Incarnated God, thank you for the precious gift of Jesus.

Thank you, also, for the seven sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist, in which our Lord, your Son, is present with us.

We are what we consume.  May we, by eating the body and drinking the blood of Jesus in transubstantiated forms, become more like Jesus.

And thank you for all spiritual blessings you have imparted to us via this blessed sacrament.

In the name of the Holy and Undivided Trinity.  Amen.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 31, 2010 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA

High Altar, Christus Rex, and Organ Pipes at St. Anne’s Episcopal Church, Tifton, Georgia, Diocese of Georgia

This church (pre-organ pipes) was the site of my confirmation on December 22, 1991.  I remained a member until the autumn of 1993, when I transferred to Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia, and became a member of Christ Episcopal Church, Valdosta.  St. Anne’s, Tifton, occupies a soft and pleasant place in my heart.

Image Source = http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/gallery/us_southeast/georgia/tifton_st-annes_casavant.shtml

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From the Book of Common Prayer (1979), of The Episcopal Church:

We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies.  We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table.  But thou art the same Lord whose property is always to show mercy.  Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us.  Amen.

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I grew up United Methodist in the time before the 1989 Hymnal.  As a youth I developed a great affection for the 1965 Methodist Hymnal/Book of Hymns and its liturgies, based on the English Prayer Book tradition.  So, to this day, I recall quickly and easily turning to #832 in the back of the 1965 Hymnal and working through the short form of the ritual for Holy Communion, complete with the above prayer.

The reworked Eucharistic liturgies from the 1989 United Methodist Hymnal and 1992 United Methodist Book of Worship do not impress me.  These rites are bland.  Rather, I prefer more poetic language, preferably modern more often than not, such as in Holy Eucharist, Rite II, Eucharistic Prayer C, from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer.  And, from time to time, I find myself dipping into Holy Eucharist, Rite I, privately and saying the Prayer of Humble Access.  Some texts stand the tests of time.

KRT

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894)

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Hymnary of The United Church of Canada (1930)

1.  Lord of all being, throned afar,

Thy glory flames from sun and star;

Centre and soul of every sphere,

Yet to each loving heart now near.

2.  Sun of our life, Thy quickening ray

Sheds on our path, the glow of day;

Star of our hope, Thy softened light

Cheers the long watches of the night.

3.  Our midnight is Thy smile withdrawn;

Our noontide is Thy gracious dawn;

Our rainbow arch, Thy mercy’s sign;

All, save the clouds of sin, are Thine.

4.  Lord of all life, below, above,

Whose light is truth, whose warmth is love,

Before Thy ever blazing throne

We ask no lustre of our own.

5.  Grant us Thy truth to make us free,

And kindling hearts that burn for Thee,

Till all Thy living altars claim

One holy light, one heavenly flame.

Above:  The Peace Sign

Image in the Public Domain

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Henry Williams Baker (1821-1877), a priest of the Church of England, was chief editor of Hymns Ancient and Modern, as well as the author of many hymns.  My source for the following hymn by Baker is The Hymnary of The United Church of Canada (1930).

KRT

1. O God of love, O King of peace,

Make wars throughout the world to cease;

The wrath of sinful man restrain;

Give peace, O God, give peace again!

2.  Remember, Lord, Thy works of old,

The wonders that our fathers told;

Remember not our sin’s dark stain;

Give peace, O God, give peace again!

3.  Whom shall we trust but Thee, O Lord?

Where rest but on Thy faithful word?

None ever called on Thee in vain;

Give peace, O God, give peace again!

4. Where saints and angels dwell above,

All hearts are knit in holy love;

O bind us in that heavenly chain;

Give peace, O God, give peace again!

Relief of the Nativity, Cathedral of St. Peter, Worms, Germany

Image in the Public Domain

The Reverend Ferdinand Q. Blanchard (1876-1968) was a U.S. Congregationalist then United Church of Christ minister.  I found this hymn text in the 1957 Hymnal of the Evangelical United Brethren Church, a predecessor body of The United Methodist Church.

KRT

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1.  O Jesus, youth of Nazareth,

Preparing for the bitter strife,

Wilt Thou impart to every heart

Thy perfect purity of life?

2.  O Christ, whose words make dear the fields

And hillsides green of Galilee,

Grant us to find with reverent mind

The truth Thou saidst should make us free.

3.  O suffering Lord on Calvary,

When love led on to mortal pain,

We know Thy cross is not a loss

If we we Thy love shall truly gain.

4. O Master of abundant life

From natal morn to victory’s hour,

We look to Thee;

heed Thee our plea,

Teach us to share Thy ageless power.

Flag of the United States of America, 1845-1846, the Temporal Point of Origin of the English Translation of This Text

Image Source = http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-1845.html

English words by Charles T. Brooks, John S. Dwight, and William E. Hickson

Hickson wrote verse three.

http://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2013/08/23/feast-of-william-edward-hickson-march-21/

Hymn Source = The Hymnal of the Evangelical United Brethren Church (1957)

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1.  God bless our native land,

Firm may she ever stand

Through storm and night;

When the wild tempests rave,

Ruler of wind and wave,

Do Thou our country save

By Thy great might.

2.  For her our prayer shall rise

To God above the skies;

On Him we wait;

Thou who art ever nigh,

Guarding with watchful eye,

To Thee aloud we cry,

God save the State!

3.  Not for this land alone,

But be God’s mercies shown

From shore to shore;

And may the nations see

That men should brothers be,

And form one family

The wide world o’er.

The Last Supper, by Pascal Adolphe Dagnan-Bouveret

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Hymnal of the Evangelical United Brethren Church (1957)

Words by Mary Lathbury (1841-1913)

1.  Break Thou the Bread of Life,

Dear Lord to me,

As Thou didst break the loaves

Beside the sea;

Beyond the sacred page

I seek Thee, Lord,

My spirit pants for Thee,

O living Word.

2.  Bless Thou the truth, dear Lord,

Now unto me,

As Thou didst bless the bread

By Galilee;

Then shall all bondage cease,

All fetters fall,

And I shall find my peace,

My All in all.

From The Hymnal of the Evangelical United Brethren Church (1957):

In times of doubts and questionings, dear Lord,

when our belief is perplexed by

new learning,

new teaching,

new thought,

when our faith is challenged

by creeds,

by doctrines,

by mysteries beyond our understanding,

give us the faithfulness of learners and

the the courage of believers in thee;

give us boldness to examine and faith to trust all truth;

patience and insight to master difficulties;

stability to hold fast our traditions with enlightened interpretations,

to admit all fresh truth made known to us,

and in times of trouble to grasp new knowledge

and to combine it loyally and honestly with the old.

Save us and help us,

we humbly beseech thee, O Lord.

Amen.

Image Source = Wikipedia

“O Lord, I do not pray for tasks equal to my strength; I ask for strength equal to my tasks.”

–Quoted in The Communion of Saints:  Prayers of the Famous, edited by Horton Davies (Grand Rapids, MI:  Eerdmans, 1990), p. 32

Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), author of “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” was Episcopal Bishop of Massachusetts (1891-1893).

O Holy Jesus, who had no place to lay your head, watch with me in the night hours, I pray you; calm my fears and relieve my anxieties with the blessed gift of sleep; give me your peace and grant that I may wake up refreshed in your service; who with the Father and the Holy Spirit rules all things.  Amen.

–Father Robert N. Rodenmayer (1909-1979), U.S. Episcopal Priest

Quoted in The Communion of Saints:  Prayers of the Famous, edited by Horton Davies (Grand Rapids, MI:  Eerdmans, 1990), p. 130