Fr Peter Helman (12.20.21)
Beloved,
Perhaps this morning we can take upon our hearts a few more moments to pray and offer our week to God as we approach the Feast of the Nativity. Below is a short order of devotion for this Fourth Monday of Advent.
May God bless and keep you today and always~
Peter+
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Lord, open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
A Hymn for Advent
O God enfleshed in Virgin womb,
All-might made humble on that holy night!
O mighty Hand of God, creative force,
and lordly Arm of God, stretched over boundless realm,
You are become a tender infant arm,
a Child’s hand seeking for a woman’s breast!
O little arm of Infant God, reach to my hungry breast!
And strong arm of my Mystic Spouse, encircle, ravish and possess me utterly.
O mystery of Might descending to the Lowly,
O Son of Mary, raise me to Your Father, make me holy!
(A Meditation on the Second “O Antiphon,” O Adonai, by a Sister of Saint Benedict, 1963)
The following Psalms and readings are drawn from the Daily Office Lectionary (Year II) of The Book of Common Prayer (1979). Each is marked before and after with a period of silence for reflection.
Word of God ~ Psalms 61, 62 (BCP 668), Zephaniah 3:14-20, Luke 1:1-25
(At the end of the Psalms is said)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
(After the reading from the Prophet Zephaniah, the reader may say)
Your loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall give you praise. (Ps. 63:3)
A period of silence may be kept. The following canticle is then said
The Song of Zechariah (Luke 1:68-79) Benedictus Dominus Deus
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old,
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham,
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the
shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Prayers of intercession and thanksgiving are then offered, for yourself and others
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
The following collect is then said
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The order of prayer may conclude with the Marian Antiphon said
The Marian Antiphon: Alma Redemptoris Mater
Kindly Mother of our Redeemer; great portal of heaven ever open, the sea’s far-shining star: help your people who though fallen strive to rise again. You who have brought forth, to all nature’s wonder, nature’s Lord, you own Creator: Mother yet a Virgin ever more, who received Gabriel’s joyful greeting: towards us sinners show your pity.
℣. The angel of the Lord brought tidings to Mary.
℟. And she conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Let us pray.
Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an angel may be his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
℣. May help divine be with us all, for ever abiding.
℟. And with our absent brothers and sisters. Amen.