On the Feast of St Brigid

On this feast we offer the following links in recognition that social media, Facebook in particular, often seeks to suppress Christians and their beliefs and practices so the following is from a blog that has received such treatment from FB - because, apparently, it is dangerous stuff!

Visit Shower of Roses Blog  HERE and see for yourself if this is worth suppression!  Needless to say FB allows porn, propaganda, and all sorts of incivilities without question.

A Collect for this day.
Merciful God,
origin and reward of all charity,
you called Saint Brigid to teach the new commandment of love
through her life of hospitality and her care of the needy;
give to your people, by her intercession,
a generous spirit,
so that, with hearts made pure,
we may show your love to all.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.


FIRST READING Job 31:16-20, 24-25, 31-32
Have I been insensible to poor men’s needs,
or let a widow’s eyes grow dim?
Or taken my share of bread alone,
not giving a share to the orphan?
I, whom God has fostered father-like, from childhood,
and guided since I left my mother’s womb.
Have I ever seen a wretch in need of clothing,
or a beggar going naked,
without his having cause to bless me from his heart,
as he felt the warmth of the fleece from my lambs?
Have I put all my trust in gold,
from finest gold sought my security?
Have I ever gloated over my great wealth,
or the riches that my hands have won?
The people of my tent, did they not say,
‘Is there a man he has not filled with meat?’
No stranger ever had to sleep outside,
my door was always open to the traveller.

Or: Ephesians 3:14-21
This is what I pray, kneeling before the Father, from whom every family, whether spiritual or natural, takes its name:
Out of his infinite glory, may he give you the power through his Spirit for your hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love, you will with all the saints have strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth; until, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, you are filled with the utter fullness of God.
Glory be to him whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine;
glory be to him from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever.
Amen.


RESPONSORIAL PSALM Ps 106 (107):35-38, 41-42.

R/. (v.1) Give thanks to the Lord for he is good;
for his love has no end.
He changes desert into streams,
thirsty ground into springs of water.
There he settles the hungry
and they build a city to dwell in.
R/. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good;
for his love has no end.
They sow fields and plants their vines;
these yield crops for the harvest.
He blesses them; they grow in numbers.
He does not let their herds decrease.
R/. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good;
for his love has no end.
He raises the needy from distress;
makes families numerous as a flock.
The upright see it and rejoice
but all who do wrong are silenced.
R/. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good;
for his love has no end.


ALLELUIA 1 John 4:12
As long as we love one another,
God will live in us
and his love will be complete in us.


GOSPEL Luke 6:32-38
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If you love those who love you, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks can you expect? For even sinners do that much. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount. Instead, love your enemies and do good, and lend without any hope of return. You will have a great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.’ ‘Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.’


PRAYER OVER THE OFFERINGS
As we present these gifts, O Lord,
on the feast of Saint Brigid,
may we come to know you as the source of all true love.
Through Christ our Lord.


FROM WIKI
Saint Brigid of Kildare or Brigid of Ireland (Irish: Naomh Bríd; Latin: Brigida; c. 451 – 525) is one of Ireland's patron saints, along with Patrick and Columba. Irish hagiography makes her an early Irish Christian nun,^[3] abbess, and foundress of several monasteries of nuns, including that of Kildare in Ireland, which was famous and was revered. Her feast day is 1 February, which was originally a pagan festival called Imbolc, marking the beginning of spring. Her feast day is shared by Dar Lugdach, whom tradition says was her student and the woman who succeeded her.

Why do we pray with saints?

In this post, we discuss the question of prayer in reference to the saints. Why do we pray to the saints?  As I travel, I come across several misconceptions that have nothing to do with our relationship to the saints.

These misconceptions rise in part from the loss of understanding of the phrase “communion of saints” which is very important article of the Apostles Creed. What we see in these objections of asking the prayers of saints is an uninformed view of what heaven is all about. Discussing the question of afterlife in his book "Theology and Sanity," Frank Sheed argues that sanity depends on an accurate appreciation of reality, and includes an accurate appreciation of what heaven is really like, and once known, the place of asking the prayers of saints follows.

It is important to discuss the biblical foundation of prayer to the saints before examining the historical understanding of the practice. We take up the misconception that the saints are only those who died and are now in heaven.

"... golden bowls full of incense,
which are the prayers of the saints.”

The Bible teaches us that the Saints in heaven continually offer prayers on our behalf.  Revelation 5: 8 indicates that “…when He [the Lamb] had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” This plainly means that the saints in heaven are aware of our prayers and they intercede for us. We, the saints on earth, are asking them to collect our supplications and prayers in “golden bowls” and offer them to the Lamb, our Lord and Savior.

Likewise, the saints on earth intercede for one another. In 1 Timothy 2: 5, Paul says this: “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men”.

In his epistles to the saints, Paul asked them to pray for him: (Rom.15:30–32, Eph. 6:18–20, Col. 4:3, 1 Thess. 5:25, 2 Thess. 3:1) He also assured them of his continual prayers (2 Thess. 1:11).

Most importantly, Jesus asks us to pray for others, even for our enemies (Matthew 5: 44). Also, He does not ignore the prayers made by people on behalf of others. He uses the faithful prayer of one person to act on another person (Matt. 8:13, 15:28, 17:15–18, Mark 9:17–29, Luke 8:49–55).

There are many other passages in the Bible that suggest that saints should pray for one another. The bible does not limit us to the material but speaks to both the visible and invisible.

Let us now address the misconception that saints being dead and gone makes communication (not to be confused with Biblical edicts against necromancy for by very proximity to God saints in heaven logically must be holy) quite impossible and therefore believing them to hear invocations and petition is a vain thing fondly held.  This idea, that saints are unconscious and incapable of hearing petitions of those in flesh, is unbiblical and quite unknown to the Apostles and early Church.  It's an idea of the Enlightenment not a doctrine of the Bible.  Jesus admonished the Sadducees ( Matt. 22:29-32) that the description of God in the book of Exodus (3:6) as the God of those who had departed this life was a sign that they were alive and conscious. See also Isa. 14 9-10; Isa. 1 & Eze 2 (conscious disembodied souls); Eze. 31:16-17; Heb. 12;1; Luke 23:43; Luke 16:19-31.

Yet another misconception is that people believe our ability to address God through His Son negates any need for additional mediation.   Do you see the false dilemma?  The allegation here is that some people see asking the saints for their intercession as violation of the mediatorship of Christ and therefore must be off limits.  But God never says either or!  1 Tim 2: 5 is employed as a proof text where in Paul says “there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus".  But used in this manner the verse does violence to the scriptures cited above by assuming it is the body (dies) and not the soul (eternal) that is operative in interseccion.  This is the same abuse of empiricism atheists use to question faith, and as stated earlier, a presupposition stemming from the Enlightenment.

The early and undivided Church (guidance by the Holy Ghost John 14:16;18;26) strongly encouraged the practice of asking the saints to pray for us. It would be useful to mention a couple of them.

Cyprian of Carthage

"Let us remember one another in concord and unanimity. Let us on both sides [of death] always pray for one another. Let us relieve burdens and afflictions by mutual love, that if one of us, by the swiftness of divine condescension, shall go hence first, our love may continue in the presence of the Lord, and our prayers for our brethren and sisters not cease in the presence of the Father’s mercy" (Letters 56[60]:5 [A.D. 253]).

Gregory of Nyssa

"[Ephraim], you who are standing at the divine altar [in heaven] . . . bear us all in remembrance, petitioning for us the remission of sins, and the fruition of an everlasting kingdom" (Sermon on Ephraim the Syrian [A.D. 380]).

Jerome

"You say in your book that while we live we are able to pray for each other, but afterwards when we have died, the prayer of no person for another can be heard. . . . But if the apostles and martyrs while still in the body can pray for others, at a time when they ought to still be solicitous about themselves, how much more will they do so after their crowns, victories, and triumphs?" (Against Vigilantius 6 [A.D. 406]).

These examples show the importance of prayer within the body of Christ. We are in communion with each other, both here and in heaven. Our liturgy uses the term, “whole state of Christ Church” to signify that the prayer is not only made for those who are within the Anglican Church but also everywhere, always, and for all.

Peace and blessings!

Contributing:
Fr. Thierry
John Dixon

"For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay” (Habakkuk 2:3).