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February 23 – St. Polycarp of Smyrna
Invitation to Worship
Come, let us sing to Adonai, the Strength of the martyrs, & the Joy of all creation!
We make the Sign of the Cross over our lips as we begin.
O Holy ONE + open my lips,
~And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Let all creation praise the greatness of God!
Let the universe extol the glory of Adonai!
MORNING HYMN
All may sing or alternate the verses of any Morning Hymn .
A martyr’s victory we sing
And for ourselves such strength implore
as Christ in other body-ing
Is put to death by sin once more.
No greater love than this is found
For members and their head alike;
His passion is repeated, round:
“Me Saul, it is; yes Me you strike!”
The sign of contradiction glares:
The Lifted One draws all who heed;
Rejection festers, fury flares,
The storm but spreads the Church’s seed.
The glory crowning life is death,
God’s Glory: Abba, Spirit, Son,
So fill and overwhelm our breath
Until all suffering is done. Amen.
Text: St. Meinrad Archabbey, 1968; Tune: Plainsong MODE VIII
PSALMODY
REFRAIN
For eighty-six years I have served Jesus Christ and he has never abandoned me.
How can I curse my dear Sovereign who loves and saves me?
Canticle of the Three Children (Dan 3:57-87)
You angels and all powers of Adonai,
O heavens and all waters above the heavens.
Sun and moon and stars of the sky,
glorify Adonai.
Praise God and highly exalt God for ever!
Every shower of rain and fall of dew,
all winds and fire and heat.
Winter and summer,
glorify Adonai.
Praise God and highly exalt God for ever!
O chill and cold,
drops of dew and flakes of snow.
Frost and cold, ice and sleet,
glorify Adonai.
Praise God and highly exalt God for ever!
O Mother Earth,
O mountains and hills and valleys.
All that grows upon the earth,
glorify Adonai.
Praise God and highly exalt God for ever!
O springs of water, seas and streams,
O whales and all that move in the waters.
All birds of the air,
glorify Adonai.
Praise God and highly exalt God for ever!
O beasts of the wild,
and all you flocks and herds.
All women and men everywhere,
glorify Adonai.
Praise God and highly exalt God for ever!
Let us glorify the ONE, and the WORD
and exalt the HOLY BREATH.
In the firmament of God’s power and love,
glorify Adonai.
For eighty-six years I have served Jesus Christ and he has never abandoned me.
How can I curse my dear Sovereign who loves and saves me?
READING Letter on the Martyrdom of St. Polycarp
When the pyre was ready, Polycarp took off all his clothes and loosened his under-garment. He made an effort also to remove his shoes, though he had been unaccustomed to this, for the faithful always vied with each other in their haste to touch his body. Even before his martyrdom he had received every mark of honor in tribute to his holiness of life.
There and then he was surrounded by the material for the pyre. When they tried to fasten him also with nails, he said: “Leave me as I am. The one who gives me strength to endure the fire will also give me strength to stay quite still on the pyre, even without the precaution of your nails”. So they did not fix him to the pyre with nails but only fastened him instead with ropes. Bound as he was, with hands behind his back, he stood like a mighty ram, chosen out for sacrifice from a great flock, a worthy victim made ready to be offered to God…
When he had said “Amen” and finished his prayer, the officials at the pyre lit it. But, when a great flame burst out, those of us privileged to see it witnessed a strange and wonderful thing: Like a ship’s sail swelling in the wind, the flame became as it were a dome encircling the martyr’s body. Surrounded by the fire, his body was like bread that is baked, or gold and silver white-hot in a furnace, not like flesh that has been burnt. So sweet a fragrance came to us that it was like that of burning incense or some other costly and sweet-smelling gum.
Silent Prayer
Responsory
R. If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God * Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are below. Alleluia! V. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are below. Alleluia!
V. Glory to the Abba, and the Word, and the Holy Breath of Love.
Canticle of Zachary– Luke 1:68-79
Antiphon
“The One who gives me strength to endure the fire
will give me strength to stay quite still on the pyre.”
Blessed + be Adonai, the God of Israel,
Who visits this people to set us free
Raising for us a sign of salvation
In the house and family of David.
God promised throughout past ages
In words of holy prophets
To save us from our enemies,
And from the control of our oppressors.
Adonai favored our ancestors
And remembered the sacred covenant.
The pledge to Abraham and Sarah
Is now renewed for us;
That freed from the grip of our foes
We might worship without fear
And be both just and holy
For the rest of our days.
And you, child, called “prophet of the Most High,”
Will go ahead to prepare the way,
By teaching this people of salvation
Through forgiveness of their sins.
For the loving compassion of the Holy One
As the Rising Sun will shine upon us
To illumine the darkness and dispel death’s shadow
To guide our feet on the way of peace.
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
and to the BREATH of Love!
As always before,
so now and evermore. Amen.
“The One who gives me strength to endure the fire
will give me strength to stay quite still on the pyre.”
Intercessory Prayer
Your martyrs freely embraced death in bearing witness for the faith,
– give us the freedom of the Spirit to follow you in life and in death.
You called St. Polycarp to continue teaching the love he learned from the Apostles,
~may all with ministry in the church imitate his humility and compassion.
When offered an easy way to preserve his life, Polycarp professed instead that he had served You his entire life; ~grant us the grace of perseverance to the end.
After a long life as a patient and gentle shepherd, Polycarp stood like a mighty ram, chosen out for sacrifice, and surrounded by the flames was baked like bread,
~ may we permit the fires of suffering to transform us into bread for the world.
Prayer of Jesus
Our Dear Abba…
Final Prayer of St. Polycarp
“Lord, almighty God, Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have come to the knowledge of yourself, God of angels, of powers, of all creation, of all the race of saints who live in your sight, I bless you for judging me worthy of this day, this hour, so that in the company of the martyrs I may share the cup of Christ, your anointed one, and so rise again to eternal life in soul and body, immortal through the power of the Holy Spirit. May I be received among the martyrs in your presence today as a rich and pleasing sacrifice. God of truth, stranger to falsehood, you have prepared this and revealed it to me and now you have fulfilled your promise.
“I praise you for all things, I bless you, I glorify you through the eternal priest of heaven, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son. Through him be glory to you, together with him and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen”.
Blessing
May the God of all Wisdom + bless us with Understanding and Knowledge, Counsel and Courage, Reverence and Loving Kindness Amen.
Let us bless Adonai! ~Thanks be to God.