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Advent Gregorian Chant Vespers – December 10
Join us for a Gregorian Chant Vespers from The Brotherhood Prayer Book on Sunday, December 10, 2017. It will take place at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and we’re planning to live-stream it for those of you who want to follow along at home.
The evening will begin at 4:00 pm with a presentation on “The Liturgy of the Hours in Advent and Christmastide” by Dr. Benjamin Mayes. Vespers will follow at 5:00 pm. Afterwards, we plan to head to a local restaurant for dinner to round out the evening.
The Brotherhood Prayer Book: Hymn for Advent 1
Audio: Listen to Hymn for Advent 1 chanted.
Creator of the stars of night,
Thy people’s everlasting light,
Jesus, Redeemer, save us all,
Hear Thou Thy servants when they call.
Thou, sorrowing at the helpless cry
Of all creation doomed to die,
Didst save our lost and guilty race
By healing gifts of heavenly grace.
Thou cam’st, the Bridegroom of the bride,
As drew the world to eventide;
Proceeding from a virgin shrine,
The spotless Victim all divine.
At Thy great Name, exalted now,
All knees in lowly homage bow;
All things in heaven and earth adore,
And own Thee King for evermore.
To Thee, O Holy One, we pray,
Our Judge in that tremendous day,
Ward off, while yet we dwell below,
The weapons of our crafty foe.
To God the Father, God the Son,
And God the Spirit, Three in One,
Laud, honor, might and glory be
From age to age eternally. Amen.
________________
Conditor alme siderum. 7th cent., trans. by J.M. Neale
An excerpt from The Brotherhood Prayer Book
Pre-Advent sale on The Brotherhood Prayer Book and other titles
From now through Saturday, December 2, several of our titles are 15% off!
God With Us by David H. Petersen contains fifty-nine sermons spanning Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, including daily sermons for all of Advent. Many customers tell us that they’ve given God With Us in bulk to family and friends, since these brief sermons serve well for daily devotions. As one reviewer notes, “If you are looking for some additional spiritual refreshment this Advent through Epiphany seasons, this is a perfect combination of brevity and potency, of meditation and instruction, but most of all, of our Lord Jesus Christ who has come to save us from our sins!”
In The Word Remains: Selected Writings on the Church Year and the Christian Life, Wilhelm Löhe gives insight into the confessional Lutheran understanding of the church year, the Word of God, and matters related to the Christian life: faith, prayer, fellowship, worship, creation, and hope. Especially appropriate for this time of the church year are the readings for Advent, Christmas, the New Year (the circumcision of Christ), and Epiphany.
The Brotherhood Prayer Book and its accompanying CD are also on sale. The Brotherhood Prayer Book includes services for the day (Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vepsers, and Compline), the entire Psalter, daily and seasonal propers, and a Beichtspiegel.
A Beichtspiegel (confession mirror) is a tool used for reflection and self-examination in preparation for private confession and absolution or for the general confession and absolution in the Divine Service. The Beichtspiegel offered free in our Downloads tab is published in The Brotherhood Prayer Book. The text was compiled in 2003 by Rev. Michael Frese and Dr. Benjamin Mayes, using resources from confessional pastors in both the LCMS and the SELK in Germany.
The season of Advent is a particular time of preparation for Christians. In baptism, our Lord Jesus Christ began in us a living faith, and we return to its promise every time we confess our sins and receive forgiveness. Thus, the purpose of a Beichtspiegel is to help us reflect upon our individual sins and lead us to the soothing balm of the absolution. True repentance is both sorrow over sin and faith in Christ’s forgiveness.
A Beichtspiegel helps us to consider our sins according to the Ten Commandments. It is forgiveness that we Christians seek, not a perfect and exhaustive confession, yet it is salutary to be able to better understand and articulate in what ways and how often we sin. Examining ourselves is not merely for the purpose of causing shame over our wretched sinfulness, but to focus us on the only source of comfort: Jesus.
A greeting card to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation
This “Mighty Fortress” card features stained glass from a village church in Zwingenberg, Germany. The cover proclaims “Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott” (A mighty fortress is our God). Luther’s hymn of the same name is based on Psalm 46, which is referenced in the inside text: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1.
“We preach Christ crucified”
“We do not put a statue of a baby in the manger because we think that Jesus is still in the manger. We put a statue in the manger to remember that Jesus was a baby, that He took up our flesh and our burden. An empty manger just won’t do. The fact that God has a body, was born of a woman, for us, is not a tiny detail in the story or somehow not the important part. It is the essence of the story. In the same way, we do not put a statue of Jesus on the cross because we think that He is not risen. We know and we rejoice that He is risen. But an empty cross just won’t do. The fact that He was crucified in His body is not just a detail or somehow the prelude to the more significant event. It is the essence of the story. We preach Christ crucified.” -David H. Petersen in God With Us
*All books are up to 25% off during our Fall Sale
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