Thinking allowed

Topical prayers from the Liturgical Commission (2)

The Litur­gic­al Com­mis­sion has provided pray­ers and oth­er mater­i­al for a num­ber of forth­com­ing occasions.

These are:

  • The Bap­tism of Prin­cess Char­lotte of Cam­bridge (on 5 July)
  • The 70th anniversar­ies of Hiroshi­ma and Naga­saki (6 and 9 August)
  • The 70th anniversary of VJ Day (Vic­tory in Japan) (2 Septem­ber 15 August)
  • The cen­ten­ary of the exe­cu­tion of Edith Cav­ell (12 October)

The text of the mater­i­al for the first three is in the pre­vi­ous post. This post con­tains the mater­i­al for Edith Cavell.

Com­mem­or­a­tion of Edith Cav­ell: 12 October

Edith Cav­ell, the daugh­ter of a priest, trained as a nurse at the Roy­al Lon­don Hos­pit­al and in 1907 became the dir­ect­or of a nurs­ing school in Bel­gi­um. When Ger­many was poised to invade Bel­gi­um, Edith returned to be with the nurses she had trained, and she insisted that their call­ing was to care for all, friend and foe alike. From Novem­ber 1914 Edith assisted Brit­ish and Allied troops to escape from enemy occu­pied ter­rit­ory into the neut­ral ter­rit­ory of Hol­land. Edith was arres­ted for assist­ing Allied sol­diers to escape. A chap­lain cel­eb­rated the Euchar­ist the night before she was shot and killed by a Ger­man fir­ing squad on Octo­ber 12 1915. She was hur­riedly bur­ied in a grave out­side Brus­sels, but her body was rebur­ied at Nor­wich Cathed­ral, fol­low­ing a state funer­al at West­min­ster Abbey in May 1919. Her example inspired many, and she soon became a pop­u­lar heroine and a mod­el of self­less ser­vice. There are memori­als to her oppos­ite the Nation­al Por­trait Gal­lery in Lon­don, and at Nor­wich Cathedral.

Pray­ers

God of com­pas­sion, as we recall the fear­less cour­age of your ser­vant Edith Cav­ell, give us a heart to serve and to care even for those who abuse and des­pise us. Remove from us all fear, hatred, and bit­ter­ness, and give us that life-giv­ing love that loves to the utter­most and seeks the good of all, through Jesus Christ who came to seek and to save the lost. Amen.

God our Fath­er, we thank you that you call women and men to share the pas­sion of your Son, and to wit­ness to your truth in adversity. As we recall the cour­age and single-minded­ness of Edith Cav­ell, may we show forth your costly recon­cil­ing love, and be strengthened to serve you in one anoth­er, through the one through whom we are made one with you and one anoth­er, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Come Lord Jesus and abide with us. Be with us in the even­ing hour and pro­tect us through the dark hours of the night. Com­fort all who are in danger and those who watch and wait. Help us to be still, and to hold to your prom­ise that in the end your pur­poses will be ful­filled, our anxi­et­ies dis­pelled, and our fears calmed, in the name of him whose love casts out fear, Jesus Christ your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Heav­enly Fath­er, your Son said that whatever we do for the least of our broth­ers and sis­ters we do for him. May we, like your ser­vant Edith Cav­ell, bring relief to those who are in need, com­fort to those who are afraid, and heal­ing to all who are in pain. This we ask in the name of him who came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many, Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.

Bib­lic­al Read­ings link to all Readings

Wis­dom 3.1–7
Isai­ah 43.1–7
Jeremi­ah 11.18–20

Psalm 3
Psalm 35.1–5
Psalm 77.1–12

1 Peter 4.7–15
Hebrews 11.32–40
1 John 4.13–21

Mat­thew 10.16–22
Mat­thew 25.31–40
Luke 6.20–36
Luke 10.25–37
Mat­thew 25.31–40

Respons­ory

​​Let not your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid
O death, where is your sting?
​​The last enemy to be des­troyed is death.
​​Let not your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
​​Christ has been raised glor­i­ously from the dead.
​​O death, where is your sting?

Pray­ers for the Eucharist

Invit­a­tion to Confession

​​The saints were faith­ful even unto death,
​​and now dwell in the joy of heaven.
​​As we recall their courage,
​​so we con­fid­ently ask for God’s mercy,
and con­fess our sins and weaknesses
in pen­it­ence and faith.

Pen­it­en­tial Kyrie

​​Lord, we fail to see that whatever we do for the least of all, we do to you.
​​Lord, have mercy.
​​Lord, have mercy.

Lord, we hold back from giv­ing ourselves and in doing your will,
Christ, have mercy.
​​Christ, have mercy.

​​Lord, we fal­ter in fol­low­ing the way of the cross.
​​Lord, have mercy.
​​Lord, have mercy.

​​

Col­lect

​​Etern­al God,
​​whose ser­vant Edith Cav­ell placed her duty to you above all things
​​and laid down her life in pro­tec­tion of others:
​​make us, after her example, stead­fast in all adversity,
​​and abide with us until, with all your faith­ful ones,
​​we share the joy of heaven;
​​through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
​​who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
​​​​​ (Nor­wich Cathedral)

Gos­pel Acclamation

Alle­lu­ia, alleluia
The one who endures to the end will be saved.
Alle­lu­ia.

The Peace

Lord Jesus Christ, you said, ‘Do not be troubled, and let not your hearts be afraid, my peace I give to you, and my peace I leave with you.’
​​The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.

Post Com­mu­nion Prayer

​​Lord God, on the night before he died,
your Son accep­ted the cup of suffering.
Strengthened by this Euchar­ist­ic food,
may we spend and be spent in your lov­ing service,
and at the end be brought, with Edith Cavell,
to sit at your table in the heav­enly Kingdom;
through him who laid down his life for us,
and now ever lives to make inter­ces­sion for us,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Bless­ing

​​God give you strength to show forth
the pas­sion of Christ, with all the saints,
and to love oth­ers both in word and in deed.
And the bless­ing of God almighty,
the Fath­er, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be with you, now and always. Amen.

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