July 4
Color: White
The COLLECT
O Sovereign and most worshipful of all Masters who in thine infinite love and wisdom hast caused our nation to be formed on this day; we bless and glorify thy glorious name for the abundant blessings thou hast conferred on thy children in this land. Thou who holdest all nations and countries in the hollow of thy hand, guard our country from all evil, and endow its people with wisdom and understanding, with strength and discernment, so that Thy will may be fulfilled and the great Temple of humanity be erected under Thy guidance; O Thou great masterbuilder, to whom there shall be praise and glory for evermore. Amen.
The LESSON
The Lesson is taken from the first Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians:
As the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many; and the eye cannot say unto the hand: I have no need of thee; nor again the head to the feet: I have no need of you. There should be no schism in the body, but the members should have the same care one for another. And where one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular.
The GOSPEL
The Gospel is taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke:
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He hath visited and redeemed His people, and hath raised up a mighty salvation for us in the house of His servant David, and He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began; that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hands of all that hate us; to show mercy towards our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant; that we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life. And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto His people in the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the day- spring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
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Color: Green; Intent: The Universality of Revelation
THE COLLECT
We praise and thank Thee, O Eternal One, for the glorious aid and example of all the messengers of the light, and for the continued presence among us of Thy light which ever leadeth us to Thee. Give us wisdom and discernment we pray so that we may ever faithfully follow Thy divine light and recognize its holy messengers. So we ask and thus we pray in the name of the light that shines in the darkness. Amen.
THE LESSON
The Lesson is taken from the words of the Holy Prophet Mani:
From time to time wisdom and good deeds have always brought to mankind messengers of God; in age after age have messengers been sent by the infinite king of light; Seth-el, Zarathustra, the Buddha and the Christ. Zarathustra, the famous master and leader of the Mazdean religion wrote no books, his disciples who came after him remembered and wrote his teachings in the books which they read today. When the Buddha came in his turn to India, and the others who have been sent to the East, the disciples have reported of him that he too preached his hope and taught much wisdom. In an other age men were taught by Jesus who came to the West; for all the earlier religions were true so long as pure leaders were in them.
THE GOSPEL
The Gospel is taken from the Gospel according to St. John:
Then said Jesus unto them again: Amen, Amen, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. By Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine. As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
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Color: Green; Intent: Discernment
THE COLLECT
O Indwelling Lord, whose never-failing guidance ordereth our lives both within and without, grant that we may unfold within ourselves such discernment, that we may avoid those things hurtful to the soul and seek only those things that give us strength to know thee, to love thee and to serve thee; O Thou our beginning and end, our rising sun and evening star. Amen.
THE LESSON
The Lesson is taken from the Book of the Revelation of St. John the Divine:
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying: Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said: Behold, I make all things new.
THE GOSPEL
The Gospel is taken from the Gospel of Truth:
But when the light appears, man comes to recognize that the fear which took hold of him was nothing. Thus men were in ignorance concerning the Father, Him Whom they saw not. When this ignorance inspired them fear and confusion left them uncertain and hesitant, divided and torn into shreds, there were many vain illusions and empty and absurd fictions tormented them, like sleepers who are prey to nightmares. But only down to the moment when those who have passed through all this have woken up. Then they see nothing, for all those dreams are naught. Thus they have cast their ignorance far away from them, like the dream which they account as naught.
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