A Service of Prayer

in the Celtic Tradition

Candlemas – St. Brigid’s Day
(Various Modern Celtic Renaissance Sources)
For the Week of Monday-Tuesday, February 1-2, 2021
The Rev.Dr. Chris McMullen, Parish of Upper Kennebecasis
Call to Worship
“They came, as called, according to the Law,
Though they were poor, and had to keep things simple,
They moved in grace, in quietness, in awe,
For God was coming with them to His temple.
Amidst the outer court’s commercial bustle,
They’d waited hours, enduring shouts and shoves,
Buyers and sellers, sensing one more hustle,
Has made a killing on the two young doves.
They come at last with us to Candlemas
And keep the day the prophecies came true;
We share with them, amidst our busyness,
The peace that Simeon and Anna knew.
For Candlemas still keeps His kindled light:
Against the dark our Saviour’s face is bright.”
(© Malcolm Guite, Sounding the Seasons: Seventy Sonnets for the Christian Year
[Norwich UK: Canterbury Press, 2012], p. 25)

Opening Responses
Leader: Come to us this night, O God.
All: Come to us with light.
(Here a candle is lit.)
Leader: Speak to us this night, O God.
All: Speak to us Your truth.
(Here a Bible is placed open.)
Leader: Dwell with us this night, O God.
All: Dwell with us in love.
(Here a cross is placed.)
(© The Iona Community, Iona Abbey Worship Book
[Glasgow: Wild Goose Publications, 2001], p. 145.)
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Hymn of Praise
Light of the world. Before all things were made,
When chaos reigned with empty darkness drear,
The Word was there, with God who spoke and said,
‘Let all things come to be, let light appear.’
Light of the world. O’er Bethlehem’s stable bare
See this strange star, this sign the day is near.
Look to this child, the light of God is there,
In Jesus Christ God’s glory is made clear.
Light of the world. For nations near and far,
For wise and powerful folk, and those who bring
Sad eyes and empty hands, yet seek the star;
All may bow low and find the earth’s true king.
Light of the world. We hear this Jesus say,
‘I bring the light of hope and love and peace;
I call my friends to be my light today
To wait and serve and see the light increase.’
Light of the world. Radiance and truth and love,
Come, Word made flesh, and make our hearts your home.
Come, Spirit, come, come fire, come gentle dove,
To us, to all the world, come, quickly, come.
(© Leith Fisher, in Ruth Burgess, ed., Hay & Stardust: Resources for Christmas to
Candlemas [Wild Goose Publications, The Iona Community, Glasgow 2005], p. 214.)
(Tune: “Bonnie George Campbell,” Traditional Scottish)
Prayer of Approach
Healing Spirit,
Midwife of [our]* newness and growth,
Tend the fresh shoots of [our] emerging as [we] set foot this day.
Heal [our] birthing souls when [we] pass through
ring of fire and broken waters on [our] journey through this world.
Fuse [our] backbones mettle with your courage
As [we] stand firm against all that is unjust.
Craft [our] words that they may melt heart and mind
Ans mend with fiery precision.
Befriend [our] creaturely ways that [we] may be friend[s]
to all your creatures who share our precious planet.
Create un [us] prophetic eye[s] that we may see
the new thing you are doing this day, and have vision for tomorrow.
Healing Spirit, be with [us] as [we] walk this new day. Amen.
(© Tess Ward, The Celtic Wheel of the Year: Celtic and Christian Seasonal Prayers
[Winchester UK: O Books, 2007], p. 46.)
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First Scripture Lesson (For St. Brigid’s Day -Roman Catholic Lectionary)
Job 31: 15-32 (Contemporary English Version, 1995)
Psalm 107: 31-43
32
[…T]hank* God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
Lift high your praises when the people assemble,
shout Hallelujah when the elders meet!
33-41
God turned rivers into wasteland,
springs of water into sunbaked mud;
Luscious orchards became alkali flats
because of the evil of the people who lived there.
Then he changed wasteland into fresh pools of water,
arid earth into springs of water,
Brought in the hungry and settled them there;
they moved in—what a great place to live!
They sowed the fields, they planted vineyards,
they reaped a bountiful harvest.
He blessed them and they prospered greatly;
their herds of cattle never decreased.
But abuse and evil and trouble declined
as he heaped scorn on princes and sent them away.
He gave the poor a safe place to live,
treated their clans like well-cared-for sheep.
42-43
Good people see this and are glad;
bad people are speechless, stopped in their tracks.
If you are really wise, you’ll think this over—
it’s time you appreciated God’s deep love.
(Eugene Peterson, The Message, © 1993, 2002, 2018)

Second Scripture Lesson (For Candlemas -Revised Common Lectionary)

Luke 2: 22-40 (Contemporary English Version, 1995)
Prayer for Grace
“I should like a great lake of the finest ale
For [You, O] King of Kings:
I should like a table of the choicest food
For the family of heaven.
Let the ale be made from the fruits of faith,
And the food be forgiving love.”
(Continued…)
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“I should welcome the poor to my feast,

For they are [your]* Children.
I should welcome the sick to my feast,
For they are [your] joy.
Let the poor sit with Jesus at the highest place,
And the sick dance with the angels.
“God, bless the poor,
God, bless the sick;
And bless our human race.
“God, bless our food,
God, bless our drink;
All homes, O God, embrace.”
(Traditional, attributed to St. Brigid; Shirley Toulson,
The Celtic Year [Shaftsbury, Dorset, UK: Element Books Ltd., 1993] pp. 86 f., altered.)

Meditation
“Christ, the Light of the World:
Mary, Brigid, Simeon, Anna, Us!”
Affirmation of Faith: For Brigid
Her heart contained no poison,
no snake lured in her breast.
She nursed no grudges,
harbored no resentments.
In the spiritual field where she sowed,
the weather was always right.
When she sowed the seeds of the Gospel
in people’s hearts,
the soft rain would fall so the seeds would sprout.
When she taught Christians how to grow
in the image of Christ,
the sun shone in the day,
and the rain fell at night,
so the fruits of good works would swell.
When she welcomed the sick and the dying,
the weather was warm and dry
to prepare their souls for God’s harvest.
Now in heaven she intercedes for us,
sending upon us the gentle dew of God’s grace.
(From a Medieval Irish hymn to Brigid, adapted by Ray Simpson, The Celtic Book of days
[© Vestal NY: Anamchara Books, 2017], p. 43.)
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The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name!
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done
On earth as in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts
as we forgive our debtors
Lead us not to temptation.
Deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom,
The power and the glory, for ever and ever.
(Traditional,
as arranged by Kirsten Easdale © 2002)
Prayers of Intercession
You who put beam in moon and sun,
You who put food in [crop]* and herd,
You who put fish in stream and sea,
Send your blessing [upon us].
Bring forth the warmth, the tears, the laughter
From our repressed and frozen ground.
Bring forth loving, healing, forgiving,
to our fretting, festering wound.
Bring in light and truth and dancing
after dark and frigid years.
Bring in singing, sowing, serving,
in place of stagnant, stubborn fears.
Bring in scripting, painting, worship,
after doubting, shrunken prayers.
Mary’s Son, [our friend], come and bless [our] kitchen[s].
May we have fullness through you.
Mary’s Son, [our friend], come and bless [our] work
May we have fullness through you.
Mary’s Son, [our friend], come and bless [our] soil
May we have fullness through you.
Mary’s Son, [our friend], come and bless [our]…
May they have fullness through you.
(Continued…)
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You who made Brigid fruitful,

make us fruitful too.
May we [live]* in the strength of God,
the ever-fruitful Three.
(© Ray Simpson, Celtic Worship Through the Year [London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1997],
p. 153; ending from Ray Simpson, Great Celtic Christians: The Celtic Prayer Book
Volume Four [Stowmarket, Suffolk UK: Kevin Mayhew Ltd., 2004], p. 119.)

Prayer of Thanksgiving
Thanks be to you, O Christ,
For the many gifts you have bestowed on us,
Each day and each night, each sea and land,
Each weather fair, each calm, each wild.
Each night may we remember your mercy
given so gently and so generously.
Each thing we have received,
Each thing for which we hope,
From your love it will come;
Each thing we enjoy.
It is of your bounty;
Each thing we ask,
Comes of your disposing.
O God, from whom each living thing that is, freely flows,
Grant that no tie over-strict no tie over-dear,
May be between ourselves and this world. Amen.
(The Iona Community, Iona Abbey Worship Book
[Glasgow: Wild Goose Publications, 2001], p. 145 f.)
Hymn
“Benedictus” (From the Song of Simeon)
Blessed be God, for he has redeemed us,
Given us a Saviour, David’s great Son;
Tell out his praise, sing in thanksgiving,
From all his foes, our freedom is won.
Prophets foretold that he’d come with mercy,
Keeping his promise made through the years;
Bringing deliverance from all who’d harmed us,
Joyfully serve him, free from all tears.
To those in darkness God’s sun has risen,
His tender mercy bringing us light,
Taking away the dread of death’s shadow,
Guiding us onward out of the night.
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Praise to the Father, praise to the Spirit,

Praise to the Son, Christ Jesus our Lord;
from the beginning, now and for ever,
May you be worshipped, praised and adored!
Margaret Harvey © 2005, Ruth Burgess, ed., Hay & Stardust:
Resources for Christmas to Candlemas [Wild Goose Publications,
The Iona Community, Glasgow 2005], p. 255. Used with permission.
(Tune: “Bunessan”, Traditional Scottish)
Concluding Responses
As Anna and Simeon recognized you in the temple,
May we recognize you in those we meet.
As Brigid kept your light shining in times of darkness,
May we be light for those in need.
As Jesus grew and “became strong and wise,”
May we grow in wisdom and wonder and joy.
Amen.
(Ruth Burgess, ed., Hay & Stardust: Resources for Christmas to Candlemas
[Wild Goose Publications, The Iona Community, Glasgow 2005], p. 256)
*[] Square brackets throughout represent slight alterations to first person plural
or other minor alterations for the sake of shared prayer.