A Service of Prayer

in the Celtic Tradition

(Mostly from the Prayers of the late Canon
David Adam, Vicar of Holy Island, Lindisfarne)
The Week of Advent Sunday, Nov. 29, 2020
The Rev. Dr. Chris McMullen, Parish of Upper Kennebecasis

Call to Worship
Though dawn may break cheerless on this isle today,
My spirit walks upon a path of light.
For I know my greatness.
You, O God, have built a throne within my heart.
I dwell safely in your caim [circle] of care.
I cannot ever fall out of your everlasting arms.
I am on my way to your unending glory!
(Adapted from Alistair Maclean, Hebridean Altars: The Spirit of An Island Race [London:
Hodder & Stoughton, 1937; reprinted, Wipf & Stock, 2013], p. 25.)

Hymn of Praise
“Be Not Afraid – A Celtic Advent Carol”
Be not afraid, I bring you good news.
The Savior is coming in glory to you.
He shall be called "God Holy One."
Will you be ready?
Will you be ready?
Will you be ready for Him when He comes?
Chorus: Light the candle, Jesus is coming.
Open your hearts, prepare ye the way.
Sleepers awake, soon is the dawning.
He will turn night into glorious day,
He will turn night into day.
Be of good cheer and put away fear,
the light now is coming to dry ev´ry tear.
Love now with us, God´s perfect Son.
Will you be ready… for Him when He comes,
When He comes?
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(Repeat Chorus)
‘Veni, Emmanuel.
Captivum solve Israel’.
Veni, Emmanuel.
Jesus is coming.
Jesus is coming.
Could He be coming today?
(Repeat Chorus)
Coda: Light the candle, Jesus is coming.
Light the candle, Jesus is coming today.
Michael Barrett © 2007 Malcolm Music and Glory Sound
Used with permission CCLI # 3117248
Prayer of Approach
Come, Lord, come down, come among us.
Enter our darkness with your light.
Come fill our emptiness with your presence.
Dispel the clouds and reveal your glory.
Come, refresh, renew, restore us.
Come Lord, come down, come in, come among us.
Amen.
(David Adam, Traces of Glory: Prayers for the Church Year, Year B
[Harrisburg PA: Morehouse Publishing, 1999], p. 5.)

Psalm 80: 1-7,17-19

1-2
Listen, Shepherd, Israel’s Shepherd—
get all your Joseph sheep together.
Throw beams of light
from your dazzling throne
So Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh
can see where they’re going.
Get out of bed—you’ve slept long enough!
Come on the run before it’s too late.
3
God, come back! Smile your blessing smile:
That will be our salvation.
4-6
God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
how long will you smolder like a sleeping volcano
while your people call for fire and brimstone?
You put us on a diet of tears,
bucket after bucket of salty tears to drink.
(Continued…)
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You make us look ridiculous to our friends;

our enemies poke fun day after day.
7
God-of-the-Angel-Armies, come back!
Smile your blessing smile:
That will be our salvation.
17-18
…Then take the hand of your once-favorite child,
the child you raised to adulthood.
We will never turn our back on you;
breathe life into our lungs so we can shout your name!
19
God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, come back!
Smile your blessing smile:
That will be our salvation.
(From Eugene H. Peterson, The Message, ©1993, 2002, 2018.)
Prayer for Grace
O star-like sun, O guiding Light,
O home of the planets,
O fiery-maned and marvellous One,
O fertile, undulating, fiery Sea: Forgive.
…O holy Story-Teller, holy Scholar,
O full of holy grace, of holy strength,
O overflowing, loving, silent One,
O generous and thunderous Giver of gifts: Forgive.
O rock-like Warrior of a hundred hosts,
O fair-crowned One, victorious, skilled in Battle
[Against all that mars your love and mercy]: Forgive.
(Adapted from a Medieval Irish Litany of Confession, attributed to St. Ciaran, 6th c.
Oliver Davies and Fiona Bowie, Celtic Christian Spirituality: An Anthology
of Medieval and Modern Sources [New York: Continuum, 1997], p. 45.)

Scripture Lesson
Mark 13: 1-8,24-37
Meditation
Affirmation of Faith
Inspired by the Altus Prosator of St. Columba
[We offer our praise to:]
The High Creator, the Ancient of Days
Without beginning or end or limit,
Who was and is and will be forever;
(Continued…)
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With the only-begotten Christ and the Holy Spirit–

Not three gods, but One,
Healing our lives into trust in the One God of Three Persons:
Who created angels and archangels,
powers and virtues, principalities and thrones;
Manifesting the goodness and mercy of the Three in One
Not niggardly, but in every work of bounty,
Every creature of heaven reflecting God’s greatness
And revealing God’s greatness by His words of power.
…This Most High, destining the frame and harmony of creation,
Made Heaven ad Earth, and fashioned oceans, lakes and rivers;
And shoots of grass, and the trees of the woods,
And the sun and moon and stars, and fire and every necessity;
The birds, the fish, the cattle; the beasts and every creature,
Culminating in human beings, to rule according to God’s Word.
…The fleeting glory of any worldly king
Is but cast down when God so wills it:
Even giants can but groan beneath the waters…
Mighty as they are, but sifted by God
Into rivers, streams and brooks;
Freezing at his command and thawing to His will!
…There are those, the Bible teaches, who dwell under the world of life;
Their knees too bend in prayer to the Lord.
Yet they cannot open the Book of the Ages,
Sealed with seven seals according to Christ.
Christ himself opened them when he arose as Victor,
Fulfilling God’s Word of prophecy and promise.
…The Day of the Lord, King of Kings is at hand!
The Day of vindication, and wrath, and thunder and clouds;
The Day of distress for all evil, and sorrow and sadness,
When false desires and loves and strivings will cease…
And the books of conscience are opened before us
And the time of repentance has come to an end.
...When the Lord Christ, the Most High, descends from heaven,
and the brightest glory of his saving cross shines forth,
Even the moon and the sun will be darkened,
And the stars fall from heaven like figs from the tree.
The world’s face will glow in God’s glorious goodness;
And all violent powers will but hide in the caves.
(Continued…)
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…The raging of fire will devour all God’s foes,

Who will not believe that Christ came from the Father’s heart.
But people of faith will fly off to meet Him,
And join with the angels and archangels in praise:
Father, Son, and Spirit!
A Three-fold Glory, from age unto age!
(Paraphrased from Gilbert Márkus, in Thomas Owen Clancy, ed., The Triumph Tree:
Scotland’s Earliest Poetry 550-1300 [Edinburgh: Canongate Classics, 1998), 95-99, and
Clancy and Márkus, Iona: The Earliest Poetry of a Celtic Monastery [Edinburgh University
Press, 1997], 44-53. These 8 of 23 stanzas are from A,B,E,K,L,O,R,S,X and Z.)

The Lord’s Prayer

“Millennium Prayer”
Our Father who art in heaven
Hallowed be thy name!
Thy kingdom, come, thy will be done,
On earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread
And forgive our sins
As we forgive each one of those
Who sins against us.
And lead us not to the time of trial
But deliver us from evil
For thine is the kingdom,
The power and the glory.
Let all the people say Amen
In every tribe and tongue;
Let every heart's desire be joined
To see the kingdom come.
Paul Field and David Deal © 1998 Meadowgreen Music Ltd.
Used with permission, CCLI # 3117248

Prayers of Intercession
Lord, you come to us in power, to send us out in your Name.
Strengthen us to proclaim the Good News without fear.
May we be able to say [with Isaiah], ‘Here is your God,’
And show forth your glory in our land. (Isaiah 40: 1-11)
We pray for preachers of the Word
and ministers of the sacraments;
(Continued…)
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For all who lead worship, for choirs and organists

[Too many of whom must be silent during the pandemic].
We pray for spiritual leaders and writers,
For all who seek to witness to your love.
Show us your mercy, O Lord:
And grant us your salvation.
We pray for all who influence the minds of your people:
For the press and for broadcasters,
For those who through the spoken or written word
effect the way we live.
We pray for teachers and leaders of young people,
For all who make decisions about our future
Or set us standards to follow,
For all who influence our minds and our hearts.
Show us your mercy, O Lord:
And grant us your salvation.
Lord, in our homes, let us be wise in the use of our words,
That we may dwell in love and peace with each other.
We pray for the gift of good communication.
We remember all who have stopped speaking to each other.
We pray for areas where words are used to hurt,
For homes where there is abuse,
and places where there is violence and cruelty..
Show us your mercy, O Lord:
And grant us your salvation.
Lord, you restore, you forgive, you bring peace.
We pray for broken peoples,
for the broken-hearted and the broken-spirited.
We pray for the guilt-ridden, for the disturbed,
For those who are unable to communicate with others,
That they may know your peace and your love.
We remember friends and loved ones
with whom we have lost contact through illness
[and/or pandemic regulations].
We pray for all who are ill at this time, especially…
Show us your mercy, O Lord:
And grant us your salvation.
As we wait for your coming in glory,
We pray for all who have passed into the fullness of your Kingdom.
We give you thanks for the saints in glory,
(Continued…)
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For our benefactors who have gone before us.

We pray for all our loved ones departed from us..
Show us your mercy, O Lord:
And grant us your salvation.
(Adam, Traces of Glory, 5-6.)
Prayers of Thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Lord God, King of the Universe,
Prince of Peace, to you be praise and glory for ever.
Your coming gives new hopes to our lives.
Your coming lightens our darkness,
Strengthens us in our weakness,
Brings peace to our troubles,
And comfort in our distress.
Lord, fill our lives,
With your love, with your light, with your life,
That we may live to praise and glorify you.
Blessed are you, God, now and forever.
(David Adam, Music of the Heart: New Psalms in the Celtic Tradition
[London: SPCK, 2004], p. 129)
Hymn
“Advent Song (O Come Emmanuel)”
The world lies helpless in the dark
And scarred by ceaseless war,
But Advent's flickering candles mark
The hope Christ shall restore.
With rebel darkness he contends
His children to reclaim,
And further will his beams extend
‘Til earth is filled with flame.
Refrain: O come, O come,
Our darkened hearts indwell!
O come, Emmanuel!
O come, Emmanuel!
When Christ returns in endless light
No darkness shall withstand.
Forgive, O Lord, our faithless sight
And save us by your hand.
And tremble now, you tyrant gloom
Whose power is soon undone.
(Continued…)
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Come down, O sanctifying Groom

And let your kingdom come!
Greg de Blieck and Jenny Cheung © 2016 New Scottish Hymns Band.
Used with permission CCLI # 3117248
The Benediction
May the Lord find us alert to his coming,
Open to his presence,
Aware of his love;
And the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Be among us, and remain with us, always.
Amen.
(Adam, Traces of Glory, 7.)