I must confess that the pandemic, with its conglomerate of sane and insane orders, sans mask shaming, and prudent due diligence, as well, has finally tipped me over the point of calm and collected. The Corona virus is no 1666 plague of London, so we need not pretend as though our loss of leisurely lounging at Starbucks or working in pajamas at noon is remotely similar. The unnecessary tragedies of the nursing homes in New York City, so many businesses destroyed, and the poor and needy made more so—each and all the consequence of politicians’ follies—make us all aware of the horrible grief and suffering heaped upon some of our countrymen. Despite the losses—each sad one a part of the whole, and, thus, a part of you, of me—we have sustained none of the traumatic sights of prior pandemics. Surely the worst days in our national health crisis cannot be compared to, say, the Plague of 1666 in London. We have not seen the blackened corpses piled one upon the other, stretching—decomposing— from one city block to another. Thank God for saving us from such in humanities.

We have been spared the gruesome vista that John Donne must have witnessed from the heights of Saint Paul’s when he urged his auditors to, “Ask not for whom the bell tolls . . .” The plague was so pervasive, so manifestly imminent, that Donne’s urgent message on the brevity of life, the suddenness of death, and the inescapable judgment of the Almighty, pressed its emergency message onto the horrified souls of Englishmen could not help but to capture the attention of a nation, especially, these too poor to escape the pathetic Capital.

The fire of 1666 killed the plague of London with uncontrolled and indiscriminate fury. Some thoughtful Londoner, surveying the awesome power of God amidst the ruin and rubble, might have whispered to himself: “The thing that would destroy us saved us,” Perhaps, someone is also declaring that the only hope for salvation is in a Great Paradoxical Fire of Calvary, where the pandemic of sin is swallowed up by the flames of sacrifice and Jesus Christ.

One resource that helps us is the Church Year. Today marks the end of the long season of Pentecost. It is Christ the King Sunday. Advent follows, but today the cycle of Scripture assures us: Corona, nor the Plague, nor any other power is sovereign. Only Christ. Always Christ: Christ the King.

A brief Family Service follows for this Sunday. This service is taken from the 2019 Book of Common Prayer (Anglican Church in America).

FAMILY PRAYER
AT THE CLOSE OF DAY

Permanent link for Evening Prayer for 11/22/2020

SUN 22 NOV 2020

The Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King

Cecilia, Martyr at Rome, c. 230 

 Season After Pentecost

These devotions follow the basic structure of the Daily Office of the Church and are particularly appropriate for families with young children.

The Reading and the Collect may be read by one person, and the other parts said in unison, or in some other convenient manner.

OPENING SENTENCE

I will lay me down in peace, and take my rest; for you, LORD, only, make me dwell in safety.

PSALM 4:8

THE PSALM

PSALM 134

Ecce nunc

¹ Behold now, praise the Lord,*

all you servants of the Lord,

² You that stand by night in the house of the Lord,*

even in the courts of the house of our God.

³ Lift up your hands in the sanctuary*

and sing praises unto the Lord.

⁴ The Lord who made heaven and earth*

give you blessing out of Zion.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; *

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

A READING FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE

1 THESSALONIANS 5:23

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.A period of silence may follow.

INTERCESSIONS

A hymn or canticle may be used.

Prayers may be offered for ourselves and others. It is appropriate that prayers of thanksgiving for the blessings of the day, and penitence for our sins, be included.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy Name,

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those

who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory,

for ever and ever. Amen.

THE COLLECT

Visit this place, O Lord, and drive far from it all snares of the enemy; let your holy angels dwell with us to preserve us in peace; and let your blessing be upon us always; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

NUNC DIMITTIS

The Song of Simeon

Lord, now let your servant depart in peace,*

according to your word.

For my eyes have seen your salvation,*

which you have prepared before the face of all people; 

To be a light to lighten the Gentiles,*

and to be the glory of your people Israel.

LUKE 2:29-32

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; *

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end. Amen.

CLOSING SENTENCE

The almighty and merciful Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, bless us and keep us, this night and evermore.