Seasonal Reflections on the main feasts of the Church.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful people

And enkindle in them the fire of your love.

Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.

And you shall renew the face of the earth.

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.

O let it freely burn, till earthly passions turn

to dust and ashes in its heat consuming;

and let thy glorious light shine ever on my sight

and clothe me round, the while my path illuming.

Let holy charity mine outward vesture be,

and lowliness become mine inner clothing;

true lowliness of heart, which takes the humbler part,

and o'er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.

And so the yearning strong, with which the soul will long,

shall far outpass the power of human telling;

for none can guess its grace, till he become the place

wherein the Holy Spirit makes his dwelling.

Let us pray.

O God, who has taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit we may be always truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolation. Amen.

O God, to whom all hearts are open, all hearts known, and from whom no secrets are hidden, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inpouring of your Holy Spirit, that every thought and word of ours may begin from you, and in you be perfectly completed, through Christ our Lord. Amen

Holy Spirit come into our lives by:

Open our ears - to hear what you are saying to us in the things that happen to us in the people we meet.

Open our eyes - to see the needs of the people round us.

Open our hands - to do our work well to help when help is needed.

Open our lips - to tell others the good news of Jesus and bring comfort, happiness and laughter to other people.

Open our minds- to discover new truth about you and the world.

Open our hearts - to love you and our fellow men as you have loved us in Jesus.

To you, with our Father and the Son, one God;all honour and praise shall be given

now and for ever. Amen

For the Gifts of the Holy Spirit:

Spirit of wisdom, preside over all my thoughts, words and actions,

from this hour till the moment of my death.

Spirit of understanding, enlighten and teach me. Spirit of counsel, direct my experience.

Spirit of fortitude, strengthen my weakness.

Spirit of knowledge, instruct my ignorance.

Spirit of piety, make me fervent in good works.

Spirit of fear, restrain me from all evil.

Spirit of peace, give me your peace.

Heavenly Spirit, make me persevere in the service of God the Father,

and enable me to act on all occasions with goodness, patience, charity, joy, generosity, mildness and fidelity. Let the heavenly virtues of modesty, continence and chastity adorn the temple you have chosen for your abode, and, by your all-powerful grace, preserve my soul from the misfortune of sin. Amen.

A prayer for awakening:

Holy Spirit, come like a mighty rushing wind and awaken us out of our complacency, our apathy, our indifference. Disturb us, for we are too content to let things go on as they are, and to let people go on not knowing you. Penetrate the closed gates of our hearts and make us live again. O Holy Spirit, create among us a mighty Christian revolution and cast the fear of the unknown out of our lives. Amen

Spirit of the living God,

fall afresh on me.

Spirit of the living God,

fall afresh on me.

Melt me, mould me,

fill me, use me.

Spirit of the living God,

fall afresh on me.

Spirit of the living God,

fall afresh on us.

Spirit of the living God

fall afresh on us.

Melt us, mould us,

fill us, use us. Spirit of the living God,

fall afresh on us.

CORPUS ET SANGUIS CHRISTI LITANY

(suitable for use all year round)

I am the living bread which came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live for ever. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

You give us bread from heaven, containing in itself all sweetness.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

You fed Your people with the finest wheat and honey and their hunger was satisfied. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

O Jesus! draw me to Your beauty bright,

O Love by you I'm rapt in ecstasy!

O Living Love! cast me not from Your sight!

O Love, O Love, my soul is one with You!

O Love, You are its Life;

From You it ne'er can part,

For You have rent my heart,

In such a loving strife.

Soul of Christ be my sanctification.

Body of Christ be my salvation.

Blood of Christ fill all my veins.

Water of Christ's side wash out my stains.

Passion of Christ my comfort be.

O Good Jesu, listen to me.

In Your wounds I fain would hide,

Never to be parted from Your side.

Guard me should the foe assail me.

Call me when my life will fail me.

Bid me come to You above.

With Your saints to sing your love.

For ever and ever. Amen.

Let me adore You for ever in the most holy Sacrament.

O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine,

All praise and all thanksgiving

Be every moment Yours.

Let me adore You for ever in the most Holy Sacrament.

Thank you, dear Lord for giving me Your life in this wonderful Sacrament to share with others.

Thank you, dear Lord for giving me grace in Your Sacrament to go out into the world to live and work for You.

Thank you, dear Lord for feeding me with heavenly Food on my pilgrimage to my native land.

Thank you, dear Lord for every benefit I receive from this most holy Sacrament. Let me never come unworthily to your Table.

O Lord God, heavenly Father, look upon the glorious face of Your Christ, and have mercy on me, and on all other sinners for whom Your blessed Son our Lord deigned to suffer death, and for whose salvation and consolation He has chosen to remain for ever with us in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, and Who with You and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns one God for ever and ever. Amen.

The apostles were all one in the breaking of the bread.

O Sacrament of mercy!

O Sacrament of unity!

O bond of love!

He who desires life, finds here where to live,

has something to live for.

let him draw near and believe;

let him become part of this body

and he will have life.

Let him not disdain communion with the other faithful,

not be a gangrenous member needing amputation,

not be a deformed member of which to be ashamed:

let him be complete, dignified, sound,

profoundly united with the whole body;

ket him live with God, for God,

let him now work on earth

and then reign with him in heaven.

We who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

Let us love one another in the power of this most wonderful

Sacrament.

Let us all love our Lord in His Sacrament.

Through His life we are all brothers and sisters.

O come let us adore You, O Christ the Lord.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

I languish for the love of You,

For Your embraces sweet I pine;

Without Your life is death to me.

With sighs and tears this heart of mine

Craves Your return that it may be

Transformed by you, made wholly Yours.

O Love! make no delay -

A COMMEMORATION OF THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED AND CELEBRATION OF ALL THE SAINTS KNOWN ONLY TO GOD

+ Give rest, 0 Christ, to your servants with your saints, where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing, but life everlasting.

Glory and honour and power:

are yours by right, 0 Lord our God;

For you created all things:

and by your will they have their being.

Glory and honour and power:

are yours by right, 0 Lamb who was slain:

For by your blood you have ransomed for God

a kingdom of priests from every race and language, from every people and nation.

And so we give you thanks for the whole company of your saints in glory. The glorious company of the apostles praise you; the noble fellowship of the prophets praise you; the white-robed army of martyrs praise you; the whole church does acknowledge you.

Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest

United in the company of all the faithful and looking for the coming of the kingdom, we offer our prayers to the God of us all for a life of holiness and faithfulness:

Lord have mercy.

Empower us by the gift of your Holy and Life-giving Spirit that we may be transformed into the likeness of Christ from glory to glory:

Lord have mercy.

Hold in your embrace all who witness to your love in the service of the poor and needy; all those who minister to the sick and dying, and all who bring light to those in darkness:

Lord have mercy.

Lord God, creator of all,

you have made us creatures of this earth,

but have also promised us a share in life eternal. According to your promises,

may all who have died in the peace of Christ share with your saints in the joy of heaven where there is neither sorrow nor pain,

but life everlasting.

Alleluia! Amen.

You only are immortal, the creator and maker of all: and we are mortal, formed from the dust of the earth, and unto earth shall we return.

For so you did ordain when you created me, saying, 'Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.'

All we go down to the dust;

and weeping o'er the grave we make our song:

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

+Give rest, 0 Christ, to your servants with your saints, where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing, but life everlasting.

Hear us, 0 merciful Father, as we remember in love

those whom we have placed in your hands. Acknowledge, we pray, the sheep of your own fold, lambs of your own flock, sinners of your own redeeming.

Enfold them in the arms of your mercy, in the blessed rest of everlasting peace,

And in the glorious company of the saints in light.

Amen.

A Reading from an oration of Gregory of Nazianzus

'What are human beings that you should be mindful of us, mere mortals that you should care for us?' What is this new mystery confronting me? I am both small and great, both lowly and exalted, mortal and immortal, earthly and heavenly. I am to be buried with Christ and to rise again with him, to become a co-heir with him, a son of God, and indeed God himself.

This is what the great mystery means for us; this is why God became human and became "poor" for our sake: it was to raise up our flesh, to recover the divine image in us. to re-create humankind, so that all of us might become one in Christ who perfectly became in us everything that he is himself. So we are no longer to be 'male and female, barbarian and Scythian, slave and free' - distinctions deriving from the flesh - but to bear within ourselves only the seal of God, by whom and for which we were created. We are to be so formed and moulded by him that we are recognised as belonging to his one family.

If only we could be now what we hope to be, by the great kindness of our generous God! He asks so little and gives so much in this life and in the next, to those who love him sincerely. In a spirit of hope and out of love for God, let us then 'bear and endure all things' and give thanks for everything that befalls us, since even reason can often recognise these things as weapons to win salvation. Meanwhile let us commend to God our own souls and the souls of those who, being more ready for it, have reached the place of rest before us although they walked the same road as we do now.

Lord and creator of all, and especially of your human creatures, you are the God and Father and ruler of your children; you are the Lord of life and death; you are the guardian and benefactor of our souls. You fashion and transform all things in their due season through your creative Word, as you know to be best in your deep wisdom and providence. Receive this day those who have gone ahead of us in our journey from this life.

And receive us too at the proper time, when you have guided us in our bodily life as long as may be profitable for us. Receive us prepared indeed by fear of you, but not troubled, not shrinking back on the day of our death or uprooted by force like those who are lovers of the world and the flesh. Instead, may we set out eagerly for that eternal life which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. To him be the glory for ever and ever.

References in Revelation Ch.4, 21,22. for further meditation on the new Jerusalem