Above:  The Communion of the Apostles

Image in the Public Domain

Text (Published in 1900) by George Thomas Coster (1835-1912)

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1904)

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O Friend divine, with thee apart

Communing we have rest;

A blissful stillness rules the heart

That thus is blest.

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Thou call’st us from the strain of care

And from the battle strife,

To win in quietude of prayer

Abundant life.

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Thy call to fellowship how sweet!

With thee the silent mind

In thy great light itself can greet,

Its fulness find.

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Wise patience is thy gift,–and strength

For thee to toil, then wait

For harvest days that come at length,

And ne’er too late.

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With thee the boundlessness we learn

Of good for us in store,

That, much received, we yet may turn

To thee for more.

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With thee communing grow we brave

Our heart with joy is rife:

No fear! and see we e’en the grave

As Gate of Life.

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Above:  The Communion, by Lucas Velàzquez

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1891) by George Thomas Coster (1835-1912)

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1904)

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We join with all, in every place,

Who celebrate the undying grace

That bowed in death to save our race,–

With all, upon the land and sea,

That lowly bend adoring knee,

And, Saviour, now remember thee,–

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With all in chamber lone that make

Their prayer, in pause of pain, and break

The bread, and of the cup partake,–

With all in reverent throngs that now

Within thy temple loving bow,

And breathe the sacramental vow,–

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With all our kin beyond the foam,

Who find, though in far lands they roam,

Still in thy love their life, their home,–

We join with all, where’er they be,

Who bend commemorative knee,

And now in love remember thee.

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Above:  St. John’s Episcopal Church, Washington, D.C.

Image in the Public Domain

Text (published in 1928) by James Arnold Blaisdell (1867-1957), U.S. Congregationalist Minister and President of Pomona College, Claremont, California

Hymn Source = The Methodist Hymnal/The Book of Hymns (1966), The Methodist Church

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Beneath the forms of outward rite

Thy supper, Lord, is spread

In every quiet upper room

Where fainting souls are fed.

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The bread is always consecrate

Which men divide with men;

And every act of brotherhood

Repeats thy feast again.

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The blessed cup is only passed

True memory of thee,

When life anew pours out its wine

With rich sufficiency.

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O Master, through these symbols shared,

Thine own dear self impart,

That in our daily life may flame

The passion of thy heart.

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Above:  Episcopal Church of the Ascension, Cartersville, Georgia, November 5, 2017

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Text by William Henry Hammond Jervois (1852-1905)

Hymn Source = The English Hymnal (1906), The Church of England

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Wherefore, O Father, we thy humble servants

Here bring before thee Christ thy well-beloved,

All-perfect Offering, Sacrifice immortal, Spotless Oblation.

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See now thy children, making intercession

Through him our Saviour, Son of God incarnate,

For all thy people, living and departed, Pleading before thee.

Above:  St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church, Athens, Georgia, February 28, 2016

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Prayer Source = Enriching Our Worship (1998), The Episcopal Church

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Loving God,

we give you thanks

for restoring us in your image

and nourishing us with spiritual food

in the Sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood.

Now send us forth

a people, forgiven, healed, renewed;

that we may proclaim your love to the world

and continue in the risen life of Christ our Savior.  Amen.

Above:  St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church, Athens, Georgia, February 28, 2016

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Prayer Source = Enriching Our Worship (1998), The Episcopal Church

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God of abundance,

you have fed us

with the bread of life and cup of salvation;

you have united us

with Christ and one another;

and you have made us one

with all your people in heaven and on earth.

Now send us forth

in the power of your Spirit,

that we may proclaim your redeeming love to the world

and continue for ever

in the risen life of Christ our Savior.  Amen.

Above:  St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Milledgeville, Georgia, April 3, 2016

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Text (1891) by May P. Hoyt, of whom little information has survived; the primary assumption is that she was a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), in whose hymnals this text has mainly appeared

Hymn Source = New Worship and Song with Worship Services and Source Materials (1942), General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States

This hymn shares a tune with “Break Thou the Bread of Life.”

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Here at thy table, Lord,

This sacred hour,

O, let us feel thee near,

In loving power,

Calling our thoughts away

From self and sin,

As to thy banquet hall

We enter in.

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Sit at the feast, dear Lord,

Break thou the bread;

Fill thou the cup that brings

Life to the dead;

That we may find in thee

Pardon and peace,

And from all bondage win

A full release.

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So shall our life of faith

Be full, be sweet,

And we shall find our strength

For each day meet;

Fed by thy living bread,

All hunger past,

We shall be satisfied

And saved at last.

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Come then, O holy Christ,

Feed us, we pray;

Touch us with thy pierced hand

Each common day,

Making this earthly life

Full of thy grace,

Till in the home of heaven

We find our place.

Above:  The High Altar, Grace Episcopal Cathedral, San Francisco, California

Image Source = Marlith

Text (1922) by George Henry Trabert (1843-1931)

Hymn Source = The Hymnal and Order of Service (1925), The Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod

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With deep humility, O Lord,

We come before Thy face;

We are unworthy, but Thy Word

Assures us to Thy grace.

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This Sacrament Thou hast prepared,

In which Thy love shines forth,

It shows how richly Thou hast cared

For Thy redeemed on earth.

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Here we receive, through bread and wine,

Thy body and Thy blood,

We are refreshed by grace divine

With this most precious food.

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This is a wondrous mystery,

But we believe Thy Word;

All who confess their sins will see

How Thou dost life afford.

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This is post #1700 of GATHERED PRAYERS.

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Above:  The Right Reverend Keith Whitmore, Assistant Bishop of Atlanta, at St. Anthony’s Episcopal Church, Winder, Georgia, June 14, 2015

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1904), National Council of Congregational Churches in the United States

Text (1901) by Alice Freeman Palmer (1855-1902)

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1.  How sweet and silent is the place,

My God, alone with thee,

Awaiting here thy touch of grace,

Thy heavenly mystery!

2.  So many ways thou hast, dear Lord,

My longing heart to fill,–

Thy lovely world, thy spoken word,

The doing thy sweet will,

3.  Giving thy children living bread,

Leading thy weak ones on,

The touch of dear hands on my head,

The thought of loved ones gone!

4.  Lead me by many paths, dear Lord,

But always in thy way,

And help me make my earth a heaven,

Till next Communion Day.

Above:  St. Clare’s Episcopal Church, February 16, 2014

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Hymn Source = The Lutheran Hymnary (1935), Norwegian Lutheran Church of America

Original Norwegian Words (1861) by Magnus Brostrup Landstad (1802-1880)

English Translation (1910) by Carl Doving (1867-1937)

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1.  I come to Thee, O blessed Lord,

Invited by Thy gracious word

To this Thy feast, to sup with Thee,

Grant that a worthy guest I be.

2.  I come to Thee with sin and grief,

For Thou alone canst give relief,

Thy death for me, dear Lord, I plead:

O Jesus, help me in my need!

3.  Shouldst Thou a strict account demand,

Who could, O Lord, before Thee stand?

Purge all my secret sins away:

Be Thou, O Christ, the sinner’s stay!

4.  O Jesus, Lamb of God, alone,

Who didst for all our sins atone,

Though I have sinned and gone astray,

Turn not, O Lord, Thy guest away!

5.  O Jesus, Lamb of God alone,

Who didst for our sins atone,

Be merciful, I Thee implore,

Have mercy, Lord, for evermore!