Cantica Gaudia

Ordinary Time, Fall: Friday Compline

Confession: Your holiness, O God, commands that we confess: We have neither loved our neighbors as ourselves nor honored ourselves as your beloved creation. We have judged unjustly, regarded others ungenerously, profited at the losses of those near and distant, borne grudges, desired vengeance, and kept silence in the face of wrongdoing. We long to live in accord with your desire that your way of compassion, kindness, and honesty will govern our hearts and minds, turing us toward lives of peace. Forgive us and lead us. Amen.

Psalm: Now
I know
I am continually
With you
You have taken
My right hand
And led me quiet
Into your house
Guided me
With daily awareness of you
And when my life ends
You will take me again
Into the limitless fire
That has always burned in me

Reading: Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and he said to him, "Abba, as far as I can, I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?" Then the old man stood up and stretched his hands toward heaven; his fingers became like ten lamps of fire and he said to him, "If you will, you can become all flame."

The Lord’s Prayer

Seed and source,
Far in the distance and in our souls,
You are holy and make us whole.
May we perceive your divine will
That loved us into being
Help us to join your creative force
And let it prosper here.
Give us what we need to survive,
And release us from our transgressions
As we release others from theirs.
Keep us away from paths of destruction
And from those who would ruin what you have made,
For you are the matrix of life, love and wisdom,
Now and forever.  Amen.

Prayer: Enter my heart, O Holy Spirit, come in blessed mercy and set me free.

Throw open, O Lord, the locked doors of my mind; cleanse the chambers of my thought for your dwelling. Light there the fires of your own holy brightness in new understandings of truth.

O Holy Spirit, very God, whose presence is liberty, grant me the perfect freedom to be your servant today, tomorrow, evermore.

Going Forth:  The peace of God, the peace of God's people, the peace of Mary mild, the loving one, and of Christ, King of human hearts, God's own peace be upon each thing our eyes take in, be upon each thing our ears take in, be upon our bodies which come from the earth, be upon our souls which come from heaven, evermore and evermore. Amen.