Prayer During the Day (Christmas Season) - Thursday, 31 December 2020 (John Wyclif, Reformer, 1384)

O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.

I will give thanks to you, Lord, with my whole heart; 
I will tell of all your marvellous works.        Psalm 9.1

Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.
Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father,
we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory.

The Word of God - Psalm 127
If the Lord does not build the house, the work of the builders is useless;
if the Lord does not protect the city, it does no good for the sentries to stand guard.
It is useless to work so hard for a living, getting up early and going to bed late.
For the Lord provides for those he loves, while they are asleep.

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a real blessing.
The sons a man has when he is young are like arrows in a soldier's hand.
Happy is the man who has many such arrows.
He will never be defeated when he meets his enemies in the place of judgment.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.

Galatians 4.4-7 
When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

John Wyclif, 1384

John was a member of the Wyclif family of Richmond in Yorkshire and was born in about the year 1330. 

He was a fellow of Merton College, Oxford, and Master of Balliol, but his expulsion from the Wardenship of Canterbury Hall (later incorporated into Christ Church) in favour of a monastic foundation led to a lawsuit and a life-long hatred of things monastic. 

He was much in favour with members of the royal family and, when disputes arose owing to his attacks on the clergy of the day, he was protected by them from the otherwise inevitable consequence of deprivation of his posts. However, he went on to deny the Church’s teaching of the presence of Christ at the eucharist, the doctrine known as transubstantiation, and it was this that lost him his royal protection. 

His opinions were formally condemned in 1381 and he was forced out of office by the university the following year. John had already moved to Lutterworth in 1380 and from there he gave his support to such projects as the translation of the Bible into contemporary English. He died on this day in 1384, whilst at Mass.   

 

Intercessions

In addition to our thanksgiving and praise and general prayers, our prayers may include these concerns:  

  ¶ The Church, especially in places of conflict

  ¶ The Holy Land, for peace with justice, and reconciliation

  ¶ Refugees and asylum seekers

  ¶ Homeless people

  ¶ Families with young children

   
Lord in Your mercy        Hear our prayer.  

The Collect

Almighty God, who wonderfully created us in your own image and yet more wonderfully restored us through your Son Jesus Christ: grant that, as he came to share in our humanity, so we may share the life of his divinity; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

May the grace of Christ our Saviour be with us all. Amen.

Today is the seventh day of Christmas

Prayer During the Day (Christmas Season) - Wednesday, 30 December 2020

O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.

I will give thanks to you, Lord, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all your marvellous works. Psalm 9.1

Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.
Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father,
we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory.

The Word of God      Psalm 110 

 The LORD said to my lord, “Sit here at my right side until I put your enemies under your feet.”

From Zion the Lord will extend your royal power. “Rule over your enemies,” he says.

On the day you fight your enemies, your people will volunteer.
Like the dew of early morning your young men will come to you on the sacred hills.

The Lord made a solemn promise and will not take it back:
“You will be a priest forever in the priestly order of Melchizedek.”

The Lord is at your right side; when he becomes angry, he will defeat kings. He will pass judgment on the nations and fill the battlefield with corpses; he will defeat kings all over the earth. The king will drink from the stream by the road, and strengthened, he will stand victorious.

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen. 

A Short reading
The shepherds went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.
When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. 

Intercessions
Prayers may include these concerns:

¶ The Church, especially in places of conflict

¶ The Holy Land, for peace with justice, and reconciliation

¶ Refugees and asylum seekers

¶ Homeless people

¶ Families with young children

Lord in your mercy          Hear our prayer.

The Collect
God in Trinity, eternal unity of perfect love: gather the nations to be one family, and draw us into your holy life through the birth of Emmanuel, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer
As our Saviour taught us, so we pray
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.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever. Amen.

May the grace of Christ our Saviour be with us all. Amen.

Prayer during the day (Christmas Season) - Tuesday, 29 December 2020 (Thomas Becket)

O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.

I will give thanks to you, Lord, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all your marvellous works.        Psalm 9.1

Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.
Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father,
we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory.

The Word of God

Psalm 97

The Lord is king! Earth, be glad! Rejoice, you islands of the seas!

Clouds and darkness surround him; he rules with righteousness and justice.
Fire goes in front of him  and burns up his enemies around him.

His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees it and trembles.
The hills melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the nations see his glory.

Everyone who worships idols is put to shame; all the gods bow down before the Lord. The people of Zion are glad, and the cities of Judah rejoice because of your judgments, O Lord. Lord Almighty, you are ruler of all the earth; you are much greater than all the gods.

The Lord loves those who hate evil;  he protects the lives of his people;
he rescues them from the power of the wicked. Light shines on the righteous, and gladness on the good.

All you that are righteous be glad because of what the Lord has done!
Remember what the holy God has done, and give thanks to him.

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.

Matthew 1.20b-23

An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means,‘God is with us.’

Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.

THOMAS BECKET, 1170
Thomas was born in London in 1118, of a family of merchants. After a good education he served as clerk to another burgess then entered the service of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury. 

Thomas proved himself an excellent administrator and skilled diplomat. In 1155 he was appointed Chancellor by Henry II. For several years king and chancellor worked harmoniously together in mutual admiration and personal friendship. As a result, the king nominated Thomas as Archbishop of Canterbury to succeed Theobald in 1161. 

From the start there was friction, with Thomas insisting on every privilege of the Church. The conflict worsened until 1164 when Thomas fled to France. Encouraged by the pope he pursued his arguments from exile, sending letters and pronouncing excommunications. Three efforts at mediation failed before an apparent reconciliation brought him back triumphant to Canterbury in 1170. But the nobility still opposed him, and words of anger at court led four knights to journey to Canterbury where they finally chased Thomas into the cathedral, and murdered him there on this day in 1170. 

Thomas was undoubtedly a proud and stubborn man, for all his gifts, and his personal austerities as archbishop were probably an attempt at self-discipline after years of ostentatious luxury. His conflict with Henry stemmed from their equal personal ambitions, exacerbated by the increasingly international claims of the papacy, played out in the inevitable tension between Church and State.   

A Response

                        
Thomas Becket, you were not a person to do things by halves. Whether it was living life lustily with the king or throwing yourself into the work of the Church, you did it with zeal.

We pray that we may not become tepid or timid in the mission God has for each one

of us.

Intercessions 

Thanksgivings may be made for the day; prayers may include these concerns:   

 ¶ The Church, especially in places of conflict

 ¶ The Holy Land, for peace with justice, and reconciliation

 ¶ Refugees and asylum seekers

 ¶ Homeless people

 ¶ Families with young children

 Lord in Your mercy        Hear our prayer.

 The Collect

Merciful Lord, cast your bright beams of light upon the Church:

that, being enlightened by the teaching of your blessed apostle and evangelist Saint John, we may so walk in the light of your truth that we may at last attain to the light of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ your incarnate Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

As our Saviour taught us, so we pray

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.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever.
Amen.

May the grace of Christ our Saviour be with us all. Amen.

   

 

Prayer during the day - Monday, 28 December 2020 (Holy Innocents)

O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.

I will give thanks to You, Lord, with my whole heart.

I will tell of all Your wonderful works.            Psalm 9.1

Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.

Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father,

we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory.

Psalm  87

The Lord built his city on the sacred hill;

more than any other place in Israel he loves the city of Jerusalem.

Listen, city of God, to the wonderful things he says about you:

“I will include Egypt and Babylonia when I list the nations that obey me;
the people of Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia I will number among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”

Of Zion it will be said that all nations belong there and that the Almighty will make her strong. The Lord will write a list of the peoples and include them all as citizens of Jerusalem. They dance and sing, “In Zion is the source of all our blessings.”

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.

Isaiah 9.2, 6, 7

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. 

They lived in a land of shadows, but now light is shining on them.

A child is born to us!  A son is given to us! And he will be our ruler.

He will be called, “Wonderful Counsellor,” “Mighty God,” 

“Eternal Father,” “Prince of Peace.”

His royal power will continue to grow; his kingdom will always be at peace.

He will rule as King David's successor, basing his power on right and justice, 

from now until the end of time. The Lord Almighty is determined to do all this.

Blessed are the pure in heart, 

For they will see God

THE HOLY INNOCENTS

Herod ‘the Great’ was appointed King of the Jews by the Roman authorities in Palestine and he proved to be ruthlessly efficient in his thirty-three years of dealing with his subjects. 

In Matthew’s gospel, he tried to persuade the Magi, to whom he played the host on their journey seeking the one ‘who has been born king of the Jews’, to bring word of where they had found him. His desire was to eliminate Jesus and, when he realised that the Magi had tricked him and left the country.

Herod had killed all the children under the age of two, in and around Bethlehem.
These were God’s ‘innocent’ ones, paralleling the story of Pharaoh slaughtering the Hebrew children in Egypt.

A RESPONSE

The Lord says,  “A sound is heard in Ramah,  the sound of bitter weeping. 

Rachel is crying for her children; they are gone, and she refuses to be comforted. 

Jeremiah 31.15

Intercessions

Thanksgiving may be made for the day. Intercessions are offered for:

¶ the Church, especially in places of conflict

¶ the Holy Land, for peace with justice and reconciliation

¶ refugees and asylum seekers

¶ homeless people

¶ families with young children

Lord, in your mercy        hear our prayer

The Collect

Heavenly Father, 

whose children suffered at the hands of Herod, though they had done no wrong:

by the suffering of your Son and by the innocence of our lives 

frustrate all evil designs and establish your reign of justice and peace;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

As our Saviour taught us, so we pray

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 sinsas we forgive those who sin against us.

Lead us not into temptationbut deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,and the glory are yours

now and for ever. Amen.

May the grace of Christ our Saviour be with us all. Amen.

THIS WEEK

There will be a service of daily prayer posted

on the St Francis’ and other pages of the parish for 

you to engage with whenever you have time

available for you to engage with it.

We pray that you have a blessed Christmastide

and

A safe, peaceful and happy New Year.

Midnight Communion 2020

We will be streaming our Parish midnight Communion of Youtube:

 

 and also on St Francis; Church, Leyfields Facebook page:

St Francis' Church, Leyfields

 The service will start @ 23:45 on Youtube and @ 23:42 on Facebook (there's a three minute lead in at the beginning to help people find it.

All of us in the VDB household wish you a blessed, peaceful and blessed Christmas.

Compline (night prayer) - Wednesday, 23 December 2020

The closing of another day sees us gather all that has been and us bringing it before the Lord and entrusting it, and us, into His kind and loving care.

Compline - making completion a reality.

Compline (night prayer) - Tuesday, 22 December 2020

The close of another day and our Compline draws us to O Rex Gentium:
O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.

The Great Advent Antiphons: December 22 - O rex gentium

Today, as we reflect upon the words of the great Advent Antiphons we come to:'O rex gentium'

Compline (night prayer) - Monday, 21 December 2020

The day reaches its completion and so we take all that it has been and pray, reflect, repent and rejoice and entrust it, and ourselves, into God's competent care.

Compline - making the completion of the day real.

Compline (night prayer) - Sunday, 20 December 2020

Reaching the foot of our bed we unpack all the baggage of the day and celebrate the good, weep over the bad, and pray for the needs before us.

That done, we lay it at the feet of Jesus, the Christ, and head for our beds and rest.

Compline (night prayer) - Saturday, 19 December 2020

T'was the night before Advent Four and the world had gone mad,
There was warfare and virus and many were sad!
But our Compline it cheered us and helped us to see;
as we went to bed that our hope was in Thee!

Compline: Makes sense of our troubled world.

Compline (night prayer) - Friday, 18 December 2020

O Adonai, and Leader of the house of Israel, 

Who didst appear to Moses in the flame of the burning bush, 

and didst give unto him the Law on Sinai: 

come and with an outstretched arm redeem us.

Compline (night prayer) - Thursday, 17 December 2020

O Holy Wisdom, how I long for you!
You are the Word of Life whispered by the Divine Presence.
With fierce tenderness you reach to touch the ends of the galaxy
and the edges of the universe, inviting all creation to flourish.
Come, Holy Wisdom, show us wisdom’s ways.

Compline (night prayer) - Wednesday, 16 December 2020

Restore us again, O God of hosts; show us the light of your countenance
and we shall be saved. Bless and keep us, this night and always. Amen.

Compline (night prayer) -Tuesday, 15 December 2020

Bringing before all that the day has been - at its completion we lay all that causes us pain, concern and upset at the foot of the cross - praying for the world and ourselves as we head for bed.

Compline (night prayer) - Monday, 14 December 2020

Night prayer (compline) is the ultimate end to a day as we bring all that has challenged, blessed or burdened us and lay it all at the foot of the cross as we head for bed.

Compline (night prayer) - Sunday, 13 December 2020

The joy of the daily office is that sometimes it becomes an odd event as something crops up that hits your funny bone and causes you to lose it. Tonight was one of those moments and the joy is: It's OK to have one of those moments.

Compline a service for all seasons and reasons. Sad and hilarious - our God is in it all. And with over 800 services streamed since March, guess we are all entitled to one of these moments!!

Compline (night prayer) - Saturday, 12 December 2020

Lord God,
As our day comes towards its completion we bring all that it has been: Joys, sadness, challenges and blessing - and lay them at the foot of the cross as we entrust ourselves and all to you safe keeping this night.

Compline (night prayer) - Friday, 11 December 2020

Compline (completion): The final prayers of the day which enable us to close the day and head for bed will all before us laid at the feet of Jesus, the Christ.

The Lord almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end. Amen.

Compline (night prayer) - Wednesday 9 December 2020

The key to a good night's sleep is to the ability to lay everything down into the hands of someone you can trust.

This is what Compline does - for it enables us to give everything to God and sleep assured of His love and protection.

Compline (night prayer) - Tuesday, 8 December 2020

As the day draws to its completion the service of Compline brings us to a place where we dialogue with, and pray for, all that is before and within us. That done, we lay it all at the foot of the Cross and head for bed.

Lord in Your mercy - hear our prayer

Compline (night prayer) - Monday, 7 December 2020

The day draws to its close and so we reflect on all that is has been and praying, we lay it all at the foot of the cross and head for bed.

May this night be restful and tomorrow be a day of blessing (given and received).

Compline (night prayer) - Sunday, 6 December 2020

Compline offers the opportunity to end the day by taking all within and before us and defusing it with prayer we offer it to God for our healing and that of the world - we close the day and head for bed and await the qwakening of another day tomorrow.

Compline (night prayer) - Saturday, 5 December 2020

The blessing of having a relationship with the Alpha and Omega, the God above all gods, enters into something special as we come to the completion of a day and entrust all to His care as we head for bed.

Hallelujah or what?

Compline (night prayer) - Friday, 4 December 2020

Time for bed draws near but the stresses and strains of the day with the needs of those we know and a broken world clamouring for our attention. So we pray and lay it all at God's feet and head for bed assured of His presence and protection.

Compline: A blessing and a joy.

Compline (night prayer) - Thursday, 3 December 2020

At the completion of the day we bring all that is, and has been, in prayer before the Lord and gently lay it at the foot of the Cross and head for bed assured of God's presence and love.

Hallelujah or what?

Compline (night prayer) Wednesday, 2 December 2020

If you find problems with something, or the thing gives you joy, what do you do?
Simples - you consult the maker!

So why do people look so surprised when, at the close of the day, Christians do exactly the same thing in their service of Compline?

Compline (night prayer) - Tuesday, 1 December 2020

The beginning of a new month sees redundancies looming, conflicts, oppression and wickedness and more besides: And yet in the midst of all this darkness the light of Christ shines -  and it will not be overcome. 

Compline - a completeness that heals and protects.