
Jesus-Christ-from-Hagia-Sophia, by Edal Anton Lefterov (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
worship
Christ is Risen!

Holy Women at Christ’ s Tomb, Annibale Carracci 1590’s, via Wikimedia Commons
enable us the celebrate

Moravian Stars in Dresden Ulrich van Stipriaan
[GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
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Bless our Advent waiting
Holy in marriage
Father, all-powerful and ever living God,
we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks.
You created man in love to share your divine life.
We see his high destiny in the love of husband and wife,
which bears the imprint of your own divine love.
Love is man’s origin,
love is his constant calling,
love is his fulfillment in heaven.
The love of man and woman
is made holy in the sacrament of marriage,
and becomes the mirror of your everlasting love.
Through Christ the choir of angels
and all saints
praise and worship your glory.
May our voices blend with theirs
as we join in their unending hymn:
Holy, holy, holy…
we praise you as God

Pope St Clement Adoring the Trinity, by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1738
Jacob’s awe

Jacob’s Ladder by William Blake, via Wikimedia Commons
without you I am nothing
I call upon you, O God – you who created me,
and who did not forget me when I forgot you.
Let me know you – you who are the only one
who truly knows me.
Come into my soul,
because you are the power that makes my soul live.
Make me fit to belong to you,
because that is my only hope.
Enter my heart,
because by inspiring me to long for you,
you make me ready to be your bride.
When I was far from you,
you persuaded me to listen to your voice
and turn back to you.
I called to you for help,
but all the time you were calling me to yourself.
You blotted out all my sins,
instead of punishing me as I deserved.
I was nothing.
You had no need of me.
Even now my service had not even the value
of a labourer tilling his master’s land,
because even if I did not work,
you would bring forth the same harvest.
I can only serve you and worship you
with the good that comes from you.
It is from you alone that I receive my strength,
and without you I am nothing.

