Eternal God,
as Mary waited for the birth of your Son,
so we wait for his coming in glory;
bring us through the birth pangs of this present age
to see, with her, our great salvation
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Ladybird Artists Advent Calendar, window 20.
‘Footprints in the snow’#CFTunnicliffe pic.twitter.com/avKaEpdva3— Helen Day (@LBFlyawayhome) December 20, 2020
Including: An Advent Meditation
The Marriage
of the Virgin
By The Rt. Rev. Mark J. Lawrence, Bishop, The Anglican Diocese
of South Carolina
The connection with my earlier comments lies in the concept of mementos and individuals and past events. Though we expect our resurrection bodies will be perfected, and not carry the disabilities or scars of the past, the Lord Jesus Christ seems to be the exception to that. When He appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, He pointed to the wounds in His hands and feet as evidence that it was indeed He (Lk. 24:40).
And later, when Thomas, who’d been absent at Christ’s first meeting with them, doubted their word, the Lord appeared and said to him, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing” (Jn. 20:27).
In his prophetic vision of the heavenly city, the Apostle John saw Jesus as “a Lamb as though it had been slain,” and he heard a huge assembly praising Him “saying with a loud voice: ‘“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!’” (Rev. 5:6, 12).
It appears from this that our Saviour will bear in His body for all eternity the marks of His passion. In a real sense they’re mementos of Calvary, reminders of what He did for us there. These tokens of His sacrifice will continue to fill us with gratitude and be reflected in our songs of praise, as we join in “the song of the Lamb” (Rev. 15:3). A stanza of Cennick’s revised hymn (not often used today) speaks of this. (See stanza six below.)
CH-6) The dear tokens of His passion
Still His dazzling body bears;
Cause of endless exultation
To His ransomed worshipers;
With what rapture, with what rapture,
Gaze we on those glorious scars!
Don't forget today at 1 pm @evangelibrary Autumn Lunch Time Lecture 3, the third and final one in the series "Three men named John". Come and hear Gary Brady on John the forgotten Methodist on John Cennick. pic.twitter.com/nMB4gwvLsW
— Evangelical Library (@evangelibrary) December 3, 2018
O God, who orderest the common things of the common day, dignify by thy presence and aid the trivial round and routine tasks of thy servant whose hope is in thee, that least duties may be grandly done and all activities marked with the seal of thy righteousness; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
–Robert W. Rodenmayer, ed., The Pastor’s Prayerbook: Selected and arranged for various occasions (New York: Oxford University Press, 1960)
Christ Church Advent Calendar – Day 17
"The holly and the ivy
When they are both full grown
Of all trees that are in the wood
The holly bears the crown."Photos by Matt Wright@DioceseNorwich pic.twitter.com/5TpHGxYHSg
— Christ Church Eaton Norwich (@EatonChrist) December 17, 2020
O Lord our God, in whose hands is the issue of all things, and who requirest from thy stewards not success but faithfulness: Give us such faith in thee and in thy sure purposes, that we measure not our lives by what we have done or failed to do, but by our obedience to thy holy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
—Daily Prayer, Eric Milner-White and G. W. Briggs, eds. (London: Penguin Books 1959 edition of the 1941 original)
Good morning dear friends#potos #photography #morning #sunrise pic.twitter.com/PbM9PQqN48
— Hugo (Alessandro) ⚓️ (@KatanaHugo) December 16, 2020
O God, who didst send thy messengers and prophets to prepare the way of thy Son before him: Grant that our Lord when he cometh may find in us a dwelling prepared for himself; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who came to take our nature upon him that he might bring many sons unto glory, and now with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, ever one God, world without end.
–A New Prayer Book (London: Oxford University Press 1923)
Ladybird Artists Advent Calendar, window 15.
‘The North Wind Doth Blow’#FrankHampson pic.twitter.com/AY4nmeETrB— Helen Day (@LBFlyawayhome) December 15, 2020
The sermon starts about 27:10 in–listen carefully for a great story from the state of New Hampshire which you likely haven’t heard.
In the Anglican Communion, we hope to see the restoration so pleaded for in the Scriptures,
“Restore our fortunes, LORD,
like streams in the Negev.
Those who sow with tears
will reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with them.” (Psalm 126:4-6)
This is the cry of our hearts. We lament the fractured church, and division between the followers of Jesus. We grieve for those in Australia, Wales, and England who have recently determined they will now embrace teaching which contradicts the clear laws of God. For we too, long for a unified, Christ-centered, orthodox, and missionary Church. We long for the impairment of broken promises, failed leadership, and relational walls to come down. We long for the Anglican Communion to be strong in Christ Jesus and abiding by the Scriptures. We don’t long for the glory days, but rather we long and wait for the Lord, as J.R. R. Tolkien quipped, to make all the sad things come untrue.
The irony of the Faith is that we wait. We wait for restoration. But our waiting is not without action. The most important activity of a waiting church is repentance – turning from our known sins and disobedience to God’s Word and walking from this day forward in holiness and righteous living in Him. In his great work, God is in the Manger: Reflections of Advent and Christmas, Dietrich Bonhoeffer says,
“God can make a new beginning with people whenever God pleases, but not people with God. Therefore, people cannot make a new beginning at all; they can only pray for one. Where people are on their own and live by their own devices, there is only the old, the past.”
This is why repentance is crucial.
Click here to read in English: https://t.co/B2cr5yxmbg
Cliquez ici pour lire la Lettre en Français: https://t.co/w7y94e0Jxa
Para ler a carta em Português, clique aqui: https://t.co/ZmAaBdnpub
Para leer la carta en Español, haga clic aquí: https://t.co/UuCtfXdMyX— GAFCON (@gafconference) December 14, 2020
O Christ our God, who wilt come to judge the world in the manhood which thou hast assumed: We pray thee to sanctify us wholly, that in the day of thy coming we may be raised up to live and reign with thee for ever.
3rd Sunday Of Advent pic.twitter.com/xisSBsSjF5
— Cris Allen Santos (@Cris86471367) December 12, 2020
O Lord Jesus Christ, before whose judgment-seat we must all appear and give account of the things done in the body: Grant, we beseech thee, that when the books are opened in that day, the faces of thy servants may not be ashamed; through thy merits, O blessed Saviour, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.
On this 3rd Sunday in #Advent let us focus on John as the bringer of the news of Jesus coming, and rejoice in the joy of knowing that the Lord is coming. pic.twitter.com/AlxE9N5ydh
— Catholic Church (@catholicEW) December 12, 2020
O Heavenly Father, whose most dearly beloved Son has come once to save the world, and will come again to judge the world: Help us, we pray thee, to watch like servants who wait for the coming of their lord. May we abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost; and, having this hope, may we purify ourselves by thy grace, even as Christ is pure. Grant this, O Father, for his sake and for the glory of thy holy name.
Ladybird Artists Advent Calendar,
window 12.
Mam Tor, Derbyshire #SRBadmin pic.twitter.com/iorvc7BoFq— Helen Day (@LBFlyawayhome) December 12, 2020
O Lord God, heavenly Father, who through thy Son hast revealed to us that heaven and earth shall pass away: We beseech thee to keep us steadfast in thy Word and in true faith; graciously guard us from all sin and preserve us amid all temptations, so that our hearts may not be overcharged with the cares of this life, but at all times in watchfulness and prayer we may await the return of thy Son and joyfully cherish the expectation of our eternal salvation; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.
2nd Sunday of Advent. pic.twitter.com/2eBhxqcaV5
— Hilde 🇳🇴 (@HilTurn) December 7, 2020
Almighty and everlasting God, who orderest all things in heaven and on earth: We give thee thanks and praise that thou didst make all ages a preparation for the coming of thy Son, our blessed Redeemer. Prepare us for the coming of him whom thou dost send, and grant that of his fullness we may all receive; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.
–Prayers for the Christian Year (SCM, 1964)
The sermon starts about 7 1/2 minutes in.
O Gracious God and most merciful Father, who has vouchsafed us the rich and precious jewel of thy holy Word: Assist us with thy Spirit that it may be written in our hearts to our everlasting comfort, to reform us, to renew us according to thine own image, to build us up into the perfect building of thy Christ, and to increase us in all heavenly virtues. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for the same Jesus Christ’s sake.
Artifact of the Day: The Geneva Bible. When Queen Mary restored Catholicism and outlawed Protestantism in England, many Protestants went into exile. Those in Geneva published a major new English Bible in 1560. It became by far the most popular English Bible yet. pic.twitter.com/lziZD4VTkl
— Museum of the Bible (@museumofBible) June 12, 2018
Almighty God,
purify our hearts and minds,
that when your Son Jesus Christ comes again as
judge and saviour
we may be ready to receive him,
who is our Lord and our God.
Amen.
Advent is a time for renewal of hope and movement towards a beginning.🌟
Falling at the darkest time of the year, the symbols of darkness and light are powerfully at work throughout the season.
Church decorations are simple and sparse, and purple is the traditional colour used. pic.twitter.com/tR6sPqRTso
— The Church of England (@churchofengland) December 5, 2020
Grant, O Lord, that we who once again prepare for the commemoration of the coming of thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, may so direct our hearts to the fulfillment of thy law, that he may now accept our hosannas, and in the life to come receive us in the heavenly Sion; where with thee and the Holy Ghost he liveth and reigneth, ever one God, world without end.
Ladybird Artists Advent Calendar
Window 5.
‘Winter Landscape’#RowlandHilder pic.twitter.com/KTAXrhtarW— Helen Day (@LBFlyawayhome) December 5, 2020
Thou who with thine own mouth hast avouched that at midnight, at an hour when we are not aware, the Bridegroom shall come: Grant that the cry, The Bridegroom cometh, may sound evermore in our ears, that so we be never unprepared to meet him, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Today we light the first candle of our Advent wreath in HOPE 💜 during this time of waiting, for the coming of Christ. This is not only a gift of grace but a time of commitment to motivate us to live in the present and be responsible and vigilant. #Advent2020 #Hope💜 pic.twitter.com/dpPrHFy4nF
— Nancy Dinolfo (@dinolfon) November 29, 2020
Keep us, O Lord, while we tarry on this earth, in a serious seeking after thee, and in an affectionate walking with thee, every day of our lives; that when thou comest, we may be found not hiding our talent, nor serving the flesh, nor yet asleep with our lamp unfurnished, but waiting and longing for our Lord, our glorious God for ever and ever.
Bit of snow on Rum this morning as @CalMacFerries Lord of the Isles sails by on the way to Mallaig. Home time for me. Been a good couple of weeks on board. Thanks to the crew, port staff and our passengers for making it great pic.twitter.com/IEP1chv4pD
— Byron Griffiths (@byrogriffiths) December 3, 2020
O God, Father of mercies, who didst so love the world that thou didst give thine only begotten Son to take our nature upon him for us men and for our salvation: Grant to us who by his first coming have been called into thy kingdom of grace, that we may always abide in him, and be found watching and ready when he shall come again to call us to thy kingdom of glory; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.
'Tis time for Day 2 of The Seventeenth Century Lady's 2020 Advent Calendar 🎄🎅!
Behind Door No. 2…
Linard Gontier's stained glass, 'The Life of St Anne', 1623.
Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul Cathedral, Troyes. pic.twitter.com/ktRJ2b3RNl— Andrea Zuvich (@17thCenturyLady) December 2, 2020
O Lord Jesus Christ, who at thy first coming didst warn us to prepare for the day when thou shalt come to be our judge: Mercifully grant that being awake from the sleep of sin, we may always be watching and intent upon the work thou hast given us to do; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end.
Bon dia, Good morning my friends Twitter from Catalonia 💛 🌞 🍀 🍁 🌿 pic.twitter.com/DTvN45EroV
— Lluís Cat (@lluispriorat) December 1, 2020
Grant, O Almighty God, that as thy blessed Son Jesus Christ at his first advent came to seek and to save that which was lost, so at his second and glorious appearing he may find in us the fruits of the redemption which he wrought; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God world without end.
Get ready: For tis the season#Advent2020 #Hope
“The raising of the Advent Wreath is a sign of hope – the hope that light will come to our darkness, the hope that life will overcome death, and the hope that God will be with us.”@CottrellStephen @York_Minster @churchofengland pic.twitter.com/ntbPdnzA3q
— engcathedrals (@engcathedrals) November 27, 2020
Make us, we beseech thee, O Lord our God, watchful and heedful in awaiting the coming of thy Son Christ our Lord; that when he shall come and knock, he shall find us not sleeping in sin, but awake and rejoicing in his praises; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.
AMEN ✝️🛐🕯️🕯️🙏🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/eLRkdguF4w
— THOMAS GOMEZ ✝️🙏🇮🇳🙏 (@THOMASGOMEZ007) November 29, 2020
Almighty and eternal God,
you have kindled the flame of love
in the hearts of the saints:
grant to us the same faith and power of love,
that, as we rejoice in their triumphs,
we may be sustained by their example and fellowship;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
“All Souls’ Day” by Jakub Schikaneder (1888) pic.twitter.com/i5EdevwGP2
— Tradical (@NoTrueScotist) November 2, 2020
O God, the Maker and Redeemer of all believers: Grant to the faithful departed the unsearchable benefits of the passion of thy Son; that on the day of his appearing they may be manifested as thy children; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever. Amen
#AllSoulsDay. Jesus placed in the tomb. Where he goes we all follow, yet in sure & certain hope. (Semur en Auxois.) pic.twitter.com/cXDOcj5AXi
— Michael Sadgrove (@Sadgrovem) November 2, 2016
Almighty and Everlasting God,
who dost enkindle the flame of Thy love in the hearts of the saints,
grant unto us the same faith and power of love;
that, as we rejoice in their triumphs
we may profit by their examples, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
November 1st is Hallowmas, or All Saints’ Day, honouring those united to God in the beatific vision—the Church Triumphant. pic.twitter.com/P7Tlzdnrs8
— Tradical (@NoTrueScotist) November 1, 2020
Almighty God,
who hast knit together thine elect
in one communion and fellowship
in the mystical body of Your Son, Christ our Lord:
Give us grace so to follow Your blessed saints
in all virtuous and godly living,
that we may come
to those ineffable joys
that thou hast prepared for those
who unfeignedly love thee;
through the same Jesus Christ our Lord,
who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth,
one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
#AllSaintsDay I believe in… #TheCommunionOfSaints
These are indeed the barn; withindoors house
The shocks. This piece-bright paling shuts the spouse
Christ home, Christ and his mother and all his hallows.
~GMH🎨Br Mickey McGrath, OSFS pic.twitter.com/Y03FkS3VQo
— Elsa (@ElsaMc1878) November 1, 2020
In an age of the celebrity, All Saints’ Day is a needed reminder that the Church, indeed the Christian life, is a team photo, not an action shot of a franchise player making a spectacular game-winning catch in the closing seconds of the game. Luminaries in the Church may dazzle us with their accomplishments and holiness. Reading the biographies of such men and women as Augustine of Hippo, Martin Luther, St. Teresa of Avila or Susannah Wesley, often inspire us with their brilliance, sacrifices or indefatigable labors. Even people in our day, such as Billy Graham or Mother Teresa can awe us with their accomplishments. Yet these distinguished Christians would be the first to acknowledge the network of “rank and file saints” who enabled their ministries to shine brightly, and without whom their labors would have faltered.
The Collect for All Saints’ Day (BCP2019 p. 622) refers to the “…one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of [Christ].” It alludes to this vast network of believers from every tribe, language, people and nation who have been and are part of the team. All are included in the 360-degree team photo that surrounds us as a great cloud of witnesses. In the Eucharist, we join our voices with their voices and celebrate the communion we share with them in the life and worship of our Lord.
When I wrestled at Bakersfield High School, I used to look at the photographs of wrestlers and teams of the past above the practice mats. Strategically placed to inspire us during 3-4 hour workouts, the wrestlers in these photos took on legendary qualities, inspiring us to work harder. They made us realize we had a noble tradition to live up to.
#SouthCarolina Anglican Bishop Mark Lawrence–All Saints' Day – A Team Photo https://t.co/ac4K6iGps7 'the wrestlers in these photos took on legendary qualities, inspiring us to work harder. They made us realize we had a noble tradition to live up to' #ecclesiology #theology pic.twitter.com/8Sya1R4t6L
— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) October 30, 2020
O everlasting God, who hast ordained and constituted the ministries of angels and men in a wonderful order: Mercifully grant that, as thy holy angels always serve and worship thee in heaven, so by thy appointment they may help and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Sancte Michael Archangele,
defende nos in proelio!https://t.co/3HOx3gjajU pic.twitter.com/zav96uMDik— Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P. (@LawrenceOP) September 29, 2020
O God, who by the passion of thy blessed Son didst make an instrument of shameful death to be unto us the means of life and peace: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
14 September is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, once known as 'Holyrood Day in harvest'. A medieval poem to the Holy Cross, steadfast at the still point of the turning world: https://t.co/4GPLwUH3hE pic.twitter.com/BGfOzsWGrF
— Eleanor Parker (@ClerkofOxford) September 14, 2018