Leader: Sometimes believing, sometimes doubting
All: We come to God’s house.
Leader: Sometimes weeping, sometimes laughing
All: We come to God’s house.
Leader: However we are,
All: We know we are welcome.
Please join in or listen to: (Sacred Weave CD)
Circle me, Lord, keep protection near, and danger far.
Circle me, Lord, keep hope within, keep doubt without,
Circle me, Lord, keep light near & darkness afar.
Circle me, Lord, keep peace within, keep evil out.
Circle me, Lord……………
Please sing the antiphon & psalm as indicated.
Cantors: Lawrence entered Heaven as a martyr;
He bore witness to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Side 1: You have heard, O God, the strains of my distress,
Even the silent crying of my heart.
Side 2: I love you because your ear inclined to me,
I know you were there for me in the day of my trouble.
Side 1: The cords of death entangled me:
The snares of the grave held me fast.
Side 2: Tentacles wrapped themselves round me,
Crushing me to anguish & pain.
Side 1: Desperate for air I called out:
Help me. Deliver me. Rescue me.
Side 2: My strength is sapped, my energy draining away.
With my last breath I cried out in panic.
Side 1: In your healing compassion you came to me,
With the kiss of life reviving me.
Side 2: At my very last gasp you held me,
You snatched me from the jaws of the grave.
Side 1: You delivered me from the stronghold of death,
You wiped the tears from my eyes,
Side 2: You saved my feet from stumbling,
And I walked free in the land of the living.
Side 1: How can I ever repay you, O God,
For all the gifts of your gracious love?
Side 2: I will lift high the cup of salvation,
And give thanks for your holy name.
Side 1: From time to time you rescue me, O God,
By the skills of your people, by means unknown.
Side 2: You come to me in the guise of strangers,
I am humbled by their willingness to care.
Side 1: But what of the people who perish?
What of the children who are wasting away?
Side 2: Can you save us through the days of our dying,
Through the river of no return?
Side 1: Yet you are the God not of death but of life,
No power can withstand the power of your love.
Side 2: All that frightens us shrivels in your path,
The trail that was blazed by the pioneer.
All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son,
And to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, World without end, Amen.
All: Lawrence entered Heaven as a martyr;
He bore witness to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
After saying the antiphon together we will listen to Teresa Brown’s setting of psalm 115. (The Watermark)
All: I give thanks to you, O Lord Jesus Christ, because you have found me worthy to enter your gates.
Reading: 1 Peter 4: 13-14
My dear people, if you can have some share in the sufferings of Christ, be
glad, because you will enjoy a much greater gladness when God’s glory is
revealed. It is a blessing for you when they insult you for bearing the
name of Christ, because it means that you have the Spirit of glory, the
Spirit of God resting upon you.
Pause for personal reflection.
Leader: You have tested us, Lord, & you have brought us out into freedom again.
All: You have tested us, Lord, & you have brought us out into freedom again.
Leader: You have refined us like silver.
All: You have tested us, Lord, & you have brought us out into freedom again.
Leader: Glory be to the Father, the Son, & Holy Spirit.
All: You have tested us, Lord, & you have brought us out into freedom again.
Please sing the Magnificat & its antiphon as indicated.
Cantors: Blessed Lawrence said, ‘This night of mine is not dark;
Rather everything shines with light’.
Side 1: My being proclaims your greatness,
And my spirit finds joy in you, God my Saviour;
Side 2: For you have looked upon me, your servant, in my lowliness:
All ages to come shall call me blessed.
Side 1: God, you who are mighty, have done great things for me:
Holy is your name.
Side 2: Your mercy is from age to age
Towards those who fear you.
Side 1: You have shown might with your arm,
And confused the proud in their inmost thoughts.
Side 2: You have deposed the mighty from their thrones,
And raised the lowly to high places.
Side 1: The hungry you have given every good thing,
While the rich you have sent away empty.
Side 2: You have upheld Israel, your servant,
Ever mindful of your mercy-
Side 1: Even as you promised our ancestors,
Promised Abraham, Sarah, and their descendants for ever.
All: Give praise to the Father Almighty,
To his Son Jesus Christ our Lord;
To the Spirit who dwells in our hearts,
Both now and for ever, Amen.
All: Blessed Lawrence said, ‘This night of mine is not dark;
Rather everything shines with light’.
Intercessions: we will listen to some sung intercessions – the
response is Lord have mercy/Christ have mercy –
(Kyries from Sacred Weave CD)
Reader: We pray for people who have died today & for those who will die tonight.
We also remember in prayer those whose anniversaries occur tomorrow, remembering especially:
Pause for people to add silently or aloud any further intentions.
Leader begins the Our Father….
Leader: Lord God, you inspired St Lawrence with so ardent a love, that his life was renowned for the service of your people & his death for the splendour of his martyrdom. Help us to love what he loved & to live as he showed us. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
All: Amen
Leader: Go now into the world God loves so much to bear the fruit of love. Go in peace & with delight for God, the source of life & love goes with us. In this is great blessing – blessing for us & for those we meet.
All: Thanks be to God.