I Christmas

Let Us Pray For…

Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC)
The Rt. Rev. Donald Harvey (Moderator and Chair)
Anglican Province of the Southern Cone


Prayer Petitions
Let us give thanks for the Anglican Network in Canada’s role in the formation of the Anglican Church in North America. Let us pray for ANiC clergy and congregations as they face tribulations in the coming weeks and months. May their witness inspire other orthodox Anglicans to stand for the faith once delivered. May God continue to bless and expand the ministry of ANiC.

WHS

From the Scriptures
I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Galatians 4:1-7 (ESV)

A Guiding Prayer
ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us thy only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin: Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace. may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

“The First Sunday after Christmas Day,” The Book of Common Prayer (USA, 1928)

A Heritage Reflection
“And so have we here now in one both twain His natures. ‘God sent His Son’—there His divine; ‘made of a woman,’—here His human nature….And here now at this word, ‘made of a woman,’ He beginneth to concern us somewhat. There groweth an alliance between us; for we also are made of a woman.”

Bishop Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626)
Sermons, Vol 1

Christmas Day

From the Scriptures
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Hebrews 1:1-4 (ESV)

A Guiding Prayer
ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us thy only. begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

“The Nativity of our Lord, or the Birthday of Christ, commonly called Christmas Day,” The Book of Common Prayer (USA, 1928)

A Meditation
As we celebrate this most joyous of occasions, let us remember that the birth of our Lord in inseparable from his life, death, resurrection, ascension, and Second Coming. As the Litany reads:

By the mystery of thy holy Incarnation; by thy holy Nativity and Circumcision; by thy Baptism, Fasting, and Temptation,
Good Lord, deliver us.

By thine Agony and Bloody Sweat; by thy Cross and Passion; by thy precious Death and Burial; by thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension, and by the Coming of the Holy Ghost,
Good Lord, deliver us.

As we sing the familiar carols of Christmas—so many which are known by heart—and we hear their familiar tunes on the streets and in the stores, let us recall some of those second and third verses that tie the Sacred Birth to our redemption:

“Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.”

“O holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray!
Cast out our sin and enter in,
Be born in us to-day.
We hear the Christmas angels,
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel!”

“Come, Desire of nations come,
Fix in us Thy humble home;
Rise, the Woman's conquering Seed,
Bruise in us the Serpent's head.
Adam's likeness now efface:
Stamp Thine image in its place;
Second Adam, from above,
Reinstate us in thy love.
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,
Glory to the Newborn King.”



A Heritage Reflection
“For it is thus that thou wilt both controvert them in a legitimate manner, and wilt be prepared to receive the proofs brought forward against them, casting away their doctrines as filth by means of the celestial faith; but following the only true and stedfast Teacher, the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who did, through His transcendent love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself.”

St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Bishop and Martyr (d. ca. 202)
Against Heresies

Prayer Request - Anglican Network in Canada

Please pray for...

the 4 Niagara ANiC parishes appearance in court in Hamilton Tuesday, December 23rd at 10 a.m.

Please pray for their lawyer, Peter, that he may convince the judge of their position regarding court costs and the impact it would have on these churches; also that they may find favour in the eyes of Justice Millanetti.

IV Advent

Let Us Pray For…

Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMiA)
The Rt. Rev. Charles Murphy (Senior Bishop)
Anglican Church of the Province of Rwanda


Prayer Petitions
Let us give thanks to God for blessing the AMiA with growth, and let us give thanks that the AMiA is a part of the Anglican Church in North America. Let us also pray that, as with Blessed John the Baptist, we will all be so careful, especially in These Days, to take the attention off of ourselves, and point everyone to our Lord, whose sandals we are unworthy to untie.

WHS

From the Scriptures
And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

John 1:19-28 (ESV)

A Guiding Prayer
O LORD, raise up, we pray thee, thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and 'deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be honour and glory, world with out end. Amen.

“The Fourth Sunday in Advent,” The Book of Common Prayer (USA, 1928)

A Heritage Reflection
“For when we Christians speak of tradition, we mean the experience of the Christian community lying authentically within that which God through Christ has handed over for the revelation of himself and the salvation of men and women everywhere.”

Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey (1904-1988)
The Anglican Spirit

Winter Ember Days

Please pray for...

God to "send laborers into His harvest" by raising up vocations to faithful ministry throughout North American Anglicanism.

Prayer
ALMIGHTY God, and heavenly Father, who, of thine infinite love and goodness towards us, hast given to us thy only and most dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ, to be our Redeemer, and the Author of everlasting life; who, after he had made perfect our redemption by his death, and was ascended into heaven, sent abroad into the world his Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Doctors, and Pastors; by whose labour and ministry he gathered together a great flock in all the parts of the world, to set forth the eternal praise of thy holy Name: For these so great benefits of thy eternal goodness, and for that thou hast vouchsafed to call these thy servants here present to the same Office and Ministry, appointed for the salvation of mankind, we render unto thee most hearty thanks, we praise and worship thee; and we humbly beseech thee, by the same thy blessed Son, to grant unto all, which either here or elsewhere call upon thy holy Name, that we may continue to show ourselves thankful unto thee for these and all thy other benefits; and that we may daily increase and go forwards in the knowledge and faith of thee and thy Son, by the Holy Spirit. So that as well by these thy Ministers, as by them over whom they shall be appointed thy Ministers, thy holy Name may be for ever glorified, and thy blessed kingdom enlarged; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the same Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen. Bishop's Prayer, The Ordering of Priests, Book of Common Prayer 1662

Hymn - Veni, Creator Spiritus
COME, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,
And lighten with celestial fire.
Thou the anointing Spirit art,
Who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart.
Thy blessed unction from above,
Is comfort, life, and fire of love.
Enable with perpetual light
The dulness of our blinded sight.
Anoint and cheer our soiled face
With the abundance of thy grace.
Keep far our foes, give peace at home;
Where thou art guide, no ill can come.
Teach us to know the Father, Son,
And thee, of both, to be but One;
That, through the ages all along,
This may be our endless song:
Praise to thy eternal merit,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Prayers leading up to Friday, Dec. 19th

Please pray for...

The expected ruling in the Virginia church property cases on Friday, Dec. 19th.

For Judge Bellows, for God's wisdom and justice to fill his mind and words.

For the churches of the Anglican District of Virginia and other involved congregations..

For the Diocese of Virginia (TEC).

For the leaders of The Episcopal Church.

Prayer (Collect for Social Justice, BCP 1979)
Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Week of III Advent

Continue to pray thankfully for

The Anglican Communion Network (ACN)

We give thanks for the Diocese of Dallas (TEC), which is the latest of many Anglican entities and individuals to reject the false "depostion" of Bishop Duncan (ACN Moderator) by TEC's House of Bishops.