Litany for All Saints

Dear God, creator of women in your own image,
born of a woman in the midst of a world half women,
carried by women to mission fields around the globe,
made known by women to all the children of the earth,
give to the women of our time
the strength to persevere,
the courage to speak out,
the faith to believe in you beyond
all systems and institutions
so that your face on earth may be seen in all its beauty,
so that men and women become whole,
so that the Church may be converted to your will in
everything and in all ways.

We call on the holy women
who went before us,
channels of Your Word
in testaments old and new,
to intercede for us
so that we might be given the grace
to become what they have been
for the honour and glory of God.

Saint Esther, who pleaded against power for the liberation of the people. – Pray for us.
Saint Judith, who routed the plans of men and saved the community,
Saint Deborah, laywoman and judge, who led the people of God,
Saint Elizabeth of Judea, who recognised the value of another woman,
Saint Mary Magdalene, minister of Jesus, first evangelist of the Christ,
Saint Scholastica, who taught her brother Benedict to honour the spirit above the system,
Saint Hildegard, who suffered interdict for the doing of right,
Saint Joan of Arc, who put no law above the law of God,
Saint Clare of Assisi, who confronted the Pope with the image of women as equal,
Saint Julian of Norwich, who proclaimed for all of us the motherhood of God,
Saint Therese of Lisieux, who knew the call to priesthood in herself,
Saint Catherine of Siena, to whom the Pope listened,
Saint Teresa of Avila, who brought women’s gifts to the reform of the Church,
Saint Edith Stein, who brought fearlessness to faith,
Saint Elizabeth Seton, who broke down boundaries between lay women and religious by wedding motherhood and religious life,
Saint Dorothy Day, who led the Church to a new sense of justice.

Mary, mother of Jesus, who heard the call of God and answered,
Mary, mother of Jesus, who drew strength from the woman Elizabeth,
Mary, mother of Jesus, who underwent hardship bearing Christ,
Mary, mother of Jesus, who ministered at Cana,
Mary, mother of Jesus, inspirited at Pentecost,
Mary, mother of Jesus, who turned the Spirit of God into the body and blood of Christ, pray for us. Amen.

Joan Chittister, A Litany of Women for the Church
in The Living Spirit ed by Margaret Hebblethwaite

 

Ode to a Copier

I was reminded that at this time we must also pray for our photocopiers during Holy Week.
Ode to a Copier
A Prayer for Holy Week
Holy Week, dear friends, will soon draw nigh;
From St. Mark’s-in-the-Bowery to Christ Church Shanghai
Parish secretaries and their rectors, too,
Thinking of the bulletins that will ensue,
Drop to their knees and begin to quake,
Praying their copiers will stay awake Through Maundy Thursday and the rest;
Without behaving as if possessed.
Rectors wonder with uncertainty,
“Should I have purchased the extended warranty?”
Misfeeds, toner woes and a paper jam
Always seem to accompany the Paschal Lamb.
Why this happens is a great unknown,
A mystery worthy of the bishop’s throne.
So stoke the incense, say your prayers;
anything to stave off copier repairs.
As the dark shadows of Tenebrae now approach;
may your copier behave without reproach.
And as we begin the Good Friday fast,
May it wait ‘til Low Sunday to breathe its last.

Laundry Litany

Found this over at kirkepiscatoid

The Celebrant and People together, all kneeling

Most holy and merciful Father:
We confess to you and to one another,
and to the whole communion of saints
in heaven and on earth,
that we have let our laundry pile up.

The Celebrant continues

We have not paid attention to how many pairs of underwear we have left. We have not realized that the one pair of jeans we love the most lies dirty. We have run out of white socks.
Have mercy on us, Lord.

We have been deaf to your call to buy laundry detergent, and our manifold sins in this issue are intolerable to us.
Have mercy on us, Lord.

We confess to you, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness: the
lack of attention to “delicate cycle” and “regular cycle”,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation
of wearing certain items of clothing after picking them out of the dirty clothes basket,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those
who get their laundry done in a timely manner,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and
our dishonesty in mixing “colors” and “whites”,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our negligence in cleaning out the lint filter in the dryer, and our failure to
commend the faith that is in us,
We confess to you, Lord.

Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done:
for our blindness to our bulging dirty clothes basket, and our
indifference to what remains that we can wear to work and not look like a fool,
Accept our repentance, Lord.

For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our
neighbors who actually IRON their clothes, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those
who never seem to “run out” of any item of clothing,
Accept our repentance, Lord.

For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of
concern for using “earth-friendly laundry products”,
Accept our repentance, Lord.

Restore us, good Lord, and let your anger depart from us;
Favorably hear us, for your mercy is great.

Accomplish in us the work of our laundry,
That we may show forth your glory in the world.

By the cross and passion of your Son our Lord,
Bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection, white as snow, like bleached socks and underwear.

The Bishop, if present, or the Priest, stands and, facing the people, says

Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
desires not the death of laundry slugs, but rather that they may turn
from their wickedness and live, has given power and
commandment to his ministers to declare and pronounce to
his people, being penitent, the absolution and remission of
their manifold laundry sins. He pardons and absolves all those who truly
repent, and with sincere hearts believe his holy Gospel.

Therefore we beseech him to grant us true repentance and his
Holy Spirit, that those things may please him which we do on
this day, and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure
and holy, so that at the last we may come to his eternal joy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer for those in financial crisis

The Church of England has a prayer on their website for those in financial crisis. Check it out here.

It is a good thing when Church websites put on relevant prayers for others to use. Hint, hint.

Santa Caterina

St Catherine’s Feast today. I’m a big fan ever since I saw her head in a cage in Siena.

Haven’t got a pic of her fingertip but I saw it there too. I think her heart is under the church somewhere and the rest of her in Rome. She was certainly some dame.

Here’s a wee prayer I got in Siena:

O Catherine, most powerful Saint, neither the heart of sinners, nor Heaven itself were able to resist your burning faith, your words and your insistent prayers.

As in times past, so today, may we feel the strength of your intercession for the bringing of peace to all nations, liberty to those oppressed by injustices and adversities of every kind, comfort and health to those who are ill in mind and body.

Pray for the peace of the entire world, the unity and faithfulness of the people of God to its supreme Pastor, and for the good of our Country.

And remember me who trustingly invokes your aid, knowing that you never abandon in their difficulties those who consider you Mother and Guide.  Amen.

Rublev’s Trinity

Last night the prayer group spent some time in contemplation of The Trinity in our crypt chapel. Here is a modern French version for you to ponder over.

I had previously written a meditation on this icon and spent some time yesterday researching it further. Most of the stuff I read proposes that the icon depicts Father, Son and Holy Spirit in that order – from left to right. Father is grasping the staff with both hands to depict his authority. The Son is placing two fingers on the table to depict his dual nature, and pointing to the chalice. Which do you think they are?

It occurred to me as I was blethering away and leaving some silence for meditation that as an extrovert I am never very sure how much silence is needed. I suspect I didn’t leave enough but it was agony for me to sit pondering for more than a minute before I moved on to the next bit.

Next time, I shall get one of the introverts to do it and I’ll go noisy praying instead.

Ember Day

Today is the third and last Ember day in Advent. Ember days are for fasting and prayer. Since the time of Pope Gelasius I (492-496) Ember days also became a time for the ordination of clergy.

May I suggest today that we pray for all clergy at this time of year?

For those burdened with work,

for those who don’t have time to be with their family,

for those who are lonely and feel unsupported,

for those struggling with the highs and lows of each working day.

Advent God, we bring before you all those who minister to us. In this time of darkness and anticipation we hold them before your dawning light. Give them strength for the days ahead and the sure knowledge that you are with them guiding and protecting. Amen

Advent 1

Please check out http://lovebloomsbright.wordpress.com which will be updated daily during Advent offering spiritual nourishment. Thanks to Mother Kimberly for the idea and for the invitation to take part from time to time.

Make it your Advent calendar now!

Lent prayer

yesterday,
i stuffed myself
on pancakes and pleasure,
on chocolate and self-indulgence;
now,
empty me
of all those delicious desires
which make my life (and soul)
so heavy;

yesterday,
i put on that funny face
i call ‘me’
and danced through the streets
of temptation and selfishness;
now,
draw me
into those quiet places
where you can reshape me
as your child;

yesterday,
i wore a costume
bejeweled with pride’s glitter,
and rainbowed with my silly sins;
now,
clothe me
in prayer
and smudge my face
with your heart’s tears;

yesterday,
i chased after the world
into death;
now,
lead me into life
this Lent.

(c) 2007 Thom M. Shuman

Thom
Thom M. Shuman
Greenhills Community Church, Presbyterian Cincinnati, Ohio

www.occasionalsightings.blogspot.com
www.prayersfortoday.blogspot.com
www.lectionaryliturgies.blogspot.com

Prayer bonanza

You know when you agree to do something, reluctantly, and put it in your diary and then forget all about it until someone says, “I’ll see you on Saturday” and you smile and say “Yes, of course” whilst secretly wondering what on earth they are talking about. And of course you agreed to it when your eyes were just fine and dandy and when you looked in your diary regularly and would have known when something was coming up and would read and read to prepare. But now of course you are still limited to large print and scarcely glancing at the diary, especially on a day where 4 items are squeezed into that wee space that the Parson’s Pocketbook provides for each day, and you’d overlooked the Quiet Day that you are leading for the Companions of the Society of St Francis.

So this week, guess what, I shall be praying very sincerely for inspiration for some pre-Lenten and Franciscan inspiration, which doesn’t involve reading books.

I shall also be praying for the Primates meeting in Tanzania that some may cast aside their childish playground behaviour and learn to love one another, as He loved them.