This week it is my turn to do the noon reading, so for today I found a portion of a sermon on the Holy Name written by our founder, John Mason Neale, in the 19th century. I thought I might share this with you, as this is a prayer for us all.
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| Jesus icon in St Margaret's Chapel, Duxbury, MA, for All Saints Evensong 2013 |
Sermons on the Apocalypse,
the Holy Name, and the Proverbs
by John Mason Neale
by John Mason Neale
SERMON I: THE NAME OF STRENGTH.
Preached August 7th, 1856.
"Thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are
called by Thy Name; leave us not."--JER. xiv. 9.
You heard last night what S. Bernard said in his own religious house, then in the first fervour of
its devotion. And I thought, as we were then hearing those words of his, on
fire as they are with love, how true it is that JESUS CHRIST is the same yesterday,
and to-day, and for ever. Is there anything that was said by that great Saint
to those servants of CHRIST seven hundred years ago, that I might not say to
you now? Have I any new motives to give you? Have I any less strength to offer
you? Have I any less dear hope to set before you? No. It is the same prayer:
they used it, and so must we: "Thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us: and
we are called by Thy Name: leave us not." Thou art in the midst of us. I
cannot but feel that it is so of a truth. I must not doubt GOD'S love and
mercy, I must not dishonour this day by forgetting the Almightiness of the Name
it bears, because I know--O how much!--my own unworthiness, and because, my
dear Sisters, I know your sins and weaknesses. I could not but feel this morning
as to one after another I gave the Living Bread that cometh down from heaven,
and the Wine that blossoms into purity, that the text was true. I might have
said then: "Thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us. By my hands, albeit
altogether miserable and unworthy, Thou hast vouchsafed to come among us. Thou
seest each of these Thy children kneeling before Thee. Thou knowest their
wants: Thou pitiest their weaknesses. Give to her that grace which Thou seest
her so much to need: give to her strength against that temptation by which Thou
knowest her to be so much assailed: enable her to strive with all her might to
keep that resolution which Thou knowest her so earnestly to have made. Thou, O
LORD, art in the midst of us: Thou hast begun the good work, Thou must perform
it. Thou hast loved all these with an everlasting love, Thou must give them
more and more love. Thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by
Thy Name. It is the Name we take on our lips oftener than any other: it is the
Name we desire to bear in our hearts beyond all other: it is the Name to which
we keep this day holy, and to which we desire to be ourselves holy: we are
called by Thy Name: leave us not."
