Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

• Be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.
• Show deep love for each other
• Share your home

Proper 13/Ninth Sunday After Trinity

Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (From the BCP, '79 edition)

O GOD, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth; We humbly beseech thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (From the BCP, '28 edition)

Monastics ought to be zealous for silence at all times, but especially during the hours of the night.

That was today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict.  The first part of the sentence is not surprising at all.  For those in the monastic life, silence should be a regular part of their daily life.  However, the last part of the sentence caught my attention, "but especially during the hours of the night."  On the surface, it's clear that Benedict expects those living in the monastery to preserve the "Grand Silence" that begins after compline.  But, I wonder if Benedict's experience mimics my own?  Here's what I mean.

There have been numerous times when the old insomnia monster raises his ugly head and I've found myself unable to sleep around 2 or 3 a.m.  I used to lay there and try to go to sleep.  That doesn't work too well, as you probably know.  I would end up tossing and turning and turning and tossing and only end up more awake than ever.  Now when that happens, I just get up and I often make my way into the other room where a couple of my icons are and an oil lamp.  I light the lamp and sit in silence.  More often than not, I open my prayer book and begin to pray vigils.  You know what I've discovered over the last few years?  God often meets me there in the silence.  There's a palpable silence at that time of night that I don't experience at any other time and sometimes God chooses to meet me there in the silence.

Does God use the silence to speak to me or does the silence just provide the right space for me to listen?  I'm not sure.  I just know what has happened in the past and I know that I sometimes long for that silence.

On a side note, I was listening to a podcast by Frederica Mathewes-Green this week and she shared about her regular habit of rising during the middle of the night to pray the Jesus Prayer.  Evidently, she's had this routine for years, since her children were babies.  She just never has stopped getting up during the middle of the night to pray.

The Psalmist says it well in Psalm 119:  "At midnight I will rise to give you thanks, because of your righteous judgments."

Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking:  Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer)

O God, by whose grace your servant Benedict, kindled with the flame of your love, became a burning and a shining light in your Church:  Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and walk before you as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one  God, now and for ever.  Amen.  (From the Book of Common Prayer, Collect of a Monastic)

Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

One of my favorite collects.  This one from Evening Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer.

Lord Jesus, stay with us, for evening is at hand and the day is past; be our companion in the way, kindle our hearts, and awaken hope, that we may know you as you are revealed in Scripture and the breaking of bread. Grant this for the sake of your love. Amen.

Grant, O God, that we may follow the example of your faithful servant Barnabas, who, seeking not his own renown but the well-being of your Church, gave generously of his life and substance for the relief of the poor and the spread of the Gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.  Amen.