In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and God – the Word was.
Lord God,
you feed us with the living bread from heaven;
you renew our faith,
increase our hope,
and strengthen our love.
Teach us to hunger
for Christ who is the true and living bread,
and to live by every word
that comes from your mouth,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
So,
to the one who is able to keep you from stumbling,
and to present (you) before his glory
faultless
with rejoicing
to the only God
our saviour
through Jesus Christ our Lord
– be
glory
majesty
power
and authority
before all the ages
and now
and for all ages
Amen
Eternal Light, shine into our hearts;
Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil;
Eternal Power, be our support;
Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance:
That we may seek your face
with all our heart and mind and soul and strength. Amen.
Alcuin
So you, beloved,
remember the sayings
having been pronounced
by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ
that they said to you all:
‘At the last time
there will be mockers,
going according to their own desires of ungodlinesses.
These are the divisive people,
– natural
– not having the Spirit.
But you, beloved,
by building yourselves up
in your most holy faith
by praying in the Holy Spirit,
keep yourselves in the love of God,
waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ,
for the life eternal.
And
have mercy on those who are disputing
save others by snatching them from the fire
have mercy on others in fear
even hating the clothes
stained by the flesh.
God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.
And so
Enoch,
the seventh man from Adam
prophesied
saying:
‘Behold,
‘The Lord came
with his ten thousands of holy ones,
to make judgement against all and
to convict all souls
about all their works of ungodliness
which they-have-done-in-ungodly-ways and
about all the hard things
which they have said
against him:
–godless sinners!1
These are complainers, grumblers
going
according to their own desires
and their mouths speak ‘big words’
‘amazing faces’
for the sake of gain.
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
Woe to them! –
because they have gone the way of Cain,
and have plunged themselves
into Balaam’s error
for a reward
and have been destroyed
by the controversy of Korah.
These people
at your love feasts
are dangerous-reefs
feasting with you
without reverence;
-shepherds who look after themselves
-waterless clouds,
blown along by the wind
– trees, belonging to late autumn,
fruitless
(twice dead)
being uprooted
–wild waves of the sea
foaming up their own shame
– wandering stars
for whom the gloom, that is darkness
has been kept for ever.
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
Actually
these people
who ‘have dreams’,
defile flesh
reject the authority-of-the-Lord
and slander the glorious ones.
But Michael, the archangel,
when he was arguing with the devil
and disputing
about the body of Moses,
did not dare to pronounce judgement
for slander
but he said:
‘May the Lord rebuke you.’
But these people
– as many things they do not understand
they slander
– as many things
that by instinct
they understand
like irrational animals
by these things
they are being destroyed
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)
And next (you will remember)
the angels
who did not keep to their own domain
but left their proper dwelling
he has kept
for the judgement of the great day
in eternal chains
in deep darkness,
And so too
Sodom and Gomorrah
and the towns around them
in the same way as these
lived immorally
and went after flesh of another kind
are displayed as evidence
that is by undergoing eternal fire.
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
So I want to remind you,
– who know all this:
that once
the Lord
having saved the People from the Egyptians
later
destroyed
those who did not believe.
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)
Judah1,
a slave of Jesus Christ,
a brother of Jacob2,
to those who are called,
beloved in God the Father
and kept for Jesus Christ;
Mercy to you all,
and peace
and may love be multiplied!
Beloved,
making all speed to write to you all
about our common salvation
I had need to write to you
encouraging you
to continue to struggle
for the faith
which was passed onto the saints
once-and-for-all
For certain people have slipped in,
who long ago
were marked out
for this condemnation
-godless
who are changing the grace of our God,
into immorality
and denying
our only master
and our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Steer the ship of my life, good Lord, to your quiet harbour,
where I can be safe from the storms of sin and conflict.
Show me the course I should take.
Renew in me the gift of discernment,
so that I can always see the right direction in which I should go.
And give me the strength and the courage to choose the right course,
even when the sea is rough and the waves are high,
knowing that through enduring hardship and danger in your name
we shall find comfort and peace.
Amen
Basil of Caesarea (c.329-379)
A song of the ascents.
1There, bless Yahweh, all you servants of Yahweh,
you who stand in Yahweh’s house at night.
2Raise your hands to the sacred place
and bless Yahweh.
3May Yahweh bless you from Tsiyyon
– the one who is maker of heavens and earth.
Lord God,,
you feed us with the living bread from heaven;
you renew our faith,
increase our hope,
and strengthen our love.
Teach us to hunger
for Christ who is the true and living bread,
and to live by every word
that comes from your mouth,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.