The Clothing of a Novice in the SOCIETY OF SAINT J OHN THE E VANGELIST
Randolph Chamberlain Wilson Saturday, July 30, 2022
The Clothing of a Novice in the Society of Saint John the Evangelist First Evensong Officiant People
Light and peace in Jesus Christ our Lord. Thanks be to God.
The Officiant then prays the Prayer for Light
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Evening Hymn
Hymnal S 59
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Psalm 147, Part I, Laudate Dominum
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Psalm 147, Part II, Lauda Jerusalem
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Psalm 149, Cantate Domino
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The Lesson John 14:15–21 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you. “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”
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The Song of Mary Magnificat
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The Clothing
The congregation is seated.
Novice Guardian
Let us welcome into our midst Randolph Chamberlain Wilson.
Brothers
Lain, we welcome you in the name of the Lord!
Superior
Lain, you have been sharing our life and seeking in our company signs of the will of God. What do you now desire?
Postulant
I desire the grace and mercy of God and to be admitted to the Society of Saint John the Evangelist as a Novice.
Superior
In your baptism you received the Holy Spirit and were clothed with Christ. You received power to bear witness to the new life of the gospel and were made a minister of the new covenant. Do you believe that God is planting in your heart the desire to live this new life as a member of our community?
Postulant
I do.
Novice Guardian
We believe that God is drawing you to test your calling here. We are ready to make you a Novice in the community. Will you give yourself wholeheartedly to the life of a Novice, trusting the guidance we give you?
Postulant
I will, with the help of Christ’s Spirit. Brothers, will you receive me as a member of the community and share with me your experience of the living God?
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Brothers
We will.
Postulant
Will you support me with your prayer and friendship as I learn to abide in Christ more deeply by living the Rule of this Society?
Brothers
We will.
Superior
Lain, we rejoice when our prayers for the gift of new members are answered. New members bring with them the promise of new life for our brotherhood. We rejoice in the talents and gifts of the Holy Spirit that you bring us.
Superior
The novitiate is a time of progressive initiation into the life of the community. During this time of growth and change the grace you received in baptism to die and rise again in Christ will be at work. You will need to draw on that grace as you seek to deepen your conversion in Christ. As a Novice you will be sharing our life of worship and prayer. You will learn to practice the spiritual disciplines that deepen our abiding in Christ. Through study and meditation you will explore the resources of Christian knowledge and wisdom. We will help you understand the role of the monastic way in the life and mission of the Church. We will open to you the meaning of our Rule of Life and share our tradition and the teaching of our founders. Set your heart on making the Gospel of John your own. An affinity with the witness of the disciple whom Jesus loved is one of the signs of belonging to our brotherhood. Seek to identify yourself with him and realize the intimacy of our union with Christ. If you are truly called to our way of life, the novitiate will be a time not merely of adaptation, but of inner change and conversion of life. Expect emotional and spiritual trials, since stages of genuine transformation are marked by experiences of confusion and loss. The Brothers who have responsibility for the work of formation will help you face these times with courage and gain insight into their meaning. All of us are here to encourage you in the stress of adjustment and change. We want to foster your readiness for commitment by our prayerful friendship. Together we are putting your vocation to the test of experience. Lain, we now open our arms to you and offer you the habit of our Society. The habit is a powerful sign of our common life and identity. As you put it on you are accepting the gift of membership in our community.
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First Brother
Lain, receive the cross of the Society as an emblem of our common life and mission. When you wear it, let it be close to your heart as a sign of the lifting up of Christ from the earth that he might draw all people to himself.
Second Brother
Lain, let the habit remind you of the baptismal gift of your union with Christ. You have put him on; he clothes you with his own self.
Third Brother
Lain, let the triple cord round your waist be a sign of your readiness to meet Christ in his coming. Be prepared for him to come to you in new and surprising ways as you become one of us.
The Novice steps forward and the Superior takes his hands.
Brothers
Lain, we receive you as a Novice in our Society, with the blessing of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Novice then exchanges the Peace with each Brother in turn, beginning with the Superior.
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The Lord’s Prayer
The congregation stands.
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Collect Officiant
People
Hymn
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Shed upon your Church, O Lord, the brightness of your light, that we, being illumined by the teaching of your evangelist John, may so walk in the light of your truth, that at length we may attain to the fullness of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Hymnal 383
Prayer Officiant
People
Almighty, everlasting God, let our prayer in your sight be as incense, the lifting up of our hands as the evening sacrifice. Give us grace to behold you, present in your Word and Sacraments, and to recognize you in the lives of those around us. Stir up in us the flame of that love which burned in the heart of your Son as he bore his passion, and let it burn in us to eternal life and to ages of ages. Amen.
Dismissal
Officiant
People
Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to God from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen.
*Cover: The Icon of the Transfiguration hangs at the door of the Emery House Chapel of the Transfiguration and was written by Charlotte Hallet, a departed member of the Fellowship of St. John.
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*The Lord’s Prayer, p. 13, Common Praise 744
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