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BAsket of blessed bread at the church service

15 May 2022, Paralimni, Cyprus: Blessed bread is distributed after Sunday service is celebrated in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint George, Church of Cyprus, in Paralimni.

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Intercessions

We are thankful for:

  • the 2,000-year presence and witness of the church in Asia Minor (now Türkiye, Cyprus, and Greece) – the region in which St Paul and other apostles first planted the seeds of the Christian faith – and for how Greek culture influenced the early church
  • the Church Fathers who came from this area, along with many men and women who were Christian martyrs, and where seven ecumenical councils were convened
  • the pioneering work of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in quest of Christian unity and for protection of the environment
  • those who have reached out to assist people who have fled to, and through, these lands.

We pray for:

  • the healing of memories and wounds inflicted by early 20th century genocides of Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian communities, and for current tensions in these lands
  • enhanced respect for all minority groups and their claims,
  • those who work for justice and reconciliation
  • the people who struggle because of economic and political crises in these countries
  • more stable democratic governments that further the good of all.

Prayers

A morning prayer

Our spirit seeks you in the early dawn, O God,
for your commandments are light.
Teach us, O Master, your righteousness
and make us worthy to follow your commandments
with all our strength.
Take away from our hearts every darkness.
Grant to us the Sun of righteousness
and protect our lives from any bad influence
with the seal of your most Holy Spirit.
Direct our steps to the way of peace
and grant to us that this present morning may be peaceful
so that we may send up the morning hymns
to you the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
the only God,
who is more than without beginning  
and creator of all. Amen.

(Excerpt from a morning prayer to the Holy Triniy, St. Basil the Great, 4th century, from Let us pray to the Lord, p. 58, WCC Publications)

A prayer to Christ

Christ our God, who at all times and in every hour are worshipped and glorified in heaven and on earth; long-suffering, generous in mercy, and rich in compassion; loving to the righteous and merciful to the sinner; you call all to salvation through the promise of blessings to come: Lord, in this hour accept our prayers and direct our lives in the way of your commandments. Sanctify our souls, purify our bodies, correct our thoughts, cleanse our minds, and deliver us from all affliction, evil, and distress. Encompass us with your holy angels, so that guided and guarded by their company we may reach the unity of faith and in the knowledge your unapproachable glory, for you are blessed unto the ages of ages. Amen.

(From the Office of the Hours)

A litany

Priest: Have mercy upon us, O God, according to your great mercy, we pray you, hear and have mercy.  
Sung response: Kyrie eleison (3 times - after each petition)

Again we pray for all those responsible for our churches and communities and for all brothers and sisters in Christ, for every Christian soul afflicted and weary, in need of God’s mercies and help.
Kyrie eleison.
Again we pray for the protection of this city and those who dwell in it; for the peace of the whole world; for the well-being of the holy churches of God; for the servants of God here present and all those working for the ecumenical movement.
Kyrie eleison.
Again we pray for the salvation and help of all who labour and serve; for those who travel; for the healing for the sick; for the deliverance of captives and refugees.
Kyrie eleison.
Again we pray for the repose, refreshment and blessed memory of … and forgiveness of sins of all who have gone to rest before and lie here and everywhere.
Kyrie eleison.
Again we pray that God will keep this city and every city and country from famine, pestilence, earthquake, flood, fire, pollution, war and civil strife, that our good God who loves humanity will be gracious and merciful and deliver us from his righteous chastisement which impends against us, and have mercy on us.
Kyrie eleison.
Again we pray that the Lord God will hear the prayer of us sinners and have mercy on us.
Kyrie eleison.
Hear us, O God our Saviour, the hope of all ends of the earth, and of those who are far off upon the sea; and be gracious, be gracious, O Master, unto us sinners and have mercy on us. For you are a merciful God who loves humanity and all your creation, and unto you we give glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
Amen.
In: Let us pray to the Lord, p. 89-90; WCC Publications.