Autumn Equinox Communion Service

We will be having an online communion service for the Autumn equinox next Sunday (September 24, 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.

This service completes the wheel of the year as Samhain begins a new year. We have decided to continue this tradition into the future by having each service on the regular Saturday Chapel meeting closest to the holiday. We will be using the same liturgies that we have used over this past year, however they will not be going out to the email list as they already exist on the website.

You can get onto zoom by clicking HERE. You can read more about some of the ways people honour the Autumn equinox by clicking HERE. Looking forward to seeing many of you there!


Officiant

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

Everyone:

God give me tears to erase my sins
       Let them come until I have been purified
Let my heart burn with redemption’s flame
       Give me clear tears for Mary and Ita

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 

Officiant

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. So let us confess our sins, knowing that he is faithful and just, so that he may forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Everyone

Gracious and merciful God, who freed your children from Egypt and led them through the wilderness, liberate us also from the bondage of sin so that we may come to know you and to be your people. If we may only touch the hem of your garment, O Christ whom we adore, we would be healed from our illness. With the spit of your mouth and the dust of the earth, give us eyes which can see, ears which can hear, and hearts which pour forth your grace into the world. Make us whole once more, O Great Physician, that we may praise you as we should. Amen

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

Officiant

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 Incense (if possible)

Everyone

We say the 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

Reader 3 

What plot of land or what stream
       Turns up only one stone of a single kind? 
What forest produces only 
       One tree of a single species? 

In this we can see the love of companionship
	Coming to light among creatures without sense
Since none of them are left alone
	But each exists in a society of its own

If this is true among rocks and trees
	How much more true it must be 
Among the society of animal kind
	Who are an image of loving friendship

Though animals do not have reason
	In regards to friendship and loving society
They imitate the human spirit in such a way
	That they appear to be rational beings

They naturally follow the leader
	And enjoy each other’s company
Frolicing together in their wilderness homes
	Expressing their love through sounds and actions

Angels also live in a society
	Ordained for them by divine wisdom
Among the nine orders of angels
	There is a tender love of friendship

This friendship creates a harmony of will
	Preventing any envy from taking root
The higher orders would seem to be more valuable 
	If this danger was not countered by friendship
	
Thus there is an entire host of angels
	To keep away all hints of loneliness
With a heavenly communion of charity
	Multiplying the joy of the heavenly orders

When God created the first human being
	She made a second person like the first
In order to show us the blessing of friendship
	Which can be found in all of creation

Divine power created Eve out of Adam
	In order to inspire friendship between them
In a beautiful way the second human was created
	From the side of the first human

So that our nature might teach us the truth
	That all people are equal to one another
Among human beings no one is superior 
	Because this is a property of friendship 

Reader 4

The wisdom of the tradition
	Speaks of a beautiful tree
It’s top reaches the firmament
	It’s bottom is down in the earth

It has every song ever sung
	Whispering within its branches
But the most remarkable thing
	Is that it grows upside down

While other trees grow up from the earth
	This one grows downward from the sky
It grows from a single root 
	With many other roots growing from it

It has nine branches growing outwards
	Each branch is more beautiful than the one above it
There are countless pure white birds
	Listening to the music for all time

This tree is Jesus Christ himself
	The pinnacle of all God’s creatures
He is above every creature
	Because of his divine nature

He came to the earth, the incarnation
	And assumed humanity from Mary
The songs whispering in the tree
	Are the perfection of all joy
	In the deep of the divine mystery

The tree grows downwards from above
	Because it comes from the heavenly Father
Its large single root represents 
	The divine oneness of the Godhead

The many roots below it represent
	The apostles, disciples, and saints
The nine branches represent the angels
	The heavenly orders which are ranked by nobility

The pure white birds on the branches
	Are the radiant souls of the good
Who now live among the heavenly orders
	But were once on earth like us
	
We who still live here together
	Pray to God for mercy so that we too 
May live in the branches of that tree
	With the nine orders of heaven

Officiant

As the light of the days turns towards the darkness, as the leaves of the trees give up and let go, as the cold winds arrive and the ground is covered in gentle frost, we fall to our knees in praise, O Lord. We rejoice for the gift of life and for the fruits of its passing. Just as the sun comes and goes from the land, so too the life in our eyes is born one day and dies the next. Fleeting human life, fragile and marked for death, you are only a shadow in the eye. Even though you rise to the heights you are but smoke. Every day you come and every day you go, you are leaving as you arrive and arriving as you leave -a different ending but the same beginning, different pleasures but the same passing. 

Yet, we have no need to fear, for this world is not our final destination. As beautiful and good as this life may be, we are only passersby here. We do not get to rest in this world but rather we have an ephemeral existence. The human lifespan is like a tiny spark shooting out of a blazing fire. Lovely, yet momentary. A testament to the light of the fire from which it arises. Our home is in heaven with the Mother and she is everywhere by virtue of her power and her divinity. She is deeper than the sea, more stable than the earth, wider than the whole world, more pure than the air itself, and more brilliant than the sun. 

God of life and death, who numbers the days of every creature, help us to hold this world lightly. May we not put our trust in things that perish, which come and go like the rising and falling of the tide. Instead, may we store up our treasures in heaven, where moths cannot destroy and thieves cannot steal. May the fruits of our fleeting existence contribute to your glory and may we meet our grave with grace, O God of every ending. Amen

Reader 5

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

Everyone prepares their bread and wine

Officiant

When his time was coming near, Jesus took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves, for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Everyone

Loving Mother God, from whom all things come and to whom all things will return, bless this bread and wine that it 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

Officiant

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 beings and allow us to participate in his timeless resurrection from the dead.

Everyone takes communion while the officiant chants/reads

They knew the Lord, alleluia
	In the breaking of bread, alleluia
The bread that we break, alleluia
        Is the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, alleluia
The cup which we bless, alleluia
	Is the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, alleluia

For the forgiveness of our sins, alleluia
       May your mercy be upon us, O Lord, alleluia
For we have hoped in you, alleluia
       They knew the Lord, alleluia

We believe, O Lord
       We believe that in this breaking of the body
And the shedding of blood
       That we are redeemed
And we trust that by receiving 
      This sacrament we will be strengthened 

So that what we hold at present 
       In faith we will come to enjoy
In true heavenly fruitfulness 
       Through Christ our Lord

May our prayer ascend, alleluia
       To your throne of brightness, Lord, alleluia
And let our prayer, alleluia
       Not return to us empty amen

5 min silence

Reader 6

The sacred writers lift up a hymn of praise
	To the goodness of God
They call it beautiful and beauty
	They call it love and beloved

They give it names which convey
	That it is the source of loveliness
And is the flowering of grace
	Creating beauty in the world

From beauty comes the existence of all things
	Each being shows its own way of beauty
For beauty is the cause of harmony
	Of sympathy and of community

Beauty unites all things together
	Beauty is the source of all things 
It is the great creating cause
	Which bestirs the entire world

Beauty holds all things in existence
	By the longing inside them to be beautiful
And there it is ahead of all as the goal
	As the beloved cause towards which all things move

It is indeed the longing for beauty
	Which brings creatures into being
It is the model to which they conform
	Beauty is the reason for creation

The beautiful is therefore the same as the good
	Everything looks to the beautiful and the good
Together as the cause of all being
	There is nothing in the universe
        Without a share in the beautiful and the good

Officiant

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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