Next before Easter, commonly called Palm Sunday, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who, of thy tender love towards mankind, hast sent thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross, that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant, that we may both follow the example of his patience, and also be made partakers of his resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Philippians 2:5-11
The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to St. Matthew
The Gospel: St. Matthew 27:1-54

Artwork: Miguel Florentin, The Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, 1520. Cathedral of Santa María de la Sede, Seville.

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There is a mysterious intensity to Holy Week that begins with Palm Sunday. It is the intensity of Christ’s Passion. In the Passion of Christ, our humanity is on display in all of its varied array and disarray, in all of our faults and failings, in all of our sins and foolishnesses. And yet there is a great good that is shown as well, a great good which ultimately speaks to human dignity restored. Holy Week shows us nothing less than ‘the height and the depth, the length and the breadth’ of God’s love for us. How will we respond? With indifference or with devotion?

I encourage you ever so strongly to make the effort. The fullness of the Passion is set before us this week from all four Gospels. This week, in a way, is one continuous liturgy. What kind of Easter can there be without Good Friday, without the fullness of the Passion, which this week presents us? “Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God.”

I remind you of the schedule of services for this week: the Morning and Evening Services held each day of Holy Week; especially, Wednesday’s 9:00pm Service of Tenebrae, meaning shadows or darkness, a short service of mostly psalm readings, which anticipates the Passion; Maundy Thursday which marks the beginning of the Triduum Sacrum, the three great holy days, in which we gather with Christ in the Upper Room and, then, go with him to Gethsemane; Good Friday which takes us to the Cross with Matins at 7:00am; the 11:00am ecumenical service at the Windsor United Church and The Solemn Liturgy of Good Friday at 7:00pm; Holy Saturday which gathers us, first, to pray, at the grave, reflectively, with Matins & Ante-Communion at 10:00am, and, then, to watch expectantly with a short Vigil at 7:00pm, ending with the Lauds of Easter Day, leading us to the grand and glorious pageant of the Resurrection on Easter Day, beginning with the 7:00am Ecumenical Sunrise Service at Fort Edward, 8:00am & 10:30am Holy Communion services, and Evening Prayer at 4:00pm at Christ Church.

Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us,
therefore let us keep the feast!

(more…)

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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

Artwork: Peter Paul Rubens, Annunciation c, 1628. Oil on canvas, Rubens House, Antwerp. Photograph taken by admin, 12 October 2014.

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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

Artwork: Altarpiece with skulls and instruments of Christ’s passion, 15th century, Jerusalem Chapel (Jeruzalemkapel), Bruges. Photograph taken by admin, 10 October 2014.

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The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Benedict of Nursia (c. 480-550), Abbot of Monte Cassino, Father of Western Monasticism (source):

O eternal God,
who made Benedict a wise master
in the school of thy service,
and a guide to many called into the common life
to follow the rule of Christ:
grant that we may put thy love above all things,
and seek with joy the way of thy commandments;
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 Lesson: Proverbs 2:1-9
The Gospel: St. Luke 14:27-33

Artwork: Saint Benedict, stained glass, St. Giles’ Church, Bruges. Photograph taken by admin, 10 October 2014.

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The collect for today, the commemoration of Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), Archbishop of Canterbury, Reformation Martyr (source):

Father of all mercies,
who through the work of thy servant Thomas Cranmer
didst renew the worship of thy Church
and through his death
didst reveal thy strength in human weakness:
strengthen us by thy grace so to worship thee in spirit and in truth
that we may come to the joys of thine everlasting kingdom;
through Jesus Christ, our Mediator and Advocate,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Epistle: 1 Corinthians 3:9-14
The Gospel: St. John 15:20-16:1

Artwork: Thomas Cranmer, stained glass, Hensley Memorial Chapel, King’s-Edgehill School, Windsor, N.S.

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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

Artwork: St. Cuthbert, stained glass, St. Philip’s Anglican Church, Vancouver.

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