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Archive for the ‘Lent’ Category

Meditation and Prayer-Saturday After Ash Wednesday

Posted in Lent, Medititions, Prayer on February 17, 2018| Leave a Comment »


I am

Saturday After Ash Wednesday-Lenten Feria

Why should I take self-examination in hand now? Because that which may be done at any time is often not done at all, and it is well, therefore, to have a time for everything. If our self-examination be sincere and thorough it ought to lead to our having a share in the sorrow of our blessed Lord in the wilderness, who sorrowed on account of our sins, and because of the ruin and unhappiness which sin inevitably produces.

1. If He asks us to put away our sins it is for our own good that He does so, that, purifying ourselves even as He is pure, we may have a share in His peace now and a place in His everlasting kingdom hereafter.

2. There is no real difficulty in self-examination if we are honest with ourselves. All we have to do is to open our eyes and endeavor to see things as they are, not to deceive ourselves, nor to blind ourselves to the truth, but to endeavour to make out clearly whether we are in all things striving to live according to God’s will or not. “Know thyself,” was one of the maxims of ancient wisdom. To have self-knowledge is to be forearmed.

3. If anything is worth doing at all it is worth doing well; but no one can do his work well who does not examine it from time to time as he goes on, that he may be sure that he is making no mistake in doing it. In our service of God, to which we were pledged in our baptism, we may, in like manner, make many mistakes if we do not seek guidance and advice from others, and if we do not now and then look at our lives that we may see what the course of them may be, and examine our consciences that we may take note of what they have to say with regard to our daily lives. “Examine yourselves,” wrote St. Paul to the Corinthians, “examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.” II Corinthians xiii. 5.

Prayer

Teach me, O God, I beseech Thee, and show me all my faults; and then make me to be truly sorry for them, and help me to put them from me, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Meditation for Friday After Ash Wednesday

Posted in Lent, Medititions, Prayer on February 16, 2018| Leave a Comment »


prayer-bible

Friday After Ash Wednesday-Lenten Feria

I have thought of self-examination as a duty to be performed in Lent. Now let’s consider what self-examination is. As its name implies, it is a taking of ourselves to task at set seasons. We take stock of ourselves so that we may see whether we are going backward or forward in our love and obedience towards God.

A merchant at certain intervals takes stock of his goods that he may see how his temporal affairs stand; whether his business is prospering and whether he is able to pay his way. He knows that, if he did not do this, his loss might be very great. If he did not sometimes put his receipts and stock side by side with his expenses, and see on which side the balance lies, he might find some day that his expenses had outrun his receipts.

Then, his own great loss and confusion he was not able to pay his debts. It is something like this when we endeavor to see from time to time how we are going on, and how we stand towards God, lest when it is too late we find that we have been neglecting or disobeying Him, perhaps without thinking about it, or deliberately intending it.

Prayer

Direct us, O Lord, in all our doings, with thy most gracious favour, and further us with thy continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in thee, we may glorify thy holy Name, and finally, by thy mercy, obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

This, then, must be my endeavor. I need not worry myself, but quietly, and with all simplicity, ask myself what is my aim m life; and whether my aim, like that of the Lord Jesus Christ, is to do the will of God. But if I am not careful, I may think that I am doing God’s will when I am not; or I may be failing to obey His word, and yet perhaps not troubling myself much on account of it. Or I may be giving way to some fault which God calls me to renounce and overcome; or I may be leading myself astray by allowing myself to think that I have nothing to repent of when I have; or that sins and follies indulged in earlier life are forgiven because I have forgotten them; when I have no real reason to suppose that they are pardoned, since I have never confessed them to God, nor asked Him to forgive me through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer

Help me, then, O God, for. His sake, to look well ‘into my heart and life, that, Confessing and forsaking my sins, I may obtain forgiveness through Him. Amen.

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Thursday After Ash Wednesday-Meditation

Posted in Lent, Medititions, Saint's Days on February 15, 2018| Leave a Comment »


Japan

Thursday After Ash Wednesday and Holy Martyrs of Japan

I have resolved that, by the help of God, I will pray and strive for the fulfilment of His will concerning me. I want to make a new start; to begin afresh, as though I had newly come to the service of God.

If so, I shall have to begin with quiet, thoughtful, self-examination; and then I must humbly acknowledge my faults. And if I am to do this aright, I need the new and contrite heart for which we are taught to pray during Lent. The very word “contrition” carries with it the idea of sorrow, but it is reasonable and manly if we have done wrong to be sorry for it, and to acknowledge it. This, then, is my first point; I need to have the evil of my past life blotted out, that free and unburdened I may make a new beginning in my endeavour to serve God, to make glad the heart of my father and mother, to gratify the good wishes of my friends, and to do credit to myself. For it would be of little avail to lay the confession of my past sins before Him who bore our sins in His own body on the cross, if I did not hope and intend to go forward in His service for the time to come.

I must be good if I would do good. “A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit.” If I am to live a new life, I need. a new heart.” A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” This new creation within us, like all the works of God, is gradual. I must take my part therein. As I must work with God in order to the maintenance of my bodily life, and the development of my physical strength, using food, sleep, and exercise, the means which He has provided; so also I must work with Him in the maintenance and development of my spiritual life. He who calls me to this work will Himself work with me, that it may at length be brought to a successful issue.

Prayer

Yea, O Almighty God, send upon me, I pray Thee, the Holy Spirit from on high, and create in me a new and contrite heart, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Lent For Busy People

Posted in Lent on February 14, 2018| Leave a Comment »


Calm

Lenten Reading

Sometimes the “old things” of this world find application to the modern world. In fact, perhaps these items from days gone by never really went out of style. They have languished for years on dusty shelves \until rediscovered by a new generation.

This is precisely the case with a small book entitled Lent for Busy People and for The Young. In its pages are meditations, prayers, an history of the Lenten season and some rules for, and observations on fasting.

I will be serializing this revised work during Lent 2018 and reproducing the text with minimal, if any, change. Some of the language may seem a bit Victorian because, well, the book was originally published during the reign of Victoria in the year of our Lord 1884. Some of the references may be a bit dated. Yet, this little volume continues to inform and inspire more than 130 years since its publication in London.

We’ll began with the some observations on, and rules for following, a fasting discipline. I particularly commend this latter portion of  the introduction with the caveat that fasting is not meant to impair one’s health. If you are having health issues, or even if you in peak condition, consulting a physician before beginning a fast is a: “best practice.”

“If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be; if any man serve Me, him will My Father honour.”

Our solemn Lent has come again, A time for fast and prayer,
For all who, tempted like their Lord, His victory would share.
Fast crowding on our youthful hearts
Come mournful thoughts of Thee, Thoughts of Thy loneliness and pain,
Thy want, Thy misery.
And bitter thoughts of all the sin
That brought our Lord so low, When in the awful wilderness
Ho battled with our foe.
Those sinful tempers that arise,
Those words and deeds of ill,
Oh, how they pressed upon Him then,
Oh, how they grieve Him still
Jesus, our Saviour, can it be
That we should see Thee there,
See Thee in all that bitter grief,
Without a thought or care?
No, let us rather daily strive
Against besetting sin,
And look to Thee, our conquering Lord,
New victories to win.
The strength that made Thee triumph then,
The patience and the power,
The all-prevailing grace and love,
That brought nee through that hour;
These Thou dost promise unto us,
Whom Thou hast loved so well;
We triumph in Thy victory won,
Thy conquest over hell. Amen.

“Surely in what, place my Lord the King shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will Thy servant be.”

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Ash Wednesday

Posted in Lent, Prayer on February 14, 2018| Leave a Comment »


ash wednesday

A reminder that Ash Wednesday Mass with Imposition of Ashes is at 12:00 noon and 6:30 p.m.

ASH WEDNESDAY

“Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children…”-Joel 2:15

WHY should I keep Lent? Lent is a time of self, denial and self-examination, and while I am young, and strong, and active I may surely put this aside until I have need to be more serious. But still is it not the case that the truest man or woman and the noblest boy or girl are they who, as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, lov¬ingly obey His precepts, imitate His example, and follow in His footsteps?

I cannot help feeling that it is infinitely better to be pure than to be impure, to be true than to be false, to be humble than to be proud, to be brave than to be a coward. I also know that it is impossible to be pure, and true, and humble, and brave without a struggle. It is through toil and trouble that we enter into almost everything that is worth entering into in this life; and it is only through much tribula¬tion that we can enter into the kingdom of God, which is the kingdom of truth and purity and love.

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself spent forty days in the wilderness, and when He was tempted, overcame every temptation. The two great saints who appeared with Him in His glory on the Mount of the Transfiguration, also spent a like period of retirement, Moses twice and Elijah once. Moses was preparing himself for his great work of giving God’s law to His people; and Elijah for God’s revelation of Himself to him by means of the “still, small, voice.”

And I, too, may have much to learn this Lent both concerning God and concerning myself; and perchance some faults to overcome, whether I be well aware of them or only dimly conscious of them, or indeed not yet aware of them at all. Or I may have some virtues to gain, of which, perhaps, I am now sadly in need.

Prayer

Therefore, O God, teach me by Thy Holy Spirit to know Thee, and to know myself; and help me, I pray Thee, to keep this Lent devoutly and profitably, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Lent in Prayer

Posted in Lent, Prayer on February 13, 2018| Leave a Comment »


lent-prayer

LENTEN DAILY PRAYERS.

Morning.

Earnest, regular prayer If you are unaccustomed to keeping the Daily Offices, here are some patterns of prayer that you can use during Lent. It is a desirable thing that you learn to take on Morning and Evening Prayer as a regular discipline, but, these patterns and prayers are a good place to start and, for the really busy person, they form a sufficient pattern of prayer for the day.

Do not allow yourself to be rushed. Get out of bed early enough that you can say your prayers with attention and clarity. Kneel down, and try to put away for the moment all other thoughts, and to feel that you are in God’s presence.

Lord, have mercy upon me.
Christ, have mercy upon me.
Lord, have mercy upon me.
Our Father, &c.
The Collect or Collects for the week (or for the day, if it be a holy day or feast day).

Praised be the Lord daily;
Even the God who helpeth us, and poureth His benefits upon us.
I laid me down and slept, and rose up again:
For the Lord sustained me.

Glory be to the Father, &c.
As it was in the beginning, &c.
Lord, hear my prayer,
And let my cry come unto Thee.

ALMIGHTY GOD, our Heavenly Father, who hath graciously preserved me during the past night, have mercy, upon me, I pray Thee, and vouchsafe to
cleanse me from all stain of sin in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour; keep me, I beseech Thee, from all harm and evil during this day, and grant that through the grace of Thy Holy Spirit I may truly love, and serve, and warship, Thee, O God, to the glory of Thy Name, both this and all the days of my life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

PRAYERS.

O LORD JESUS CHRIST, Son of the living God, and Saviour of the world, who west made man, and nailed to the bitter Cross to save us from sin and to redeem us from death; help me, I humbly beseech Thee, O My Lord and Saviour, to resist all tempta¬tions, and to overcome all my faults, to be watchful over myself, and to follow Thee in the blessed steps of Thy most holy life, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, One God, world without end. Amen.

Read over, quietly and thoughtfully, the reading for the day in the Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer; and when you rise and go to your occupation, remember that the love of God should be in all things our motive, and that the fear of God is always a great protection against temptation.

Midday.

If your occupations afford you the opportunity, try to secure a few moments for a short prayer at midday. Thus:
O Saviour of the world, who by Thy cross and precious blood hath redeemed us; save me, and help me, I humbly beseech Thee, O Lord.

Our Father, &c.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and. the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.

Evening.

Kneel down, clear you mind and try to forget everything else, and say: O God, Thou searcher of our hearts, I am in Thy presence, have mercy upon me and help me truly to examine myself, I beseech Thee.

1. Did I get up in proper time this morning, and did I say my prayers reverently and carefully?
2. Have I done all things to-day faithfully and well that I might please God, and glorify His name?
3. Have I today done, or said, or thought anything I am ashamed of; anything that I know and feel must offend God, and. grieve His Holy Spirit? (Don’t hurry over this question, but think well before you answer it)
4. Have I today done any wrong to any one, or led any one to do wrong?
5. Have I any reason to think that I am growing better, and living more and more according to God’s Will.

Then confess to God the sins and faults which your self-examination may have brought to light, and pray for forgiveness. You may use some such form as this:

O GOD, the FATHER, the Son, and the HOLY GHOST, I am sorry that I have sinned against Thee, and I confess unto Thee my faults; I confess that I have sinned, that I have . . . O Heavenly Father, I beseech Thee to pardon me for His sake who bore our sins in His own body on the cross, and now ever liveth to make intercession for us: make me, I pray Thee, more sorry. for my faults, and help me by Thy Holy Spirit to over. come them all, through the Same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(If your examination and confession are made in a merely formal way without any earnest feeling, it may do you no good, and you will not receive pardon from God.)

OUR FATHER, &C.

Unto Thee, O LORD, will I pay my vows;
Unto Thee do I give thanks.
I will lay me down in peace and take my rest;
For it is Thou, Lord, only that makest me dwell in
safety.

Glory be to the Father, &c.
As it was in the beginning, &c.
Lord, hear my prayer.
And let my cry come unto Thee.

ALMIGHTY God, our Heavenly Father, who halt given us the day for work and the night for rest, I humbly beseech Thee to take me under Thy gracious care during this night, and to grant that as Thy holy angels always do Thee service in heaven, so by Thy appointment they may succour and defend us on earth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

ADDITIONAL PRAYERS

O GOD, with whom the darkness is as clear as the light, and who art about our path and about our bed, keep me, I beseech Thee, that in nothing I may offend Thee; and grant that at morning light I may rise refreshed and glad to enjoy Thy mercies, and by Thy grace to do Thee service, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O GOD, whom I desire to love and obey, grant, I beseech Thee, that, abiding by faith in Thy blessed Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, I may be evermore guided, strengthened, and sanctified by Thy Holy Spirit, that so I may in all things do Thy will, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I thank Thee, O God, for the blessings of the day past, and of this life in general ; and for my creation, redemption, and regeneration, for Thy grace, and for my faith in Thee, I desire most humbly to thank Thee, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be¬seeching Thee graciously to hear my prayers, and to grant me Thy peace and Thy blessing, both this night and for evermore. Amen.

You may add prayers for other blessings in your own words. The following are suggested as blessings which you will always do well to pray for, although of course you need not pray for them all at any one time.

• That you may have grace to purify yourself in thought, word, and deed, even as the Lord Jesus Christ is pure; and that you may grow more and more like unto Him in all things.
• That you may be sanctified in body, soul, and spirit, through the grace of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.
• That God will teach you to pray, and also to do His will.
• That He will help you to worship Him in spirit and in truth, and to obey His commandments.
• That He will help you, fighting manfully under Christ’s banner, to conqueryour besetting sin, and to cast it from you.
• That He will give you grace to watch and pray, and to resist all the temptations by which you may be assailed.
• That you may increase in every Christian grace, and persevere in every good word and work.
• That you may be able to live peaceably with all, and that you may have grace always to do to all as you would have them do to you.
• That you may do all your work honestly, diligently, and faithfully.
• That you may have strength and energy to do all things thoroughly and well.
• That you may be prospered in all things according to God’s will.
• That you may always set before you your duty, and be enabled always to do that which is right.
• That you may be blessed with health and strength, with vigour and activity.
• That God will pour upon your father and mother His grace and heavenly benediction.
• That He will keep your brothers and sisters from all harm and evil, and guide and prosper them in all things.
• That to all your relations and friends He will grant His mercy, and His grace according to the need of each of them.
• That you and your daily companions may live in brotherly love, helping one another in all good things.
• That God will guide and strengthen your Bishop and Clergy, and prosper their work according to His will.
• That He will comfort and succour the sick, the sor¬rowful, and all who are in need, or danger.
• That He will strengthen and encourage the faint¬hearted, the desponding, and all who are sorely tempted.
• That He will awaken the sinful and the careless, and lead them to repentance.
• That the heathen may everywhere be gathered into the fold of Jesus Christ our Lord.

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Ash Wednesday-First Reminder

Posted in Chant, Lent, Liturgy on February 6, 2018| Leave a Comment »


Matins1549

Ash Wednesday is fast approaching.  Here at St. Alban’s there will be no Bible study that morning, as there will be Confessions starting at 10:30 a.m.  In addition, there will be Confessions heard from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.  Clergy will be here the previous day, Shrove Tuesday for those wishing to make their Confession before Lent actually begins.

There will be two Masses with Imposition of Ashes-Noon and 6:30 p.m.  Matins will take place as usual at 8:00 a.m.

If you are looking for a particular discipline to take on this Lent, I suggest coming to Matins daily on weekdays.  There are some differences during the penitential season, notably the use of the Lenten Prose in the sung service.   You can hear a version of it much like we chant on the YouTube here:  Lenten Prose

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Some Thoughts on Lenten Prayer

Posted in Lent, Medititions, Prayer on February 2, 2018| Leave a Comment »


lenten-prayer

LENTEN DAILY PRAYERS.

Morning.
Earnest, regular prayer If you are unaccustomed to keeping the Daily Offices, here are some patterns of prayer that you can use during Lent. It is a desirable thing that you learn to take on Morning and Evening Prayer as a regular discipline, but, these patterns and prayers are a good place to start and, for the really busy person, they form a sufficient pattern of prayer for the day.
Do not allow yourself to be rushed. Get out of bed early enough that you can say your prayers with attention and clarity. Kneel down, and try to put away for the moment all other thoughts, and to feel that you are in God’s presence.

Lord, have mercy upon me.
Christ, have mercy upon me.
Lord, have mercy upon me.
Our Father, &c.
The Collect or Collects for the week (or for the day, if it be a holy day or feast day).

Praised be the Lord daily;
Even the God who helpeth us, and poureth His benefits upon us.
I laid me down and slept, and rose up again:
For the Lord sustained me.

Glory be to the Father, &c.
As it was in the beginning, &c.
Lord, hear my prayer,
And let my cry come unto Thee.

ALMIGHTY GOD, our Heavenly Father, who hath graciously preserved me during the past night, have mercy, upon me, I pray Thee, and vouchsafe to
cleanse me from all stain of sin in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour; keep me, I beseech Thee, from all harm and evil during this day, and grant that through the grace of Thy Holy Spirit I may truly love, and serve, and warship, Thee, O God, to the glory of Thy Name, both this and all the days of my life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

PRAYERS.

O LORD JESUS CHRIST, Son of the living God, and Saviour of the world, who west made man, and nailed to the bitter Cross to save us from sin and to redeem us from death; help me, I humbly beseech Thee, O My Lord and Saviour, to resist all tempta¬tions, and to overcome all my faults, to be watchful over myself, and to follow Thee in the blessed steps of Thy most holy life, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, One God, world without end. Amen.

Read over, quietly and thoughtfully, the reading for the day in the Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer; and when you rise and go to your occupation, remember that the love of God should be in all things our motive, and that the fear of God is always a great protection against temptation.

Midday.

If your occupations afford you the opportunity, try to secure a few moments for a short prayer at mid¬day. Thus:
O Saviour of the world, who by Thy cross and precious blood hath redeemed us; save me, and help me, I humbly beseech Thee, O Lord.
Our Father, &c.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and. the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.

Evening.

Kneel down, clear you mind and try to forget everything else, and say: O God, Thou searcher of our hearts, I am in Thy presence, have mercy upon me and help me truly to examine myself, I beseech Thee.
1. Did I get up in proper time this morning, and did I say my prayers reverently and carefully?
2. Have I done all things to-day faithfully and well that I might please God, and glorify His name?
3. Have I today done, or said, or thought anything I am ashamed of; anything that I know and feel must offend God, and. grieve His Holy Spirit? (Don’t hurry over this question, but think well before you answer it)
4. Have I today done any wrong to any one, or led any one to do wrong?
5. Have I any reason to think that I am growing better, and living more and more according to God’s Will.
Then confess to God the sins and faults which your self-examination may have brought to light, and pray for forgiveness. You may use some such form as this:

O GOD, the FATHER, the Son, and the HOLY GHOST, I am sorry that I have sinned against Thee, and I confess unto Thee my faults; I confess that I have sinned, that I have . . . O Heavenly Father, I beseech Thee to pardon me for His sake who bore our sins in His own body on the cross, and now ever liveth to make intercession for us: make me, I pray Thee, more sorry. for my faults, and help me by Thy Holy Spirit to over. come them all, through the Same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(If your examination and confession are made in a merely formal way without any earnest feeling, it may do you no good, and you will not receive pardon from God.)
OUR FATHER, &C.
Unto Thee, O LORD, will I pay my vows;
Unto Thee do I give thanks.
I will lay me down in peace and take my rest;
For it is Thou, Lord, only that makest me dwell in
safety.

Glory be to the Father, &c.
As it was in the beginning, &c.
Lord, hear my prayer.
And let my cry come unto Thee.
ALMIGHTY God, our Heavenly Father, who halt given us the day for work and the night for rest, I humbly beseech Thee to take me under Thy gracious care during this night, and to grant that as Thy holy angels always do Thee service in heaven, so by Thy ap¬pointment they may succour and defend us on earth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

ADDITIONAL PRAYERS

O GOD, with whom the darkness is as clear as the light, and who art about our path and about our bed, keep me, I beseech Thee, that in nothing I may offend Thee; and grant that at morning light I may rise refreshed and glad to enjoy Thy mercies, and by Thy grace to do Thee service, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O GOD, whom I desire to love and obey, grant, I beseech Thee, that, abiding by faith in Thy blessed Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, I may be evermore guided, strengthened, and sanctified by Thy Holy Spirit, that so I may in all things do Thy will, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I thank Thee, O God, for the blessings of the day past, and of this life in general ; and for my creation, redemption, and regeneration, for Thy grace, and for my faith in Thee, I desire most humbly to thank Thee, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, beseeching Thee graciously to hear my prayers, and to grant me Thy peace and Thy blessing, both this night and for evermore. Amen.

You may add prayers for other blessings in your own words. The following are suggested as blessings which you will always do well to pray for, although of course you need not pray for them all at any one time.

• That you may have grace to purify yourself in thought, word, and deed, even as the Lord Jesus Christ is pure; and that you may grow more and more like unto Him in all things.
• That you may be sanctified in body, soul, and spirit, through the grace of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.
• That God will teach you to pray, and also to do His will.
• That He will help you to worship Him in spirit and in truth, and to obey His commandments.
• That He will help you, fighting manfully under Christ’s banner, to conqueryour besetting sin, and to cast it from you.
• That He will give you grace to watch and pray, and to resist all the temptations by which you may be assailed.
• That you may increase in every Christian grace, and persevere in every good word and work.
• That you may be able to live peaceably with all, and that you may have grace always to do to all as you would have them do to you.
• That you may do all your work honestly, diligently, and faithfully.
• That you may have strength and energy to do all things thoroughly and well.
• That you may be prospered in all things according to God’s will.
• That you may always set before you your duty, and be enabled always to do that which is right.
• That you may be blessed with health and strength, with vigour and activity.
• That God will pour upon your father and mother His grace and heavenly benediction.
• That He will keep your brothers and sisters from all harm and evil, and guide and prosper them in all things.
• That to all your relations and friends He will grant His mercy, and His grace according to the need of each of them.
• That you and your daily companions may live in brotherly love, helping one another in all good things.
• That God will guide and strengthen your Bishop and Clergy, and prosper their work according to His will.
• That He will comfort and succour the sick, the sor¬rowful, and all who are in need, or danger.
• That He will strengthen and encourage the faint¬hearted, the desponding, and all who are sorely tempted.
• That He will awaken the sinful and the careless, and lead them to repentance.
• That the heathen may everywhere be gathered into the fold of Jesus Christ our Lord.

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Good Friday

Posted in Holy Week, Lent, Medititions, Prayer on April 13, 2017| Leave a Comment »


Carry the Cross

Jesus was condemned by the Jewish council.  He was and given up by Pilate first to be scourged, and then to be crucified.

Today He hung upon the cross, His head crowned with thorns, His hands and feet nailed, His failing eyes dimmed with blood, His parching throat raging with thirst.

As yet He has not spoken, except one cry which, with eyes lifted up to heaven, He uttered when, with a harsh shock, the cross had been fixed in its place, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

His Mother and the disciple whom He loved stand below, together with St. Mary Magdalene, but at the word of Jesus that disciple took Mary unto his own home, returning, however, himself to Calvary. The elders around the cross are mocking and taunting Him: not sparing even His dying pains, and the thieves join with them therein. But the prayer and the patience of Jesus have their effect on one of them, and he is enraptured with the promise that that very day he shall be with his Saviour in the rest of Paradise.

Darkness has been gathering around, startling the watchers and the crowd, and now from the midst of that darkness bursts suddenly forth a great and exceeding bitter cry, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” Peace, however, to some degree returns, and He asks for water. Then comes the first cry of victory achieved, “It is finished.” Then comes the exclamation of perfect peace, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost.+

A soldier pierced His side, and the fountain was opened for sin and for uncleanness.

Prayer

Wash me, O my Savior, in Thine own blood, and as Thou didst lay down Thy life to redeem me from all iniquity, help me now to crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts, that, overcoming by Thy grace all temptations. I may follow Thee in Thy path of obedience; so that my life may be blessed, and my death may be peaceful, and I may hereafter reign with Theo in the glory to which Thou art now restored, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost, art blessed and glorified, one God, world without end Amen.

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Wednesday in Holy Week

Posted in Holy Week, Lent, Medititions on April 11, 2017| Leave a Comment »


wednesday

At length the Lord’s ministry of teaching and healing is over, and that He may prepare Himself and His disciples for the last conflict which He is to maintain, and they are in part to witness, He and they spent this day in quiet retirement. But one of them was absent. Judas Iscariot had gone to the chief priests to inquire, “What will ye give me, and I will betray Him unto you?”

They gladly made an arrangement with him, and he readily, nay greedily, accepted their offer, and agreed to betray his Master who bad chosen him, had admitted him to His friendship, had trusted to him so as to give him the office of providing for the wants of the little company, and had lived His life of gentle innocence for the last three years in his presence. The reward they offered was small; so small indeed that the offer of it by them and the acceptance of it by him was in itself an insult to Him for whose life they were bargaining, but the covetous disciple grasped at it eagerly. It was but the fixed value of a Hebrew slave.

So, Judas, instead of resisting the temptation, gave place to the devil, and the devil entered into him. He yielded: Satan triumphed. The two were working together; and so, when the work was done, Judas hurried himself into the presence of his Judge, and went to his own place. How dangerous is a grasping, greedy, covetous spirit! What will not men sometimes do to gain money, rank, power, popularity!

The Lord Jesus Christ has been betrayed again and again since that time by those who, preferring such things before Him, have practically renounced Him that they may gain them. But sin pays very poorly. The reward of Judas was very small, and caused him no satisfaction, but the bitterest remorse, when he had received it. So it must always be. Let me watch and pray against temptation, lest perchance, like Judas, I should choose something else rather than Jesus, my Lord, and be led into sin against Him that I may gain it.

Prayer

Save me, Blessed Saviour, from the bitter remorse of an awakened conscience by helping me to choose Thee before all things, and to be faithful to Thee in all things, I humbly beseech Thee. Amen.

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