Join us at 10.30pm St Peter’s for a joyful and traditional service of carols and Communion.

Sermon

From Father Simon Cuff

Christmas Eve 2021 Fr Simon Cuff

Intercessions

From Peter Day

Intercessions  10.30pm Christmas Eve 2021

Let us all join together in prayer.

It was all a surprise, two thousand years ago: the teenage Mary surprised by an angel with news that would transform the world forever; Joseph very surprised by the summons to Bethlehem and then a birth in a shed surrounded by animals; the shepherds surprised by angels in the fields by night. All a surprise, two thousand years ago, light out of the darkness.  Let us pray that after the great rush of preparation, we may be granted, just for a moment perhaps, a glimpse of that sense of surprise. That like children again and shepherds, all unprepared, we may be surprised by joy. That we may move from darkness into light.

O Lord in your mercy hear our prayers.

After two years of pandemic anxiety, confusion, and grieving, we pray for hope.

O Lord in your mercy hear our prayers.

We pray for those for whom hope is a stranger. For the homeless is this city and across the world. For those on the move, exiled, refugees, those stuck at borders, those fleeing hardship and oppression, and natural disasters.

O Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers.

We pray for peace in the world’s troubled places: in the Holy Land, in the Middle East, in China, in India: wherever people do wrong to each other, and where they suffer. And we pray for good government, at home and abroad.

O Lord in your mercy hear our prayers.

We pray for peace, too, for those who cannot share our joy: those who are ill, or alone, or are away from home, and for those who have no home, and those caught up in natural disasters. We pray for all those who are anxious about the people they love, and for those who grieve,

O Lord in your mercy hear our prayers.

We pray Oh Lord, for all those mothers who are giving birth tonight around the world, and for those who are pregnant.

O Lord in your mercy hear our prayers.

We pray for Simon, and for Sarah, and for our former vicars Julia and Andy. We give thanks for all those who contribute their energy and talents to this church throughout the year, and at this festival time.

O Lord in your mercy hear our prayers.

We pray for the soul of Liz Kohler, and for Mervyn. And we ask for God’s blessing on those who remember the lives of others at this time.

Rest eternal grant unto them O Lord, and may thy light perpetual shine upon them.

In the words attributed to St Augustine of Hippo some 16-hundred years ago: “Keep watch dear Lord, with those who work or watch or weep this night and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ, give rest to the weary, bless the dying, sooth the suffering, shield the joyous, and all for your love’s sake. Amen.”

Merciful God, accept these prayers for the sake of your son our saviour Jesus Christ.

Amen