Cemetery at Normandy
Invocation
My brothers and sisters,
our help is in the name of the eternal God,
who is making the heavens and the earth.
Eternal Spirit,
flow through our being and open our lips,
that our mouths may proclaim your praise.
(Silence)
Let us worship the God of love.
Alleluia. Alleluia.
Psalm 119:89-96
Dear God, your eternal word of love
endures for ever in the universe.
Your truth stands fast from one generation to another.
You have laid the foundations of the earth, and it abides.
In fulfilment of your purpose it continues to this very day,
for all things serve you.
If my delight had not been in your wisdom,
I should have perished in my trouble.
I shall never forget your truths,
for with them you have given me life.
I belong to you; save me,
for I have sought your counsel.
The ungodly laid wait for me to destroy me,
but I will meditate on your law.
I see that all things come to an end,
but your commandment is exceeding broad.
Reading
2 Corinthians 6:4-10
As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labours, watching, hunger; by purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honour and dishonour, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
Canticle
The Lake of Beauty
Edward Carpenter
Let your mind be quiet, realising the beauty of the world,
and the immense, the boundless treasures that it holds in store.
All that you have within you, all that your heart desires,
all that your Nature so specially fits you for –
that or the counterpart of it waits embedded in the great Whole, for you.
It will surely come to you.
Yet equally surely not one moment before its appointed time
will it come. All your crying and fever and reaching out of
hands will make no difference.
Therefore do not begin that game at all.
Do not recklessly spill the waters of your mind
in this direction and in that,
lest you become like a spring lost and dissipated in the desert.
But draw them together into a little compass, and hold them still, so still;
And let them become clear, so clear – so limpid, so mirror-like;
at last the mountains and the sky shall glass themselves in peaceful beauty,
and the antelope shall to descend to drink and to gaze at her reflected image,
and the lion to quench his thirst,
and Love himself shall come and bend over and catch his own likeness in you.
Prayers
Lord have mercy.
E te Ariki kia aroha mai.
Kyrie eleison.
Christ have mercy.
E te Karaiti kia aroha mai.
Christe eleison.
Lord have mercy.
E te Ariki kia aroha mai.
Kyrie eleison.
O God of many names,
lover of all peoples;
we pray for peace
in our hearts and homes,
in our nations and our world;
the peace of your will,
the peace of our need.
Dear Christ, our friend and our guide,
pioneer through the shadow of death,
passing through darkness to make it light,
be our companion that we may fear no evil,
and bring us to life and to glory.
O God of peace and justice,
of holiness and love;
knit us together in mind and flesh,
in feeling and in spirit,
and make us one,
ready for that great day;
the fulfillment of all our hopes,
and the glory of Jesus Christ.
Keep us in the spirit of joy and simplicity and mercy.
Bless us and those you have entrusted to us,
in and through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.
Collect for Midday
Blessed Saviour, at this hour you hung upon the cross, stretching out your loving arms; grant that all the peoples of the earth may be drawn to your uplifted love; for your kingdom’s sake. Amen.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever. Amen.
Blessing
May the Creator
bless us and keep us;
may the beloved companion face us
and have mercy on us;
may the eternal Spirit’s countenance
be turned to us and give us peace;
may the Three in One bless us. Amen.
(silence)
The divine Spirit dwells in us.
Kia noho te Wairua o te Runga Rawa ki a tatou.
Thanks be to God.
Whakamoemititia a Ihowa.++
The Daily Office 