We will be having an online communion service for the summer solstice today (Sept 25, 2023). It is open for anyone and everyone to participate. We ask that you bring your own wine/juice and bread/crackers. The Chapel zoom room will be open at 2 pm eastern time for fellowship and the service will begin at 2:15. The readings and prayers in this liturgy are a mixture of medieval and modern sources creatively woven together into a new synthesis. Some of the readings are texts which would not have originally been used in a liturgical setting. You can get onto zoom by clicking HERE. You can read more about some of the ways people honour the summer solstice by clicking HERE. Looking forward to seeing many of you there!
Call to Worship
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Mother of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfilment of her own purpose she gave birth to us by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of her creatures. Beloveds, in this moment we are God’s children; what we will become has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when Christ is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. May our prayers ascend to your throne of brightness, Lord, and let our prayer not return to us empty.
Light the candle
Reader 1
God of fire who created fire
God of light who gives us light
God of life who is the author of life
God of salvation who is our saviour
In case our lamps grow dim this evening
And lose the joys of this night
Give us your light in our hearts
Since you do not want us to die
You give two gifts to those of us
Who are wandering from Egypt
First you reveal the cloudy veil
Then the light which shines in the night
You use a pillar of cloud in the day
To give shade to people as they wander
You use a pillar of fire in the evening
To drive out the darkness with light
You speak to your servant from within the fire
You do not reject the thornbush
Even though you are a consuming flame
You do not burn that which you illuminate
The cloudy beeswax, which is their bread
Must now be consumed, burning away impurity
And the flesh of wax will start to glow
In the radiance of the Holy Spirit
The divine honey is put away
In the hidden recesses of the comb
You have cleansed the inner cells of the heart
Filling them with your sweet word
So that the next generation of the swarm
Who have been chosen by your Spirit
May leave behind every burden and win heaven
Now that their wings are free from care
Short period of silence
Reader 2
The observation of nature teaches us That all things must return to their source Human nature must also return to its own source Which is the Word in whom we live Human nature was created in God’s image and likeness God the common first principle of all things We will return to where we have come from Because we never fully abandon God Through sin our nature has become tarnished It no longer bears the likeness of God Likeness brings us nearer to God Unlikeness removes us to a distance However, it is not by paces of the foot That we move towards or away from God Rather we move closer or further By the affections of our minds The light of the sun is not lost because of distance We lose its light when we close our eyes It is not space which separates us from health We are separated from health by our pain It happens in exactly the same way When we leave behind the virtues Of life, blessedness, and wisdom Sin is the emptiness where they once were In the same way that skin is infected with leprosy So human nature is infected with sin In this illness the soul ceases to resemble The likeness of Jesus Christ its maker When the soul is cured of that leprosy By the medicine of the Divine Grace It will be restored to its former beauty And I will tell you one thing more The nature which is created in the image of God Never truly lost the blossom of its beauty Nor did it lose the integrity of its essence Nor could such a thing ever happen
Short period of silence
Invitation to the thurible
Beloveds, right now we see only a reflection of Christ, as in a mirror, but one day we will see each other face to face. Now we know only in part; one day we will know perfectly, even as we are perfectly known. The Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. All of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For now faith, hope, and love remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.
Light the thurible
We say the following prayer three times in the depths of our hearts, breathing in the first line and out the second.
May Christ dwell in my heart through faith
As I am being rooted and grounded in love
Short period of silence
Reader 3
Gentle Mary, noble maiden, give us help
You are the shrine of our Lord's body
You are the jewel box of mysteries
Queen of queens, pure holy maiden
Pray for us that our many transgressions
May be forgiven for your sake
O merciful one, O forgiving one
With the grace of the Holy Spirit
Pray with us to our king the fair judge
King of the good and fragrant clan
The fair branch of Jesse's tree
In the beautiful hazel wood
Pray for us until we obtain
Forgiveness of our many sins
Mary, splendid royal crown
The one who saved our race
You are a glorious noble torch
You are the orchard of Kings
The brilliant one, the resplendent one
Who lived in pure chastity
O fair golden illumined ark
O holy daughter from Heaven
O mother of righteousness
You surpass everyone else
Pray with us to your firstborn
To save us on the day of doom
O noble rare star, O blossoming tree
O powerful and precious lamp
O sun that warms everyone
O ladder of the great path
By which every saint ascends
May you be our safeguard
Towards the glorious Kingdom
The noble guest was in your womb
For three times three months
Fair fragrant seat chosen by the King
Glorious royal porch through which he was incarnated
The splendid and chosen sun
Jesus, Son of the living God
For the sake of the fair babe
That was conceived in your womb
For the sake of the holy child
That is High King in every place
For the sake of his cross
That is higher than any cross
For the sake of his burial
When he was buried in a stone tomb
For the sake of his resurrection
When he arose before everyone
For the sake of the holy household
From every place until doom
O Mother Mary be our safeguard
In the Kingdom of the Good Lord
That we may meet with dear Jesus
That is our prayer
Hail Mary full of grace
Short period of silence
Reader 4
My dearest siblings, give ear to our words
And you may hear something which you need
That will refresh your thirsting mind
With streams of water from the divine fountain
But do not let your thirst be quenched
Drink but do not become satisfied
For now the fountain of life calls to you saying
“Let the one who is thirsty come to me and drink”
Our Lord and God Jesus Christ
Is himself the fountain of life
The fountain calls us to himself
So that we may drink from his living waters
The one who loves in their heart
Drinks from Christ the fountain
And they are refreshed by the Word of God
Lovingly adoring and longing for God
The one who drinks from the fountain
Burns with the love of wisdom
Let us open the mouth of our inner person
And eat the bread which has come down from heaven
Eat, my friends, of Christ the bread
Drink as well, of Christ the fountain
The one who calls himself the living bread
The one who gives life to this world
Look and see where the fountain flows from
For it flows from the same place
Where the bread also came down
Since he is the same who is bread and fountain
The only Son of God, Christ the Lord
The one for whom we should always hunger
Although we feast on him every time we show love
Let us always hunger and desire him
And since he is also the fountain
Let us drink and overflow with love
Let us drink without ceasing and with deep longing
So we may find joy in his unending beauty
Although we eat and drink of the Lord
Let us always be thirsty and hungry
Since the food and drink which we seek
Is unending and never runs dry
Even though Christ is eaten, he is not consumed
Even though we drink him, he is not lessened
Because our bread exists in eternity
And our fountain flows perpetually without ceasing
Scripture Reading (Luke 24, redacted)
On the first day of the week, at early dawn, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, found the empty tomb. Afterwards, Christ walked among his friends on the road to Emmaus, but they did not recognise him. Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. Then, as he was about to leave, they invited him to share a meal with them.
When Jesus was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognised him, and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
Institution narrative
Paul said to the Corinthians, I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Epiclesis (said in unison)
Loving Mother God, from whom all things come and to whom all things will return, bless this bread and wine by your Holy Spirit that they may be for us a Celestial Medicine. Open our eyes that we may see these simple elements for what they truly are – the body and blood of Christ. May we rejoice in the gift of our own embodiment through the grace of your embodiment in this simple food and drink. As we take the body of Christ into our own bodies, may the sacred harmony of the angel song fill our hearts and minds and may we be united with your Son, who is beyond all nature and yet is the substance of all nature. Amen
Invitation to Communion
Behold, the Lamb of God who was slain before the foundation of the world. May the mixture of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ be salvation for all created beings and allow us to participate in his timeless resurrection from the dead.
Everyone takes communion
5 min of silence
Homily
When the summer sun is at its height, the fullness of earth’s vitality is made manifest. The light consumes the earth, the earth becomes lush and vibrant, and a beautiful network of diversity and kinship arises. It dances to an ancient rhythm and it sings with the eternal harmony. So too, the soul who is enraptured in contemplation, expresses the fullness of her nature. The glory of God is the human being fully alive. It is the verdancy and vitality of human potential which is the image of God. We come to know God’s fullness when we come to know our own fullness. Deep calls unto deep and God’s face reflects in the water. Therefore, dear sisters and brothers, seek by the powers of reason to learn in what way and how much you already love yourself. The soul always loves itself, but sometimes it forgets. The self is the image of God and God is love, so if we ever truly see ourselves with eyes wide open we cannot help but fall in love with what we see.
God of illumination who gives us light, God of vitality who gives us life, help us to remember the love we naturally have for ourselves, in order that our love of ourselves may be transfigured into love of you, the Ultimate Source of all Love and Selfhood. May our hearts reflect you as if they were mirrors. The mirror itself becomes light in the presence of light. May we reflect your perfect image and in so doing take the most important step towards knowledge of the truth. May we know ourselves so that we may love ourselves and may we love ourselves that we may know and love you, God of the sun and the summer. Amen
Short period of silence
Reader 5
Summer time, the best of seasons
Splendid is colour then
Blackbirds sing a full song
If there is a slender shaft of day
The dust coloured cuckoo calls aloud
Welcome, splendid summer
The bitterness of bad weather is past
The boughs of the wood are a thicket
Panic startles the heart of the deer
The smooth sea runs swiftly
The season when the ocean sinks asleep
Blossom covers the world
Bees with puny strength carry
A goodly burden, the harvest of blossoms
Up the mountain side cattle take with them mud
The ant makes a rich meal
The harp of the forest sounds music
The sail gathers—perfect peace
Colour has settled on every height
Haze on the lake of full waters
The corncrake, a strenuous bard, discourses
The lofty cold waterfall sings
A welcome to the warm pool
The talk of the rushes has come
Light swallows dart in the air
Loud melody encircles the hill
The soft rich mast buds
The stuttering swamp chatters
The peat-bog is as the raven's coat
The loud cuckoo bids welcome
The speckled fish leaps up high
Strong is the leap of the swift warrior
Humanity flourishes, the maiden buds
In her fair strong pride
Perfect each forest from top to ground
Perfect each great stately plain
Delightful is the season's splendour
Rough winter has gone
Every fruitful wood shines white
A joyous peace is summer
A flock of birds settles
In the midst of meadows
The green field rustles
Wherein is a rushing white stream
A wild longing is on you to race horses
The ranked host is ranged around
A bright shaft has been shot into the land
So that the water-flag is gold beneath it
A timorous, tiny, persistent little fellow
Sings at the top of his voice
The lark sings clear tidings
Surpassing summer time of delicate colours
Short period of silence
Benediction
Dearly beloveds, I pray that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through the Holy Spirit and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to understand, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth and also to know the love of Christ that surpasses all understanding, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. The mass is completed, go in peace.
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