THE FATHERS: 5th Sunday after Trinity

QUOTE:

The Collect

GRANT, O Lord, we beseech thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance, that thy Church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Offertory

I will thank the Lord for giving me warning; I have set God always before me; for He is on my right hand, therefore I shall not fall. Ps 16

The Secret

Most merciful Lord, we beseech thee, to have respect unto these our oblations; that whereas we have rebelled and done evil against thee unto thy will, we may by thy grace be conformed to thy will, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

The Communion.

One thing have I de sired of the Lord, which I will require, even that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. Ps. 27

The Postcommunion.

WE beseech thee, O Lord, that the mysteries which we have received may cleanse us from all our sins, and defend us by thy gifts bestowed therein from all adversities. through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

COMMENTARY:

The prayers found above come from the historic missal of the English Orthodox and Catholic Church. They find their earliest origin in the “Sacramentary of Leo,” which dates back to ca. 450 AD. However, more important than their antiquity is the faith that is reveled within them. Their content reveals to us that they belong to a people who live moment by moment in the acknowledged presence the Holy Trinity. Here we find the apostolic faith, not in theory only, but in the flesh.

In the collect the church prays for God’s peaceable governance in this world, in order to serve Him here and now. In the offertory, the church thanks the Lord that it is not up to humanity to muster up the ability to serve Him, but that it is by a God given faith in the believes God’s warning that we place Him before us, even at our right hand. In the secret we pray that God will receive our priestly offering of our lives represented by the bread and wine, in spite of our sins, and that He do so on account of Jesus Christ. In the communion prayer we rejoice of our future in the life in the fullness of the Trinity. Finally, in the Post communion, we plead for cleansing and defense in the time to come in this life.

Lex orandi- lex credendi- the law of worship is the law of faith. In other words, as you worship, so you will believe.