Pax et Bonum

The Online worship resource for St. James Parish

January 13, 2010

I am well aware, almighty God and Father,
that in my life I owe you a most particular duty.
It is to make my every thought and word speak of you.
---St. Hilary of Pointers---
O Jesus Christ,
Born in humility to raise up the humble,
You lived among us, healing the sick,
Proclaiming Good News to the poor
And freedom to prisoners,
Jesus, you are kind and forgiving,
You carry for us all that is more than we can bear,
Jesus, gentle and humble of heart,
You call all who toil and are burdened,
You came to loose the chains of every captivity,
Friend of the poor, bread of hungry hearts,
You came into the world not to be served
But to serve and give your life.
Jesus, by your resurrection from the dead
You live for ever,
To walk with us on the road to your Father
And our Father.
---from the Taize Community---

St. Hilary of Pointers

One of the wonderful resources of the Episcopal Church is the volume, Lesser Feasts and Fasts. In it one finds the stories of many people of faith, some famous, and some forgotten. Each time I pick it up, I learn something new about someone who walked the way of the Cross before us.

Today is the feast day of Hilary of Pointers, a theologian, Bishop, and Doctor of the Church – in fact the only Doctor of the Church who was both married and a father.

Born in the town of Pointers in Gaul around 315, Hilary was raised in a pagan home. His own journey of faith is recorded in his writings, and had great impact on his later work.

Hilary was baptized into the Christian Church at age 30. Five years later he was made Bishop of Pointers. He was immediately embroiled in a controversy between Emperor Constantius and Pope Athanasius over the heresy of Arianism*. Because of pleading for peace and unity between the two leaders, Constantius had Hilary exiled for three years, which he spent writing his major work, On the Trinity.

After being invited back to his see, he continued his battle against Arianism, but never let the politics of the church overcome his need to be a pastor to his people.

St. Hilary is an example of a faithful Christian, making the best of hardship, standing up for the truth, and never forgetting those in need.

*Arianism is a heresy that believes that Christ was not divine, but created. It is because of this controversy that the Nicene Creed reads that Christ is "eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father."

O Lord our God,
You raised up your servant Hilary
To be a champion of the catholic faith:
Keep us steadfast in that true faith
Which we professed at our baptism,
That we may rejoice in having you for our Father,
And may abide in your Son,
In the fellowship of the Holy Spirit;
Who live and reign for ever and ever.
AMEN
---Lesser Feasts and Fasts---

Praying the Hours: Compline

Come I this night to the Father
Come I this night to the Son.
Come I to the Holy Spirit powerful;
Come I this night to God.
Come I this night with Christ,
Come I with the Spirit of kindness.
Come I to Thee, Jesus.
Jesus shelter me.
Amen.
- Celtic Book of Prayer

Compline is the close of the day, the completion of the hours of prayer. In monastic settings and sometimes at home as well, it is the end of speech and the beginning of silence.

The intentions of Compline are to examine the day, which has passed, and to ask for protection for the dark night, which is approaching. Both of these intentions are not about staying focused on the present moment, but they are about focus upon Christ.

Compline invites surrender to God’s time and God’s perspective. During the examen, or review of the day, we ask God to show us the events of the day from God’s perspective.

As we practice the examination we might ask questions such as, "when did I move away from you, Lord" or "when did I experience your closeness, Lord?" It is tempting to assume we know the places where we erred and to make a list of these in the confession, but God may have a different vision of the day we have spent. Compline prayer asks us to submit to a new way of looking at ourselves in relation to God’s great love.

During Compline we also ask for protection for the coming night:

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping; that awake
We may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.

These Compline prayers for safety remind us that we are vulnerable when asleep. They are recited at a particular time during the day, but they point to a deep truth about the human condition, don’t they?

We are only marginally attentive, even when awake, and we need to be connected to the Divine attention. We ask for the grace to watch with Christ, to stay awake, when we are meant to be awake, and to sleep when we are meant to sleep.

The prayers for Compline complete our cycle of hours not just because they come at the end of the day, but because they restate the deep longing of all our prayer -

To be with Christ in wakefulness and in sleep.
To be with Christ in life and in death.
To be with Christ.

Blessings,
Debra

Be our light in the darkness, O Lord,
And in your great mercy defend us
From all perils and dangers of this night;
For the love of your only Sun, our Savior Jesus Christ. AMEN
--Compline, BCP--

Daily Morning Prayer

Daily Morning Prayer

This Week at St. James

Prayers Etc.

For those on our prayer list:

For Matt Rogers, our Postulant
For those who are deployed and their families.

In Closing:

Almighty and everlasting God,
Who enkindles the flame of your love
In the hearts of the saints,
Grant to our minds the same faith
And power and love;
That as we rejoice in their triumphs,
We may profit by their examples;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
AMEN
--from the Gothic Missal--

Pax et Bonum,
Loree+

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