Holy Innocents

The collect for Holy Innocents (December 28):

We remember today, O God, the slaughter of the holy innocents of Bethlehem by the order of King Herod. Receive, we beseech thee, into the arms of thy mercy all innocent victims; and by thy great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish thy rule of justice, love, and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Ordinary of the Divine Office, according to the Lutheran Liturgical Prayer Brotherhood

The LLBP has a page, with links to mp3s, of the orders for Lauds, Noonday Prayer, Vespers, and Compline (as well as Vigils, which I'm not including here) at their website; I'm copying the page below only, so that you can use it as an example for praying the Offices.  Remember that the mp3s linked below are housed on the LLPB site; they are doing all the work, not me!  Check out their site, by all means; there's a lot of great stuff over there.

As you can see, they've put in separate audio files for Lent and for the rest of the year; it's to avoid the alleluias!  And there is a separate Eastertide Benedicamus also.  I've added, in green and in parentheses, the place where the Psalms go in the offices.  

The Order of Vigils

The Te Deum

The Order of Morning Prayer

The Opening Versicles--Alleluia or Praise to Thee, O Christ for Lententide

(The Psalms)

The Lection

The Responsory (see Propers for Praying the Hours-Weekday)

The Hymn (see Propers for Praying the Hours-Weekday)

The Canticle with Versicle (see Propers for Praying the Hours-Weekday)

The Prayers:  Kyrie, the Lord's Prayer, the Sufferages, the Salutation--option.

The Benedicamus outside of Eastertide/ in Eastertide

The Benediction

The Order of Midday (Midmorning, Midafternoon) Prayer

The Opening Versicles--Alleluia or Praise to Thee, O Christ for Lententide

(The Psalms)

The Hymn at Prime (Before midmorning), at Terce (midmorning), at Sext (midday), at None (midafternoon).

The Lection

The Responsory (see Propers for Praying the Hours-Weekday)

The Prayers:  Kyrie, the Lord's Prayer, the Salutation--option,

        Versicle, Da Pacem, Versicle, Collect for the day of the week at Sext (see Propers for Praying the Hours-Weekday).

The Benedicamus outside of Eastertide/ in Eastertide

The Benediction

The Order of Evening Prayer (Vespers)

The Opening Versicles--Alleluia or Praise to Thee, O Christ for Lententide

(The Psalms)

The Lection

The Responsory (see Propers for Praying the Hours-Weekday)

The Hymn (see Propers for Praying the Hours-Weekday)

The Canticle with Versicle (see Propers for Praying the Hours-Weekday)

The Prayers:  Kyrie, the Lord's Prayer, the Sufferages, the Salutation--option.

The Benedicamus outside of Eastertide/ in Eastertide

The Benediction

The Order of Night Prayer (Compline)

The Opening Versicles

The Confiteor

The Versicles after Confiteor, Alleluia, Praise to Thee O Christ.

The Psalmody (Psalm 4, Psalm 91, Psalm 134)

The Little Chapter

The Responsory

The Hymn--Sun./Feasts, Weekdays, Lent

The Gospel Canticle with Versicle and Antiphon on Sundays & Feasts or on Weekdays

The Prayers:  Kyrie, the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed, Preces, the Collect of the Office the Salutation--option.

The Benedicamus

The Benediction

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O merciful Father, who has taught us in your holy Word that you do not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men: Look with pity upon the sorrows of your servants for whom our prayers are offered. Remember them, O Lord, in mercy, nourish their souls with patience, comfort them with a sense of your goodness, lift up your countenance upon them, and give them peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Full Homely Divinity's Pentecost Novena

New this year, I believe, from this page:

The nine days from Ascension Day to the Eve of Pentecost are the original novena--nine days of prayer. Before he ascended, Jesus ordered the disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. After his Ascension, they returned to the upper room in Jerusalem where they devoted themselves to prayer. These last days of the Great Fifty Days of Easter can be a time for us to prepare for the celebration of Pentecost. As we anticipate the coming of the Holy Spirit, this can be a time to pray for renewal in the Spirit and a time to reflect on the gifts which the Spirit bestows on the Church. The prayer for the newly baptized, p. 308, in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer is the traditional prayer for the seven gifts of the Spirit, based on the prophecy of Isaiah 11:2-3. This prayer could be the basis for daily reflection on the gifts of the Spirit in the days between the Ascension and Pentecost and the following adaptation of it could be used daily as a simplified novena.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that by water and the Holy Spirit you have bestowed upon us the forgiveness of sin, and have raised us to the new life of grace in your Son Jesus Christ. Sustain us, O Lord, in the gifts of your Spirit: an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works. Amen.

Or, here is a fuller novena, based on the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit. It may be used at the conclusion of the Daily Office or as a separate act of devotion.

A Novena for the Gifts of the Spirit

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 dullness 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 with 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. Amen.

Come, great Paraclete, Father of the poor, Comforter of the blest, fulfill the promise of our Savior who would not leave us as orphans. Enter our minds and hearts as you descended on the day of Pentecost upon the Mother of Jesus and upon his Apostles. Grant that every member of the Church may have a part in those gifts which were bestowed that day. O Holy Spirit, giver of every good and perfect gift, may the Father's will be done in us and through us, and may you, O mighty Spirit, equal to the Father and the Son in Being and majesty, be praised and glorifed for ever and ever. Amen.

Here may be added any of the following prayers: Our Father, Hail Mary, Trisagion, Kyrie eleison, Gloria Patri, concluding with the prayer appropriate to the day of the novena.

First Day
Come, O Holy Spirit, the Lord and Lifegiver: Take up your dwelling within my soul and make of it your sacred temple. Make me live by grace as an adopted child of God. Pervade all the energies of my soul, and create in me a fountain of living water springing up into life everlasting; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Father, one God, in Trinity of Persons, now and forever. Amen.

Second Day - Wisdom
Come, O Spirit of Wisdom, and reveal to me the mysteries of divine things, their greatness, and power, and beauty. Teach me to love them above and beyond all the transient joys and satisfactions of the mortal world. Show me the way by which I may be able to attain to them and participate in them forever; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Father, one God, in Trinity of Persons, now and forever. Amen.

Third Day - Understanding
Come, O Spirit of Understanding, and enlighten my mind, that I may know and believe all of the mysteries of salvation and discern your hand at work in the world. Teach me to see with your eyes that I may apply my heart unto wisdom in this life and be made worthy to attain to the vision glorious in the life to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Father, one God, in Trinity of Persons, now and forever. Amen.

Fourth Day - Counsel
Come, O Spirit of Counsel, help and guide me in all my ways, that I may always do your holy will. Incline my heart to that which is good, turn it away from all that is evil, and direct me by the path of him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life to the goal of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Father, one God, in Trinity of Persons, now and forever. Amen.

Fifth Day - Fortitude
Come, O Spirit of Fortitude, and give courage to my soul. Make my heart strong in all trials and in all distress, generously pouring strength into it that I may be able to resist the allurements of the world, the flesh, and the devil; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Father, one God, in Trinity of Persons, now and forever. Amen.

Sixth Day - Knowledge
Come, O Spirit of Knowledge, and make me understand the emptiness and chaos of life without you. Give me grace to recognize the goodness of the whole creation and to honor the Creator by using the world only for your glory and for the benefit and the salvation of all whom you have made; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Father, one God, in Trinity of Persons, now and forever. Amen.

Seventh Day - Piety
Come, O Spirit of Piety, possess my heart; incline it to a true faith in you, to a holy love of you, my God, that with my whole being I may seek you, and find you to be my best, my truest joy;through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Father, one God, in Trinity of Persons, now and forever. Amen.

Eighth Day - Holy Awe [Fear]
Come, O Spirit of Holy Awe, penetrate my inmost heart, that I may set you, my Lord and God, before my face forever. In joy and wonder may I be made worthy to appear before the pure eyes of your divine Majesty and behold your glory face to face in the heaven of heavens, where you live and reign in the unity of the Ever-blessed Trinity, now and forever. Amen.

Ninth Day
Come, O Holy Comforter, come in all your fullness and power. Enrich us in our poverty, inflame us in our feebleness, melt our hearts with your love. Make us wholly yours, until your gifts are ours and we are lost in you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Father, one God, in Trinity of Persons, now and forever. Amen.

A video of the Pentecost hymn Veni, Creator Spiritus (the English words of which are above, just under the title "A Novena for the Gifts of the Spirit"), sung by the Schola Cantorum of Amsterdam Students:

The Lenten Prayer of Ephrem the Syrian

And good for any time of year:

O Lord and Master of my life, give me not the spirit of sloth, faintheartedness, lust for power, or idle talk. (prostration)

But grant me, your servant, the spirit of moderation, humility, patience, and love. (prostration)

Yes, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own faults and not to judge my brothers and sisters. For you are blessed to the ages of ages. Amen (prostration)

From YouTube:

"Prayer is natural"

Here's today's "Speaking to the Soul" entry at Episcopal Cafe:

Prayer is the fundamental activity of the Christian; to be in the image of God means to communicate with God. Many people are intimidated by prayer, believing that there is a right and wrong way, and thinking that they will somehow offend God or make fools of themselves if they do it wrongly. It is helpful to know that our monastic ancestors were convinced that prayer is natural to us, like breathing, if we only discover it in ourselves. It is something we do, but even more, it is a gift of God to us. We do not even have to enter God's presence in prayer, because we are already in God's presence. It may be helpful to think not of entering God's presence, but rather of making ourselves accessible to prayer. Prayer shapes us and transforms us. It centers us in God and at the same time in ourselves. It is always changing, as we are always becoming new in God.

Nevertheless, this discussion of introspection and prayer and overcoming the passions in order to love might suggest that the primary reason we pray has to do with transformation. This is misleading, however, for while prayer makes us who we are, we do not pray in order to become new any more than we marry the person we marry primarily in order to become somebody else. We pray, first of all, to be with God. Secondarily we pray knowing that God has promised good things which we can expect through prayer. If we let prayer be only a means to something else we want, however, it will not be for us what it can be, and we will not be who we can be.

From To Love as God Loves: Conversations with the Early Church by Roberta C. Bondi (Fortress Press, 1987).

The Stations of the Cross

While only tangentially related to the topic of chant (there are a couple of chant mp3s at the links), I thought I'd point out that Full Homely Divinity has posted a new article about the Stations of the Cross, and a set of 14 Stations pages.

Here's the first page of the Stations, which begins with the Stabat Mater:

At the Cross her station keeping,
stood the mournful Mother weeping,
where he hung, the dying Lord.

For her soul of joy bereaved,
bowed with anguish, deeply grieved,
felt the sharp and piercing sword.

An embedded YouTube video/sound file of the Allegri Misere Mei is on that page, too, following Psalm 51. And you can go through the (illustrated) stations, one by one. There's more music at the end, including a beautiful chanted Vexilla Regis Prodeunt and a Byrd Agnus Dei.






Here's an interesting set of paintings of the Stations. An example:






The artist has also included many pencil-drawing, and pencil-and-oil-wash studies of the Stations of the Cross; interesting to go through them. For some reason I haven't figured out yet, I really like his style, and these Stations; intriguingly, the final oil versions are quite different from the studies. I wonder if he was commissioned to do this, or if his own interest in the topic produced these? At another page of his stuff, you find many pieces with religious themes, so I suspect the latter. Anyway, here's a link to his own home page.

And I also really like this image I found at Flickr, also labeled "Stations of the Cross":






And don't forget the Postulant's Julian of Norwich-inspired Stations. Here's the PDF file he posted.