A Service of Prayer

in the Celtic Tradition

For Holy Week
(Various Sources)
For the Week of Sunday, March 28, 2021
The Rev.Dr. Chris McMullen, Parish of Upper Kennebecasis

Call to Worship
“The cup is full of blood-red wine
Made from the crushing and the bruising of the grapes.
By the loss of life,
By the cutting down and the pressing,
The Spirit is set free,
Allowed to ferment, the Spirit is at work.
Remember me.
Remember me, my crushing, my bruising,
My three-day fermenting,
My rising...
This is the wine that makes glad the hearts of all.”
(David Adam, The Open Gate: Celtic Prayers for Growing Spiritually
[London: SPCK, 1994] pp. 82 f.)
Hymn of Praise
“Down You Come to Live Among Us”
Lifted high on your cross
drawing all folk, drawing all folk;
Lifted high on your cross,
Drawing all folk to you.
Down you come to live among us
Part of your creation,
Knowing poverty and sorrow,
Sharing each temptation.
On the gallows there they nailed you
God despised, rejected:
Deep within your earth they hide you
’Til you’re resurrected.
(Continued…)
 (2)

Light and love pour down upon us,

healing, recreating;
You relive your life within us,
All life consecrating.
Ian Cowie, John Bell © WGRG 2005 Used with permission CCLI # 3119023
(Tune: “Pullin’ Bracken”, Traditional Scottish, possibly from Cape Breton)

Prayer of Approach
O helper of workers,
ruler of all the good,
guard on the ramparts
and defender of the faithful,
who lift up the lowly
and crush the proud,
ruler of the faithful,
enemy of the impenitent,
judge of all judges,
who punish those who err,
pure life of the living,
light and Father of lights
shining with great light,
denying to none of the hopeful
your strength and help,
I beg that me, a little man
trembling and most wretched,
rowing through the infinite storm
of this age,
Christ may draw after Him to the lofty
most beautiful haven of life
... an unending
holy hymn forever.
From the envy of enemies you lead me
into the joy of paradise.
Through you, Christ Jesus,
who live and reign…
(The Adiutor Laborantium , 12th c. but attributed to Columba. translation by Marcella, ©
2012-2015, Trias Thaumaturga, http://triasthaumaturga.blogspot.com/2012/06/adiutor-
laborantium-poem-attributed-to.html)
Psalm 41
1
Happy are those who consider the poor;
the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.
(continued…)
 (3)
2
The Lord protects them and keeps them alive;
they are called happy in the land.
You do not give them up to the will of their enemies.
3
The Lord sustains them on their sickbed;
in their illness you heal all their infirmities.
4
As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against you.”
5
My enemies wonder in malice
when I will die, and my name perish.
6
And when they come to see me, they utter empty words,
while their hearts gather mischief;
when they go out, they tell it abroad.
7
All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.
8
They think that a deadly thing has fastened on me,
that I will not rise again from where I lie.
9
Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted,
who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.
10
But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them.
11
By this I know that you are pleased with me;
because my enemy has not triumphed over me.
12
But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
and set me in your presence forever.
13
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.
(New Revised Standard Version)
Prayer for Grace
Saviour of the world,
what have you done to deserve this?
And what have we done to deserve you?
Strung up between criminals,
cursed and spat upon,
you wait for death,
and look for us,
for us whose sin has crucified you.
To the mystery of your undeserved suffering,
you bring the deeper mystery of unmerited love.
(Continued…)
 (4)

Forgive us for not knowing what we have done;

open our eyes to what we are doing now,
as, through wood and nails,
you disempower our depravity
and transform us by your grace.
Amen.
(Wild Goose Resource Group, Stages on the Way: Lent, Holy Week and Easter.
Glasgow: Wild Goose Publications © 2000, 2012, p. 143. Used with permission.)

Scripture Lesson
(1) Matthew 26:14-26; (2) John 13:1-5; (3) Matthew 26:47-50;
(4) Matthew 27:3-10; (5) Acts 1:18-20a

Meditation
“What We May Learn from Judas”
Affirmation of Faith: From “The Ballad of Judas Iscariot”
…'Twas the soul of Judas Iscariot
Came with a weary face —
Alone, alone, and all alone,
Alone in a lonely place!
He wandered east, he wandered west,
And heard no human sound;
For months and years, in grief and tears,
He wandered round and round,
For months and years, in grief and tears,
He walked the silent night;
Then the soul of Judas Iscariot
Perceived a far-off light.
A far-off light across the waste,
As dim as dim might be,
That came and went like the lighthouse gleam
On a black night at sea.
'Twas the soul of Judas Iscariot
Crawl'd to the distant gleam;
And the rain came down, and the rain was blown
Against him with a scream.
…
(Continued…)
 (5)

To and fro, and up and down,

He ran so swiftly there,
As round and round the frozen Pole
Glideth the lean white bear.
…
The Bridegroom in his robe of white
Sat at the table-head —
'Oh, who is that who moans without?'
The blessed Bridegroom said.
'Twas one looked from the lighted hall,
And answered fierce and low,
''Tis the soul of Judas Iscariot
Gliding to and fro.'
'Twas the soul of Judas Iscariot
Did hush itself and stand,
And saw the Bridegroom at the door
With a light in his hand.
The Bridegroom stood in the open door,
And he was clad in white,
And far within the Lord's Supper
Was spread so broad and bright.
The Bridegroom shaded his eyes and look'd,
And his face was bright to see —
'What dost thou here at the Lord's Supper
With thy body's sins?' said he.
'Twas the soul of Judas Iscariot
Stood black, and sad, and bare —
'I have wandered many nights and days;
There is no light elsewhere.'
'Twas the wedding guests cried out within,
And their eyes were fierce and bright —
'Scourge the soul of Judas Iscariot
Away into the night!'
The Bridegroom stood in the open door,
And he waved hands still and slow,
And the third time that he waved his hands
The air was thick with snow.
…
(Continued…)
 (6)

'Twas the Bridegroom stood at the open door,

And beckon'd, smiling sweet;
'Twas the soul of Judas Iscariot
Stole in, and fell at his feet.
'The Holy Supper is spread within,
And the many candles shine,
And I have waited long for thee
Before I poured the wine!'
The supper wine is poured at last,
The lights burn bright and fair,
Iscariot washes the Bridegroom's feet,
And dries them with his hair.
(Excerpted from Robert Williams Buchanan +1901, “The Ballad of Judas Iscariot”
Miscellaneous Poems and Ballads, 1878-83)
The Lord’s Prayer
Prayers of Intercession
Lord, today you teach us.
Your words hold the truth about this world.
Yet even as you speak,
some slip away from you,
To impose their agendas on the world…
Lord, you promise us:
Unless a grain of wheat
Falls into the ground and dies,
It cannot bear fruit;
But if it returns to the earth
It will bear much fruit. [John 12:23-25]
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ have mercy on us.
Spirit, have mercy on us.
…
O Christ, take from our hearts
The sins that drive us from you.
Help us to remain at one with you.
You saw a widow give what she had;
Help us to give our money with love.
(Continued…)
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You taught us to work like those who tend vines;

Help us to tend the earth with love.
You taught that the poor are your family;
Help us to serve the poor with love.
Through your defenceless love,
Teach us the grace of self-offering.
Through your weakness,
Teach us the grace of acceptance.
In your betrayal,
Teach us the grace of forgiveness.
In your trials,
Teach us the grace of trust.
(Ray Simpson (Founder of the Community of St. Aidan and St. Hilda, Lindisfarne),
Lindisfarne Liturgies for Christian Festivals [Stowmarket, Suffolk, UK:
Kevin Mayhew Ltd., 2015], pp. 79, 83. Slightly altered.)
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Lord of the sunrise,
Dispeller of night,
Father of glory,
Giver of light!
Christ of all healing,
Making me whole,
Christ my redeemer,
Protecting my soul!
Spirit of life,
Setting me free,
Spirit of power,
Full of glory.
Holy and blessed,
O Glorious Three,
Honour and praise:
You bring worship from me!
(David Adam, Music of the Heart: New Psalms in the
Celtic Tradition [London: SPCK, 2004], p.11.)

Hymn
“I Cannot Tell” MP # 266
I cannot tell why he, whom angels worship,
Should set his love upon the sons of men,
Or why, as Shepherd, he should seek the wanderers
To bring them back, they know not how or when.
 (8)

But this I know, all flesh shall see his glory,

And he shall reap the harvest he has sown,
And some glad day his sun shall shine in splendor
When he the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is known.
I cannot tell how silently he suffered
As with his peace he graced this place of tears,
Or how his heart upon the cross was broken,
The crown of pain to three and thirty years.
But this I know, he heals the broken hearted,
And stays our sin, and calms our lurking fear,
And lifts the burden from the heavy laden,
For yet the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is here.
I cannot tell how he will win the nations,
How he will claim his earthly heritage,
How satisfy the needs and aspirations
Of East and West, of sinner and of sage.
But this I know, all flesh shall see his glory,
And he shall reap the harvest he has sown,
And some glad day his sun shall shine in splendor
When he the Saviour, Savoir of the world, is known.
Rev W. Y. Fullerton, 1929 (Public Realm) (Abridged and rearranged)
(Tune: “Londonderry Air,” Irish, 1855)
The Benediction
May the Christ who walks on wounded feet
walk with you on the road.
May the Christ who serves with wounded hands
stretch out your hands to serve.
May the Christ who loves with a wounded heart
open your hearts to love.
May you see the face of Christ in everyone you meet,
and may everyone you meet
see the face of Christ in you.
(“Traditional Celtic Benediction.” Voices United,
Toronto: United Church Publishing House, 1996, # 349)