Service for the 3rd Sunday before Lent – 13th February 2022
Welcome to St. Paul’s Athens especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens. We have a POS facility now, so payments can be made to the church by bank cards.
The presiding priest and preacher is The Revd. Canon Leonard Doolan; Nelly Paraskevopoulou is the assistant.
Entrance Hymn 473 When morning gilds the skies (2nd tune and omit*verses)
Priest: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
The Lord be with you.
All: and also with you
The priest then welcomes the people of God and then the deacon leads us into Confession.
Silence
Nelly: God be gracious to us and bless us, and make his face to shine upon us:
Kyrie eleison
All: Kyrie eleison
Nelly: May your ways be known on earth, your saving power among the nations:
Christe eleison
All: Christe eleison
Nelly: Lord, you have made known your salvation, and reveal your justice in the sight of the nations:
Kyrie eleison
All: Kyrie eleison
Absolution we hear the words of God’s forgiveness to those who are truly penitent
Gloria: Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth, Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory.Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father; receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Collect: Let us pray (remain standing as the priest sings the Collect of the Day)
Almighty God, who alone can bring order to the unruly wills and passions of sinful humanity: give your people grace so to love what you command and to desire what you promise, that, among the many changes of this world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
First Reading (please sit) Jeremiah 17, 5-10 (Nimi Akinkugbe )
Thus says the Lord: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord. They shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when relief comes.They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit. The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse— who can understand it? I the Lord test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings.
Reader: This is the word of the Lord
All: Thanks be to God.
Psalm (Green Book) 529 O taste and see that the Lord is good
Second Reading 1 Cor 15, 12-20 (Oliver Knight)
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.
Reader: This is the word of the Lord
All: Thanks be to God
Gospel Hymn 341 Blest are the pure in heart
Gospel Reading
Nelly: Alleluia. There is one body and one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all. Alleluia.
All: Alleluia! (sung)
Nelly: The Lord be with you
All: and also with you
Nelly: Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Luke (Luke 6, 17-26)
All: Glory to you, O Lord
Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them. Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”
“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.”
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.”
“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.”
“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.”
“Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.”
“Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.”
“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.”
Nelly: This is the gospel of the Lord
All: Praise to you, O Christ.
Sermon: please sit (sermons appear on our website in printed and recorded versions)
Nicene Creed (please stand to declare our historic faith)
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father: through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Intercession: Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer
The Peace: (please stand)
The kingdom of God is a kingdom of justice, love and peace. The Peace of the Lord be always with you.
All: and also with you
Offertory Hymn: 273 And now, O Father
The Collection will be taken
The bread and wine are placed on the table; signs of our work, our lives, our total giving of ourselves to God.
Priest: Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this bread to offer. Fruit of the field and work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life.
All: Blessed be God for ever!
Priest: Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this wine to offer. Fruit of the vine and work of human hands, it will become for us the cup of salvation.
All: Blessed be God for ever!
The Great Thanksgiving Prayer (please remain standing for this)
Priest: The Lord be with you
All: and also with you
Priest: Lift up your hearts
All: We lift them to the Lord
Priest: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God
All: It is right to give thanks and praise
Priest: Father, we give you thanks and praise through your beloved Son Jesus Christ, your living Word, through whom you have created all things; who was sent by you in your great goodness to be our Saviour. By the power of the Holy Spirit he took flesh; as your Son, born of the blessed Virgin, he lived on earth and went about among us; he opened wide his arms on the cross; he put an end to death by dying for us; and revealed the resurrection by rising to new life; so he fulfilled your will and won for you a holy people. Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we proclaim your great and glorious name, for ever praising you and singing:
All: Holy, holy, holy Lord God of power and might Heaven and earth are full of your glory Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Priest: continues with the Eucharistic Prayer
Deacon: Great is the mystery of faith
All: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
Priest: continues with the Eucharistic Prayer. At the end:
All: Amen
The Lord’s Prayer: (to be prayed in your own language)
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
Priest: We break this bread to share in the body of Christ
All: Though we are many, we are one body, because we all share in one bread.
Sung: Jesus lamb of God, have mercy on us.
Jesus bearer of our sins, have mercy on us.
Jesus, redeemer of the world
Grant us peace, grant us peace.
Priest: Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; happy are
those who are called to his supper.
All: Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word, and I shall be healed
All baptized Christians may come forward to receive Holy Communion. If you wish you may receive a blessing. Please let the Sidespeople guide you forward.
Communion Hymn: 312 Where the appointed sacrifice (tune Truro 388)
Post Communion Prayer: Let us pray (please stand)
Priest: Merciful Father, who gave Jesus Christ to be for us the bread of life, that those who come to him should never hunger: draw us to the Lord in faith and love, that we may eat and drink with him at his table in the kingdom, where he is alive and reigns, now and for ever. Amen.
All: Almighty God, we thank you for feeding us with the body and blood of your Son Jesus Christ. Through him we offer you our souls and bodies to be a living sacrifice. Send us out in the power of your Spirit to live and work to your praise and glory. Amen
Post Communion Hymn 435 Onward Christian soldiers
Priest: The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord; and the blessing…
Deacon: Go in the peace of Christ
All: Thanks be to God.
Next Week’s Readings: 2nd before Lent – Genesis 2, 4-9,15-25; Revelation 4; Luke 8, 22 -25
Fr. Leonard’s usual Day Off – Monday. Home tel : 210 72 14 906; email anglican@otenet.gr
Deacon Chris: 22950 53164: Day off – Friday
Swedish Church: contact Fr. Bjorn on 694 607 2428
Notices:
- COVID Certificates!!! Everyone should be responsible for the validity of their own certificates. Note that if you don’t have the booster your COVID certificate is time-limited. If you don’t have a valid certificate you will have to show a copy of a valid Rapid Test result or we will have to ask you to sit outside.
- Ash Wednesday is March 2nd and Easter this year is April 17th (Orthodox Easter is 24th April)
- Lent Book Study: There will be a study group on Zoom during Lent. We will study another book by Rowan Williams – copies available to buy in advance.
- The Annual Parochial Church Meeting is on April 3rd. We elect the Wardens and some of the Council members, and receive the Annual Accounts.
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Liturgical material Copyright the Archbishops’ Council
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