Blessing the dust

newsletter

Ash Wednesday by Jan Richardson

All those days you felt like dust, like dirt,
as if all you had to do
was turn your face toward the wind and be scattered to the four corners or swept away by the smallest breath as insubstantial—
Did you not know
what the Holy One can do with dust?

This is the day we freely say
we are scorched.
This is the hour we are marked
by what has made it through the burning.
This is the moment we ask for the blessing
that lives within the ancient ashes,
that makes its home inside the soil of
this sacred earth.

So let us be marked not for sorrow.
And let us be marked not for shame.
Let us be marked not for false humility
or for thinking we are less than we are

But for claiming what God can do within the dust,
within the dirt,
within the stuff
of which the world is made, and the stars that blaze in our bones,
and the galaxies that spiral inside the smudge
we bear.

Three in a row

newsletter

… No, not our 3 Churches this time. This week we celebrate 3 interesting feast days in a row, with a sort of connection running through them.

Monday is the Feast of St Brigid, one of our patrons. Leader of a religious community of men and women in Kildare, Ireland, she is now second patron of that land, after St Patrick himself. There are many traditions about her, one of which is the Cross named after her that she is said to have put together from reeds. You can see a stylised version of it on all the sanctuary furniture in St Brigid’s. But she also had an eternal flame kept in a so-called “fire-house” in the abbey, which lasted until the Reformation.

It’s that flame that provides the link to Tuesday’s feast, the Presentation of the Lord. When the baby Jesus was taken by Mary and Joseph a first son to be presented in the Temple at Jerusalem, he was proclaimed to be the light of the nations by that lovely elderly gentleman Simeon. We commemorate that by blessing candles on this feast, known therefore in the English speaking world as “Candlemas”.

Then those candles lead us on to Wednesday, when we uphold the traditional Blessing of Throats on the Feast of St Blaise. Tradition tells of his healing a child by removing a bone stuck in their throat. Two candles previously blessed are held in the form of a cross and the words said: “Through the intercession of Saint Blase, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

If you can, why not attend Mass on any or all of these interesting 3 days, all of them at 9.30am
Monday , St Brigid at St Brigid’s (naturally)
Tuesday,  The Presentation/Candlemas at Christ the King
Wednesday, St Blaise at St Paul’s

Christ the King bidding prayers, 24 January 2016

bidding prayers, Christ the King

The Celebrant will introduce and also conclude the prayer. The reader should pause for several moments between the intercession and its response. Leave about 20 seconds for the quiet prayer. There is no response after this – move straight to the Hail Mary.

CELEBRANT: Sisters and brothers, we are gathered as Christ’s body knowing that He is here with us. Let us share with Him our needs

READER: (The response is): Hear our prayer.

READER:  Let us pray for the church. May we show mercy to others, remembering that we are sinners as well as saints. We also pray for the unity of all Christians.

…….. (PAUSE)……….. In Your mercy, Lord ……. Hear our prayer.

READER:  We pray for the leaders gathered in Davos at the World Economic Forum. May they set pathways to a more just distribution of the world’s wealth.

…. (PAUSE)…… In Your mercy, Lord  …. Hear our prayer.

READER: Let us pray for racial justice within our parish, our city and our country. May we face the prejudice in our hearts that prevents us from being one body.

….(PAUSE)…… In Your mercy, Lord …. Hear our prayer.

READER: We pray for Megan Bowgen, who died recently. May she enjoy eternal rest and may her family be comforted that she is at peace

…… (PAUSE)…… In Your mercy, Lord ……. Hear our prayer.

READER: Let us remember the sick, the suffering and the lonely in our parish and ask for the grace to help them.

…… (PAUSE)…… In Your mercy, Lord ……. Hear our prayer.

READER: Let us silently ask for our personal needs or the needs of others (Long Pause)…. Let us ask the intercession of Mary, mother of the Lord: Hail Mary, etc. 

After a short pause the Celebrant will conclude the prayer.

CELEBRANT:  May our spoken words win favour in your sight, O Lord, and our needs be granted through Your Son, Jesus Christ, in union with the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.