(Unauthorised) Proper Preface for the Feast of St Clare of Assisi

(Unauthorised) Proper Preface for the Feast of St Clare of Assisi

August 11

 

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

All glory and honour to you, O Christ,
for in your face we see mirrored the Father,
and in your love we are embraced by the Creator of all.
You are the Word sent forth by the Father to make stars and planets,
atoms and diatoms, quokkas and humans,
and all the wonderful diversity of life.

We thank you for Saint Clare who focuses our hearts in quiet gratitude.

We thank you, Christ, for your obedience to the Father, obedience to death, even death on a cross.

In the life of Clare also, we trace the grace of obedience and enduring love.

And so with all the mysterious beings of heaven, with angels and archangels, with saints in heaven and saints on earth,
with Clare and her holy Sisters,
with men and women gathered around your altar with us,
we praise you and we glorify you, saying,
Holy, holy, holy, Lord…

Diatoms – image courtesy Wellcome Library

For those about to be Professed in the Third Order

SERMON FOR PROFESSIONS, NOVICING AND RENEWAL,

Western Australia Region, AD 2011

by Ted Witham tssf

A wonderful word in the New Testament is ‘homologia’, which means ‘profession’. In Hebrews 10:23, we are urged to ‘hold fast to the profession of our hope without wavering, because the One who promised is faithful.’ Earlier in Hebrews in 4:14, ‘Having then a great high priest, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold tightly to our profession.’

Today some of our number come to make Profession, and others of us will renew our Profession. We note that it is Profession of hope, and that Jesus, the Son of God, empowers us to make this Profession.

In the three centuries following the death and resurrection of Jesus, there was an extraordinary process for new believers who wanted to make the great Profession that they had been filled with the resurrection faith. They underwent a two or three year preparation called the catechumenate, which involved learning about the faith, attending the Eucharist up until the Offertory, and being mentored by another Christian into works of charity. When Easter came after two or three years, the catechumens made their great Profession, their ‘homologia’ during their baptism by immersion in a great ceremony. They went down into the font naked (or dressed in a loin cloth) and were robed in white when they came up out of the waters.

I promise you that the Profession you make does not involve immersion baptism or even near nudity. And of course you have made your great Profession in your baptism and confirmation. Profession as a Tertiary does not replace baptism, but in it you effectively renew your baptismal promises. Listen to the words you will say:

I, N., give myself to our Lord Jesus Christ, to serve him for the rest of my life in company with my brothers and sisters in the Third Order of the Society of Saint Francis, seeking to spread the knowledge and love of Christ, to promote the spirit of love and harmony as the family of God and to live joyfully a life of simplicity and humble service after the example of Saint Francis.

A big Profession indeed; a public statement of an earnest and passionate response to a call from God.
Don’t under-estimate the power of this renewal. A friend of ours years ago had a charismatic experience, and he asked his fairly conservative parish priest if he could be baptised again. The priest answered, correctly, ‘No.’ And our friend kept asking. The priest could not give any other answer. Then the parish had its first Easter Vigil including the renewal of baptismal vows. Our friend was ecstatic, “It’s happened, it’s happened!” he shouted excitedly, “I’ve been baptised again.”
I hope that your great Profession this morning captures some of that same excitement.
The preparation for your Profession has been similar to the catechumenate. You have met for two or three years with a mentor. The Novice Counsellor has helped you reflect on this Franciscan way. She or he invited you to find ways of expressing Franciscan spirituality in prayer and action.
The catechumenate has a number of other characteristics worth mentioning. One was that if catechumens were martyred before they were baptised, they were considered to have been baptised in their blood. It is my personal belief (not in the statutes at all!) that Novices who die should be considered full Tertiaries, but in any case, the comparison expresses something that your Profession says about the claim that Christ is making on your life and death and beyond.
Catechumens were also kept from the mysteries of the Eucharist, until the night of their baptism, when they received their First Communion. Then in the months after Easter they continued their learning about the Christian faith. Now it was no longer called the catechumenate, but the mystagogy – the teaching about the mysteries.
You who will be make your great Profession in a few moments will also continue to meet with your Novice Counsellor for another 12 months to reflect more deeply on what it is to be a Franciscan Christian. This will be your mystagogy – although I doubt anyone will actually call it that. There are no secrets to learn, as there were for the catechumens in the Early Church – sorry about that – but it is a reminder that the Franciscan Way is not something to be learned in a few months or a couple of short years. You will continue to discover depths in it as you walk in it.
Rae and I were professed 28 years ago. We were seeking an expression of community in our Christian way, and we began as Franciscans by seeking out people. But our mystagogy has included falling in love with Francis and Clare and many other Franciscan saints. For me in particular, as one who enjoys theology, it has been a joy to discover the Franciscan intellectual tradition from Bonaventure to Duns Scotus to Ilia Delio.
But you will discover different things than I have, maybe new depths in social activism; maybe new courage for evangelism; maybe new springs for community – they are all there to discover following the great Profession.
So remember how the writer encouraged the Hebrews:
• Firstly, to make the great Profession in hope, in Christian hope, in the great hope that there always lies before us more joy, more love, more delight in trusting than we have experienced so far; and

• Secondly, that Jesus, the Son of God, our great High Priest is both the energy and the destination of our Christian life.

Your great Profession is that Jesus will always empower you as you seek to serve him in love, humility and joy.

Remembering Brother Douglas

Brother Douglas

BROTHER DOUGLAS DOWNES (“Apostle to the Wayfarers”/First Minister of the Society of St Francis)

1878-1957

September 7

Brother Douglas was a priest and an Oxford economics don. Moved by the plight of homeless men living ‘on the road’ in the depression, he helped set up the community at Hilfield Farm to minister to the wayfarers.

Sentence

Happy are those who consider the poor and helpless;
the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble. (Psalm 41:1)

Collect

God of the poor, you called Brother Douglas to care for the poor and helpless: give us grace to see our brother and sister in every person we meet and to deal generously with those in need following the example of our Brother and Lord, your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

Readings

Micah 6:6-8

Psalm 68:4-8

2 Corinthians 4:5-15

Matthew 5:1-14

Sentence

All who believed were together and had all things in common. (Acts 2:44)

Source: Third Order, Society of St Francis, Australian Province, Manual. Brother Francis’ memoir of Douglas can be found here.

Do Franciscans Bless Animals?

Before I start criticising the practice of blessing animals, let me confess that I have blessed animals, and would do so again.  In fact for a couple of years, Tom Sutton of Subiaco Parish in Perth invited me, along with other Franciscans and other priests to a great outdoor animal blessing.

Bless me, St Bernard!

There is a picture of me blessing a great St Bernard, and it was a delight to make friends with this gentle creature.

This jamboree was stopped only because a certain dog food manufacturer was a sponsor and took advantage of this event.  It took it over by emblazoning its name on every object and dog parade and snail race in sight.

Fr Tom rightly believed that such rampant capitalism was at odds with the spirit of animal blessing.

But as a Franciscan I do feel ambivalent about blessing animals. Not that I have any theological problem with asking for God’s blessing on either pets or wild animals. Our blessing simply confirms the reality is that God has already blessed creation. See Genesis 1.

Nor do I mind the chaos that can be caused by creatures great and small in a little church with God’s people trying to celebrate the Eucharist with devotion.

My problem, I think, is twofold.  Firstly, blessing animals can become a sentimental act. “Isn’t it nice?  Isn’t it lovely?”  If an animal blessing is organised only to evoke superficial sentiments, then it is a dangerous waste of time.  If an animal blessing is organised only to delight children, then it is a diversion from reality.

Secondly, blessing animals can easily turn companion animals into possessions rather than being seen as God’s gifts to us.  The attitude that our pets are simply a convenience can easily lead to neglect and abuse, but even before it gets to that stage, this attitude diminishes us, making us, consumers of animals’ services, rather than their grateful friends. (Click HERE for an RSPCA view of pet ownership.)

What Franciscans can do is to encourage people to think carefully about our relationship with animals.  Saint Francis believed that each creature is a Word of God.  In our encounter with an animal, St Francis encourages us to allow that animal to disclose its story to us.  The animal is not there simply for our unfettered use, but is a fellow-creature put on this earth to share existence with us and to join our praise of the Most High Creator.

Our pets are our companions, not our slaves.

And do we bless the animals that give food, are food for us?  Much has been written about the distance between us urban dwellers and the milk and meat that we enjoy.  If we bless our pets, then we should equally bless the animals that nurture us.  We should be prepared to ask whether the cost of being a meat-eater is too high.  Dr Rajendra Pachauri Chair of the IPCC spoke of the positive environmental impact of eating one less meat meal each week. (Click HERE to read his comments).

Wild animals are a blessing, too, although I suspect it’s impossible to catch a blue wren or an Oenpelli python to lay hands on and pronounce a blessing over it!

So my plea is a Franciscan is, if we are to bless animals, then let’s do it with thorough thought and prayer, and not just as a liturgical stunt. But no one would do that, would they?

---



Fr Algy, Co-Founder of SSF

FATHER ALGY ROBERTSON SSF

1894-1955

Co-founder of the First and Second Orders

November 23

Father Algy brought to the early Society of St Francis a deep knowledge of the religious life and a gift for organization.  Fr Algy is remembered as a warm and caring Father-in-God.  His eccentricities are also remembered with equal clarity as delightful and frustrating!

More information at http://www.gensec-ssf.org/Free/Documents/Documents_index.htm

Sentence

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12.7)

Collect

Creator God, your presence fills us with awe and joy.  Help us, as we remember your servant Father Algy, to see your face in everyone we meet, and share with the community the joy of knowing you, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Readings

Isaiah 6:1-8

Psalm 66:1-12

2 Corinthians 4:5-12

Mark 9:30-37

Sentence

You bring forth wine to gladden the human heart and bread to strengthen it.  (See Psalm 104.15)

Father Algy Robertson SSF

Readings for the Feast of St Francis

FRANCIS OF ASSISI, 1181-1226

4 October

Sentence

We brought nothing into the world so we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing we will be content with these. (1 Timothy 6.7-8)

Collect

God our Father, you always delight to reveal yourself to the childlike and lowly of heart: grant that, following the example of our blessed father, Francis, we may count the wisdom of this world as foolishness and know only Jesus Christ and him crucified; who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Readings

Evening Prayer 1 (Transitus)

Psalm 104               Genesis 1.24-31                Luke 12.22-34

Morning Prayer

Psalms 19, 148               Isaiah 52.7-15               1 Corinthians 1.17-31

Eucharist

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 3.17-23

Psalm 148 or 16

Galatians 6.14-18

Matthew 11.25-30

Evening Prayer 2

Psalms 8, 145               Isaiah 55              Matthew 10.5-22

Proper Preface

And now we give you thanks, because you have raised up our father Francis to bum as a shining light in your church, that, inflamed with love for you and the whole of your creation, and. bearing in his body the marks of your Son’s passion, he might bring to glory many sons and daughters …

Sentence

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5.3)

Franciscan table

Manual, Third Order, Society of St Francis, Australian Province

Great Thanksgiving for St Francis

Two Thanksgiving Prayers for the Feast of St Francis

• These are designed to be used in the context of the Eucharist (Second Order) in A Prayer Book for Australia, but they may well be adapted to the Prayer Books of other Anglican/Episcopal churches.
• In Australia, you may need the permission of a diocesan bishop under Section 4 of the Constitution to use Thanksgiving Prayer 2 in a public setting.

St Francis

Thanksgiving Prayer.1

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

All glory and honour be yours always and everywhere,
mighty Creator, everliving God.
We give you thanks and praise for our Saviour Jesus Christ,
who by the power of your Spirit was born of Mary
and lived as one of us.
By his death on the cross
and rising to new life,
he offered the one true sacrifice for sin
and obtained an eternal deliverance for his people.
And now we give you thanks
because you have raised up our father Francis
to burn as a shining light in your church,
that inflamed with love for you and the whole of your creation,
and bearing in his body the marks of your Son’s passion,
he might bring to glory many sons and daughters.

Therefore with angels and archangels,
and with St Clare and St Francis and all the company of heaven,
we proclaim your great and glorious name,
for ever praising you and saying:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

Please turn to page 128, A Prayer Book for Australia

Brother Sun, Sister Moon

Thanksgiving Prayer.2

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right in every place and in every way to give you thanks,
O Most High Lord God, Creator of the Universe,
for brother son and sister moon,
for brother wind, sister water and sister fire;
for all the goodness of life you bring forth from Mother Earth.

You sent you only Son Jesus Christ among us in great humility,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
and every tongue confess him Lord
in the crucible of his crucifixion and the glory of his resurrection,
and the wonder of his presence with us always.

And so we praise you with all the mysterious beings of heaven,
with Saint Clare, with Saint Francis, and with all your saints,
saying with them the ancient words of praise:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

Please turn to page 137, A Prayer Book for Australia

Transitus of St Francis

A Vigil Memorial Service
celebrating St Francis’ “passing over”
from this life to the glory of heaven

Liturgy prepared by Pearl McGill tssf

A Tertiary of the Western Australia Region

1. ENTRANCE PROCESSION (in silence) (Stand) (A large wooden cross stands before the altar, surrounded by candles) Ministers kneel in silence and pray (All Kneel)
2. GREETING AND PRAYER (Stand)
Leader	Let us bless our Lord and God, living and true
All	To him we offer all praise, all glory, all honour, all blessing, and every good forever. Amen ,
	(The Office of the Passion)
Leader	Brothers and sisters, a very ancient tradition draws us together on the eve of this St Francis’ Festival to celebrate his Transitus: the final stage of his journey home to God.While rejoicing in the saint’s holy death and glorious entry into heaven, we give thanks to God the Father, that in his Son, and by his Spirit’s power, we too can welcome death as our “sister”, and trusting in his mercy, can live now in the sure hope of resurrection. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you
All	And also with you.
Leader	Let us pray(silent prayer)
Leader	Lord God, on this night you gave to our holy father Francis, the Poverello of Assisi, the reward of perfect beatitude.In your love, lead us who celebrate his Transitus, to follow closely in his footsteps, and come, in our turn, to worship you face to face, in a joy that knows no ending. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the .Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
All	Amen. Amen. Alleluia!
3. THE NARRATIVE OF THE DEATH OF ST FRANCIS (Sit)
Reader 1	St Francis was lying grievously ill and in pain in the Bishop’s house in Assisi, when a doctor was called for the last time. He said to Francis:
Reader 2	“I must tell you, that according to our science, your malady is incurable and in my opinion you will die at the end of September or the beginning of October”.
Reader 1	Raising his arms to heaven, the sick man joyfully cried out:
Reader 3	“You are welcome, welcome, my dear sister Death,”
Reader 1	Then turning to a friar he asked that Brothers Angelo and Leo be called to help him share this good news by singing beside his bed. In spite of their tears, the two brethren began to intone the Canticle of Brother Sun:
All sing	All creatures of our God and king, Lift up your voices, let us sing: Alleluia! Alleluia! Bright burning sun with golden beams, Soft silver moon that gently gleams, O praise him, O praise him, Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Reader 1	The friars sang the Canticle many times a day to comfort the saint’s failing spirit, and sometimes through the night as well. Not all were pleased.Finally Brother Elias came to Francis and said:
Reader 2	“Well-beloved Father, for my part I rejoice that you should be joyful; but I fear this city, which regards you as a saint, may be scandalised to see that you do not prepare yourself for death in quite another manner”.
Reader 1	The saint smiled and replied:
Reader 3	“Leave me, good Brother, for in spite of what I endure, I feel myself so near to God, that I cannot hold myself from singing”.
Reader 1	Responding to Francis’ expressed desire, Br Elias arranged for him to be carried to the Portiuncula. The magistrates of Assisi consented, and sent an armed escort. When the cortège reached Santa Maria le Mura, Francis raised himself on the litter, and seemed for some time to be contemplating this lovely and familiar view of the city, which he could no longer see. Then painfully he lifted his arm and blessed it:
Reader 3	“May you be blessed, dear city of God. Once you were a lair of brigands, but God has chosen you to become the home of those who know Him and who reverence His most blessed and glorious Name”.
Reader 1	At the Portiuncula, St Francis was given a tiny hut in the forest near to the Chapel of St Mary of the Angels. Again he sensed the solitude of this beautiful place so often visited by the Spirit of God, and he rejoiced as he heard from within the chapel the friars sing:
All sing	Swift flowing water, pure and clear, Make music for your Lord to hear, Alleluia! Alleluia! Fire, so intense and fiercely bright, Who gives to us both warmth and light, O praise Him, O praise Him, Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Reader 1	This forest solitude was the right setting for Francis’ “passing over” to God, for it was to be an event of radiant beauty. Francis took leave of this world with the same simplicity and courtesy that had marked all the events of his life. He forgot no one or nothing; his sons, his daughters, the places he loved, the Lady of his thoughts, all the creatures with whom he had been so united, shared in his farewells and benedictions. He recommended to his brethren the beloved Portiuncula:
Reader 3	“Brothers, this is a holy place. Hold it ever in veneration and never abandon it”.
Reader 1	In honour of his Lady Poverty, he asked that he be laid naked on the ground, and covering with one hand the wound in his side he said:
Reader 3	“My task is done, may Christ teach you to do yours”.
Reader 1	His friars begged him to forgive them for any offences, and to bless them again. This he readily did, placing his hand successively on the head of each, and then he addressed himself to Bernard of Quintavalle:
Reader 3	“I absolve too, and I bless as far as I am able and even still more than I am able, all my absent brothers. See that these words reach them, and bless them in my name”.
All sing	All you with mercy in your heart, Forgiving others, take your part, O sing now: Alleluia! All you that pain and sorrow bear, Praise God and cast on him your care: O praise him, O praise him, Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Reader 1	Nor did Francis forget Sister Clare, who he learned was weeping at the thought of losing her father and friend. He sent a message to his “little spiritual plant”:
Reader 3	“I, the little brother Francis, wish to follow to the end the poor way which was that of our Lord and of His Mother, and I conjure you, my daughter, never to be separated from it”.
Reader 1	Then he added:
Reader 3	“And say to Lady Clare, that I forbid her to give way to sadness, for I promise her that she and her sisters will see me again”.
Reader 1	Francis also sent a message to his friend, the Lady Jacoba of Rome, that she should come in haste with what is needed for his burial. Before the courier left the room a brother ran in to announce her arrival, and Francis cried weakly:
Reader 3	“God be praised, let the door be opened, for .the rule forbidding women to enter here does not apply to Brother Jacoba!”
Reader 1	The Roman Lady had carried with her all that was needed for the saint’s burial, and a box of almond biscuits, which Francis tried to, but could not eat.More and more often the Canticle of Brother Sun was heard from the hut, with the new verse Francis had composed in praise of “our sister Death of the Body”:
All sing	And you most kind and gentle death, Waiting to hush our final breath, O praise him, Alleluia! You lead back home the child of God, By way that Christ the Lord has trod: O praise him, O praise him, Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Reader 1	On Friday 2nd October, Francis asked for bread, and he blessed it and, like Christ at the last Supper, distributed it to all present, while the Gospel of St John was read beginning at the Passion. (Ch 13:11)
(Bread is blessed and quietly distributed to those present, while READER 2 proclaims the Gospel)
Reader 1	At dusk on the next day, “she to whom no one willingly opens the door”, presented herself, and Francis saw her enter. The little poor man received her courteously:
Reader 3	Be welcome, my Sister Death”
Reader 1	and he begged a brother to announce as a herald of arms does, the solemn arrival of his expected guest; for he added:
Reader 3	“It is she who is going to introduce me to eternal life.”
Reader 1	They placed him on the ground in a coarse sack-cloth to honour the sombre guest, his head was covered with ashes and dust. Then with failing voice he intoned Psalm 142, and those around him continued with him:
Reader 3	Voce mea ad Dominum clamavi…..
Alternate verses beginning with the right side
	With a loud voice I cry out to the Lord* with a loud voice I beseech the Lord. My complaint I pour out before him;* Before him I lay bare my distress. When my spirit is faint within me,* you know my path. In the way along which I walk * they have hid a trap for me. I look to the right to see, * but there is no one who pays me heed. I have lost all means of escape; * there is no one who cares for my life. I cry out to you 0 Lord;  † I say, “You are my refuge, * my portion in the land of the living. Attend to my cry, * for I am brought low indeed. Rescue me from my persecutors, * for they are too strong for me. Lead me forth from prison, * that I may give thanks to your name. The just shall gather around me * when you have been good to me.
Reader 1	There was a great silence. Evening had already stolen into the hut. Francis lay motionless. The final stage of his Transitus had begun.One of his biographers wrote:
Reader 2	“He died singing, in the forty-sixth year of his age, and the twenty-fifth of his conversion”.
Reader 1	Immediately a multitude of crested larks flocked wheeling about the roof of the hut and for long, with their sad chirping, bewailed the loss of their friend. At the same hour, a Brother, one of no small fame, saw a shining star, borne on a white cloud, mounting towards heaven. The soul of the Little Poor Man was flying to eternal happiness. (Stand)
All sing	Let all things their creator bless, And worship him in humbleness, O praise him, Alleluia! Praise God the Father, praise the Son, And praise the Spirit, three in one; O praise him, O praise him, Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
(The ministers process out in silence)

THE END
AND THE BEGINNING

Francis makes his Transitus