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SERVICE OF LIGHT
Greeting/Invocation
Light the First Candle on the Advent Wreath, and say or sing:
Light and Peace in Jesus Christ our Lord!
~Thanks be to God!
Let your face shine on us, O God;
~And we shall be saved.
ADVENT EVENING HYMN
All may sing or alternate the verses of the Advent Evening Hymn
Our Love shall come when morning dawns and light triumphant breaks.
When beauty gilds the eastern sky and life to joy awakes.
Our Light shall come when morning dawns and earth’s dark night is past;
O haste the rising of that morn whose day shall ever last.
Our Life shall come when morning dawns as weary saints foretold
When love shall triumph over hate and truth will be extolled.
SERVICE OF THE WORD
Psalmody
Adonai Sabbaoth is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Psalm 45/46
The Holy One is for us both refuge and strength,
Our Helper close at hand, whenever we’re in trouble:
So we can stand unshaken, when solid earth is cracked,
when volcanoes slide into the depths of the sea,
when its waters rage and foam
and mountains tremble in the swell.
Adonai Sabbaoth is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
The waters of a river give joy to God’s city,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
With God dwelling there, it cannot be shaken;
God will help it at the dawning of each day.
Nations rage and empires fall,
God speaks, the earth melts and shrinks away.
Adonai Sabbaoth is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Come! Behold the wonders of Adonai
the amazing things God does across the Earth:
Stopping wars all over the globe,
smashing and crushing all the weapons of war.
“Be silent and know that I am God,
supreme over your nations, supreme on Earth.
Adonai Sabbaoth is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
and to the BREATH of Love;
as always before,
so now and evermore, Amen.
Adonai Sabbaoth is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Reading: 2 Peter 3:8b-9
In God’s eyes, one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years are as a day. Our God does not delay in keeping the promise – though some consider it delay. Rather, God shows you generous patience, wanting none to perish but all to come to repentance.
Silent Reflection
Responsory
R. You heavens, open from above, that clouds may rain the Just One.
Canticle of Mary Luke 1:46-55
Antiphon:
Out of Egypt I have called my Beloved,
Who will come to save this people.
It is customary to make the sign of the cross at the beginning of the Gospel Canticle.
My heart + is radiant with the Lord,
My whole being delights in God my Savior.
All people now will call me blessed
For God has loved this humble handmaid.
The Almighty has shown me great favor
Holy is the NAME,
Whose mercy embraces the faithful,
From one generation to the next.
The mighty arm of God,
Scatters the proud in their own conceit,
Pulls tyrants from their thrones
While lifting up the lowly:
Fills the famished with bounty,
And reveals the emptiness of riches.
Rescues lowly Israel,
Sharing such loving kindness,
As promised to our ancestors
To Abraham and Sarah, and their descendants forever.
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
and to the BREATH of Love!
As always before,
so now and evermore. Amen
Out of Egypt I have called my Beloved,
Who will come to save this people.
SERVICE OF PRAYER
Litany
How long the path which leads to you! ~ Come to meet us, be our way.
How heavy the burden of our misery! ~ Come to meet us, be our rest.
How darkly hard the journey to our Goal! ~ Come to meet us, be our light.
How lonely do we wander, stumbling together in the chaos!
~ Come to meet us, be our companion.
How long, Lord Jesus, do we wait for your return!
~ Come to meet us, be our hope’s fulfillment.
Prayer of Jesus
Let us pray together as our Lord, Jesus Christ has taught us to pray:
Our Dear Abba …
Closing Prayer & Blessing
Prepare us, O God of Love, for the coming of Jesus Christ.
May he find us waiting in expectant prayer for the full revelation of the children of God, and the flourishing of all creation. We ask this through the same Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen
All may make the sign of the Cross as we say:
May the peace of the Holy ONE+ which surpasses all understanding + guard our hearts and our minds in Jesus,+ our Emmanuel.
Let us bless the world with peace. ~And give thanks to God.
Those who wish may end evening prayer with the Marian Antiphon for Advent.
Marian Antiphon
Loving Mother of our Savior, holding open heaven’s only hope, Star for steerage in this vastness, rise to help us, save the sinking. Nature’s greatest Wonder: you have borne your own true Maker, giving human life to him. Virgin ever, before and after, that Good News from Gabriel, Word of Life for living, tell it now: mercy to all people!
The angel of the Lord brought the message to Mary. ~ And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Let us pray. We ask, O Lord, that we who have been privileged to receive the Good News of the Incarnation of Christ, your Word, may be prepared through his passion and cross to approach also the glory of his resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.