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September 17, St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
Invitation to Worship
Come, let us sing to Adonai, Let us praise the God 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.
Sun and Moon, praise Adonai!
Stars and Galaxies, extol the glory of God!
MORNING Hymn for St. Hildegard
We sing our praise of Hildegard, a woman for all time;
a prophetess who urges us to seek the light divine.
Her visions came insistently, sent by her Living Light.
Anointed with the Spirit’s power, she spoke God’s truth aright.
We now affirm with Hildegard we do not live alone,
but are a part of all that is: each tree, each bird, each stone.
All creatures sing creation’s praise; yet we alone possess
the power to care for Mother Earth, the power to curse or bless.
We praise the joy that Hildegard found in God’s constant care.
She trusted God to carry her, a feather born on air.
May such a faith inspirit us, give us a breathing space,
that we may let the Spirit’s breeze support us with God’s grace.
We celebrate with Hildegard the greening of the soul.
The moisture from the Spirit’s breath can cleanse us, make us whole.
May we now share life-giving love, help justice find a home,
and by our deeds sow seeds of peace — prepare for God’s Shalom!
Text: Edith Sinclair Downing; Tune: Kingsfold CMD, English Country Songs (1893)
Copyright © 2007 Wayne Leupold Editions, Inc.
PSALMODY
Antiphon
O Wisdom! Teach us to search for the Truth,
make us glad by your holy inspiration.
O IGNIS SPIRITUS
O Fire of the Spirit,
our Paraclete,
You are the Life of the life of all creatures.
How Holy you are!
giving life to all that is.
How Holy you are!
anointing those dangerously stricken;
How Holy you are!
cleansing our festering wounds.
O Breath of Holiness, O Fire of Love,
O Sweetness in the breast;
You are Balm filling our hearts
With the fragrance of goodness.
O purest Fountain, In You we can see
How God gathers the strays And seeks the lost.
O Breastplate of life And Hope of the whole body,
O Cincture of honor: Save the blessed!
Guard those imprisoned by the foe,
Free those in chains whom Divinity wishes to save.
O Current of Power,
you have penetrated everything,
In the heights, upon the earth,
And in all the depths:
You bind and gather
all people together.
Out of you clouds stream forth,
and winds take wing,
dousing stones with waters,
which well up into streams —
and wash Earth in living green-ness.
You are always teaching the learned,
made glad by your inspiration, O Wisdom.
Therefore praise be to you
Who are the song of praise and the joy of life
Our hope and greatest honor
giving us the reward of Light.
All Praise then be to you!
You are the song of praise,
The delight of life,
hope and potent honor,
Granting garlands of light.
O Wisdom! Teach us to search for the Truth,
make us glad by your holy inspiration.
Text: Hildegard of Bingen. Note: This English translation is by John Leonard; a similar translation by Barbara Newman is in Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Symphonia: A Critical Edition of the Symphonia armonie celestium revelationum, 2nd ed. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998), 151.
READING SIRACH 43: 1-2, 6-7, 9-12, 27-28
The pride of the higher realms is the clear vault of the sky,
as glorious to behold as the sight of the heavens.
The sun, when it appears, proclaims as it rises
what a marvelous instrument it is, the work of the Most High.
It is the moon that marks the changing seasons,
governing the times, their everlasting sign.
From the moon comes the sign for festal days,
a light that wanes when it completes its course.
The glory of the stars is the beauty of heaven,
a glittering array in the heights of ADONAI.
On the orders of the Holy One they stand in their appointed places;
they never relax in their watches.
Look at the rainbow, and praise God who made it;
it is exceedingly beautiful in its brightness.
It encircles the sky with its glorious arc;
the hands of the Most High have stretched it out.
We could say more but could never say enough;
let the final word be: “GOD is the all.”
Where can we find the strength to praise the Holy One?
For Adonai is greater than all these works.
Silent Prayer
Responsory
R. Uphold me O God, according to your promise,
and I shall live, and do not confound me in my expectations.
V. I bind myself to do your will, do not disappoint me.
V. I will run the way of your commands, you give freedom to my heart.
V. Glory to the Abba and the Word, and the Breath of Love.
Canticle of Zachary– Luke 1:68-79
Antiphon
God has arranged all things in the world
in consideration of everything else.
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.
God has arranged all things in the world
in consideration of everything else.
Intercessory Prayer
You called St. Hildegarde to use her considerable gifts and talents to proclaim the Gospel,
and build up communities of service committed to work and prayer with women and the poor: ~free us to use our gifts and talents as ministers of the Good News wherever you lead us.
Hildegarde’s music calmed troubled souls and stirred up the passion for justice, ~ may our hearts be ready to sing and pray at every moment of the day; and our hands ready to work for justice.
Hildegarde prayed that your Wisdom and Light would embrace all humanity;
~ and that all creation would be encircled by the arms of the mystery of your Love.
Create new hearts in us, O God,
and fill us with your Holy Spirit.
Prayer of Jesus
Our Father …
Prayer of St. Hildergard
O Eternal God, now may it please you to burn in love so that we become the limbs fashioned in the love you felt when you begot your Son at the first dawn before all creation. And consider this need which falls upon us, take it from us for the sake of your Son, and lead us to the joy of your salvation. ~Amen.
Blessing of St. Hildegard
May the Holy Spirit enkindle in us the fire of Love so that we may persevere, unfailingly, in the love of God’s service. May we thus merit to become, at last, living stones in the celestial Jerusalem. ~ Amen
Let us bless Adonai;
~Thanks be to God.