Tuesday, December 5, 2017*

                                   __________________St Clement 

      "There 

         is one 

         river 

         of truth 

         which 

         receives  

         tributaries from every side." 

    * Clement of Alexan-

'      dria, c 210, Greek 

      philosopher & seeker 

      who found his way 

      to Christ to became 

      a theologian  & priest. 

     In my lifetime, the colllect 

     has gone from “turn your  

Church from the conceits of worldly wisdom, and by the Spirit of truth, guide it into all truth, through Jesus Christ…" to what is today, “Grant that your Church may recognize true wisdom wherever it is found, know-ing that wisdom comes from you and leads to you…” I think Clement would like that. Pray for philosophical & theological education in the church.

Today in 1914 

our friend 

George Higgins, 

curmudgeon 

extraordinaire, 

was born. I 

am so grateful for 

his life & witness.

Monday, December 4, 2017*

                                    Easter Hymn: Come ye faithful 

     Neither might 

     the gates of 

     death, nor 

     the tomb’s

     dark portal, 

     nor the 

     watchers   

     nor the seal, 

     hold theee as a mortal: 

        but today, amidst thine own,

          thou didst standing bestowing,

              that thy peace which evermore

                           passeth human knowing.

*John of Damascus, 

Syrian monk & priest c.760,

author of the Easter hams

 (Hymns, Siri, Hymns! 

Seriously,Siri, you are such a pagan!) "Come ye faithful" and "The day of resurrection."  He also wrote in defense of holy images against the iconoclasts,  distinguishing between “the respect or veneration that is properly paid the created beings, and the worship that is properly given only to God.”  (From Holy Women…)

Sunday night

                                             1 Thessalonians 5:4

                   

                    you, 

                    be-

                    loved 

                    are

                    not 

                    in 

                   dark-

                   ness… 

                   For 

                   you 

                   are 

                   all 

                   children 

                   of light 

                   and children of the day 

The First Sunday of Advent December, 3, 2017

                                 Surge, illuminare  (Canticle 11)

 

…be-

hold, 

dark-

ness 

covers

the 

land;

deep gloom enshrouds the peoples. 

But over you the Lord will rise, &

his glory will appear upon you.             

Saturdany evening, December 2, 2017

                                              1 Peter 4:8

Above 

all, 

main-

tain 

constant

love for one another, 

for love covers a multitude of sins.                             

Friday Evening Prayer

                                 ___________Psalm 141:2 

       Let my 

       prayer 

      be set 

      forth 

     in your sight

     as incense; 

       the lifting up of my hands 

             as the evening sacrifice. 

Friday, December 1, 2017*

                      the antiphon on

                            Psalm 140. 

Keep 

me, 

O 

Lord, 

from 

the 

hands 

of the 

wicked; 

for you are

the strength of my salvation.

*Nicholas Ferrar 

1592-1637, deacon &  founder of Little Gidding, a relgious community which 

did not survive his death, though you 

will  recognize the name from TS Elliott.

We shall not cease from 

                         exploration

And the end of all our 

                         exploring 

Will be to arrive where

                       we started 

And know the place for 

                 the first time. 

Through the unknown, 

       unremembered gate 

…

Not known, because not 

                            looked for 

But heard, half-heard,in the stillness

Between two waves of  the sea.

Quick now, here, now, always-- 

A condition of complete simplicity

(Costing not less than  everything)

And all shall be well and

All manner of thing shall  be well

When the tongues of  flames are in-folded 

Into the crowned knot of fire 

And the fire and the rose are one.

From section V of TS Elliot’s Little Gidding,  the last 

of the The Four Quartets, which my Mom loved. 

And you will recognize our friend Lady Julian