So the apostles
in Jerusalem
hearing that Samaria had accepted the word of the Lord
sent to them,
Peter and John.

These two having gone down
prayed for them
so that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

For not yet
had he had fallen
upon any of them,
but they had only been baptised
in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then as they began putting their hands on them
they received the Holy Spirit.

Then Simon seeing
that through the laying on the hands of the apostles
the Spirit was given,
brought to them money, saying:
‘Give to me as well,
this authority so that
on whom I lay my hands
might receive the Holy Spirit.’

But Peter said to him:
‘Let your silver perish with you,
because you thought
you could buy
the gift of God with money!
There is no share for you,
or part in this matter.
For your heart is not right before God.
Therefore repent from your evil
and pray to the Lord,
if now perhaps he will forgive you
the intention of your heart.
For I see you are in the gall of bitterness
and the chain of unrighteousness.’

So Simon answered:
‘Pray for me
to the Lord,
that it might not come upon me
as you have spoken’

Therefore those who had testified and spoken the word of the Lord,
returned to Jerusalem,
proclaiming to many Samaritan villages.

O Love, O God who created me, in your love recreate me.
O Love, who redeemed me,
fill up in me whatever part of your love
has fallen into neglect within me.
O Love, O God, who first loved me,
grant that with my whole heart,
and with my whole soul,
and with my whole strength,
I may love you.

Gertrude the Great

A certain man, named Simon
had practised magic
previously in the city,
and amazed the people of Samaria,
while saying he was someone great.
Whom all watched closely,
from the least to the greatest,
saying:
‘This (man?) is the power of God,
which is called Great.’
So they paid close attention to him,
because he amazed them
with magic
for a considerable time.

But when they believed Philip
as he preached about the Kingdom of God
and the name of Jesus,
they were baptised
men and also women.

Even
Simon
himself believed
and was baptised;
staying close to Philip
watching the signs and great miracles that happened,
he was amazed.

Teach us, good Lord,
to serve thee as thou deservest;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

St Ignatius

So then those who had been scattered,
went about
preaching the Word.
And Philip
having gone down to the city of (the region of) Samaria
was preaching Christ to them.
And the crowds were paying close attention
to the words of Philip
as one,
as they heard and saw
the signs, which he did.
For many who had unclean spirits-
as they cried out with a loud voice
they came out-
and many who had been paralysed
or lame were healed.

And it happened that there was great joy in the city.

Grant, Lord,
that we may hold to you without parting,
worship you without wearying,
serve you without failing;
faithfully seek you,
happily find you,
and forever possess you,
the only God,blessed now and for ever.
Amen

St Anselm

And Saul approved of his killing.

And a severe persecution
happened
on that day
upon the congregation
which was in Jerusalem,
then all were scattered
over the countries of Judea and Samaria-
except the apostles.

And devout men buried Stephen
and made great lamentation over him.

But Saul started to ravage the church:
entering house after house,
dragging off men and women,
he was handing them over to prison.

Thank you, dear Jesus,
for all you have given me,
for all you have taken away from me,
for all you have left me.

Thomas More (c.1478-1535)

Then, hearing these things
their hearts became furious
and they ground their teeth
at him.

But being full of the Holy Spirit
he looked straight to heaven
and he saw the glory of God
and Jesus, standing at the right hand of God
and he said:
‘Look, I see the heavens opened
and the Son of Man,
standing at the right hand of God.’

But having called out with a great cry
they stopped their ears and
they rushed,
with a single purpose,
at him.
And when they had dragged him out of the city
they threw stones at him
and the witnesses put down their cloaks
at the feet of young man, called Saul.
And they threw stones at Stephen
who was praying:
‘Lord Jesus
receive my spirit.’
Kneeling,
he cried out with a loud voice,
‘Lord, do not blame them
for this sin. ‘

And saying this he fell asleep.

And Saul approved of his killing.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy,
For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen

(This is the one….received living words to give to you).
to whom our fathers
did not to wish to become obedient,
but they rejected
and they turned in their hearts to the Egyptians,
saying to Aaron:
‘Make for us gods
who will go before us.
For this Moses
who brought us out from Egypt
we do not know what has become of him¹
And they made a calf
in those days
and they brought a sacrifice
to the idol,
and they were glad
in the works of their hands.

So God turned away and handed
them over to serve
the stars in the sky
as it has been written in the Book of the Prophets:
You did not bring victims and sacrifices to me
during forty (years) in the desert, house of Israel, did you?
and you took up the tent of Moloch
and the star of your god Raphan
the images which you made to worship
and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.²

1. Ex 32:1,23 ↩︎
2. Amos 5 25- 27 ↩︎

Teach us, good Lord,
to serve thee as thou deservest;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

St Ignatius

And after forty years
an angel, in a flame of a burning bush
appeared to him
in the wilderness of Mount Sinai
So, Moses seeing (this)
was marvelling at the sight,
and when he approached to look closer
there came the voice of the Lord.
I am the god of your fathers,
The God of Abraham, and of Isaac and of Jacob¹.
Then Moses began to tremble,
and did not dare to look closer.

The Lord said to him:
‘Take off the sandals from your feet,
for the place on which you stand is holy ground.
I have certainly seen the oppression of my people
who are in Egypt
and I have heard their groaning,
and I have come down to rescue them.
And now, come!
I will send you into Egypt. ²

This Moses,
whom they disowned,
saying:
‘who appointed you ruler and judge?
this one, God sent
as ruler and liberator
with the hand of the angel
who appeared to him in the bush.

This one lead them out
by doing wonders and signs
in Egypt
and at the Red Sea
and in the wilderness for forty years.

This is the Moses
who said to the Children of Israel
‘God will raise a prophet like me to you
from among your brothers.’³

This is the one
who was in the congregation
in the desert
with the angel
who spoke to him on Mount Sinai
and with our fathers
he received
living words
to give to you.

1. Ex 3: 7-8, 9 ↩︎
2. Deut 18:15 ↩︎

When he was forty years old,
it entered his heart
to help his brothers,
the sons of Israel.
And when he saw someone being mistreated
he came to help them,
and he took revenge
on behalf of the person who was being mistreated
by striking down the Egyptian.
So he supposed his brothers would understand
that God was saving them
by his hand.
But they did not understand.

Then on the next day
he saw (two men) fighting –
and he tried to make peace between them, saying
‘Men, you are brothers;
why do you harm each other?’

But the one harming his neighbour
pushed him aside, saying:
‘Who appointed you ruler and judge
over us?
You do not wish to kill me
in the way you killed
yesterday
the Egyptian, do you?’

Then Moses fled,
at this word,
and he became a sojourner
in the the land of Midian,
where he ‘became father’ to two sons.

Thank you, dear Jesus,
for all you have given me,
for all you have taken away from me,
for all you have left me.

Thomas More (c.1478-1535)

Just as the time of the promise
drew near
as God had assured Abraham,
the people grew and
increased in Egypt
when
another King came to power
over Egypt
who did not know Joseph.¹
He took advantage of our people
and mistreated our fathers
who made them
expose their children
so that they wouldn’t survive.
At that time Moses was born
and he was pleasing to God.
Who for three months was brought up
in the house of his father
Then being abandoned
Pharoah’s daughter took him up for herself
and adopted him
as her own son.
And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians
and he was powerful in his words and deeds

1. Exodus 1 ↩︎

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy,
For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen

And the patriarchs
being jealous of Joseph
sold him into Egypt.
yet God was with him
and rescued him from all his troubles
and gave him grace and wisdom
before Pharoah, King of Egypt,
and he appointed him to rule over Egypt
and over the whole of his house.

Then famine came over the whole of Egypt and Canaan
and great trouble
and the fathers did not find any food.

Then Jacob
hearing that there was wheat in Egypt
sent off our fathers, first.
And the second time,
Joseph was made known to his brothers
and Joseph’s family became known to Pharoah.

So Joseph having sent (a message)
sent for Jacob our father,
and all the relatives,
amounting to 75.

And Jacob went down to Egypt
and he died
and our fathers.
And they were taken back to Shechem
and they were put in the tomb
which Abraham had bought,
for a certain sum of silver
from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

O Lord Jesus Christ,
stay beside me to defend me,
within me to guide me,
before me to lead me,
and above me to bless me,
that with you and in you,
I may live, and move and have my being,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

(unknown)