Canada: From the Maundy Thursday liturgy (Anglican)

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At the beginning of the Maundy Thursday liturgy the Canadian Anglican  Book of Alternative Services, the Celebrant is directed to say the following introduction weaving together the themes and Scriptures of the day ... and these words also serve as a good word for contemplating the meaning of this day in Holy Week:

         This is the day
         that Christ the Lamb of God
         gave himself into the hands of those who would slay him.

         This is the day
         that Christ gathered with his disciples in the upper room.

         This is the day
         that Christ took a towel
         and washed the disciples’ feet,
         giving us an example that we should do to others
         as he has done to us.

         This is the day
         that Christ our God gave us this holy feast,
         that we who eat this bread
         and drink this cup
         may here proclaim his Holy Sacrifice
         and be partakers of his resurrection,
         and at the last day may reign with him in heaven.

Christ Washing Peter's Feet
Ford Madox Brown

In The Book of Alternative Services of the Anglican Church of Canada the following is appointed to be said before the Ceremony of the Foot-Washing on Maundy Thursday:

       Fellow servants of our Lord Jesus Christ,
       on the night before his death,
       Jesus set an example for his disciples
       by washing their feet, an act of humble service.
       He taught that strength and growth
       in the life of the kingdom of God
       come not by power, authority, or even miracle,
       but by such lowly service.

       Therefore, I invite you*
       who share in the royal priesthood of Christ,
       to come forward,
       that I may recall whose servant I am
       by following the example of my Master.
       But come remembering his admonition
       that what will be done for you
       is also to be done by you to others,
       for “a servant is not greater than his master,
       nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.
       If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”
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* The following may be added: "who have been appointed as representatives of the congregation and"

It is a very simple, straightforward, and elegant solution for providing a standardised introduction to the pedilavium rather than leaving it up to the skills of the presbyter or to the employment of a lengthy exhortation from another book in Prayer Book English.   It is also very realistic in its ambitions as it is the right length for contemporary ears trained by sound bites and commercial advertising. 

 

Grieving the loss of Notre Dame Cathedral

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Agios o Theos, Agios ischyros, Agios athanatos, eleison imas. 

Kyrie eleison imas.

We fly to thy protection, O holy Mother of God; 

despise not our petitions in our necessities 

but deliver us always from all dangers, 

O ever glorious and blessed Virgin.

Agios o Theos, Agios ischyros, Agios athanatos, eleison imas. 

Hail, Our King

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Ave, rex noster!

Ave, rex noster!

AVE, REX NOSTER!

from Saint Aethelwold's Benedictional

Hail, our king!  Hail, our king!  Hail, our King,

Son of David, Redeemer of the world, whom the prophets have proclaimed to be the Saviour of the House of Israel that is to come. 

For thee the Father sent into the world to be the saving victim, whom all the saints expected from the beginning of the world, and now expect. 

Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

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Cambridge Offices and Orisons [Anglican Patrimony] 'A PLEADING OF THE PASSION'

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The following Litany is an example of the extraordinary treasury of Anglican litanies and prayers that are almost entirely forgotten or unused.  I hope, dear Reader, that you may find this a worthy devotion to use ...especially on Fridays and weekdays in Lent... in order to draw nearer to Our Lord Jesus Christ.

ORD, have mercy upon us.
...........Christ, have mercy upon us.
........................LORD, have mercy upon us.


OUR FATHER, WHO ART IN HEAVEN . . .

O Saviour of the world, who by the Cross and Precious Blood hast redeemed us ;

Save us and help us, we humbly beseech thee, O Lord.

JESUS, who to thine awed disciples didst foreshow thy body broken, and thy blood shed ;

Have mercy upon us.

JESUS, who in an agony of prayer, didst take the cup of pain ;

Have mercy upon us.

JESUS, betrayed by a kiss ;

Have mercy upon us.

JESUS, forsaken by thy friends ;

Have mercy upon us.

JESUS, denied by Peter ;

Have mercy upon us.

JESUS, who bound before Caiaphas,

didst confess thyself the Son of God ;

Have mercy upon us.

JESUS, blindfolded, struck, and spat upon ;

Have mercy upon us.

JESUS,

who while thine enemies were instant

with loud voices before the governor,

wast silent ;

Have mercy upon us.

JESUS, whom Herod mocked and arrayed in a gorgeous robe ;

Have mercy upon us

JESUS, crowned with thorns ;

Have mercy upon us

JESUS, brought forth that all might behold their king ;

Have mercy upon us.

JESUS, acclaimed by the people, 
"Crucify him crucify" ;

Have mercy upon us.

JESUS, rejected for Barabbas ;

Have mercy upon us.

JESUS, condemned to death ;

Have mercy upon us.

JESUS, scourged ;

Have mercy upon us.

JESUS, who wast led forth in shame along the way of sorrow ;

Have mercy upon us.

JESUS, falling beneath the Cross ;

Have mercy upon us.

JESUS, who amid uproar and weeping didst come to Calvary ;

Have mercy upon us.

JESUS, stripped naked before men ;

Have mercy upon us.

JESUS, laid on the cross ;

Have mercy upon us.

By the nails through thine hands and feet ;

Good Lord, deliver us.

By thy parched lips ;

Good Lord, deliver us.

By thy ears filled with ribaldry and scorn ;

Good Lord, deliver us.

By the forgiveness of thy foes ;

Good Lord, deliver us.

By thy promise to the penitenet ;

Good Lord, deliver us.

By thy love to thy beloved ;

Good Lord, deliver us.

By thy broken heart ;

Good Lord, deliver us.

By thy soul all desolate ;

Good Lord, deliver us.

By thy spirit rendered to the Father ;

Good Lord, deliver us.

By thy death ;

Good Lord, deliver us.

From all evil and mischief; from sin, from the crafts and assaults of the devil; from thy wrath, and from everlasting damnation ;

Good Lord, deliver us.

From all blindness of heart; from pride, vain-glory, and hypocrisy; from envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness ;

Good Lord, deliver us.

From fornication, and all other deadly sin; and from all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil ;

Good Lord, deliver us.

From all dread of thy service, and distrust of thy love; from enmity to thy cross and scorn of thy passion ;

Good Lord, deliver us.

Let us confess our sins, saying together :

We confess to God Almighty, 

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, 

before the whole company of heaven, 

that we have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed, 

through our fault, our own fault, our own most grievous fault; 

wherefore we pray God to have mercy upon us. 

May God Almighty have mercy upon us, 

forgive us our sins, 

and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.

A priest may say
Almighty God have mercy upon you, and forgive you all your sins, deliver you from all evil, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and bring you to everlasting life. Amen.

orThe Almighty and merciful Lord grant unto you pardon, absolution, and remission of all your sins, time for true repentance, and the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Now unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood and hath made us kings, and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Cambridge Offices and Orisons
E. Milner-White, B.T.D. Smith

Maximilian Steinberg "Of Your Mystical Supper"

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"Of Your Mystical Supper" 

From the world premiere complete performance 

of Maximilian Steinberg's Passion Week.

Cappella Romana

Alexander Lingas, artistic director

Friday, 11 April 2014

http://cappellaromana.org

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Charles Williams: The Adventures of Holy Week

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The Adventures of the Holy Week

When our Lord came riding,

Through the midst of them,

The children ran and shouted

In Jerusalem,

Throwing down their palm-leaves,

Throwing up their caps;

All the babies crowed to him

From their mother's laps.

When the Lord came swiftly

Through the place of shades,

All the children thronged to Him,

Fresh from Herold's blades:

The sad dusk was full of them

Whom He did retrieve,

And first the smallest of them all

From the lap of Eve.

Socrates and Caesar

Though He met them there,

Though He went a thousand miles

To the bottom of hell-stair,

Yet He came again to them

When, turning from their play,

All those little Jewish souls

Observed the Sabbath day.

But within the Garden

He slept in double ward;

Armed and still and silent

Watched the Roman guard;

Watched the high prince Michael,

Astonished and aware

Of a new thing moving

As dawn filled the air.

And within the Chamber

He slept in single ward;

All the rock was conscious

Of the heavenly guard.

From the air within the air

A soft wind came,

And above the silent head

Burned the tongues of flame.

Charles Williams

S. Silas the Martyr Church Papers

S. Silas' Church, Kentish Town

March-April 1923, page 15

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Eva Ugalde - Miserere

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Eva Ugalde: Miserere

Cor de Noies de l'Orfeó Català 

Directora Buia Reixach i pianista Josep Surinyac

Concert a Hondarribia el 2009 amb Javier Busto de director

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Blessed Columba Marmion: "Our Heart Was Made For Love"

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"Our heart was made for love. We have an immense need to love. We cannot learn without it. 

The richer a nature is and the more capable of great things, the more it feels the need of a higher love. There can be no doubt about it. 

There can be nothing so fine, so potent and so profitable on this earth as a heart completely dominated by the love of God. 

Our hearts have been consecrated. We have not the right to squander our affections."

Robert Cardinal Sarah: "It is my duty to warn the West"

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In an excerpt from an article published on the CatholicHerald.co.uk website, Cardinal Sarah states:

"First I would like to explain why I, a son of Africa, allow myself to address the West. The Church is the guardian of civilization. I am convinced that western civilization is passing at present through a mortal crisis. It has reached the extreme of self-destructive hate. 

"As during the fall of Rome, elites are only concerned to increase the luxury of their daily life and the peoples are being anesthetized by ever more vulgar entertainment. As a bishop, it is my duty to warn the West! The barbarians are already inside the city. 

"The barbarians are all those who hate human nature, all those who trample upon the sense of the sacred, all those who do not value life, all those who rebel against God the Creator of man and nature. 

"The West is blinded by science, technology, and the thirst for riches. The lure of riches, which liberalism spreads in hearts, has sedated the peoples. At the same time, the silent tragedy of abortion and euthanasia continue and pornography and gender ideology destroy children and adolescents. We are accustomed to barbarism. It doesn’t even surprise us anymore! 

"I want to raise a cry of alarm, which is also a cry of love. I do so with a heart full of filial gratitude for the Western missionaries who died in my land of Africa and who communicated to me the precious gift of faith in Jesus Christ. I want to follow their lead and receive their inheritance!

"How could I not emphasize the threat posed by Islamism? Muslims despise the atheistic West. They take refuge in Islamism as a rejection of the consumer society that is offered to them as a religion. Can the West present them the Faith in a clear way? For that it will have to rediscover its Christian roots and identity. 

"To the countries of the third world, the West is held out as a paradise because it is ruled by commercial liberalism. This encourages the flow of migrants, so tragic for the identity of peoples. A West that denies its faith, its history, its roots, and its identity is destined for contempt, for death, and disappearance.

"But I would like to point out that everything is prepared for a renewal. I see families, monasteries, and parishes that are like oases in the middle of a desert. It is from these oases of faith, liturgy, beauty, and silence that the West will be reborn." 

—Robert Cardinal Sarah

Click LINK to read in full

Anglican Patrimony: The Eucharistic Fraction from the Bombay Liturgy

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From the Anglican Bombay Liturgy:

[Then shall the Celebrant perform the Fraction saying]

Grant, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, that, as the body of thy blessèd Son was broken (here the Priest shall break the Host) on the Cross (here the Priest shall make the sign of the Cross over the chalice with a portion of the broken Host) that we might become one with Him; so we who now partake of these holy mysteries may be united in the fellowship of His mystical Body and (here the Priest shall place the portion of the Host in the chalice) share with Him in the glory of His resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
  

[The form above is for The Fraction of the Holy Eucharist as may be found in the following authorised liturgies of the Anglican Church in India, Burma, and Ceylon: The Bombay Liturgy of 1920 (1923), The Indian Liturgy of 1948, and A Liturgy for India in 1951.]

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JM Neale: Cento of S. Cosmas' Transfiguration Ode

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I like to contemplate the Transfiguration of Our Lord in the week preceding Palm Sunday. The text printed below is the Revd Dr John Mason Neale's outstanding cento of the Transfiguration Ode of S. Cosmas the Melodist.  

His text may be sung to a tune like ELLACOMBE.. 

  

χορος Ισραηλ

The choirs of ransomed Israel,

The Red Sea’s passage o’er,

Uprais’d the hymn of triumph

Upon the further shore:

And shouted, as the foeman

Was whelmed beneath the sea,—

‘Sing we to Judah’s Saviour,

For glorified is He!’

Amongst His Twelve Apostles

CHRIST spake the Words of Life,

And showed a realm of beauty

Beyond a world of strife:

‘When all My FATHER’s glory

Shall shine expressed in Me,

Then praise Him, then exalt Him,

For magnified is He!’

Upon the Mount of Tabor

The promise was made good;

When, baring all the Godhead,

In light itself He stood:

And they, in awe beholding,

The Apostolic Three,

Sang out to GOD their Saviour,

For magnified was He!

In days of old, on Sinai,

The LORD of Sabaoth came,

In majesty of terror,

In thunder-cloud and flame:

On Tabor, with the glory

Of sunniest light for vest,

The excellence of beauty

In JESUS was expressed.

All hours and days inclined there,

And did Thee worship meet,

The sun himself adored Thee,

And bowed him at Thy feet:

While Moses and Elias,

Upon the Holy Mount,

The co-eternal glory

Of CHRIST our GOD recount.

O holy, wond'rous Vision!

But what, when this life past,

The beauty of Mount Tabor

Shall end in Heav’n at last?

But what, when all the glory

Of Uncreated Light

Shall be the promised guerdon

Of them that win the fight?

Saint Cosmas, the Melodist, 760

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Pope St. Leo the Great: "Our Understanding ..."

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This excerpt comes from a sermon by Pope Saint Leo the Great (Sermo 8 de passione Domini, 6-8; PL 54, 340-342).

Our understanding, which is enlightened by the Spirit of truth, should receive with purity and freedom of heart the glory of the cross as it shines in heaven and on earth. It should see with inner vision the meaning of the Lord’s words when he spoke of the imminence of his passion: The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  

Afterward he said: Now my soul is troubled, and what am I to say? Father, save me from this hour. But it was for this that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your Son. 

When the voice of the Father came from heaven, saying, I have glorified him, and will glorify him again, Jesus said in reply to those around him: It was not for me that this voice spoke, but for you. Now is the judgment of the world, now will the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself.

How marvellous the power of the cross; how great beyond all telling the glory of the passion: here is the judgement-seat of the Lord, the condemnation of the world, the supremacy of Christ crucified.

Lord, you drew all things to yourself so that the devotion of all peoples everywhere might celebrate, in a sacrament made perfect and visible, what was carried out in the one temple of Judea under obscure foreshadowings. 

Now there is a more distinguished order of Levites, a greater dignity for the rank of elders, a more sacred anointing for the priesthood, because your cross is the source of all blessings, the cause of all graces. 

Through the cross the faithful receive strength from weakness, glory from dishonour, life from death.

The different sacrifices of animals are no more: the one offering of your body and blood is the fulfillment of all the different sacrificial offerings, for you are the true Lamb of God: you take away the sins of the world. In yourself you bring to perfection all mysteries, so that, as there is one sacrifice in place of all other sacrificial offerings, there is also one kingdom gathered from all peoples.

Dearly beloved, let us then acknowledge what Saint Paul, the teacher of the nations, acknowledged so exultantly: This is a saying worthy of trust, worthy of complete acceptance: Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners. 

God’s compassion for us is all the more wonderful because Christ died, not for the righteous or the holy but for the wicked and the sinful, and, though the divine nature could not be touched by the sting of death, he took to himself, through his birth as one of us, something he could offer on our behalf.

The power of his death once confronted our death. In the words of Hosea the prophet: Death, I shall be your death; grave, I shall swallow you up. 

By dying he submitted to the laws of the underworld; by rising again he destroyed them. He did away with the everlasting character of death so as to make death a thing of time, not of eternity. As all die in Adam, so all will be brought to life in Christ. 

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