Fast from thoughts of illness; feast on the healing power of God.
Leader: Humbly in your sight, God, we come together.
All: Grant us now the blessing of your presence here.
Leader: These, our eyes, are yours; we give them back to you.
All: May we always see your world as with your sight.
Leader: These, our hands, are yours; we give them back to you.
All: Give them strength & skill to do your work.
Leader: These, our hearts, are yours; we give them to you.
All: Purify our love to make it like your own. May your
spirit pray in us.
Please join in the hymn:
Be still & know that I am God, x 3.
I am the God that health thee x 3.
In thee O God, I put my trust x 3.
Please say the psalm & its antiphon as indicated.
All: O God, I have cried to you for help & you have healed
me, I will thank you for ever.
Side 1: From the depths of despair I cried out, seared with
pain & with grief. Where are you, O God? How long
must I suffer? You drew me up from the depths, like
a prisoner out of a dungeon, a flesh-body touched by
your hand, flickering & trembling with life.
Side 2: You brought me out of a land full of gloom, a place
of hollow silence & cold. You melted my paralyzing
fear; your warmth, like the sun’s, coursed through
my veins. With gentle hand, you raise me, from
death you call me to life.
Side 1: The wrath of your love lasts but a moment, for a
lifetime your mercy & healing. Heaviness & weeping
last through the night, yet day breaks into singing &
joy. With gentle hand, you raise me, from death you
call me to life.
Side 2: I shall praise you, O God, for you have made me
whole, I shall give you thanks in the midst of your
people. In the strength you gave me I felt secure,
built upon rock, firm as the hills. Basking in the
warmth of your favour, the prosperity of my days
increased. With gentle hand, you have raised me,
from death you called me to life.
All: Glory be to the Father & to the Son, and to the
Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now &
ever shall be, world without end, Amen.
All: O God, I have cried to you for help & you have healed
me, I will thank you for ever.
The Canticle from Revelation will be spoken taking a verse each.
All: The Lord will give him power and honour and empire and all peoples will serve him.
- We give you thanks, Lord God Almighty, the Is & the Was, because you have accepted your great power and started to reign.
- And the nations have become angry, & your anger has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, & to give their reward to your slaves, the prophets and to the saints, & to those who fear your name, the small and the great, & to destroy those who destroy the earth.
- Now the salvation & the power and the kingdom of our God has come & the authority of his Messiah because the accuser of our brothers & sisters was cast down, the one who accuses them day & night before our God day & night.
- And they conquered him because of the blood of the lamb, and because of the word of their witness; they did not love their lives to the point of death.
All: Therefore rejoice O heavens, and you who dwell within
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: The Lord will give him power and honour and empire and all peoples will serve him.
Reading (Ester) followed by personal reflection.
Queen Esther took refuge with the Lord in the mortal peril which had overtaken her. She besought the Lord God of Israel in these words:
“My Lord, our King, the only one, come to my help, for I am alone and have no helper but you and am about to take my life in my hands. I have been taught from my earliest years, in the bosom of my family, that you, Lord, chose Israel out of all the nations and our ancestors out of all the people of old times to be your heritage for ever; and that you have treated them as you promised. Remember, Lord; reveal yourself in the time of our distress.
Please sing the Magnificat & its antiphon.
Cantors: Ask & it will be given to you; seek & you will find;
Knock & the door will be opened to you.
Side 1: My soul glorifies the Lord,
My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour;
Side 2: He looks on his servant, in her lowliness.
Henceforth all ages will call me blessed.
Side 1: The almighty works marvels for me:
Holy his name!
Side 2: His mercy is from age to age,
On those who fear him.
Side 1: He puts forth his arm in strength
And scatters the proud-hearted.
Side 2: He casts the mighty from their thrones,
And raises the lowly.
Side 1: He fills the starving with good things,
Sends the rich away empty.
Side 2: He protects Israel, his servant,
Remembering his mercy,
Side 1: The mercy promised to our fathers,
To Abraham, Sarah, and their descendants for ever.
All: Glory be to the Father & to the Son,
And to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now & ever shall be,
World without end, Amen.
All: Ask & it will be given to you; seek & you will find;
Knock & the door will be opened to you.
Intercessions:
Reader: Let us pray to our God who gave us gifts to use for others …………….. pause ………….. hear our prayer,
All: May we grow in love.
Reader: You have given us ears to listen – help us to find time
to listen with attention, sensitivity & without
judgment …………….. pause ………….. hear our prayer,
All: May we grow in love.
Reader: Light of the world you gave us our sight. Open our
eyes to the realities of our world & its needs …………
…………pause ………….. hear our prayer,
All: May we grow in love.
Reader: You gave us hearts with which to feel compassion. May
we be open to feel for others & to engage in follow-up
prayer & action. …………….. pause ………….. hear our prayer,
All: May we grow in love.
Reader: We pray for people who have died today, those who
will die tonight. We also remember those whose
anniversaries of death occur tomorrow in particular:
Pause for people to add silently or aloud any further intentions.
Leader begins the Our Father….
Leader: As we come to the end of our time together, we ask you, God of faithfulness & love, to stay close to us & to bless each of us & those we love. Through Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
All: Amen.
Leader: May the great God be between our two shoulders to protect our coming & going. May the son of Mary be close to our hearts, & may the Spirit pour upon us blessings in abundance.
All: Amen.