St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Breastplate,
A more literal translation, by Kuno Meyer,

I arise today
Through a mighty strength,
the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.
I arise today
Through the strength of
Christ's birth with His baptism,
Through the strength of
His crucifixion with His burial,
Through the strength of
His resurrection with His ascension,
Through the strength of
His descent for the judgement of Doom.
I arise today
Through the strength of
the love of the Cherubim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In the hope of the resurrection
to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In prediction of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendour of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.
I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak to me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me,
From snares of devils,
From temptation of vices,
From every one who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in a multitude.
I summon today all these powers
between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless
power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of women and
smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge
that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ to shield me today
Against poising, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So there come to me
abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of
every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of
every one who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye of
every one who sees me,
Christ in every ear
that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength,
the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.

From the Mission of the St. Clares

For Ash Wednesday

God of the desert, as we follow Jesus into the unknown,
may we recognise the tempter when he comes;
let it be your bread we eat,
your world we serve and you alone we worship.

Portion of the collect for Ash Wednesday
New Zealand Prayer Book

Home from Italy

The only thing that could have me up at 7:00 am on a Saturday morning is jetlag. I got back Wednesday evening from two weeks in Italy, mostly Rome but also three days on the Amalfi coast and a day in Assisi. It was an incredible trip - lots of time spent in prayer and wonder at being in places where Christians have been praying for two thousand years. More thoughts to come but here are some pics.

Solitude

I went to the Martha Retreat Centre today for a quiet day. I went after breakfast and stayed until a little after 3:00. The sisters are wonderfully hospitable. They provide you with a room and feed you good food and leave you alone so you can enjoy the silence. It went by so quickly I was stunned. The quality of silence there is really embracing...I love it there and don't know why I don't go more often.

I did have a moment though when I wanted to check something on the internet and was jerked by the realization that I didn't have internet access. I had a picture in my head of me sneaking into the office to 'borrow' their computer and then I breathed deep and let the impulse go. The funny thing is that now I can't even remember what seemed so important that I had to check it right then.

When I got back a friend had posted this link on facebook. I think that there is real truth to this story on the impact of internet access:

So please don't confuse what I have to say for that tired Luddite screed about how technology is ruining us. It isn't.

Except it just might.

Because of technology, we never have to be alone anymore. And that's the problem.

So for all sorts of reasons I'm grateful to the Sisters of St. Martha for their charism of hospitality and their gift of silence.

The Benediction from today's inauguration

Rev. Joseph Lowery came an incredibly powerful benediction today:

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou, who has brought us thus far along the way, thou, who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee, lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee.

Read the rest here. Thanks to Tim at Tale Spin.

Bishop Gene Robinson's prayer for Barack Obama

O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…

Bless us with tears - tears for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women in many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.

Read the rest here. Thanks to Bene Diction Blogs On.

Pray for peace

January 5, 2009 -- Archbishop Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, has issued the following statement on the current situation in Gaza.


It is with a great deal of sadness and alarm that the world has observed, over the past 10 days, an appalling escalation of violence in Gaza. There has been loss of life and many of those slain, according to news reports, have been civilians, including many women and children.

I join other leaders of churches and leaders of many of the nations who have called for an immediate cessation to the horrific violence. I urge resumption of diplomatic negotiations as the means of reconciling the historic tensions between the peoples of Israel and Palestine. I issue this statement in the name of him whose birth the church is celebrating in this holy season of Christmas and Epiphany, Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.

I call on all Anglicans from coast to coast to coast to pray with special intention for the peoples of Palestine and Israel at this time. I commend the prayer for peace in the world as found in the Book of Common Prayer:

Almighty God, from whom all thoughts of truth and peace proceed: Kindle, we pray thee, in the hearts of all people the true love of peace, and guide with thy pure and peaceable wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth; that in tranquility thy kingdom may go forward, till the earth is filled with the knowledge of thy love; through Jesus Christ our Lord.


+Fred

The Most Reverend Fred Hiltz
Primate, The Anglican Church of Canada

Glorious Concert

At yesterday's convocation at the University of Lethbridge Ben Heppner was given an honourary degree and then today he gave a concert to raise money for music scholarships. It was a glorious concert! There were four standing ovations including one in the middle of the concert. He was incredible.

The heart of the concert for me were two operatic pieces. The first was from Massanet's opera Le Cid. It is this beautiful prayer - the lines that especially moved me were "O sovereign, O judge, O father, always hidden, ever present, I loved you in times of good fortune and I bless you in times of sadness!" The piece that did me in though was the next aria from Andrea Chenier by Umberto Giordano. It is an indictment of French nobility who turn their backs on the plight of the poor and the final line is, "love is a gift divine, do not despise it, the moving spirit of the universe is love!" Dad was very present to me while Dr. Heppner sang that piece. I wish it had gone on a lot longer.

Today I was very proud to be associated with the university.

The Lord's Prayer

I love the Speaking to the Soul site over at Episcopal Cafe and read it most mornings as part of my morning prayer. Today's was really delightful:

Daily Reading for October 16 • Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, Bishops, 1555, and Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1556

But one word is left, which we must needs consider; Noster, ‘our.’ He saith not ‘my,’ but ‘our.’ Wherefore saith he ‘our’? This word ‘our’ teacheth us to consider that the Father of heaven is a common Father; as well my neighbour’s Father as mine; as well the poor man’s Father as the rich: so that he is not a peculiar Father, but a Father to the whole church and congregation, to all the faithful. Be they never so poor, so vile, so foul and despised, yet he is their Father as well as mine: and therefore I should not despise them, but consider that God is their Father as well as mine. Here may we perceive what communion is between us; so that when I pray, I pray not for myself alone, but for all the rest: again, when they pray, they pray not for themselves only, but for me: for Christ hath so framed this prayer, that I must needs include my neighbour in it. Therefore all those which pray this prayer, they pray as well for me as for themselves; which is a great comfort to every faithful heart, when he considereth that all the church prayeth for him. For amongst such a great number there be some which be good, and whose prayer God will hear. . . . So that it is a great comfort unto us to know that all good and faithful persons pray for us.

From Hugh Latimer’s “First Sermon on the Lord’s Prayer,” in The Works of Hugh Latimer, ed. G. E. Corrie (Parker Society, 1844).

Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today is the anniversary of my confirmation, many, many years ago. It is also the Feast of the Falling Asleep of Mary in the old Anglican prayer book, the Feast of the Assumption in the Roman Catholic church (where I was confirmed) or simply the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

It was a beautiful day the day I was confirmed. Blue clear sky, no wind, hot. A typical Winnipeg summer day. The confirmation took place at the regular 11:00 AM Mass if I remember correctly and afterwards there was a little party in the garden between the church and the rectory. My most vivid memory of the day is the smell of the chrism, light, sweet, fragrant, on my forehead.

As I said the office this morning I remembered the sweetness of that day and gave thanks....

O God, you have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

Franciscan Four Fold Blessing

A Four-fold Franciscan Blessing

May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people. May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done. And the blessing of God the Supreme Majesty and our Creator, Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word who is our brother and Saviour, and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Guide, be with you and remain with you, this day and forevermore. AMEN.

From All Saints Parish

New Prayer Book

This year at our clergy conference a friend recommended to me the Church of England's Common Worship daily prayer book. I've been using it on line since then which has the advantage of having everything including the readings in one place. But there are times when I haven't had internet access and besides, it feels weird praying on line. But my own copy arrived in the mail yesterday thanks to Amazon!

It is a really wonderful prayer book with different prayers for each day of the week and sections for each season of the year. I especially like the psalm prayers. The Book of Alternative Services, a book I like in many ways but not for its daily office, has psalm prayers too but I've never been too fond of them. The ones in Common Worship are quite lovely. The one for this morning's psalm #91 is:

Almighty God, our eternal refuge, teach us to live with the knowledge of our death and to rejoice in the promise of your glory, revealed to us in Jesus Christ our Lord.

I look forward to becoming at home in this prayer book.

Hymn for Compline

Before the ending of the day,
Creator of the world, we pray
That you, with steadfast love, would keep
Your watch around us while we sleep.

From evil dreams defend our sight,
From fears and terrors of the night;
Tread underfoot our deadly foe
That we no sinful thought may know.

O Father, that we ask be done
Through Jesus Christ, your only Son;
And Holy Spirit, by whose breath
Our souls are raised to life from death.

A favourite hymn of mine from the Common Worship (C of E) service for compline.

Lord Jesus Christ,
when scorn and shame besiege us
and hope is veiled in grief,
hold us in your wounded hands
and make your face shine on us again,
for you are our Lord and God.

Another prayer from the same service.

Lent - Day 36

The goal of our life is to live with God forever.
God who loves us, gave us life.
Our own response of love allows God's life to flow into
us without limit.

All the things in this world are gifts of God,
presented to us so that we can know God more easily
and make a return of love more readily.

As a result, we appreciate and use all of these gifts of God
insofar as they help us develop as loving persons.
But if any of these gifts become the center of our lives,
they displace God
and so hinder our growth toward our goal.
In everyday life, then, we must hold ourselves in balance
before all of these created gifts insofar as we have a choice
and are not bound by some obligation.
We should not fix our desires on health or sickness,
wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or short one.
For everything has the potential of calling forth in us
a deeper response to our life in God.

Our only desire and our one choice should be this:
I want and I choose what better
leads to the deepening of God's life in me.

St. Ignatius, from the beginning of the Spiritual Exercises
http://norprov.org/spirituality/ignatianprayer.htm

Hospital Visiting

Well, as I expected Paul was appalled by my gifts. Actually, I think he enjoyed being appalled although he insisted that the statue and holy water be hidden away in case one of his 'real' friends saw them. He also told me that it is alright if other people pray as long as I don't. Oy. They've transferred him to hospital here so things are looking good.

Sick visits and prayers

Ten days ago my friend Paul was in a really serious car accident and I'm going up to Calgary to see him today. Paul is Jewish and claims to be an atheist but many of us have told him often that he is actually having a tift with the God he claims not to believe in. In any case, he made me promise years ago that I would never pray for him. So the question is, can I be held to this promise under these circumstances? I've been really distressed about the accident and so it seems normal to pray about it but I've been very aware of the promise and have tried hard to honour it. When my parish asked if they could pray for him I told them to pray for the nurses who have to look after him. In any case I'm using the occasion of his being too weak to thump me to have some fun. I'm taking these delightful items up to him to bring him comfort.

Lent - Day 17

Collect for the Feast of Gregory the Great

Almighty and merciful God, who raised up Gregory of Rome to be a servant of the servants of God, and inspired him to send missionaries to preach the Gospel to the English people: Preserve in your Church the catholic and apostolic faith they taught, that your people, being fruitful in every good work, may receive the crown of glory that never fades away; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Hardening of Musical Arteries

I read something a while ago that said that people's musical taste harden around the time that they are 25 so what they listened to in university is what they will listen to the rest of their lives. I wonder if this is really true because it sure isn't for me. In university I listened to a lot of folk music and opera, the music I was raised on. If the theory was right that's what I'd still be listening to. Oh wait, I am still listening to them. (Check out Cranny Anie's band As the Crow Flies - they make some beautiful music) But since then I've also discovered a lot of rock and alternative music I like. I listened to very little rock growing up but now enjoy some a lot.

Last night I went to hear the Diesel Librarian's band play at the local folk pub, the Tongue 'n' Groove. The Darby and Joan Club are really fun - sort of a British pop sound with a caffeine edge. I really get a kick out of their music and hearing them live is always fun because Rob is particularly fun to watch. He gets really intense and does a lot of moving while he plays - not what you'd expect from a librarian at all :-). Last night I was sitting there feeling the percussion in my chest and wondering if my heart was beginning to beat to the same rhythm. I closed my eyes and everything around me disappeared. All I was aware of was the beat of my heart and the drum beat reverberating in my chest. It was a really neat sensation and I thought kind of a good opportunity to pray. While I can intellectually appreciate the Quaker tradition of stripping away everything that might distract the senses to allow the Spirit room to move it doesn't appeal to me much. I've always preferred times when my senses become so satiated that they are so busy that I'm not distracted by them anymore and can just sit and listen to the Spirit.

Now as I write this I'm listening to Charlie Haden. There was no jazz in my house growing up and while I discovered Ella and Billie while working on my MA thesis late at night listening to CBC it has only been recently that I've discovered more jazz. My cousin came for Christmas and gave me Charlie Haden and Hank Jones' album Steal Away and I fell in love. Right now I'm listening to Land of the Sun and it is beautiful too. So I'm glad to say that I don't suffer from the hardening of my musical arteries.

Lent - Day 7

Take Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, understanding, my entire will and
all that I possess.
Thou hast given all to me.
To Thee, O Lord, I return it.
All is Thine; dispose of it wholly
according to Thy will.
Give me Thy love and Thy grace,
for this is sufficient for me.

Prayer of St. Ignatius

Lent - Day 2

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen

From the service of Morning Prayer, Book of Common Prayer, USA