Audio file of 8:00am Holy Communion service, Sexagesima
Click here to listen to an audio recording of the 8:00am service of Holy Communion at Christ Church on Sexagesima Sunday.
Category: Prayers and liturgy
Sexagesima
The collect for today, Sexagesima (or the Second Sunday Before Lent) from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):
O LORD God, who seest that we put not our trust in any thing that we do: Mercifully grant that by thy power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle: 2 Corinthians 11:21b-31
The Gospel: St Luke 8:4-15
Artwork: Ivan Grohar, The Sower, 1907. Oil on canvas, National Gallery of Slovenia, Ljubljana.
Audio file of 8:00am Holy Communion service, Septuagesima
Click here to listen to an audio recording of the 8:00am service of Holy Communion at Christ Church on Septuagesima Sunday.
Septuagesima
The collect for today, Septuagesima (or the Third Sunday Before Lent) from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):
O LORD, we beseech thee favourably to hear the prayers of thy people; that we, who are justly punished for our offences, may be mercifully delivered by thy goodness, for the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
The Epistle: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
The Gospel: St. Matthew 20:1-16
Artwork: Johann Christian Brand, The Vineyard Owner Hires Labourers for the Vineyard, 1769. Oil on canvas, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna.
Valentine, Bishop and Martyr
The collect for a Martyr, on the Feast of Saint Valentine (d. c. 269), Bishop, Martyr at Rome, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):
ALMIGHTY God, by whose grace and power thy Martyr Valentine was enabled to witness to the truth and to be faithful unto death: Grant that we, who now remember him before thee, may likewise so bear witness unto thee in this world, that we may receive with him the crown of glory that fadeth not away; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Epistle: 1 St. Peter 4:12-19
The Gospel: St. Matthew 16:24-27
Artwork: Master of Catherine of Cleves, Saint Valentine of Rome (From Hours of Catherine of Cleves), c. 1440. Illumination, Morgan Library, New York.
Caedmon, Poet
The collect for a Doctor of the Church, Poet, or Scholar, in commemoration of Saint Caedmon (d. 680), Monk of Whitby, first English poet, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):
O GOD, who by thy Holy Spirit hast given unto one man a word of wisdom, and to another a word of knowledge, and to another the gift of tongues: We praise thy Name for the gifts of grace manifested in thy servant Caedmon, and we pray that thy Church may never be destitute of the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Lesson: Daniel 2:17-24
The Gospel: St Matthew 13:9-17
Saint Caedmon is the first English poet whose name is known. Saint Bede the Venerable tells Caedmon’s story in Book IV, Chapter 24, of The Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
Bede records that Caedmon was a herdsman who at an advanced age suddenly received the gift of poetry and song. Someone appeared to Caedmon in a dream one night and asked him to sing. In response, he spontaneously sang verses in praise of the God the Creator. When he awoke, he remembered the words of his song and added more lines.
He went to speak with Hilda, Abbess of Whitby. She and several learned men examined Caedmon and affirmed that his gift was from God.
Caedmon became a monk at Whitby and composed a large body of poetry and song on many Christian subjects, including the Creation story, the Exodus, the birth, passion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the teaching of the apostles.
Unfortunately, almost none of Caedmon’s work survives. Only his Hymn, written down by Bede in Latin and Old English, is known to us. Here is a modern English translation:
Praise we the Fashioner now of Heaven’s fabric,
The majesty of his might and his mind’s wisdom,
Work of the world-warden, worker of all wonders,
How he the Lord of Glory everlasting,
Wrought first for the race of men Heaven as a rooftree,
Then made he Middle Earth to be their mansion.
Source: Bede, A History of the English Church and People, translated by Leo Sherley-Price, rev. ed. 1968, Penguin, p. 251.
A humble and holy monk, Caedmon died in perfect charity with his fellow servants of God.
Photograph: Memorial to Caedmon, St Mary’s Churchyard, Whitby, North Yorkshire, Great Britain. The inscription reads, “To the glory of God and in memory of Caedmon the father of English Sacred Song. Fell asleep hard by, 680”. © Copyright RichTea and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Audio file of 8:00am Holy Communion service, Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Click here to listen to an audio recording of the 8:00am service of Holy Communion at Christ Church on the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany.
The Fifth Sunday After The Epiphany
The collect for today, the Fifth Sunday after The Epiphany, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):
O LORD, we beseech thee to keep thy Church and household continually in thy true religion; that they who do lean only upon the hope of thy heavenly grace may evermore be defended by thy mighty power; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle: Colossians 3:12-17
The Gospel: St. Matthew 13:24-30
Artwork: Félicien Rops, Satan Sowing Tares, 1882. Colour lithography on paper, Musée Félicien Rops, Namur, Belgium.
Anskar, Missionary and Bishop
The collect for today, the Feast of St. Anskar (801-865), Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, Missionary to Sweden and Denmark, Apostle of the North (source):
Almighty and gracious God,
who didst send thy servant Anskar
to spread the gospel among the Nordic people:
raise up in this our generation, we beseech thee,
messengers of thy good tidings
and heralds of thy kingdom,
that the world may come to know
the immeasurable riches of our Saviour Jesus Christ,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Lesson: Acts 1:1-9
The Gospel: St. Mark 6:7-13
Artwork: Engelbert Peiffer, St. Anskar, 19th century. Stone, Trostbrücke, Hamburg.
Audio file of 8:00am Holy Communion service, Candlemas/Epiphany 4
Click here to listen to an audio recording of the 8:00am service of Holy Communion at Christ Church on Candlemas/Fourth Sunday after Epiphany.