Praying at Home Today: Thursday 28 April 2022

Praying at Home Today: Thursday 28 April 2022

Praying at home today:
A heart strangely warmed

Labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral, France

The Lord is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Introduction

A warm welcome to PrayingAtHome.com, where you can find worship resources for praying at home today or wherever you are.

We hope these readings, prayers, music and short reflection will help you stay in touch with the Church and to sustain you on your journey through life.

If this is your first visit to this website, then you might like to read about the common elements and the suggested structure for each day’s prayer.
Everything’s optional!

Opening to the Word

You can spend a few moments in silence,
focussing on your breathing
to become more mindful of the present moment
and to open yourself more fully
to God’s presence within you.

Short reading

Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking;
if you hear my voice and open the door,
I will come in and eat with you, and you with me.

Ecce sto ad ostium, et pulso:
si quis audierit vocem meam, et aperuerit mihi januam,
intrabo ad illum, et coenabo cum illo, et ipse mecum.

Voici, je me tiens à la porte et je frappe.
Si quelqu’un entend ma voix et ouvre la porte,
j’entrerai chez lui,
je souperai avec lui et lui avec moi.

Revelation 3:20

The Liturgy of the Word

Here are today’s Bible readings. You can read just one, or all of them if you have time.

Short Reflection

Reading this text brings to mind the famous picture Light of the World (1851–1853), an allegorical painting by the English Pre-Raphaelite artist William Holman Hunt (1827–1910) representing the figure of Jesus preparing to knock on an overgrown and long-unopened door.

There is no handle on the outside of the door. The only way it can be opened is by the inhabitant of that house.

Of course, any door can be opened by force, but that doesn’t tie in with either the painting or the text that inspired it.

Jesus wants us to open the door, to allow him into our hearts and minds, and our whole life. He does not force his way in, but his message is compelling.

John Wesley described encountering God’s love as follows:

“In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where [a preacher] was reading Luther’s ‘Preface to the Epistle to the Romans’.

“About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed.

“I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”

John Wesley
https://wesleyscholar.com/wesleys-warmed-heart-at-aldersgate-what-really-happened/
WIlliam Holman Hunt: Light of the World
Light of the World
by William Holman Hunt, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3400556

Music for reflection

Prayer Suggestions

In the light of the Risen Christ
and in communion with Peter Chanel (Missionary, 1841)
we continue our journey in faith:

  • for missionaries, bringing the Gospel to others
  • for the Society of Mary (Marists)
    as they dedicate their lives to Jesus through the intercession of Mary, his mother
  • for refugees and migrants seeking a place of safety

Cycle of Prayer in the Diocese of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane

With Holy Trinity, Stirling, in the Diocese of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane,
we invite you to pray today:

  • for Cathy Johnston our Lay Representative
  • for the College of Bishops
  • for Bishop Ian
  • for the people of St Margaret, Leven
    and Bonnie Evans-Hills, Lay Reader Ian Scott

For all who have asked for our prayers.

a moment of silence

The Lord’s Prayer

in English, Latin and French

– The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your Kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom,
the power and the glory are yours, 
now and for ever.
Amen.

– Pater noster

Pater noster, qui es in cælis;
sanctificetur nomen tuum:
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua,
sicut in cælo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie:
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris:
et ne nos inducas in tentationem:
sed libera nos a malo.

Quia tuum est regnum,
et potestas, et gloria, in saecula.
Amen.

– La Prière du Seigneur (2017)

Notre Père, qui es aux cieux,
que ton nom soit sanctifié,
que ton règne vienne,
que ta volonté soit faite sur la terre comme au ciel.
Donne-nous aujourd’hui notre pain de ce jour.
Pardonne-nous nos offenses,
comme nous pardonnons aussi à ceux qui nous ont offensés.
Et ne nous laisse pas entrer en tentation
mais délivre-nous du Mal.

Car c’est à toi qu’appartiennent le règne,
la puissance et la gloire
pour les siècles des siècles. Amen.

L’Église Catholique de Paris

Concluding prayer

Almighty God:
in your great goodness,
grant that we, as pilgrims through the Easter mysteries,
may hold them fast in our lives;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end. Amen.

Easter 2

Returning to the world

Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Benedicamus Domino.
Deo gratias.

Thank you for joining us in praying at home.
Oremus pro invicem.

In these strange times, we are called to trust

Easter Garden – flowers rocks, greenery and candles

Image of the Easter Garden at Holy Trinity Church, Stirling, by Christoph Wutscher

Acknowledgements

The lectionary for weekdays is taken from the Vanderbilt Divinity Library.
In that lectionary, the readings are in the following order: Old Testament reading, Psalm, New Testament reading; we have changed the order to the more usual OT, Psalm and NT.

  • English Bible texts are usually from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
  • Latin Bible texts are from Biblia Sacra Vulgata, and are in the Public Domain.
  • French Bible texts are mainly from Version Segond 21, copyright © 2007 Société Biblique de Genève by Société Biblique de Genève; Deuterocanonical (Apocryphal) texts are taken from Association Épiscopale Liturgique pour les pays Francophones.

Images, unless otherwise stated, are by Alistair Warwick.

Music engraved by The Art of Music.

More information

You can find more organ music from Holy Trinity Church, Stirling
on Alistair Warwick‘s website and on SoundCloud

There are several books by Brother Roger of the Taizé Community from many booksellers.

You can buy The Complete Chronicles of Narnia at Bookshop.org

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Labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral, France
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