Virtual Compline

Officiant:

Friends, it is in vain that we rise up so early, and go so late to rest, and eat the bread of anxiety: for God gives sleep to God’s beloved.

Loving and merciful God, you sent into the world the promise of healing for all that is broken within us and within our world. Today we remember your saving action through the presence of our four sisters, Maura, Ita, Dorothy, and Jean, who fourty years ago gave their lives for the sake of your people of El Salvador. Their example inspired solidarity which has become a seed of hope, a seed that has within it the promise of a harvest of the fullness of life for all your people.

This is your promise. We embrace this hope as a community joined in a common project of life and justice. We commit ourselves, with your help:
to overcome the worship of the idols of our age with worship in spirit and truth;
to overcome violence and hatred with love and compassion;
to overcome greed and selfishness with selfless love and relinquishment of privilege;
to overcome the pursuit of individual gain and control with solidarity.

May the spirit and example of Maura, Ita, Dorothy, and Jean give us the courage and strength to incorporate this commitment into every aspect of our lives. For this we pray.

All:

Amen.

A moment of silence is kept.

Officiant:

God, our savior, our world is broken by violence and in justice. The chasm between poor people and rich people grows wider and deeper. We have degraded this precious earth you have given us. For the sins of our people, we pray:

All:

God, hear your people, renew our hearts.

Officiant:

God, our redeemer, our own society is broken by injustice, pride, fear, and lack of compassion for the others among us. For the sins of our own nation, we pray:

All:

God, make us people of justice, people of love, people of peace, people of hope.

Officiant:

God, ever faithful, we have often failed to witness your love and justice in our own lives. For the times we fall short from fear, despair, or lack of love. For the sin within us, we pray:

All:

God, hear your people, renew our hearts, make us people of justice, people of love, people of peace, people of hope.

Officiant:

Loving God, free us from all the bonds of sin. Make us a free and hope-filled people sowing the seeds of your love and justice in the world.

All:

Amen

A moment of silence is kept.

Officiant:

God our hope, you have promised us life and so we come to you without fear and full of your confidence.

All:

Amen.

Officiant:

God our redeemer, you have given us the example of your martyrs, Dorothy, Ita, Jean, and Maura, so that we can find the way to fullness of life in this world.

All:

Amen

Officiant:

God our sovereign, we remember the 70,000 Salvadorans who also perished during that nation’s civil war and those throughout the world who live today in the shadow of violence. Grant us a peace that is rooted in justice for all.

All:

Amen

Officiant:

God our strength, you have promised us everything we need to follow you on the path of truth and justice so that we can go forth with the assurance that you accompany us on the way.

All:

Amen

Officiant:

May the grace of the God who created us, the God who redeems us, and the God who sets us free be with us as we march courageously into the future, casting out fear by our love.

All:

Amen

Leader:

You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High,  *

Responder:

who abide under the shadow of the Al-might-y.

Leader:

shall say to the Lord, “You are my refuge and my strong-hold, *

Responder:

my God in whom I put     my trust.”

Leader:

He shall deliver you from the snare of the hunt-er *

Responder:

and from the dead-ly pes-tilence.

Leader:

He shall cover you with his pin-◊-ions, and you shall find refuge under his wings;  *

Responder:

his faithfulness shall be a shield and buck-ler.

Leader:

You shall not be afraid of any terror by night,  *

Responder:

nor of the arrow that flies by day,

Leader:

of the plague that stalks in the dark-ness, *

Responder:

nor of the sickness that lays waste at mid-day.

Leader:

Your eyes have only to be-hold  *

Responder:

to see the reward of the wick-ed.

Leader:

Because you have made the Lord your ref-uge, *

Responder:

and the Most High your hab-i-ta-tion,

Leader:

there shall no evil happen to you,  *

Responder:

neither shall any plague come near your dwell-ing.

Leader:

For he shall give his angels charge over you, *

Responder:

to keep you in all     your ways.

Leader:

They shall bear you in their hands,  *

Responder:

lest you dash your foot a-gainst a stone.

Leader:

You shall tread upon the lion and the ad-der; *

Responder:

you shall trample the young lion and the serpent un-der your feet.

Leader:

“Because they are bound to me in ◊ love, therefore will I de-liv-er them; *

Responder:

I will protect them, because they know my Name.

Leader:

They shall call upon me, and I will an-◊-swer them; I am with them in trou-ble; *

Responder:

I will rescue them and bring them to hon-or.

Leader:

With long life will I sat-isfy them, *

Responder:

and show them my sal-va-tion.”

Leader:

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, *

Responder:

and to the Ho-ly Spir-it,

Leader:

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

Responder:

world with-out end. A-men.

Leader:

Sing     out with joy to God our strength  *

Responder:

shout in triumph to the God of Ja-cob.

Leader:

Raise a song and sound the hand-drum *

Responder:

the tune-ful harp with the lute.

Leader:

Blow the trumpet in the new moon *

Responder:

and at the full moon on our fest-ival.

Leader:

For this was made a statute or Is-rael *

Responder:

and a law of the God of Ja-cob,

Leader:

which was imposed as a duty on Jo-seph *

Responder:

when he came out of the land of E-gypt.

Leader:

“I eased your shoulders from the burden *

Responder:

and your hands were freed from the load.

Leader:

You called to me in trouble and I saved ◊ you: I answered you in the thun-der cloud, *

Responder:

but put you to the test at the wa-ters of Mer-ibah.

Leader:

Hear, O my people, and I will ad-mon-ish you: *

Responder:

O Israel, if only you would lis-ten.

Leader:

There shall be no strange god a-mong you, *

Responder:

nor shall you worship an a-li-en god.

Leader:

I am the Lord your ◊ God, who brought you out of the land of E-gypt: *

Responder:

open wide your mouth and I shall fill it.

Leader:

But my people would not hear my voice, *

Responder:

and Israel would not o-bey me.

Leader:

So I left them in their stubbornness of heart *

Responder:

to follow their own de-vi-ces.

Leader:

O, that my people would lis-ten to me, *

Responder:

and that Israel would walk in my ways.

Leader:

I would soon put down their en-emies *

Responder:

and turn my hand a-gainst their ad-versaries.

Leader:

Those who hate me would cringe before me *

Responder:

and their fate would be sealed for ever.

Leader:

But Israel I would feed with the finest wheat-flour *

Responder:

and satisfy them with hon-ey from the rock.”

Leader:

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, *

Responder:

and to the Ho-ly Spir-it,

Leader:

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

Responder:

world with-out end. A-men.

Leader:

Leader:

O most mighty and merciful God,
in this time of grievous sickness, we flee unto thee for succour.
Deliver us, we beseech thee, from our peril;
give strength and skill to all those who minister to the sick;
prosper the means made use of for their cure;
and grant that, perceiving how frail and uncertain our life is,
we may apply our hearts unto that heavenly wisdom
which leadeth to eternal life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All:

Leader:

Keep watch, dear Lord,
with those who work, or watch, or weep this night,
and give your angels charge over those who sleep.
Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary,
bless the dying, soothe the suffering,
pity the afflicted, shield the joyous;
and all for your love’s sake.

All:

Leader:

Be present, Spirit of God,
within us, your dwelling place and home,
that this house may be one where
all darkness is penetrated by your light,
all troubles calmed by your peace,
all evil redeemed by your love,
all pain transformed in your suffering,
and all dying glorified in your risen life.

All:

Leader:

Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord,
and by thy great mercy defend us
from all perils and dangers of this night;
through Jesus Christ our savior,
who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit
for ever and ever.

All: