| | The celebration of All Saints in the Anglican world is contained in an what is known as an 'octave'. An octave is a series or group of eight, in this case eight days of emphasis and focus. During an octave the prayer (called a 'collect' and pronounced KAHL ekt) prayed on the first day is said again on each day of the octave.
Here is our collect for All Saints which we have prayed all this week through Sunday, the eighth day in the octave:
O ALMIGHTY God, who hast knit together thine elect in
one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body
of thy Son Christ our Lord; Grant us grace so to follow thy
blessed Saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may
come to those unspeakable joys which thou hast prepared
for those who unfeignedly love thee; through the same thy
Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
It is good to remember that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves, something that began a long time ago with Adam and Eve and continues to this day. We have a rich and godly heritage, a noble army of saints, men, women, and children, that lived faithful and at times extraordinary lives. It would behoove us to acquaint ourselves with those to whom we owe a great debt of gratitude. It is much easier to see the powerful hand of God in history through the lives of His saints.
Along with our remembrances of them often comes an growing sober sense of the importance of our own lives. What we have received from them we must be faithful to preserve. We too must be faithful to advance the cause of Christ and the Gospel in the place where we have been planted, with the people we know, with the means and opportunities God has given us.
God bless us all as we follow in their footsteps and build for a future that is not our own.
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| | Posted 11/6/2009 6:48 AM - 13 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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