Cantica Gaudia

Ordinary Time, Fall: Wednesday Compline

Confession: You call us to share your holiness;
We think we are not worthy.
Lord have mercy.

You show yourself in the strangeness of the saints;
We demand safe normality.
Christ have mercy.

You surround us with many witnesses;
We hear what we want to hear.
Lord have mercy.

Canticle: Consider the divine spirit in the human soul.
This spirit is not easily satisfied.
It storms the firmament
and scales the heavens
trying to reach the Spirit that drives the heavens.
Because of this energy
everything in the world grows green,
flourishes,
and bursts into leaf.
But the spirit is never satisfied.
It presses on
deeper and deeper into the vortex
further and further into the whirlpool,
the primary source
in which the spirit has its origin.
This spirit seeks to be
broken through by God.
God leads this spirit
into a desert
into the wilderness and solitude of the divinity
where God is pure unity
and where God gushes up within.

Reading: We have all known, now and then,
that the place is always there, waiting,
ours for the asking,
for the silent stepping out of ourselves
into solace and renewal.

We do not even need a gate,
though it can be pleasantly awesome,
a ritual of entrance.

Some walk straight in,
through the invisible wall of wonder.
Some scramble through a hedge of thorns,
thankful for the pain, the bright drops of blood.
Some enter over the token length of wall;
they like the solid scrape of stone,
the breathless act of climbing.
Once we are in, no matter how,
the secret terrain goes on forever.

When we forget it is there,
then it is gone,
and we are left outside
until we remember.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
As we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
And deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
Now and for ever.  Amen.

Prayer: Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or  weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who  sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the  joyous; and all for your love's sake. Amen. 

Going forth: God bless us and keep us, God's face shine on us and be gracious to us, and give us light and peace. Amen.