Happy All Saints Day!!!

[Songspinner]

Ecclesiasticus 44:1-10,13-14


Let us now sing the praises of famous men,
our ancestors in their generations.
The Lord apportioned to them great glory,
his majesty from the beginning.
There were those who ruled in their kingdoms,
and made a name for themselves by their valor;
those who gave counsel because they were intelligent;
those who spoke in prophetic oracles;
those who led the people by their counsels
and by their knowledge of the people's lore;
they were wise in their words of instruction;
those who composed musical tunes,
or put verses in writing;
rich men endowed with resources,
living peacefully in their homes--
all these were honored in their generations,
and were the pride of their times.
Some of them have left behind a name,
so that others declare their praise.
But of others there is no memory;
they have perished as though they had never existed;
they have become as though they had never been born,
they and their children after them.
But these also were godly men,
whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten;
Their offspring will continue forever,
and their glory will never be blotted out.
Their bodies are buried in peace,
but their name lives on generation after generation.

:amen:

[ahab]

:) :amen:

[TomUK]

I never read that passage until evening prayer last night- truely superb!

[benedictine]

Happy All Saints Day, everybody.

[Carrye]

Happy Feast! :liturgy:

[PaladinValer]

Happy All Saint's Day!

[Polycarp1]

I sing a song of the saints of God (http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh712.sht),
patient and brave and true,
who toiled and fought and lived and died
for the Lord they loved and knew.
And one was a doctor, and one was a queen,
and one was a shepherdess on the green;
they were all of them saints of God, and I mean,
God helping, to be one too.

They loved their Lord so dear, so dear,
and his love made them strong;
and they followed the right for Jesus' sake
the whole of their good lives long.
And one was a soldier, and one was a priest,
and one was slain by a fierce wild beast;
and there's not any reason, no, not the least,
why I shouldn't be one too.

They lived not only in ages past;
there are hundreds of thousands still.
The world is bright with the joyous saints
who love to do Jesus' will.
You can meet them in school, on the street, in the store,
in church, by the sea, in the house next door;
they are saints of God, whether rich or poor,
and I mean to be one too.
(Words by Lesbia Scott, music (available at link) by John H. Hopkins)

[TomUK]

Give me the wings of faith to rise
within the veil, and see
the saints above, how great their joys,
how bright their glories be.

Once they were mourning here below,
their couch was wet with tears;
they wrestled hard, as we do now,
with sins and soubts and fears.

We ask them whence their victory came:
they, with united breath,
ascribe their conquest to the Lamb,
their triumph to his death.

They marked the footsteps that he trod,
his zeal inspired their breast,
and, following their incarnate God,
possess the promised rest.

Our glorious Leader claims our praise
for his own pattern given;
while the long could of witnesses
show the same path to heaven.

Isaac Watts

[CSMR]

Ecclesiasticus 44:1-10,13-14
But these also were godly men,
whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten;
Their offspring will continue forever,
and their glory will never be blotted out.
Their bodies are buried in peace,
but their name lives on generation after generation.
I initially saw Ecclesiastes and then was surprised by the text! I had not heard of Ecclesiasticus. Nevertheless it makes for an interesting comparison with Ecclesiastes!

There is no remembrance of former things
There is no rememberance of the wise more than the fool for ever; seeing that that which now is in the days to come will be forgotten.
There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.