Above:  St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, Dunwoody, Georgia, May 27, 2012

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/BishopWhitmoreVisitsStPatrickSDunwoodyForPentecost#5748384296833626194)

Original Latin text from the Twelfth Century; English translation by Father Charles P. Price (1920-1999), an Episcopal Priest

Hymn Source = The Hymnal 1982, of The Episcopal Church

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1.  Come, thou Holy Spirit bright;

come with thy celestial light;

come, thou source of blessings sure;

come within our hearts to shine.

2.  Thou, of comforters the best,

thou, the sou’s most welcome guest,

of our peace thou art the sign.

In our labor, be our aid;

in our summer, cooling shade.

Every bitter tear refine.

3.  Brighter than the noonday sun,

fill our lives which Christ has won;

fill our hearts and make them thine.

Where thou art not, we have nought:

all our word and deed and thought

twisted from they true design.

4.  Bend the stubborn heart and will;

melt the frozen, warm the chill;

rule us by the judgment’s line.

Cleanse us with thy healing power;

what is barren bring to flower;

to thy love our sins consign.

5.  To thy people who adore

and confess thee evermore,

thy blest seven-fold gift assign.

Grant us thy salvation, Lord,

boundless mercy our reward,

joys which earth and heaven entwine.

Above:  Live Nativity, St. Teresa’s Episcopal Church, Acworth, Georgia, December 23, 2011

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/StTeresaSLiveNativity#5689414676627460674)

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Prayer of Praise and Adoration:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/12/20/christmas-prayers-of-praise-and-adoration/

Prayer of Dedication:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/12/20/christmas-prayers-of-dedication/

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Above:  Live Nativity at St. Teresa’s Episcopal Church, Acworth, Georgia, December 23, 2011

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/StTeresaSLiveNativity#5690519876472004018)

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Prayer of Praise and Adoration:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/12/20/christmas-prayers-of-praise-and-adoration/

Prayer of Dedication:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/12/20/christmas-prayers-of-dedication/

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Above:  St. David’s Episcopal Church, Roswell, Georgia, December 18, 2011

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/StDavidSRoswell#5687616723444369458)

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Prayer of Praise and Adoration:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/advent-prayers-of-praise-and-adoration/

Prayer of Dedication:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/advent-prayers-of-dedication/

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Above:  Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, Atlanta, Georgia, December 11, 2011

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/BishopWhitmoreVisitsTheChurchOfTheEpiphanyAtlanta#5685295023939385074)

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Prayer of Praise and Adoration:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/advent-prayers-of-praise-and-adoration/

Prayer of Dedication:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/advent-prayers-of-dedication/

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Above:  Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, Atlanta, Georgia, December 11, 2011

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/BishopWhitmoreVisitsTheChurchOfTheEpiphanyAtlanta#5685294792036265394)

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Prayer of Praise and Adoration:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/advent-prayers-of-praise-and-adoration/

Prayer of Confession:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/08/24/our-valleys-are-deep/

Prayer of Dedication:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/advent-prayers-of-dedication/

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Above:  St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Peachtree City, Georgia, December 4, 2011

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/StAndrewsPeachtreeCity#5682358192935028962)

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Prayer of Praise and Adoration:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/advent-prayers-of-praise-and-adoration/

Prayer of Dedication:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/advent-prayers-of-dedication/

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Above:  A Mitre

Image Source = Wikipedia

Prayer Source = A Bookmark from 2003

Words by the Right Reverend Barbara Clementine Harris, Suffragan Bishop of Massachusetts (1989-2003), the first female bishop in The Episcopal Church and the larger Anglican Communion.

Her election created a major ecclesiastical controversy, unfortunately.  We have moved on, however, for now the Presiding Bishop is a woman.

I recall an editorial cartoon from 1993.  The General Synod of  The Church of England had just approved the ordination of women to the priesthood and the question of homosexuals serving in the U.S. military was a prominent political issue. The scene was a confessional booth.  On one side was a soldier, who could not see the female priest on the other side.  The soldier said,

I don’t take change well, Father.

I chuckled then.  I still do.

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O God, you have bound us together in a common life.

Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth,

to confront one another without hatred or bitterness,

and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Above:  Great Britain and Ireland

Image Source = Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA

William Chatterton Dix (1837-1898) was the English-born manager of a marine insurance company in Glasgow, Scotland.  An Anglican, he belonged to The Church of England south of Hadrian’s Wall and to the Scottish Episcopal Church north thereof.  Of Dix James F. Moffatt wrote:

Few modern writers have shown so signal a gift as his for the difficult art of hymn writing.

—Handbook to The Church Hymnary (London:  Oxford University Press, 1927), page 318

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Joy Fills Our Inmost Hearts Today:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/joy-fills-our-inmost-hearts-today/

To Thee, O Lord, Our Hearts We Raise:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/to-thee-o-lord-our-hearts-we-raise/

As With Gladness Men of Old:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/as-with-gladness-men-of-old/

“Come Unto Me, Ye Weary, and I Will Give You Rest.”:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/come-unto-me-ye-weary-and-i-will-give-you-rest/

Alleluia! Sing to Jesus:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/alleluia-sing-to-jesus/

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Above:  Nativity at Night, by Geertgen tot Sint Jans

Hymn Source = Lutheran Common Service Book (1917)

Words (1865) by William Chatterton Dix (1837-1898)

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1.  Joy fills our inmost hearts today,

The Royal Child is born;

And angel hosts, in glad array,

His Advent keep this morn.

Refrain

Rejoice, rejoice! Th’Incarnate Word

Has come on earth to dwell;

No sweeter sound than this is heard:

Immanuel

2.  Low at the cradle-throne we bend,

We wonder and adore,

And feel no bliss can ours transcend:

No joy was sweet before.

Refrain

3.  For us the world must lose its charms

Before the manger-shrine,

When, folded in Thy mother’s arms,

We see Thee, Babe Divine.

Refrain

4.  Thou Light of uncreated Light,

Shine on us, Holy Child,

That we may keep Thy Birthday bright

With service undefiled.

Refrain