At the invitation of Fr. Mark, the Incumbent of the the Canterbury City Centre Parishes and Jamie, their Student Worker, Liam, Vickie, Dave and myself drove up on Saturday morning to run a workshop on Creative Liturgy, a Blesséd Mass for Candlemas and for me to preach on the Sunday Morning.

The text of the paper will be found later in the year in my book:

You might want to contact SCM-Canterbury and place a pre-order with them. This is the first explicit and what I hope will not be too tedious plugs for it. It is my first published book completely written by me – before this I have only had chapters (ie Ancient-Future…) or papers published in peer-reviewed journals in Nursing (The Nursing Contribution to the Do-Not-Resuscitate Debate, Nurse-Patient Interaction in High Dependency Critical Care Areas: A Grounded Theory Study) or a column in the Nursing Times: this is a first and naturally I am excited. Indulge me a bit…

Later on Saturday, we gathered for a Blesséd for Candlemas. The liturgy was as follows:

Blesséd – Light: Candlemas 2009

Gathering

Video: Busy Gathering

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Introduction

Video: Liturgical Greeting v. Short

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In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Brothers and Sisters, we are the Church!

Bold and underlined words are displayed on screen

We come to praise the God who loves us so much that he sends his Son, Jesus, to bring us life and breathe the fire of the Holy Spirit into our hearts.

It is now forty days since Christmas and tonight we remember a special moment in Jesus life, when his parents took him to the Temple to dedicate him to God. There they encountered two old and wise people, Simeon and Anna who recognised Jesus as God’s son and began to tell the world about him.

Here in God’s house we too come to encounter Jesus as he becomes present with us in bread and wine. And we ask God’s Spirit to give us courage and faith that we too can tell the world of the amazing love that Jesus brings.

For with God all things are possible, nothing is impossible, do not be afraid!

Penitential Rite

https://www.vimeo.com/8699746

When three candles on the altar are lit the Priest says:

Jesus is the light of the world. That light is in each of us for Jesus is always with us.

When we do things that are wrong, when we hurt or damage our friends or families, our environment, or ourselves the light of Jesus becomes dim in us. Let us remember those times, sort our lives out and know that God forgives us.

During each petition at the words “we bring darkness” one of the three candles is extinguished and the lights in church grow dimmer.

When we do wrong to our family and loved ones, we bring darkness into our lives Father, forgive.

When we do wrong to our world, we bring darkness into our lives Father, forgive

When we do wrong to ourselves, we bring darkness into our lives Father, forgive

During the prayer for forgiveness, the Priest pauses as the candles are relit

May the risen Christ heal and restore us light candle

save us from all evil light candle

and give us his light always light candle

Amen.

Collect

Let us pray

Lord Jesus Christ,

light of the nations and glory of Israel;

make your home among us,

and present us pure and holy

to your heavenly Father,

your God and our God.

Amen.

Liturgy of the Word

The Reading is from Malachi

God says

The Messenger will come

The one you look for will appear in his temple

The Messenger will come

He will bring good news to delight in

The Messenger will come

But who can endure the day of his coming,

The Messenger will come

and who can stand when he appears?

The Messenger will come

For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap;

The Messenger will come

he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver,

The Messenger will come

and he will purify the descendants of Levi,

The Messenger will come

until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness.

The Messenger will come

then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD

The Messenger will come

God will do this.

Gospel: Presentation in the Temple Luke 2:22-32

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As the meditation is played, the altar is circled and censed. At the end, the priest faces the congregation and repeats the Nunc Dimmitis:

Now, Lord, you let your servant go in peace:
your word has been fulfilled.

My own eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared in the sight of every people;

A light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit

As it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be forever, world without end. Amen

This is the Gospel of the Lord

Praise to you, O Christ

Strip Intercessions

https://www.vimeo.com/5663975

Equipment: Strips of Paper, Pens, Glue Dots

The people write their intercessions on the strips of paper

If you want to write down your prayers, what would it look like?

A shopping list?

Would it be more like a doodle?

Would your prayers form a little sketch?

A spider diagram?

A single word?

Logical in structure? Random or chaotic?

Does it matter?

Before you write anything down, pause and reflect.

What is your main concern?

What do you need to bring before God?

For yourself.

For others.

For the Church.

For the world.

For the sick, the ailing, the addicted, the troublesome

For the dead and the mourning..

We do not pray alone.

We join these prayers with all the others written tonight.

Weaved together. Linked. Joined.

Joined with the angels, the saints, the prophets, the patriarchs.

Joined with the prayers of our Blesséd Lady…

Hail Mary,Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary,Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of death.

How did they turn out?

No need to sign your prayers

God knows.

He knows your needs,

Your desires

Your concerns…

…and he listens.

He responds.

Whether you prayed a picture, a list, a diagram, a single word…

God responds.

Maybe Yes

Maybe No

Maybe Not Yet

Not always the answer to your prayers that you want.

…but he answers.

Always.

Amen

The Liturgy of the Sacrament

Peace

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Christ is our peace.

He has reconciled us to God

in one body by the cross.

We meet in his name and share his peace.

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

And also with you.

Let us offer one another a sign of peace

The Peace is shared

The Offertory

As the offertory is played, bread and wine move haphazardly from the rear to the altar, passing through most members of the congregation

Video: Blesséd be your name (iWorship)

The priest, altar and people are covered in a large sheet of voile material. During the preface, the voile is gently raised until by the sanctus it is removed.

The Eucharistic Prayer

Video: Joined by Angels Eucharistic Prayer

https://www.vimeo.com/8697432

The Lord be with you

and also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give thanks and praise.

1)Father we begin buried, hemmed in, subjucated and hidden.

Our faith covered by our sin, hidden by our insecurity.

2)Yet you have revealed your love for us, uncovering yourself through
the enfleshment of your Son and continue to work through the power of your holy spirit.

3)Reveal yourself to us in bread and wine,

Make us complete by the obedience of your Son to death,

even death on a cross

4)Take us and fashion us

Form us in love into the likeness of Christ

And enable us to be freed to see that likeness in others.

5)So we enter into the mysteries of heaven echoing the song of the
angels, saints, prophets and patriarchs…

Sanctus

We are joined by angels,

Our purpose the same:

To worship the one and only God,

A little piece of heaven in this place

And we cry together: Holy, holy

For there is no other like You, Lord.

We declare together: You are awesome,

You are to be feared, honoured and revered,

For You are the Lord.

We are joined by angels,

With one voice we sing,

As we lift our hands to honour You,

In worship, the angels extend their wings.

And we cry together: Holy, holy

For there is no other like You, Lord.

We declare together: You are awesome,

You are to be feared, honoured and revered,

For You are the Lord.

The music continues softly as the Priest continues with the prayer

6) Father of all, we give you thanks

for every gift that comes from heaven

7)Send your Spirit now
upon +these gifts

that we may feed on Christ

with opened eyes and hearts on fire.

8)To the darkness Jesus came as your light.
With signs of faith and words of hope
he touched untouchables with love and washed the guilty clean.

9)The crowds came out to see your Son,

yet at the end they turned on him.
On the night he was betrayed
he came to table with his friends

to celebrate the freedom of your people.

10)Jesus blessed you, Father, for the food;
he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and said:
This is my body, given for you all.
Jesus then gave thanks for the wine;
he took the cup, gave it and said:
This is my blood, shed for you and for all

for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this in remembrance of me.

11)Therefore, Father, with this bread and this cup

we celebrate the cross
on which he died to set us free.
Defying death he rose again
and is alive with you to plead for us and all the world.

12)May we and all who share this food

offer ourselves to live for you
and be welcomed at your feast in heaven

where all creation worships you,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit:

The music resolves again and we sing

And we cry together: Holy, holy

For there is no other like You, Lord.

We declare together: You are awesome,

You are to be feared, honoured and revered,

For You are the Lord.

The Lord’s Prayer

Video: Lord’s Prayer Short Modern

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We break this bread to share in the body of Christ

Though we are many we are one body,

because we all share in one bread.

Agnus Dei

Video: Rufus Wainwright: Agnus Dei

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This is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.

Blessed are those who are called to his supper.

Lord I am not worthy to receive you,

but only say the word and I shall be healed.

Communion

Video: Prayer from the Heart

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Post Communion Prayer

Let us pray

Lord,

you feed us with the gift of your Son,

Jesus Christ the light of all nations.

May we, like Simeon and Anna,

have faith and courage to share his light with others,

for he is Lord for ever and ever.

Amen

Blessing of Candles

Candles with the Blesséd logo are brought forward

Let us bless these candles

God our Father,

you give us Jesus as the light of the world,

a light to brighten all the nations

a light to shine into the darkest parts of our lives.

Bless + these candles,

that they may be a sign of our prayers for our broken world

and remind us that all things will be brought into your light

when your Son our Saviour comes again in glory.

Amen.

Candles are distributed

Blessing and Dismissal

Video: Dismissal

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

May Christ our light fill you with joy,

send you into the world

so all people may be ablaze with his glory.

And the blessing of God Almighty

+the Father, +the Son, +and the Holy Spirit

be upon you and remain with you always.

Amen.

Go in the light and peace of Christ

Thanks be to God.

Video: EndMusic Polyphonic

END