September 21, 2007

Friday's Confession at Mission St.Claire

Quiz time kiddies. I know somebody out there can help me, and I'm looking at you Peter. I've gotten into (and out of and back into) the habit of reading one of the
Offices off of the website of St. Claire's mission. They offer Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer. On Friday's they have an expanded confession:

Most holy and merciful Father:
We confess to you and to one another,
and to the whole communion of saints
in heaven and on earth,
that we have sinned by our own fault
in thought, word, and deed;
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.

Have mercy on us, Lord.

We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved your Holy Spirit.

Have mercy on us, Lord.

We confess to you, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness: the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives,

We confess to you, Lord.

Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people,

We confess to you, Lord.

Our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves,

We confess to you, Lord.

Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life and work,

We confess to you, Lord.

Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to commend the faith that is in us,

We confess to you, Lord.

Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done: for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty,

Accept our repentance, Lord.

For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us,

Accept our repentance, Lord.

For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us,

Accept our repentance, Lord.

Restore us, good Lord, and let your anger depart from us;

Favorably hear us, for your mercy is great.

Accomplish in us the work of your salvation,

That we may show forth your glory in the world.

By the cross and passion of your Son our Lord,

Bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection.

Does anybody know where this comes from originally? Is it a Poor Claire original? I've mentioned here before that I wasn't the greatest student in seminary, so odds are we talked about it and I missed it.

I really enjoy this expanded confession every once-in-a-while. It is nice to spell out those sins; personal and corporate, that I commit or take part in so very often. I especially like asking God to accomplish in us the work of salvation so "that we may show forth [God's] glory in the world." Just has a nice ring. AND this confession seems awfully appropriate given the various calls to repentance in the lessons for Sunday.

Thanks to whoever helps me with this... [cough cough... Peter... Elizabeth... cough... Fabs...]

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Brother...
I too am curious becuase I have seen that confession before. I did find it interesting that St Clare, as in the mission out of Santa Clara County is the patron saint of television,telegraphs,telephones and eye disorders. She could not attend mass one day and saw the mass on her wall.mmm If you already knew this, then send me a virus for wasting your time lol.
I would like to chat with you concerning emerging church..Peace brother..Lester

Chris said...

I have no idea where the "original" comes from (perhaps a question for Prichard) but this is the confession found in the Ash Wednesday service in the BCP. So I suppose it does come around "every once-in-a-while."

Love the blog. Thanks!

spankey said...

Thanks Chris! I guess using the ash wed confession for Friday (a day of special devotion) makes sense.