Readings 24 May 2024 St 's Anne's Church
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer - Canticle of the Creatures Most High, all-powerful, good Lord, Yours are the praises, the glory, the honor, and all blessings. To You alone, Most High, do they belong, and no man is worthy to mention Your name. Praised be You, my Lord, with all your creatures; especially Brother Sun, who is the day, and through whom You give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor, and bears a likeness to You, Most High One. Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars; in heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful. Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind, and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather through which You give sustenance to Your creatures. Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water, which is very useful and humble and precious and chaste. |
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night;
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains us and governs us and who produces
varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.
Praised be You, my Lord,
through those who give pardon for Your love,
and bear infirmity and tribulation.
Blessed are those who endure in peace
for by You, Most High, they shall be crowned.
Praised be You, my Lord,
through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whom no living man can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin.
Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will,
for the second death shall do them no harm.
Praise and bless my Lord,
and give Him thanks,
and serve Him with great humility.
Amen.
Readings
Power in the Spirit – St Francis and St Clare
A meeting was arranged at the little church of St. Mary of the Angels. Francis had a meal prepared and spread on the ground, as was his custom. Meeting at the appointed hour, “St. Francis and St. Clare sat down together, and one of his companions with St. Clare’s companion, and all his other companions were grouped around that humble table.” As they ate, Francis “began to speak about God in such a sweet and holy and profound and divine and marvelous way that he himself and St. Clare and her companion and all the others who were at that poor little table were rapt in God.”
In the meantime the people of Assisi were horrified to see in the distance St. Mary of the Angels and the entire forest around it enveloped in flames. They rushed up the hill, hoping to put out the blaze before everything was lost. But upon arriving at the little church, they found nothing amiss. No church on fire. No forest ablaze. Nothing. Entering the church they discovered Francis, Clare, and the others “sitting around that very humble table, rapt in God by contemplation and invested with power from on high.” They then realized that the fire they had seen was not a material fire, but a spiritual fire. The blaze they saw was “to symbolize the fire of divine love which was burning in the souls” of these simple servants of Christ.
What makes Francis so important is the way he integrated in his person the empowering gifts of the Spirit with the nurturing fruit of the Spirit—love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and generosity and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. We are drawn to the sheer beauty of his personality. All of the wonder-working events in Francis’s life had this soul growth as their objective.
Perhaps Francis’ focus upon goodness can be best gathered up in Francis’s “Salutation of the Virtues.” Francis made these simple statements in praise of the various “strengths that make a moral life possible. These strengths, he says, are rooted in God and come forth from God. They are the energies of the converted life. The more we ponder this simple text, the more we see Francis as a theologian of the Spirit, for it is the Spirit who brings us into ever-deeper, ever-fuller purity of heart.
Joy in the Spirit
Holy joy is one of the most common marks of those who walk in the power of the Spirit, and Francis and his merry band possessed it in abundance. Their joy must have been a wonder to watch; just reading about it quickens the heart. These young troubadours of the Lord went from town to town, inebriated with holy joy. Even when Francis stood in front of the pope, he all but danced. Thomas of Celano wrote of this event noting that Francis “spoke with such great fervor of spirit, that, not being able to contain himself for joy … he moved his feet as though he were dancing.
Foster, Richard. Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith . John Murray Press. Kindle Edition.
Salutation of the Virtues
Hail, Queen Wisdom! May the Lord preserve you
with your sister holy pure Simplicity!
O lady holy Poverty, may the Lord save you
with your sister holy Humility!
O lady holy Charity, may the Lord save you
with your sister holy Obedience!
O all you most holy virtues,
may the Lord save you all,
from Whom you come and proceed.
Introduction to Silence
Blessing
Come, Holy Spirit
May the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
bring fire to the earth
so that the presence of God
may be seen
in a new light,
in new places,
in new ways.
May our own hearts
burst into flame
so that no obstacle,
no matter how great,
ever obstructs the message
of the God within each of us.
May we come to trust
the Word of God in our heart,
to speak it with courage,
to follow it faithfully
and to fan it to flame in others.
May the Jesus
who filled women
with his Holy Spirit
fill the world and the church
with new respect
for women’s power and presence.
Give me, Great God,
a sense of the Breath of Spirit
within me.
Sister Joan Chittister https://www.churchsp.org/pentecostpoems/
Thoughts to ponder:
Acts 2:17 ‘‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Luke 1:35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God
Mark 1:10-11 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Acts 2:2-4 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Acts 10:44-47 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues[b] and praising God. Then Peter said, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Ephesians 5:18b–19 Be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts.
through whom You light the night;
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains us and governs us and who produces
varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.
Praised be You, my Lord,
through those who give pardon for Your love,
and bear infirmity and tribulation.
Blessed are those who endure in peace
for by You, Most High, they shall be crowned.
Praised be You, my Lord,
through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whom no living man can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin.
Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will,
for the second death shall do them no harm.
Praise and bless my Lord,
and give Him thanks,
and serve Him with great humility.
Amen.
Readings
Power in the Spirit – St Francis and St Clare
A meeting was arranged at the little church of St. Mary of the Angels. Francis had a meal prepared and spread on the ground, as was his custom. Meeting at the appointed hour, “St. Francis and St. Clare sat down together, and one of his companions with St. Clare’s companion, and all his other companions were grouped around that humble table.” As they ate, Francis “began to speak about God in such a sweet and holy and profound and divine and marvelous way that he himself and St. Clare and her companion and all the others who were at that poor little table were rapt in God.”
In the meantime the people of Assisi were horrified to see in the distance St. Mary of the Angels and the entire forest around it enveloped in flames. They rushed up the hill, hoping to put out the blaze before everything was lost. But upon arriving at the little church, they found nothing amiss. No church on fire. No forest ablaze. Nothing. Entering the church they discovered Francis, Clare, and the others “sitting around that very humble table, rapt in God by contemplation and invested with power from on high.” They then realized that the fire they had seen was not a material fire, but a spiritual fire. The blaze they saw was “to symbolize the fire of divine love which was burning in the souls” of these simple servants of Christ.
What makes Francis so important is the way he integrated in his person the empowering gifts of the Spirit with the nurturing fruit of the Spirit—love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and generosity and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. We are drawn to the sheer beauty of his personality. All of the wonder-working events in Francis’s life had this soul growth as their objective.
Perhaps Francis’ focus upon goodness can be best gathered up in Francis’s “Salutation of the Virtues.” Francis made these simple statements in praise of the various “strengths that make a moral life possible. These strengths, he says, are rooted in God and come forth from God. They are the energies of the converted life. The more we ponder this simple text, the more we see Francis as a theologian of the Spirit, for it is the Spirit who brings us into ever-deeper, ever-fuller purity of heart.
Joy in the Spirit
Holy joy is one of the most common marks of those who walk in the power of the Spirit, and Francis and his merry band possessed it in abundance. Their joy must have been a wonder to watch; just reading about it quickens the heart. These young troubadours of the Lord went from town to town, inebriated with holy joy. Even when Francis stood in front of the pope, he all but danced. Thomas of Celano wrote of this event noting that Francis “spoke with such great fervor of spirit, that, not being able to contain himself for joy … he moved his feet as though he were dancing.
Foster, Richard. Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith . John Murray Press. Kindle Edition.
Salutation of the Virtues
Hail, Queen Wisdom! May the Lord preserve you
with your sister holy pure Simplicity!
O lady holy Poverty, may the Lord save you
with your sister holy Humility!
O lady holy Charity, may the Lord save you
with your sister holy Obedience!
O all you most holy virtues,
may the Lord save you all,
from Whom you come and proceed.
Introduction to Silence
Blessing
Come, Holy Spirit
May the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
bring fire to the earth
so that the presence of God
may be seen
in a new light,
in new places,
in new ways.
May our own hearts
burst into flame
so that no obstacle,
no matter how great,
ever obstructs the message
of the God within each of us.
May we come to trust
the Word of God in our heart,
to speak it with courage,
to follow it faithfully
and to fan it to flame in others.
May the Jesus
who filled women
with his Holy Spirit
fill the world and the church
with new respect
for women’s power and presence.
Give me, Great God,
a sense of the Breath of Spirit
within me.
Sister Joan Chittister https://www.churchsp.org/pentecostpoems/
Thoughts to ponder:
Acts 2:17 ‘‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Luke 1:35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God
Mark 1:10-11 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Acts 2:2-4 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Acts 10:44-47 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues[b] and praising God. Then Peter said, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Ephesians 5:18b–19 Be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts.