December 5, 2021, The Second Sunday of Advent, Holy Eucharist

The Second Sunday of Advent

T HE H OLY E UCHARIST December 5, 2021

Welcome to the Monastery Chapel.

We warmly invite you to participate fully in our worship.

Prelude

Freu dich sehr

Entrance Hymn

Johann Gottfried Walther

Hark! a thrilling voice is sounding

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Opening Acclamation Presider Blessed are you, holy and living One. People You come to your people and set them free.

Collect for Purity Presider Almighty God, People to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE

SOCIETY OF SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST

980 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02138  617.876.3037  www.SSJE.org

Entrance Hymn

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Hark! a thrilling voice is sounding

Hymnal 59

Hymn of Supplication

Lord, have mercy Missa Maria Magdalena (Healey Willan)

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Collect of the Day Presider Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

People Amen.

The Word of God First Lesson Malachi 3:1–4 See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

Psalm Canticle 16 Second Lesson Philippians 1:3–11 I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, Page 4

because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God. Gospel Reading Luke 3:1–6 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” The Sermon

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The Nicene Creed

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Hymnal S 104

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The Prayers of the People Confession and Absolution of Sin As announced Presider When the Lord comes, he will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness, and will disclose the purposes of the heart.

Therefore in the light of Christ let us confess our sins.

God of all mercy, People we confess that we have sinned against you, opposing your will in our lives.

We have denied your goodness in each other, in ourselves, and in the world you have created.

We repent of the evil that enslaves us, the evil we have done, and the evil done on our behalf.

Forgive, restore, and strengthen us through our Savior Jesus Christ, that we may abide in your love and serve only your will. Amen.

The Peace

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Offertory Hymn

On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry

Hymnal 76

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The Holy Communion The Great Thanksgiving

Sanctus, Holy, Holy…

The Lord’s Prayer Fraction Anthem

Missa Maria Magdalena (Healey Willan) Hymnal S 148 Missa Maria Magdalena (Healey Willan)

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Collect of Longing Presider Loving Father, we who are physically distant now groan inwardly as we await the day when we are restored to the company of our neighbors and brought to the fullness of your presence in the Eucharistic feast. Comfort us in our longing to be near each other, assure us of your indwelling presence, and hasten the day when we will abide with you and all our beloved siblings in that kingdom where there is neither sorrow nor crying but the fullness of joy with all your saints; through Jesus Christ our Savior.

People Amen.

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Lord’s Prayer

Fraction Anthem

Hymnal S 148

Missa Maria Magdalena (Healey Willan)

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Post Communion Hymn

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There’s a voice in the wilderness crying

Hymnal 75

Prayer After Communion Presider Let us pray.

Faithful God, People we thank you for feeding us with this heavenly banquet.

Help us always to hear the prophet’s call, to turn our hearts to you; in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.

Blessing and Dismissal Postlude

Freu dich sehr

Max Reger

Announcements A Warm Welcome!

The Brothers will be glad to greet you after the Eucharist, on the plaza outside the chapel, before you head home.

Singing and other COVID related matters As you know, trying to balance the health and safety of the Brothers, our staff, residents, guests, and members of the congregation is a complicated juggling act. We have taken a cautious approach to reopening. The Diocesan Guidelines now permit congregational singing, if the singers are masked. After consulting some healthcare professionals, we have decided to permit congregational singing, IF you are both masked and fully vaccinated. If you fulfill those conditions, we welcome you to join the Brothers in singing the hymns and service music.

We now also welcome you to attend Evening Prayer on Saturdays (6:00 PM) and Sundays (4:00 PM). The Chapel doors will open 15 minutes before the service. Because of the need to sanitize the space following its use, we are not, at this time, able to open the chapel for other services. There is for now, no need to register for Evening Prayer. Masks are required.

The Diocesan Guidelines require physical distancing of 6’ between households or pods, especially when masked singing is allowed. In order to enable that to happen, we ask everyone to register for the Sunday Eucharist. This also allows for contact tracing if required.

If you have not registered, we may need to ask you to wait outside until we are sure we have room for you. While we have not enforced the 6’ requirement, there is enough distanced seating throughout the chapel to allow that to happen.

The Brothers are all now fully vaccinated, and most of us have had our booster shot. While we do not yet require members of the congregation to be vaccinated, because this is our home, we spend several hours each day in the chapel, and a number of Brothers (as well as members of the congregation) are classified as vulnerable people, we ask that you be fully vaccinated, and arrange to have your booster shot as soon as you are able.

Bundle Up! With the colder weather we encourage you to bundle up when you come to Church on Sundays. At least for the next few weeks we will be keeping the doors and windows of the chapel open as a way to enhance the ventilation. You may want to come equipped with hats and coats to help keep yourself warm!

Christmas The Christmas schedule is now available. Brothers will be handing them out after the service.

Don’t go home without one! It will be important to register for the services on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the First Sunday after Christmas in order to ensure appropriate physical distancing. Registration for the Christmas services will go live on 8 December.

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Livestreamed Worship We continue to livestream many of our services. For a schedule of livestreamed services go to www.ssje.org/chapel/ The webpage also includes the hymn board to help you follow the hymns, canticles, and psalms. For some services a leaflet is included on the page as well.

Invite others to join us online as well.

Try Tank and the 1730 Project The Brothers have teamed up with Try Tank, an experimental and innovative laboratory for church growth and innovation. We have provided 6 sermons from Christ the King to Christmas, which are being made available to congregations, and especially those with an average Sunday attendance of 29 people or fewer. To date over 450 congregations from Anglican/ Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran Churches across the United States and Canada, as well as New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Brazil, Chile and the UK, with a combined average Sunday attendance of nearly 23,000 people, have signed up!

Plans are now underway to repeat this during Lent and Holy Week. Try Tank is supported by both Virginia Theological Seminary and The General Theological Seminary. Congregations can sign up at https://www.trytank.org/vpm.html The sermons are available to individuals at www.ssje/sermons Advent Observances Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical new and is a time when we ponder the coming of Christ in time, as the Babe of Bethlehem, and at the end of time as our Judge and Redeemer. The word advent comes to us from the Latin meaning to come.

As way to mark this season of expectation and hope we wear blue vestments. This is a recovery of an ancient English tradition stemming from Salisbury Cathedral, and so is sometimes referred to as Sarum blue. (Sarum being the ancient Latin name for Salisbury.)

While the deep blue conveys a feeling of solemnity, because of its association with the Blessed Virgin Mary, it also conveys the Advent themes of hope and expectation. On the Third Sunday of Advent, we see hints of pink on the vestments, marking that Sunday as Gaudete Sunday, reflecting the opening words of the ancient introit appointed for the day: Rejoice in the Lord, always!

The Advent Wreath, which by its nature is circular in form, reminds us that God’s love is endless, having no beginning or end. The greenery is a sign of hope, renewal, and new life, especially at a time of year when everything seems to be dead and decaying. The four candles, a new one lit each week, marking the four Sundays of Advent, are visible reminders that as the darkness of the world (literally, as well as figuratively) descends upon us, that darkness cannot overcome the light which Christ brought into the world through His incarnation. The Advent Wreath stand, which can be converted into the Paschal Candle stand, was commissioned by the community in memory of our brother, John Goldring SSJE. The Eucharistic Prayers we will be using throughout Advent come to us from the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Canada, and the Church of England. The Invitation to Confession comes from the Church of England, and The Prayer after Communion, which changes each week, is from the Anglican Church of Canada.

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❖ Br. Luke Ditewig, Presider & Preacher Mr. James Woodman, Monastery Organist ❖

Supplementary hymns are used by permission and licensed to be reprinted for this service by OneLicense.Net: #A-725463

The Monastery as Sanctuary We want our Monastery to be a sanctuary for our guests and for the Brothers. Please silence your electronic devices. We also ask you not to photograph, video, or record services in the Chapel, or to photograph other guests or Brothers without their express permission.