EChurch@Wartburg – 06.05.21 Wade Burleson: I Put Away Childish Things

Prayer of St. Patrick  by Patrick (387-493) link

Christ be before me,
Christ be behind me,
King of my heart.Christ be within me,
Christ be below me,
Christ be above me,
never to part.

Christ on my right hand,
Christ on my left hand,
Christ all around me,
shield in the strife.
Christ in my sleeping,
Christ in my sitting,
Christ in my rising,
light of my life.

Christ be in all hearts thinking about me;
Christ be on all tongues telling of me;
Christ be the vision in eyes that see me;
in ears that hear me, Christ ever be.
Amen

An intercessory prayer from the Taize community link To learn the history of Taize link

For all those who faithfully announce your Word, Lord, we pray.
Enable us to recognize your presence in our neighbors;
make us attentive to the poor and the unfortunate.
Lord, we pray for those who suffer in their workplace and for those who are without work,
that their dignity may be respected.
For prisoners and those forgotten by society,
keep us in solidarity with their suffering,
O Source of comfort, we pray.
For abandoned children, that they may find peace with those who welcome them, Lord, we pray.
For scholars and researchers, that their work may benefit all humanity, Lord, we pray.
For those who have responsibilities in public life, that they may act with integrity and for the good of all, Lord, we pray.
Amen

Prayer by Anselm, (1033-1109), archbishop of Canterbury and renowned theologian link

Lord, because you have made me, I owe you the whole of my love; because you have redeemed me,
I owe you the whole of myself; because you have promised so much, I owe you all my being.
Moreover, I owe you as much more love than myself as you are greater than I, for whom you gave yourself and to whom you promised yourself.
I pray you, Lord, make me taste by love what I taste by knowledge; let me know by love what I know by understanding.
I owe you more than my whole self, but I have no more, and by myself I cannot render the whole of it to you.
Draw me to you, Lord, in the fullness of love.  I am wholly yours by creation; make me all yours, too, in love
Amen

1 Corinthians 13 NIV link

If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud
5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues,
they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.
11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.
When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Benediction link

God’s love surround you, God’s Spirit guide you,
God’s whisper cheer you, God’s peace calm you,
God’s shield protect you, God’s wisdom arm you,
wherever God may lead you.
Amen

Comments

EChurch@Wartburg – 06.05.21 Wade Burleson: I Put Away Childish Things — 5 Comments

  1. “Christ before me” is an Irish Lorica, an iterative prayer for spiritual armor. It is still sung today – often – in churches of a liturgical stripe, a hymn embedded within another hymn (also a Lorica), “I bind unto myself today.” Yes, a double hymn, each with its own tune that spans several pages.

    St Anselm is the pre-eminent philosopher of Christianity – I think today I will again read his philosophy of the problem of evil, just to arrive at his breathtaking conclusion.

  2. You can hear “Christ before me” to the tune GARTAN at almost exactly the 5:00 mark, though I highly recommend the whole thing, with several verses of ST PATRICK’S BREASTPLATE preceding, and one following. Both tunes are traditional Irish, arranged by Charles Villiers Stanford. (Most of us in the English-singing world would be familiar with Ralph Vaughan Williams version, but Stanford’s anthemic original is more varied, lush, and interesting. Vaughan Williams was a protegé of Stanford, and composed his version with Stanford’s approval.)

    https://youtu.be/gXj_epqheMw

  3. d4v1d,

    Thank you for your explanations in both your comments….and thank you for including the YouTube link….as I was listening, I could hear the change in the tune….I checked and found it was at about the 5:00 minute mark. 🙂 (I had initially misread your comments and had been listening intently to the beautiful music, expecting to hear the words “Christ before me” from the very beginning….it was when the tune changed that I heard the words “Christ before me” and checked the time.)