MIDNIGHT EUCHARIST 11:00 P.M. – Procession & The Mass of Christ
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V/ Let us go forth in Peace
R/ In the Name of the Lord. Amen.
Processional Hymn: 75 - O Come All Ye Faithful (omit verse six)
Station at Crib:
V/ When Thou tookest upon Thee to deliver man.
R/ Thou didst not abhor the Virgin’s womb.
For the grace of God has dawned upon the world with healing for all mankind; and by it we are disciplined to renounce godless ways and worldly desires, and to live a life of temperance, honesty, and godliness in the present age, looking forward to the happy fulfillment of our hope when the splendor of our great God and Saviour Christ Jesus will appear. He it is who sacrificed Himself for us, to set us free from all wickedness and to make us a pure people marked out for his own, eager to do good. (Titus 2 v.11-14)
V/ The Lord be With You
R/ And With Thy Spirit
Let us pray: O God who by the birth of thy Son didst will to found a new race of men and to raise us from earth to heaven, hearken to our prayers, that we who behold the light that has shone out of darkness may be found worthy to enjoy the vision of thy eternal beauty. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Station at the Chancel Steps:
V/ Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord
R/ God is the Lord who has showed us light.
Let your bearing toward one another arise out of your life in Christ Jesus. For the divine nature was His from the first; yet He did not think to snatch at equality with God, but made Himself nothing, assuming the nature of a slave. Bearing the human likeness, revealed in a human shape, He humbled Himself, and in obedience accepted even death - death on a cross. Therefore God raised Him to the heights and bestowed on Him the Name above all Names, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow - in heaven, on earth, and in the depths - and every tongue confess, “Jesus Christ is Lord”, to the glory of God the Father.(Philippians 2:5-11)
V/ The Lord be With You
R/ And With Thy Spirit
Let us pray: Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that we who are held in bondage by the old yoke of sin, may be set free by the new birth in the flesh of thy only begotten Son: through the same thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ who liveth and reigneth with the Father and the Holy Spirit ever one God, world without end. Amen.
The Service continues on page 67 of the Prayer Book
The Christmas Collects p. 104, 107
ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us thy only begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure Virgin: Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
O GOD, who makest us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of thy only Son Jesus Christ: Grant that as we joyfully receive him as our Redeemer, we may with sure confidence behold him when he shall come again to be our Judge; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, now and ever. Amen.
THE EPISTLE: Hebrews 1:1 p. 105
GOD, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time,
Thou art my Son,
This day have I begotten thee?And again,
I will be to him a Father,
And he shall be to me a Son?And again, when he bringeth the first-born into the world, he saith,
And let all the angels of God worship him.
And of the angels he saith
Who maketh his angels spirits,
And his ministers a flame of fire.But unto the Son he saith,
Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever;
A sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom:
Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity;
Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee
With the oil of gladness above thy fellows.And again he saith,
Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth;
And the heavens are the works of thine hands:
They shall perish, but thou remainest;
And they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up,
And they shall be changed;
But thou art the same,
And thy years shall not fail.
Gradual - The Christmas Anthems (Sung) p. 104
BEHOLD a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, / and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7. 14.
Unto us a child is born, / unto us a son is given.
Isaiah 9. 6.
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, / because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world that we might live through him.
1 St John 4. 9.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, / who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
Ephesians 1. 3.
GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, / and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, / world without end. Amen.
THE GOSPEL: St. John 1:1 p. 106
IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness overcame it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his Name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.
Nicene Creed p. 71
Hymn before Homily: 79 (Of the Father’s Love)
Homily
Offertory Hymn: 81 Angels from the Realms (Regent Square #628)
The Intercession p. 75
Confession, Absolution p. 77
Thanksgiving, Consecration p. 78
The Administration of the Holy Communion
Hymn after Communion: 739 Silent Night (Polish/German/English)
Lord’s Prayer p. 85
Gloria in Excelsis p. 86
Blessing p. 86
Last Gospel: St. Matthew 1:18 p. 114
THE birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost: and she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for he shall save his people from their sins. (Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
Behold, a Virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son,
And they shall call his name Emmanuel,which being interpreted is, God with us.) Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife; and knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born son: and he called his name JESUS.
Recessional Hymn: 361 Joy to the World!