Saturday Prayers: Ron Matthewman’s Final Edition
Sunday, May 31st – The Day of Pentecost
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love.
Almighty and everlasting God, who fulfilled the promises of Easter by sending us your Holy Spirit, and opening to every race and nation the way of life eternal, keep us in the unity of your Spirit, that every tongue may tell of your glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Come down, O Love divine, seek thou this soul of mine and visit it with thine own ardour glowing; O Comforter, draw near, within my heart appear, and kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing. (Bianco da Siena)
Giver of life, Let the Spirit you bestow upon us continue to work in the world, through the hearts and minds of all people, bringing peace and love to all the world. Amen.
Monday, June 1st – The Visit of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elizabeth
Blessed is she who believed that the Lord’s promise would be fulfilled. Luke 1. 43
Almighty God, who looked with favour on your servant Mary, and called her to be the mother of your Son, nurture in us the humility and gentleness that found favour in your sight, that with her we may proclaim the greatness of your name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
O Lord my God; when I in awesome wonder consider all the works thy hand hath made. I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder, thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to thee: how great thou art, how great thou art. Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to thee: how great thou art, how great thou art. (Stuart K Hine)
And with that great acclamation, it is with a great sense of sadness that I tell you that this is the last edition of our Saturday Prayers. I say “our” because you have been a vital part in this weekly offering of Prayer to God. Next week I will be celebrating my Ninetieth Birthday. It becomes more difficult week by week to accomplish this beautiful task. I thank you all for your part in sending the prayers to Heaven. Thanks to my daughter Gillian for sending The Prayers to you, and to the Editor of the OSMTH website for publishing the prayers each week. But all is not lost – we have a new set of “Saturday Prayers”, produced by The Reverend Pertti Ruotsalo, Vicar General of OSMTH. These prayers will not be coming by email, but rather, they will be published on the International OSMTH website. We will be able to continue meeting there each week.
Blessings,
nnDnn Archdeacon Ron Matthewman, Vicar General Emeritus
OSMTH – SMOTJ