Saturday
Morning Prayer
Richard Meux Benson and Charles Gore
I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Isaiah 49:6b
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let Earth receive her king;
let every heart prepare him room,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.
Joy to the Earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ,
while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
nor thorns infest the ground;
he comes to make his blessings flow
far as the curse is found
far, far as the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
and makes the nations prove
the glories of his righteousness
and wonders of his love,
and wonders of his love,
and wonders, wonders of his love.
Singers: John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers
Words: Issac Watts
Music: Handel, arrangement, Rutter
Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.
Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen.
Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.
Lord, open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness:
Come let us adore him.
Come, let us sing to the Lord; *
let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving *
and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God, *
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the caverns of the earth, *
and the heights of the hills are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it, *
and his hands have molded the dry land.
Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *
Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness:
Come let us adore him.
20 Exaudiat te Dominus or
Coverdale
1May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble, *
the Name of the God of Jacob defend you;
2Send you help from his holy place *
and strengthen you out of Zion;
3Remember all your offerings *
and accept your burnt sacrifice;
4Grant you your heart's desire *
and prosper all your plans.
5We will shout for joy at your victory
and triumph in the Name of our God; *
may the Lord grant all your requests.
6Now I know that the Lord gives victory to his anointed; *
he will answer him out of his holy heaven,
with the victorious strength of his right hand.
7Some put their trust in chariots and some in horses, *
but we will call upon the Name of the Lord our God.
8They collapse and fall down, *
but we will arise and stand upright.
9O Lord, give victory to the king *
and answer us when we call.
21:1-7 Domine, in virtute tua or
Coverdale
1The king rejoices in your strength, O Lord; *
how greatly he exults in your victory!
2You have given him his heart's desire; *
you have not denied him the request of his lips.
3For you meet him with blessings of prosperity, *
and set a crown of fine gold upon his head.
4He asked you for life, and you gave it to him: *
length of days, for ever and ever.
5His honor is great, because of your victory; *
splendor and majesty have you bestowed upon him.
6For you will give him everlasting felicity *
and will make him glad with the joy of your presence.
7For the king puts his trust in the Lord; *
because of the loving-kindness of the Most High, he
will not fall.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be;
world without end. Amen. Amen.
A reading from the book of Isaiah 43:1-13
1But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. 4Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life. 5Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; 6I will say to the north, "Give them up," and to the south, "Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth 7everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."
8Bring forth the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears! 9Let all the nations gather together, and let the peoples assemble. Who among them declared this, and foretold to us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to justify them, and let them hear and say, "It is true." 10You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. 11I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior. 12I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses, says the Lord. 13I am God, and also henceforth I am He; there is no one who can deliver from my hand; I work and who can hinder it?
Invocation
Glorify the Lord, all you works of the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
In the firmament of his power, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
I The Cosmic Order
Glorify the Lord, you angels and all powers of the Lord, *
O heavens and all waters above the heavens.
Sun and moon and stars of the sky, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
Glorify the Lord, every shower of rain and fall of dew, *
all winds and fire and heat.
Winter and summer, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
Glorify the Lord, O chill and cold, *
drops of dew and flakes of snow.
Frost and cold, ice and sleet, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
Glorify the Lord, O nights and days, *
O shining light and enfolding dark.
Storm clouds and thunderbolts, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
II The Earth and its Creatures
Let the earth glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
Glorify the Lord, O mountains and hills,
and all that grows upon the earth, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
Glorify the Lord, O springs of water, seas, and streams, *
O whales and all that move in the waters.
All birds of the air, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
Glorify the Lord, O beasts of the wild, *
and all you flocks and herds.
O men and women everywhere, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
III The People of God
Let the people of God glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
Glorify the Lord, O priests and servants of the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
Glorify the Lord, O spirits and souls of the righteous, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
You that are holy and humble of heart, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
Doxology
Let us glorify the Lord: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
In the firmament of his power, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
A reading from the book of Ephesians 3:14-21
14For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
O ruler of the universe, Lord God,
great deeds are they that you have done, *
surpassing human understanding.
Your ways are ways of righteousness and truth, *
O King of all the ages.
Who can fail to do you homage, Lord,
and sing the praises of your Name? *
for you only are the holy One.
All nations will draw near and fall down before you, *
because your just and holy works have been revealed.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
The Gospel according to Mark 2:23-3:6
23One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?" 25And he said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? 26He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions." 27Then he said to them, "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; 28so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath."
1Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3And he said to the man who had the withered hand, "Come forward." 4Then he said to them, "Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?" But they were silent. 5He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.
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,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance;
Govern and uphold them, now and always.
Day by day we bless you;
We praise your Name for ever.
Lord, keep us from all sin today;
Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.
Lord, show us your love and mercy;
For we put our trust in you.
In you, Lord, is our hope;
And we shall never hope in vain.
Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen.
We pray for the people of Bermuda.
We pray for our sisters and brothers members of the Church of North India
Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all your works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Richard Meux Benson (1824 1915) was a priest in the Church of England and founder of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, the first religious order of monks in the Anglican Communion since the Reformation.
Born into a wealthy family of London in 1824, Benson was taught at home by a private tutor and entered Christ Church, Oxford. After his degree and ordination and a curacy at Surbiton, in 1850 he became vicar of Cowley, Oxford. He was considered High Church. In 1858 Benson conducted a retreat for priests using material taken in part from the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. In 1859, having erected a new parish church dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, Benson planned a mission to India but abandoned the plan at the request of his bishop.
At the time there were convents of Anglican women in England, and in 1865 two priests joined Benson in Cowley to begin community life under the name of Mission Priests of St. John the Evangelist with Benson as Superior.
The form of religious life instituted by Benson was not purely contemplative its members engaged in active external ministry but they recited the Divine Office together daily in choir, and Benson emphasized contemplation. The brothers were to get an hour's meditation daily if possible, and he gave the community a summer retreat of four weeks, later reduced to fortnight. He prescribed other retreat days and silence days. As a religious founder, he concentrated on essentials, among which he reckoned life-vows, taken with precautions as to maturity; regular confession; choir office, prayer and meditation; and priestly ministry. He fully recognized the authority of his bishop over the priests of the community, who were clergy of the diocese, but not as extending to their private life together.
From 1870 to 1883 the Society spread to the United States, India, and South Africa. Benson himself made an American mission tour. In 1884 the society adopted a Constitution and Rule drafted by Benson.
During the creation of the Society, Benson had maintained his duties as a parish vicar. In 1886 he resigned this charge to devote all his attention to the Society and its mission.
In 1890 Benson stepped aside for another to be elected Superior. He spent one year in India, and eight years at the American house in Boston.
The last sixteen years of Benson's life were lived at home again. He celebrated the Holy Eucharist as long as he could stand at the altar, and then was wheeled in a chair to his Communion every morning. He died on January 14, 1915.
from Wikipedia
More information on Richard Benson is available from Project Canterbury.
Charles Gore was born in Wimbledon in 1853. His father's grandfather was the Earl of Arran, his mother's grandfather was the Earl of Bessborough, and his brother Spencer was England's first National Tennis Champion.
Gore attended Harrow Prep School (during which time he became dedicated to weekly Communion), and Balliol College, Oxford (where he became a supporter of the trades-union movement). He took First Class Honors in Classical Moderations and in Greats (philosophy), and was elected a Fellow of Trinity in 1875. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1878. In 1880 he became Vice-Principal of Cuddesdon Theological College, founded by Edward King. During the three years he spent there he did a great deal of outside preaching and lecturing. After the death of Edward Pusey, a library and study center was established at Oxford in 1883, known as Pusey House, and Gore became its first Principal, a position he held until 1893. His appointment raised some eyebrows, since Gore was known to be friendly to what was called the Higher Criticism, which favored non-traditional views on the authorship of some books of the Old Testament (Lower Criticism means attempting to establish the original text of the Scriptures by diligently comparing the existing copies and analyzing their variations), while Pusey had firmly opposed the Higher Criticism.
In 1888 Gore wrote The Ministry of the Catholic Church (or The Church and the Ministry my sources differ), a book on the origins of the Christian Ministry and its development in the first two centuries of the Christian era. In the same year, he wrote Roman Catholic Claims, a reply to assertions that the Anglican Church was not the true successor of the New Testament Church. In 1889, he helped to found the Christian Social Union (he was one of the two Vice-Presidents), dedicated to promoting the view that Christian principles as applied to the political and economic organization of society demanded reform along trade-unionist and moderate socialist lines. His political views aroused some public protest.
Considerably more protest was aroused, however, by the publication, also in 1889, of a book called Lux Mundi (meaning "Light of the World"): A Series of Studies in the Religion of the Incarnation. The book was a set of essays by various writers. Gore was the general editor, and contributed one essay. Overall, the book expressed the belief of many educated Christians that Biblical and archaeological studies and scientific discoveries had made it necessary for the Church to re-examine and perhaps restate some of its traditional formulations. The book was a sensation, and considered by many to be less a restatement than an abandonment of traditional doctrines. Gore's essay was called, "On the Inspiration of Holy Scripture." He distinguished sharply between the Old and New Testaments, saying that the New Testament accounts were either eye-witness or close to eye-witness accounts of the events described, while we had reason to suppose that some Old Testament accounts were written centuries after the event, and were not reliable sources of factual detail. Their value is not as a revelation of historical of scientific information, but as a revelation of God's nature and His dealings with us. Thus, the point of the story of Adam and Eve is not that the human race is less than ten thousand years old, but that obedience to God makes men happy, and disobedience to God makes them unhappy. Gore wrote: "It is of the essence of the New Testament, as the religion of the Incarnation, to be final and catholic: on the other hand, it is of the essence of the Old Testament to be imperfect, because it represents a gradual process of education by which man was lifted out of the depth of sin and ignorance." Some objected: "But you are on a slippery slope! If Genesis is not reliable history, how can we be sure of later books?" To this, Gore might have replied: "Consider the history of ancient Rome. The history begins with stories about the flight of Aeneas from Troy, and continues with Romulus and Remus, and with the story of Lucretia, and Horatius at the bridge, and Mucius Scaevola thrusting his hand into the fire, and the secession of the plebs, and the treason of Tarpeia, and Curtius leaping into the abyss, and so on. Yet the same books that tell us these stories about early Rome also tell us about the First and Second Triumvirates, and the battle of Actium, and so on. No one says that, if we reject the story of Dido and Aeneas as legend, we cannot trust the later accounts as history."
What chiefly outraged Gore's critics, however, was his adoption of what is called the Kenotic Theory of the Incarnation. The Greek word Kenosis means "emptying," and is used in Philippians 2:7, where we read that Jesus,
having the nature of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, and took the nature of a servant.
Gore put forward the suggestion that Jesus, when He took upon Himself the limitations of our human nature, accepted the limitations of human knowledge, and that therefore, when He spoke (for example) of the Flood, He was simply accepting the common assumptions of His culture, and we are not bound to accept these assumptions as correct.
Not surprisingly, many readers found this view completely unacceptable. The book was widely read and disputed over, and cheap, popular editions were soon available.
Two years later, Gore was invited to deliver the annual Bampton Lecture Series. He welcomed the opportunity to make clarify his position and reassure his listeners of his fundamental orthodoxy. The Lectures were delivered in Lent, 1891, in the University Church of Oxford, St. Mary the Virgin, to capacity audiences. Listeners filled the pews, stood in the aisles, and sat on the steps of the chancel and the pulpit. A few months later, the lectures were published in book form as The Incarnation of the Son of God.
Earlier, in 1887, Gore had founded the Society of the Resurrection, an association for priests, aimed at a deepening of the spiritual life. In July 1892 this became the Community of the Resurrection, a religious order for priests, beginning with six members. The members declared their intention of remaining celibate for life, but took vows of celibacy for only one year at a time, rather than taking a vow binding for life. (In technical language, they were monastics of the Simple Profession rather than of the Solemn Profession.) The Community first lived at Pusey House, but soon (1893) moved to Radley, near Oxford, and in 1898 to its present headquarters in Mirfield, Yorkshire. Many Americans (and perhaps others) will know the Community best through the work in the 1950's and early 1960's of the priest Trevor Huddleston, author of Nought For Your Comfort, a book discussing racial animosities and inequities in the Republic of South Africa and elsewhere, and calling Christians to a ministry of justice and reconciliation.
Gore, while retaining his office as Senior of the Community of the Resurrection, was made a canon of Westminster late in 1894, where his preaching attracted great crowds. When it was known that he was scheduled to preach, would-be listeners gathered outside the Abbey well in advance, and when the doors were opened the building filled like a lock in flood-time. In minutes, not even standing-room was to be found. In addition to his Sunday sermons, he also gave weekday lectures, many of them later collected into books, such as The Sermon On the Mount (1896), The Epistle To The Ephesians (1897), and The Epistle To the Romans (1898). In 1901 he wrote The Body of Christ, dealing with the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, asserting and defending the doctrine that Christ is objectively present in the Sacrament, and that the Sacrament is a sacrificial offering, but repudiating certain late mediaeval innovations in worship, such as Processions of the Sacrament, unknown to the Primitive Church.
As tension increased between the British government and the Boer republics of South Africa, Gore denounced British Imperialism, and when war began in 1899 he denounced the British policy of rounding up Boer civilians in detention camps, where the mortality rate was very high. He wrote a fierce letter on the subject to The Times. The next day, there was a fierce reply by a canon of Worcester (pronounced "Wooster") Cathedral. The Worcester area was the political base of Joseph Chamberlain, the Colonial Secretary whose policy Gore was denouncing. A few days later, Gore was appointed Bishop of Worcester. He was consecrated in February 1902. The diocese included the city of Birmingham, which had been tiny or non-existent when the dioceses of England were organized, but which had grown to become a large industrial city. Gore saw that the needs of Birmingham and of the surrounding rural areas were quite different, and immediately began to urge a division. Chamberlain, who had come to respect and admire Gore, helped steer the necessary legislation through Parliament. In 1905 Birmingham was organized as a separate bishopric and Gore became its first bishop. Things went well for him there. Under his leadership, church attendance increased considerably, new buildings were erected, and many priests brought into the diocese to minster to the growing congregations. In spite of his adherence to views widely regarded as tending toward Roman Catholicism, he established strong bonds of courtesy and affection with the Protestants of Birmingham.
In 1911 he was transferred and became Bishop of Oxford instead. This was a sprawling, largely rural diocese, but Gore traveled about, regularly visiting the parishes under his care, and on most Sundays preached in at least two different pulpits. Since college days he had been committed to educational and economic improvement for the working class, and he gave an annual lecture to the Workers' Educational Association at Reading. In 1911 a major labor dispute arose in Reading, and Gore publicly sided with the workers, giving them money, and pressing for a panel of inquiry into the living conditions of the workers. The report of the panel favored the workers' cause, and won for Gore a great deal of gratitude and affection among working-class people in his diocese and elsewhere.
In the next few years, several Anglican clergy publicly declared that an Anglican might reasonably deny the Virgin Birth and the physical Resurrection of Christ and remain an Anglican. Gore was horrified, and proposed to resign his bishopric so as to devote himself to contending against a position that he believed to be destructive of all Christian faith. His friends persuaded him to reconsider.
In 1914, WWI broke out. Gore dutifully travelled to France twice to preach and administer the sacraments to men in uniform. In June 1918 he went to the United States to speak on the Church and the post-war world. He spoke in New York, Washington, Chicago, Cleveland, various cities in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, then on to Milwaukee, Nashotah, Detroit, Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, and then back to England as the war ended in November. He spoke chiefly on reconciliation and the necessity, once the war had been won, of restoring Germany as soon as possible to the family of nations.
After the war, Gore resigned his bishopric and retired in July 1919, being 66 years old. He was flooded with invitations to speak or preach, and had a supply of postcards printed reading, "Sorry, Can't. C.G." for immediate response to most of them. The invitations he did accept were quite enough to fill his calendar. Later that year he became a lecturer in theology at King's College, and was made a Life Governor. From 1924 to 1928 he was Dean of the Faculty of Theology in the University of London. He also served on the Council of Christian Ministers on Social Questions, the Christian Social Crusade, the Industrial Christian Fellowship, the General Council of the League of Nations, the Oxford Mission to Calcutta, the Universities' Mission to Central Africa, the Board of Governors of Pusey House, the World Conference on Faith and Order (of the World Council of Churches), and the Archbishop's Eastern Churches Committee. Not bad for a man in "retirement."
During these years he also completed his Exposition of the Epistles of Saint John (1920), and then wrote his trilogy, Belief in God (1921), Belief in Christ (1922), and The Holy Spirit and the Church (1924). These three works were re-issued in a single volume called The Reconstruction of Belief, intended as an exposition and defense of the faith of the Catholic Church, as stated in the Holy Scriptures and codified in the Councils of the first five centuries of the Christian era, and now restated in modern terms--"the faith once delivered to the saints presented in conformity with twentieth-century categories of thought and scientific methods of reasoning." [Rice] The book prompted many objections, chiefly from Modernists, and Gore dealt with many of these objections in a sequel called Can We Then Believe? In 1928 the SPCK (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge) published A New Commentary On Holy Scripture, which contained notes on every book of the Old and New Testaments and of the Apocrypha, together with many general articles. Gore was the general editor. Gore also wrote Christ and Society (1928), dealing with the social and economic applications of Christian ethics; Jesus of Nazareth(1929), dealing with the person and work of Jesus; and The Philosophy of the Good Life (1930), the Gifford Lectures, dealing with answers offered by various philosophies and religions to the question, "How ought I to live?" (The Gifford Lectures are lectures in Natural Theology, in which the lecturer is barred from asking his listeners to accept the authenticity of any revelation. Perhaps the best-known Gifford Lectures are William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience.) Gore's last book, Reflections On the Litany, was published the day after he died.
In November of 1930, he began a six-month tour of India, preaching and lecturing pretty much in every district in the country, "speaking whenever he was not walking, riding, or sleeping." He returned home totally exhausted. From then on his health deteriorated. In January 1932 he acquired a severe cough, and then pneumonia. On Friday 15 he was still able to write a few postcards to friends. Then he fell into a coma, and died on the morning of Sunday 17 January 1932. His influence remains great.
[Note: This Bio is based largely on the book The Bridge Builders: Biographical Studies in the History of Anglicanism, by Hugh A. Lawrence Rice (1961, Darton, Longman & Todd, London; Longmans, Green & Co, New York).]
written by James Kiefer
More information and links to many of his works are available from Project Canterbury.
Gracious God, who kindled in your servants Richard Meux Benson and Charles Gore the grace to lead a revival of monastic life: Grant us also the resolve to serve you faithfully in contemplation and prayer, ministering to the world that you have made, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Let us pray now for our own needs and those of others.
To my humble supplication
Lord, give ear and acceptation
Save thy servant, that hath none
Help nor hope but Thee alone. Amen.
Birthdays
Anniversaries
For Recovery from Sickness
For Travelers
For a Person in Trouble or Bereavement
For Those to be Baptized
For the Departed
Full list of prayers
O heavenly Father, who has filled the world with beauty: Open our eyes to behold your gracious hand in all your works; that, rejoicing in your whole creation, we may learn to serve you with gladness; for the sake of him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
O God, in the course of this busy life, give us times of refreshment and peace; and grant that we may so use our leisure to rebuild our bodies and renew our minds, that our spirits may be opened to the goodness of your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Heavenly Father, we remember before you those who suffer want and anxiety from lack of work. Guide the people of this land so to use our public and private wealth that all may find suitable and fulfilling employment, and receive just payment for their labor; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Infant holy, infant lowly,
for his bed a cattle stall
Oxen lowing, little knowing
Christ, the babe, is Lord of all.
Swift are winging angels singing,
noels ringing, tidings bringing;
Christ, the babe, is Lord of all.
Christ, the babe, is Lord of all.
Flocks were sleeping: shepherds keeping
vigil till the morning new
Saw the glory, heard the story,
Tidings of a gospel true.
Thus rejoicing, free from sorrow,
Praises voicing, greet tomorrow:
Christ, the babe, was born for you.
Christ, the babe, was born for you.
Infant holy, infant lowly,
for his bed a cattle stall
Oxen lowing, little knowing
Christ, the babe, is Lord of all.
Swift are winging angels singing,
noels ringing, tidings bringing;
Christ, the babe, is Lord of all.
Christ, the babe, is Lord of all.
Christ, the babe, is Lord of all.
Lord of all.
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
Almighty God, Father of all mercies,
we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks
for all your goodness and loving-kindness
to us and to all whom you have made.
We bless you for our creation, preservation,
and all the blessings of this life;
but above all for your immeasurable love
in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ;
for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.
And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies,
that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise,
not only with our lips, but in our lives,
by giving up our selves to your service,
and by walking before you
in holiness and righteousness all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.
Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20, 21
God be with you till we meet again;
By his counsels guide, uphold you;
With his sheep securely fold you.
God be with you till we meet again.
Till we meet, till we meet,
Till we meet at Jesus' feet,
Till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you till we meet again.
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.
Psalm 121 Levavi oculos
1I lift up my eyes to the hills; *
from where is my help to come?
2My help comes from the LORD, *
the maker of heaven and earth.
3He will not let your foot be moved *
and he who watches over you will not fall asleep.
4Behold, he who keeps watch over Israel *
shall neither slumber nor sleep;
5The Lord himself watches over you; *
the Lord is your shade at your right hand,
6So that the sun shall not strike you by day, *
nor the moon by night.
7The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; *
it is he who shall keep you safe.
8The Lord shall watch over your going out and
your coming in, *
from this time forth for evermore.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:17-18
Thanks be to God.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.
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,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Lord, hear our prayer;
And let our cry come to you.
Let us pray.
Blessed Savior, at this hour you hung upon the cross, stretching out your loving arms: Grant that all the peoples of the earth may look to you and be saved; for your tender mercies sake. Amen.
Let us pray now for our own needs and those of others.
Birthdays
Anniversaries
For Recovery from Sickness
For Travelers
For a Person in Trouble or Bereavement
For Those to be Baptized
For the Departed
Full list of prayers
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.