Candlemas

Candlemas!

Candlemas:

A time to adorn the church with candles in the hope of Spring,

Burn down the old candles,

Prepare the new ones for Easter

O how I love Your Dwelling Place O God, 

Psalm 84, the Psalm appointed for Candlemas

1 How dear to me is your dwelling, O God of hosts! *
    My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of
                             God;
    my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.

2 The sparrow has found her a house
and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young; *
    by the side of your altars, O God of hosts,


3 Happy are they who dwell in your house! *
    they will always be praising you.

9 For one day in your courts is better than
                             a thousand in my own room, *
    and to stand at the threshold of the house of my God
    than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.

10 God is both sun and shield; *
    and will give grace and glory;

11 No good thing will God withhold *
    from those who walk with integrity.

12 O God of hosts, *
    happy are they who put their trust in you!

A Prayer for Self Dedication

I give myself this day without reservation to God;
the Three of boundless Love
For my family and friends I pray
For all who strive for Peace and Justice throughout the world I pray
Grand us peace, grant us courage, grant us grace
That we may grow more and more into the likeness of God
And establish the reign of God throughout the earth.
Amen.