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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