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As you enter into this time of prayer, you may wish to create a prayerful space by finding a quiet place to sit, lighting a candle, and/or burning incense. You are invited to participate in the order of prayer as you feel led.
NIGHT PRAYER
(Leader of prayer reads italicized text. All read bold text.) CALL TO PRAYER The angels of God guard us through the night, and quieten the powers of darkness. The Spirit of God be our guide to lead us to peace and to glory. It is but lost labor that we haste to rise up early, and so late take rest, and eat the bread of anxiety. For those beloved of God are given gifts even while they sleep. A MOMENT OF SILENCE CONFESSION My brothers and sisters, our help is in the name of the eternal God who is making the heavens and the earth. We give thanks for all that is good, for creation and for our humanity, For stewardship of the planet entrusted to us, for the gifts of life and of one another, for divine love which is unbounded and eternal. Holy and beloved God, our Companion, our Guide upon the way, our bright evening star. We repent the wrongs we have done: A MOMENT OF SILENCE We have wounded your love, O God, heal us. We stumble in the darkness, Light of the world transfigure us. We forget that we are your home, Spirit of God, dwell in us. Eternal Spirit, living God, all that we are, have been, and shall be is known to you, to the very secret of our hearts and all that rises to trouble us. Living flame burn into us, cleansing wind, blow through us, fountain of water, well up within us, that we may live, love, and praise in deed and in truth. A MOMENT OF SILENCE INVOCATION Eternal Spirit, flow through our being and open our lips, that our mouths may proclaim your praise. Together, let us praise the God of love: PSALM 25 To you, God, we lift up our souls. O God, in you we trust; do not let us be put to shame; do not let our enemies exult over us. Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame. Help us to know your ways, teach us your paths. Lead us in your truth and teach us, for you are the God of our salvation; for you we wait all night long. You lead the humble in what is right and teach the humble your way. All your paths are steadfast love and faithfulness. for those who seek justice and peace. * * * * * * * * * READINGS FOR THE DAY (see opposite column) * * * * * * * * * PRAYERS FOR THE COMMUNITY For whom shall we pray this evening... THE LORD'S PRAYER May these intercessions unite our hearts to the people and places we have named tonight as we join together in this ancient rhythm of prayer: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver, Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, Loving God, in whom is heaven: The hallowing of your name echo through the universe! The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world! Your heavenly will be done by all created beings! Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth. With the bread we need for today, feed us. In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us. In times of temptation and test, strengthen us. From trials too great to endure, spare us. From the grip of all that is evil, free us. For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and for ever. Amen. Be present, Spirit of God, within us, your dwelling place and home, that this gathering may be one where all darkness is penetrated by your light, all troubles calmed by your peace, all evil redeemed by your love, all pain transformed in your suffering, and all dying glorified in your risen life. Amen. True light, enlightening everyone who comes into the world, come and shatter the darkness of our ignorance, bring low the mountains of our pride, and raise up the valleys of our weakness, break down the walls of hatred among the nations, and make smooth the ways that lead to peace A MOMENT OF SILENCE * * * * * * * * * O ANTIPHON FOR THE DAY (see opposite column) * * * * * * * * * MAGNIFICAT My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in my Savior who has looked on my lowliness with favor and all people will call me blessed. God's mercy is for those who fear the Lord from generation to generation. The Lord has shown strength, and has scattered the proud In the thoughts of their hearts. The Lord brings down the powerful. The Lord lifts up the lowly. The Lord fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich away with nothing. The Lord has helped Israel, remembering all of God's mercy. Remembering the promise made to Abraham, and to all those who follow. DEPART IN SILENCE Thoughts on Advent Night Prayer
A god or deity inserting themselves into history can be found across all religious traditions. Over time, encounters with the divine are commemorated in festivals, holy days, hymns/chants, and formalized in rituals. Since such encounters are better expressed in poetry than prose, theses observances are some of the most profound works of the creative imagination … deep and multivalent. The postures, metaphors, stories, symbols, movements, and vocalizations all come together to literally make present the gifts and graces of that past event … god with us. These spiritual practices build and strengthen religious and cultural identity markers. They shape who we are, how others see us, and how we invest ourselves in the world around us. But these spiritual practices do not remain static. They evolve alongside human migration, language, culture, and conflict. At Portiuncula Guild we intentionally nudge this evolution by creatively adapting ancient spiritual practices to inform and inspire healing and reconciliation in our fractured world . We seek to find common ground across faith traditions, and we place these spiritual practices amid conversation and food to engage the bigger questions of our day. With that said, we acknowledge two discordant realities in the monastic spiritual practice of Advent Night Prayer when prayed in our current situation. First, the Hebrew texts and prophetic voices that dominate the season can be very awkward language considering the current war in the Middle East and a violence and aggression rooted in claims to ancestral lands and divine promises. Second, the Christian triumphalism that forms the basic structure of this spiritual practice is often manipulated in the twisted rhetoric and bigotry of White Christian Nationalism. The legacy of Judeo/Christian encounters with the divine was and continues to be utilized in service of systems of power and dominance. We believe all great art (liturgy, music, storytelling, dance, and poetry) can provide truth and beauty and insight even in these discordant tensions of ancient spiritual practices. Remember, all spiritual practice evolves to better serve the gathered community. Portiuncula Guild is committed to “workshopping” imaginative spiritual practices to discover if these ancient practices can still inform and inspire the reconciliation our world so desperately needs. At it’s core, the “incarnation” of the deity into human history has been an attempt to remind/restore humanity to the fullness of our potential, as well as to remind/restore our interconnectedness to each other and all of creation. |
Resources
Meeting ID: 833 3975 1686
Passcode: 624887 Daily Readings
TUESDAY (17th)
Epistle of James Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of god. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and late rains. You must also be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of god is near. A MOMENT OF SILENCE WEDNESDAY (18th) James Baldwin/The Fire Next Time Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. I use the word "love" here not merely in the personal sense but as a state of being, or a state of grace - not in the infantile American sense of being made happy but in the tough and universal sense of quest and daring and growth. A MOMENT OF SILENCE THURSDAY (19th) The Prophet Ezekiel I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy, I will feed them with justice. A MOMENT OF SILENCE FRIDAY (20th) Shantideva/Embracing Bodhicitta Just as all the Buddhas of the past have brought forth the awakened mind, and in the precepts of the Bodhisattvas step-by-step abode and trained, likewise, for the benefit of all beings, I will bring to birth the awakened mind, and in those precepts, step-by-step, I will abide and train myself. A MOMENT OF SILENCE SATURDAY (21st) Toyokiho Kagawa Early 20th Century Labor Organizer Therefore I do not lose hope, nor do I fear when I see this drought in the land. I shall dig down deeper, still deeper into my own soul. I shall dig down to the God who is within me. Then, if I strike the underground stream that murmurs softly in the depths of my heart, I will tenderly cherish this oasis of the soul; and to it will I lead a few thirsting comrades. A MOMENT OF SILENCE SUNDAY (22nd) Dorothy Day What we would like to do is change the world? Make it a little simpler for people to feed, clothe and shelter themselves as God intended them to do. And to a certain extent, by fighting for better conditions, by crying out unceasingly for the rights of the workers, of the poor, of the destitute, the rights of the worthy and the unworthy poor in other words, we can to a certain extent change the world; we can work for the oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world. We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever widening circle will reach around the world. A MOMENT OF SILENCE MONDAY (23rd) Paul’s Letter to the Romans Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to awake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us lay aside the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light. A MOMENT OF SILENCE O Antiphons
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17
O Wisdom of God,
forming all beings with compassion and love, come return your people to the path of knowledge. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18
O Eternal Fire,
giver of the law to Moses at Sinai, come set all hearts aflame for justice. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19
O Root of Jesse’s Stem,
sign of God’s love for all people, come bring new life without delay. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20
O Key of David,
opening the gates to all creation, come free the prisoners of darkness. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21
O Radiant Dawn,
splendor of eternal light, sun of justice, come and shine on all who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22
O Desire of Nations,
fulfillment of their longing and keystone of creation, come unite all those whom you have formed from the dust. MONDAY, DECEMBER 23
O Emmanuel,
god present amidst and within, come teach your people to listen and live the way of justice and mercy. |