In our examination of the BCP 2019 Service of Holy Eucharist
– Standard Text- last week we looked at The Fraction – the climax, as it were
of the Eucharist. The priest elevates
the host – breaks it in two and proclaims, “Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed
for us.” And the people respond – “Therefore let us eat the feast.” And, of
course, in seasons other than Lent an enthusiastic “Alleluia” proceeds and
follows the statement.
The very next step is to pray together the prayer of Humble
Access.
The Prayer of Humble Access
Celebrant and People together may say
We do not presume to come to this your table, O merciful
Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your abundant and great
mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table;
but you are the same Lord, whose character is always to have mercy. Grant us,
therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of your dear Son Jesus Christ,
and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body,
and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and that we may evermore
dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.
This is a beautiful prayer, collect really, that dates back
to Archbishop Cranmer and the 1st Book of Common Prayer in 1548. (Perhaps even
farther back to the 11th century Sarum Rite) It was left out of Rite Two in the
79 BCP but preserved in Rite One. Still,
as a result of its removal in 1979 the re-introduction of the prayer seems
shocking. “Why, after we’ve confessed
our sins and received absolution am I “…not worthy so much as to gather up the
crumbs under your table?” The answer is
because on our own we have no righteousness in us. We prepare to come to the Holy Altar of the
Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit and propelled under the authority and the
righteousness of the one who invites us to eat of himself – Jesus Christ the
Lord!
Why do we say this prayer and come forward to receive?
Because it is precisely the Lord’s character to have mercy. Trusting in that mercy and responding to His
invitation we come forward with trembling hearts overflowing in love having
been loved.
I love the Prayer of Humble Access because it proclaims the
mystery that we Christians live in. That
mystery is how at precisely the same moment we are sinners in need of a savior
and adopted children of Christ washed clean in His blood through the waters of
baptism, living in Grace, as His Church, His Bride and His body.
This week as you gather to worship the Lord on Palm Sunday I
pray that you will pay special attention to The Prayer of Humble Access
remembering to live in the Mystery of Faith!
No comments:
Post a Comment