conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

vigil anaphora

Hey there.

I decided to post the anaphora we used at Reconciler for the Easter Vigil. I have been pondering some of the conversation at Blogodoxy about borrowing from various traditions. There has been some conversation about the wisdom of this and I think that is a good thing to ponder.

Are we from non-liturgical traditions borrowing? Yeah, probably. But that suggests a certain impermanence to the liturgical revivalism of the Emergent church or even the post-Vatican II "borrowing" by the ECUSA and other protestant traditions of the historical anaphoras and such. Is it really borrowing or is it a corrective measure by which we protestants express our allegiance to the greater tradition? I have some questions about it all, but in either case, here is the anaphora we used. It is much more verbose than we usually use. I am Baptist, so I usually employ little more than a prayer and the narrative from I Corinthians ("On the night that he was betrayed..."). At Reconciler we also use the ECC liturgies and the ECUSA liturgies (We bring in an ECUSA priest for these to keep us honest.).

One thing I want to throw into the conversation about borrowing is the Taize community. It is non-denominational. The founder, brother Roger, is a Reformed Christian. I lean on the Taize story quite a bit as I try to understand what we are after at Reconciler.

The majority of the anaphora is from A Celtic Eucharist. I like much of it, but I felt compelled to tweak it a little to suit our purposes (This is a red flag for the anti-borrowing folk, I know.). The length would have been too much for us. As it was, the service was still two hours. And, as I suggested, we do not usually use that much text at the anaphora. As we learn to use more, our prayers will probably reflect our increasing working with three traditions. I think we may become more brave in living into one anothers traditions and seeking the wider traditions of the Church. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

Thank you, O Lord God Almighty,
Thank you for the earth and the waters,
Thank you for the sky, the air and the sun,
Thank you for all living creatures.

Come, O Lord, in the Bread of Life

Praise be to you, O Lord God Almighty,
For our homes, our families,
Our friends, and loved ones.
Praise be to you for all the people
Around us everywhere in this wounded world.

Come, O Lord, in the Cup of Healing

The Lord be with you,
and also with you.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

(The following is from the Stowe Missal)

Father, all powerful and ever-living God,
we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
You, with your only-begotten Son and the Holy
Spirit are God.
You are God, one immortal;
You are God, incorruptible and unmoving;
You are God, invisible and faithful;
You are God, wonderful and worthy of praise;
You are God, strong and worthy of honor;
You are God, most high and magnificent;
You are God, living and true;
You are God, wise and powerful;
You are God, holy and splendid;
You are God, great and good;
You are God, awesome and peace-loving;
You are God, beautiful and righteous;
You are God, pure and kind;
You are God, blessed and just;
You are God, tender and holy;
You are God, not in the singularity of person,
but in the Trinity of substance.

We believe you;
We bless you;
We adore you;
and praise your name for evermore.
We praise you
through Christ who is the salvation of the
universe;
through Christ who is the life of human beings;
through Christ who is the resurrection of the
dead.

Through him the angels praise your majesty;
the dominations adore;
the powers of the heaven of heavens tremble;
the virtues and the blessed seraphim
concelebrate in exultation;
so grant, we pray you.
that our voices may be admitted with that of the chorus,
in humble declaration of your glory,
as we say:

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.

Be pleased, O God, to bless this offering, to
accept it fully, to make it perfect and worthy to
please you, so that it may become for us the Body
and Blood of your dearly beloved Son, our Lord
Jesus Christ.

Who the day before he suffered took bread into his
holy and venerable hands, and with his eyes lifted
up to heaven, to you, God, his almighty Father,
giving thanks to you, he blessed, broke and gave
it to his disciples saying: Take and eat you all
of this, for this is my body.

In like manner, after he had supped, taking also
this chalice into his holy and venerable hands
again giving thanks to you, he blessed and gave it
to his disciples, saying: Take and drink you all
for this is the chalice of my blood, of the new
and eternal testament: the mystery of faith: which
shall be shed for you and for many for the
remission of sins. As often as you do these
things, you shall do them in memory of me.

His dying we proclaim. Alleluia! Amen!
His rising we declare. Alleluia! Amen!
His coming we await, now as these gifts we take.
Glory to God on high! Alleluia! Amen!

(The following is from the ECC worship book.)

O Lord of all, we offer our sacrifice of praise
and thanksgiving to you, presenting to you, from
your creation, this bread and this wine.

Gracious God, we pray that you will send your Holy
Spirit on these gifts, that they may be the
sacrament of the body of Christ and the blood of
the new covenant. Unite us to your Son in his
death and resurrection that we may be acceptable
through him, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
In the fullness of time, put all things in
subjection under your Christ, and bring us to that
heavenly feast where, with all your saints, we
will be gathered in glory everlasting; through
Jesus Christ our Lord, the firstborn of all
creation, the head of the Church, and the author
of our salvation.

By him and with him and in him, in the unity of
the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory are yours,
Almighty God, now and forever. Amen.

As our Savior taught us, we boldly pray:

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name
thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom,
the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

(Now we are back to the Celtic Eucharist.)

They recognized the Lord, Alleluia;
In the breaking of the loaf, Alleluia;
For the loaf that we break is the body
of our Lord Jesus, Christ, Alleluia;
The cup which we bless is the blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ, Alleluia;
for the remission of our sins, Alleluia;
O Lord, let your mercy come down upon us,
Alleluia;
In you O Lord have I put my trust,
Alleluia;
They recognized the Lord, Alleluia;
In the breaking of the bread, Alleluia!

Celebrant:
O Lord, we believe that in this breaking of your
body and pouring out of your blood we become your
redeemed people;
We confess that in the taking of the gifts of thine
pledge here, we lay hold in hope of enjoying its
true fruits in the heavenly places.

Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins
of the world. Happy are those who are called to
his supper.
Lord, I am not worthy to receive you,
but only say the word and I shall be healed.

He gives heavenly bread to the hungry,
And to the thirsty water from the living spring.

Christ the Lord himself comes, who is Alpha and
Omega. He shall come again to judge us all.

Come you holy ones, receive the body of Christ,
Drinking the holy blood by which you were
redeemed.

---distribution of the elements---

Posted by tripp at March 28, 2005 01:36 PM