Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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.
Awake my soul and sing;
~ With God’s praise I will wake the dawn.
MORNING HYMN
All may sing or alternate the verses of any Morning Hymn .
The vigil ends, our Love has come, The dawn transfigures night;
The fields are wet with diamond dew, The lark with song takes flight;
All Earth resounds with joyous praise for resurrected light.
Be one with earth, O white-robed choir, Take up this hymn of praise
In joy with Anne and Joachim Who served God all their days;
Their daughter bore th’ Eternal Sun whose rising darkness slays.
He casts upon the Earth a love That burns eternally.
Receive and give this godly fire That grows when given free:
So spend yourself, and serve our Love who died upon a tree! Amen.
Text: Nathaniel Quinn, OCSO, alt. Tune: MORNING HYMN 86.86.86 Union Harmony 1848
PSALMODY
Antiphon
Adonai surrounds you with love and compassion.
Psalm 102/103
My soul, give thanks to Adonai,
all my being, bless the Holy Name.
My soul, give thanks to Adonai
and never forget all your blessings.
Bless God, who forgives all your sin,
who heals every one of your ills,
who snatches you free from death,
who enfolds you with tender compassion
who fills your life with goodness
and gives you the strength of an eagle.
Adonai does deeds of justice
and defends the poor and oppressed;
Teaches God’s ways to Moses
and God’s deeds to the children of Israel.
Adonai is compassion and love,
patient and rich in mercy.
God will not accuse us for long,
nor bring our sins to trial,
nor exact from us in kind
nor give us what our sins deserve.
As high as the heavens are above the Earth,
so great is God’s love for those who trust.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far does God remove our sins.
As parents have compassion on their children,
Adonai has pity on those who are reverent,
for Adonai knows of what we are made,
and remembers that we are dust.
The love of Adonai is everlasting
upon those who revere God’s Holiness;
whose justice reaches out to all generations
when they keep God’s will in their minds and hearts.
Glory to the One and to the Word
And to the Breath of Love
As always before
So now and evermore, Amen.
Adonai surrounds you with love and compassion.
READING From a Sermon by Saint John Damascene, bishop
(Orat. 6 in Nativitatem B. Mariae V. 2,4,5,6: PG 96, 663,667,670)
Joachim and Anne, how blessed a couple! All creation is indebted to you. For with your cooperation the Creator was offered a gift excelling all other gifts: a chaste mother, who alone was worthy of him.
And so rejoice, Anne, that you were sterile and had not borne children; break forth into shouts, you who had not given birth. Rejoice, Joachim, because from your daughter a child was born for us, a son was given us, whose name is Messenger of great counsel and universal salvation, mighty God. Indeed, your grandchild is the Son of God!
Joachim and Anne, how devoted a couple! While living with love the law of nature, you achieved with God’s help something which transcends nature in giving the world the Virgin Mother of God as your daughter. While leading a loving and holy life in your human nature, you gave birth to a daughter nobler than the angels, whose queen she now is. Girl of utter beauty and delight, daughter of Adam and mother of God, blessed the loins and blessed the womb from which you come! Blessed the arms that carried you, and blessed your parents’ lips, which you were allowed to cover with kisses. Rejoice in God, all the earth. Sing, exult and sing hymns. Raise your voice, raise it and be not afraid.
Silent Prayer
Responsory
R. Blessed be God forever, Amen, Alleluia! V. Bow down to Adonai in the splendor of holiness and dance in God’s honor, all people on earth! V. Proclaim salvation day after day, tell among the nations God’s glory. V. Glory to the Abba, and to the Word and to the Holy Breath of Love.
Canticle of Zachary– Luke 1:68-79
Antiphon
Let us praise Joachim and Anne, to whom, in their generation,
God gave the One who is a Blessing for all nations.
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
Let us praise Joachim and Anne, to whom, in their generation,
God gave the One who is a Blessing for all nations.
Intercessory Prayer
You called Joachim and Ann to become the parents of Mary and grandparents of Jesus;
~bless all parents with wisdom and perseverance and all grandparents with patience and joy.
You called Mother Earth to give birth to life in its wondrous diversity;
~bless her fields and gardens with the abundance of summer to feed all living things.
You call each of us to discover our gifts and share them with the world
~bless those who are discerning their vocations and guide them with your light.
Create new hearts in us, O God,
and fill us with your Holy Spirit.
Prayer of Jesus
Our Dear Abba in heaven …
Closing Prayer & Blessing
Holy One and God of endless Compassion, you are the praise of all your saints and the joy of all creation. You gave Saints Ann and Joachim the privilege of giving birth to Mary, the mother of your Incarnate Word. As we celebrate their feast day, direct all our actions by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit and further them on with your continual help so that every prayer and work of ours may always begin from you, be carried out in harmony with all of creation, and through you be brought to completion. For yours is the power and glory of love now and forever. Amen.
Let us bless Adonai.
~Thanks be to God.