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Dancing Saints Iconography – St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, San Francisco
Invitation to Worship
Our Risen Love is the Crown of all the Saints,
Come, let us praise and adore!
O Holy One, + open my lips,
~And my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
You are the Praise of all your saints;
~And the Joy of all creation!
HYMN FOR ALL SAINTS MORNING
Abraham with Adam standing Sees the promise now fulfilled:
Children’s children, life expanding, All Jerusalem is thrilled:
Death and darkness’ realm remanding, Life is lengthened: time is stilled.
Beaches storing times detrition Share no fuller count of grain
Than the seeds of sin’s condition Bloomed from Blood of Lamb once slain:
Grains of harvest milled in mission, Wedded in one bread: one reign.
Synagogue and Church converging Bring Jerusalem alive;
Driven by the Spirit’s urging Home at last the lost arrive.
One in love, with one joy surging: One the life in which they thrive.
Join we now the Saints confessing What we barely dare to name;
All their joy our hope expressing, Spirit’s breath in human frame:
To the Trinity addressing, “Glory, Honor, Praise and Fame!”
St. Meinrad, 1968. URBS BEATA, Plainsong Mode IV
MORNING PSALMODY
Antiphon
And all the Angels stood round the throne,
and the Elders and the Four Living Creatures,
and they fell on their faces before the Throne and worshipped God.
Psalm 99/100
Cry out with joy to Adonai, all the earth,
Serve Adonai with gladness,
Come into God’s Presence singing for joy!
Know that Adonai is Elohim,
God made us, to God we belong,
We are the chosen,
the sheep of God’s flock.
Go within the temple gates, giving thanks.
Enter the holy courts with songs of praise.
Give thanks to Adonai and bless the Holy Name.
Indeed how good is Adonai,
eternal God’s compassionate love.
Our God is faithful from age to age.
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
and to the BREATH of Love.
As always before
so now and evermore. Amen.
And all the Angels stood round the throne,
and the Elders and the Four Living Creatures,
and they fell on their faces before the Throne and worshipped God.
READING Ephesians 1:17-18
May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Abba of glory, grant you a spirit of wisdom and insight to know clearly. May God enlighten your innermost vision that you may know the great hope to which you are called, the wealth of the glorious heritage to be distributed among the members of the church.
Responsory
R. Write these words, Adonai, in our hearts.
V. How happy are the poor in spirit theirs is the reign of heaven.
Happy the gentle: they shall inherit the Earth.
V. Happy those who mourn: they shall be comforted.
Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right: they shall be satisfied.
V. Happy the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them.
Happy the pure in heart: they shall see God.
V. Happy the peacemakers: they shall be called God’s children. Happy those persecuted in the cause of right: theirs is the reign of heaven.
Gospel Canticle
Antiphon
Those who have left all things to follow me
will receive a hundredfold and possess eternal life.
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
Those who have left all things to follow me
will receive a hundredfold and possess eternal life.
Litany of Intercession
You built your Church on the foundation of the apostles,
– keep their teaching secure among your faithful people.
You made the martyrs powerful witnesses even to the point of giving up their lives,
– help all Christians to give faithful witness to your Word.
You gave holy virgins and consecrated religious the gift of following Christ in community,
– may those consecrated to religious life be steadfast witnesses to the coming of your kin-dom.
You called so many to extraordinary lives of loving their families, their neighbors, and those in need, ~may their examples inspire each of us to love all whom you place in our lives.
You invited many to journey ever-deeper into the mystery and beauty of your love and to share their experience in mystical wisdom, poetry, music or art ~ bless all who share their gifts and talents in celebrating your beauty and enriching the lives of others.
You called ordinary people in every generation to search for truth, to dismantle the institutions of oppression, and to work for justice and peace, ~may we hear the cry of the poor and follow in the footsteps of the saints.
Bring all who have died into the company of heaven with Mary, Joseph and all your saints,
– and give us also a place in the unending fellowship of your reign.
Prayer of Jesus
Our Dear Abba in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kin-dom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Do not bring us to the test but deliver us from evil;
For the kin-dom the power and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Closing Prayer & Blessing
O Holy One, you are the joy of all creation and the praise of all your saints.
We thank you for the gift of that great cloud of witnesses whose ways of living and loving have continued the mission and ministry of Jesus with great diversity and beauty. As we celebrate this solemn feast in honor of all who love you, deepen our own commitment to take up the cross and follow Jesus into freedom, flourishing and the fullness of life both now and forever. Amen.
May the blessing of God who is the joy and the glory of all the saints be with us this day and always. ~Amen
Let us bless Adonai. ~Thanks be to God.