Cantica Gaudia

Advent: Thursday Morning Prayer

Opening: The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh will see it together.

Canticle: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me
Because the Lord has anointed me
To bring good tidings to the afflicted.
The Lord has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted,
To proclaim liberty for the captives,
And release for those in prison,
To comfort all who mourn,
To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
A garment of splendor for the heavy heart.
They shall be called trees of righteousness,
Planted for the glory of the Lord.
Therefore I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
My soul shall exult in my God,
For God has robed me with salvation as a garment,
And clothed me with integrity as a cloak.
For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
And as a garden causes the seeds to spring up,
So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
To spring forth before all nations.

Psalm: So we raise up this song to you with gratefulness
Singing your praises with the harp’s strings
Who covers the heavens with floating clouds
And loosens rain for the thirsty earth
And makes grass grow green on the mountains
And feeds the young ravens when they impatiently caw

Who doesn’t delight in the brute power of the horse
Or in the swiftness of men’s legs
But takes pleasure in the selfless loving
Of those who wait gently for your love

Antiphon: O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;
you open and no one can shut;
you shut and no one can open:
Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,

those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Reading: There is a grace approaching
That we shun as much as death.
It is the completion of our birth.

It does not come in time, but in timelessness
When the mind sinks into the heart
And we remember who we are.

It is an insistent grace that draw us
To the edge and beckons us to surrender
Safe territory and enter our enormity.

We know we must pass beyond knowing
And fear the shedding.

But we are pulled upward
Nonetheless
Through forgotten ghosts
And unexpected angels
Realizing it doesn’t make sense
To make sense anymore.

This morning the universe danced before you
As you sang – it loves that song!

The Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be your Name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
And the power and the glory,
For ever and ever.  Amen.

Prayer: In my being, the Father of light.
In my seeing, the Mother of sight,
Christ in my hearing,
Christ in my speaking.
In my nakedness, in my strength,
Spirit covering my length
And breadth and all around.
Wash me with warm water,
Root me in deep ground.

Collect: God of unveiled truth, faithful flame in times of darkened sun and waning moon: lift up our unknowing hearts, and waken our sleeping love to announce the coming dawn of unexpected peace; through Jesus Christ, the one who is to come.

Going Forth: May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.