Holy Michael and All Angels Liturgy, Songs, and Prayers
September 26, 2026 - Holy Michael and All Angels
an·gel /ˈānjəl/
noun: a spiritual being believed to act as an attendant, agent, or messenger of God
cre·a·tion /krēˈāSHən/
noun: the bringing into of existence of the universe, especially when regarded as an act of God. "the big bang was the moment of the Creation, and therefore the work of God"
”the creation”-noun: everything so created; the universe.
Instrumental prelude *silence is kept
Each week we take a few moments for silent prayer and reflection during the instrumental prelude. We invite you to join us in quiet prayer; to enter this place with quietness and trust before the Lord.
Call to worship: (standing together)
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, for the love that saves me
THE ACCLAMATION (standing together)
Blessed be God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
And Blessed be His kingdom, now and forever.
THE PHOS HILARON
Hail, gladdening light,
Pure brightness of the everliving Father in Heaven,
Hail, Jesus Christ!
Holy and blessèd one.
Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
We sing your praises, O God:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices;
O Son of God, O Giver of Life,
And to be glorified through all the Worlds.
AMEN.
THE COLLECT OF THE DAY (standing together)
The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit.
Let us pray.
Everlasting God, you have ordained and constituted in a wonderful order the ministries of angels and mortals: Mercifully grant that, as your holy angels always serve and worship you in heaven, so by your appointment they may help and defend us here on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Sung Worship (standing together)
Holy Holy Holy
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty
God in three persons, blessed Trinity
Holy, holy, holy, all the saints adore Thee
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea
Cherubim and seraphim, falling down before Thee
Which, wert and art and ever more shall be
THE LESSON (standing together)
A reading from the book of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 12: 1-11)
About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword. After he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (This was during the festival of Unleavened Bread.) When he had seized him, he put him in prison and handed him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. While Peter was kept in prison, the church prayed fervently to God for him.
The very night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, ‘Get up quickly.’ And the chains fell off his wrists. The angel said to him, ‘Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.’ He did so. Then he said to him, ‘Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.’ Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening with the angel’s help was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. After they had passed the first and the second guard, they came before the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went outside and walked along a lane, when suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, ‘Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hands of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.’
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Sung Worship (continues)
Holy, holy, holy, though the darkness hide Thee
Though the eye made blind by sin Thy Glory may not see
Only Thou art holy, there is none beside Thee
Perfect in power, in love and purity
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name in earth and sky and sea
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty
God in three persons, blessed Trinity
THE GOSPEL (standing together)
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew (Matthew 18: 1-10)
Glory to you, Lord Christ.
t that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes!
“If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire.
“Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Christ.
*Parents please check your kids in at their classrooms. 🌠
Sung Worship (continues)
Praise the Father, Praise the Son
O sovereign God, O matchless King
The saints adore, the angels sing
And fall before the throne of grace
To You belongs the highest praise
Verse 2
These sufferings, this passing tide
Under Your wings I will abide
And every enemy shall flee
You are my hope and victory
Chorus
Praise the Father, Praise the Son
Praise the Spirit, Three in One
Clothed in power and in grace
The name above all other names
Verse 3
To the valley, for my soul
Thy great descent has made me whole
Your word my heart has welcomed home
Now peace like water ever flows
The Message Cn Tim Clayton
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE (kneeling or seated as you’re able)
(from the Church of England, Times and Seasons)
Celebrant: Let us pray for the church and for the world.
Intercessor
Father in heaven, by his blood your Christ has ransomed us to you, and has made us a kingdom and priests to you our God. As the angels minister to you in heaven, strengthen your Church to serve you here on earth.
Lord, hear us,
Lord, graciously hear us.
Father in heaven, when the angels greeted the birth of your Son they sang for joy ‘Glory to God and peace on earth’. Bless with Christ’s peace the nations of the world.
Lord, hear us,
Lord, graciously hear us.
Father in heaven, your Son has promised to your children the care of the guardian angels who look upon your face. Protect by your mercy our neighbours, families and friends.
Lord, hear us,
Lord, graciously hear us.
Father in heaven, you give your angels charge over those who trust in you to guard them in all their ways. Be with those in trouble…, rescue them and show them your salvation.
Lord, hear us,
Lord, graciously hear us.
Father in heaven, your angel declares ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.’ ‘Blessed indeed,’ says the Spirit, ‘for they may rest from their labors, for they take with them the record of their deeds.’ Enfold in your love all who come in faith to your judgement seat in heaven.
Lord, hear us,
Lord, graciously hear us.
Celebrant: Father in heaven, the angels sing by day and night around your throne: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty.’ With Michael, prince of the angels, who contends by our side, with Gabriel, your herald, who brings glad tidings, with Raphael, the protector, who ministers your healing, and with the whole company of heaven, we worship you, we give you glory, we sing your praise and exalt you for ever.
Amen.
THE NICENE CREED (standing together)
Let’s stand and recall together the narrative summary of God’s love story:
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, visible and invisible.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
THE CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION OF SIN
Let's kneel together and recall our sins and those things that prevent our being filled with love for God and our neighbors:
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you 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; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who in his great mercy has promised forgiveness of sins to all those who sincerely repent and with true faith turn to him, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and bring you to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
THE PEACE (standing together)
The Peace of the Lord be always with you.
And with your spirit.
(Let’s greet one another with a sign of peace)
Announcements and Upcoming Events -
more details on our Events Page
The Archangel Michael by Ivanka Demchuk
The Joseph Fund - ARDF Relief Support for the People of Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, Mozambique, Turkey, Syria and many other relief efforts.
Details on our Missions Page
Take them a Meal
From time to time we have wonderful opportunities to help our families at Trinity. 🌠
Check out our Take them a Meal Page to help out!
They are grateful to have this community support!
Angels in Our Particular Story
"If the [guardian] angel’s job description is to keep you breathing, the results are pretty poor. People die all the time... We shrank them down until they fit in our hands as decorations, or in our pockets as lucky talismans. [But] the real role of an Angel is to announce, attend/escort and interpret. None of that is a Christmas decoration, or charm against harm. All of it, however, is participation in a particular story."
— Dr. Jason Swan Clark, The London Centre for Spiritual Direction
Check out the latest news on our News Page and the upcoming Saturdays in October on our Events Page including, Edelweiss Book Club, Blessing of the Animals, Parish Prayer Gathering and more!
Sung Worship/Offering: we worship together with our hearts in song and in giving
the opportunity to worship through giving is available online here.
There is also a giving area near the welcome table. Look for the box shaped like a church building on the table near the lawn entry.
Calling All Angels
Santa Maria, Santa Teresa, Santa Anna, Santa Susannah
Santa Cecilia, Santa Copelia, Santa Dominica, Mary Angelica
Frater Achad, Frater Pietro, Julianus, Petronilla Santa,
Santos, Miroslaw, Vladimir and all the rest
Calling all angels, calling all angels
Walk me through this world
Don't leave me alone
Calling all angels, calling all angels
We're trying
We're hoping
But were not sure how this goes
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
Amen.
THE PRESENTATION OF THE GIFTS
All things come from you, O Lord,
And of your own have we given you.
THE SURSUM CORDA (standing together)
The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give him thanks and praise.
It is right, our duty and our joy, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. Who, with your co-eternal Son and Holy Spirit, are one God, one Lord, in Trinity of Persons and in Unity of Substance. For that which we believe of your glory, O Father, we believe the same of your Son, and of the Holy Spirit, without any difference or inequality. Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven, who for ever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your Name:
THE SANCTUS
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
THE PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
(kneeling as you’re able or sitting)
Holy and gracious Father: In your infinite love you made us for yourself; and when we had sinned against you and become subject to evil and death, you, in your mercy, sent your only Son Jesus Christ into the world for our salvation. By the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary he became flesh and dwelt among us. In obedience to your will, he stretched out his arms upon the Cross and offered himself once for all, that by his suffering and death we might be saved. By his resurrection he broke the bonds of death, trampling Hell and Satan under his feet. As our great high priest, he ascended to your right hand in glory, that we might come with confidence before the throne of grace.
On the night that he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread; and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take, eat; this is my Body, which is given for you: Do this in remembrance of me.”
Likewise, after supper, Jesus took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink this, all of you; for this is my Blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for you, and for many, for the forgiveness of sins: Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.”
Celebrant: Therefore, we proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
We celebrate the memorial of our redemption, O Father, in this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, and we offer you these gifts. Sanctify them by your Word and Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of your Son Jesus Christ. Sanctify us also, that we may worthily receive this holy Sacrament, and be made one body with him, that he may dwell in us and we in him. In the fullness of time, put all things in subjection under your Christ, and bring us with all your saints into the joy of your heavenly kingdom, where we shall see our Lord face to face.
All this we ask through your Son Jesus Christ: by him, and with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever.
Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to pray:
Our Father in heaven,
your Name be hallowed,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
as in heaven, also on earth.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
(Matthew 6:9–13)
THE FRACTION
Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
Therefore let us keep the feast, Alleluia!
THE MINISTRATION OF COMMUNION
The gifts of God for the people of God. Take them in remembrance that Christ died for you and feed on him in your hearts by faith, with thanksgiving.
A PRAYER FOR SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
(for those with us online)
Lord Jesus, truly present in the Holy Sacrament: come spiritually into my heart and give me yourself, for I love you above all else, and I desire to be united with you within my soul.
Amen.
Reminder Communion Instructions: Prayer and Blessing Opportunities are available from a member of the prayer team as you return to your seat after receiving the bread and wine. Personal and Confidential Prayer is available following the service.
Sung Worship
Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee
Joyful joyful we adore You, God of glory, Lord of love
Hearts unfold like flowers before You, opening to the sun above
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness, drive the dark of doubt away
Giver of Eternal gladness fill us with the light of day
All Your works with joy surround You, Earth and heav'n reflect Your rays,
Stars and angels sing around You, Center of unbroken praise;
Field and forest, vale and mountain, Flow'ry meadow, flashing sea,
Chanting bird and flowing fountain Praising You eternally!
Always giving and forgiving, Ever blessing, ever blest,
Well-spring of the joy of living, Ocean-depth of happy rest!
Loving Father, Christ our Brother, Let Your light upon us shine;
Teach us how to love each other, Lift us to the joy divine.
Mortals, join the mighty chorus, Which the morning stars began;
God's own love is reigning o’er us, Joining people hand in hand.
Ever singing, march we onward, Victors in the midst of strife;
Joyful music leads us sunward In the triumph song of life.
THE POST COMMUNION PRAYER (standing together)
Heavenly Father, we thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; and for assuring us in these holy mysteries that we are living members of the body of your Son, and heirs of your eternal Kingdom. And now, Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord. To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.
THE BLESSING
God keep you in the fellowship of his saints; Christ protect you by the ministry of the angels; the Spirit make you holy in God’s service; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always.
Blessing and honour and thanksgiving and praise more than we can utter, more than we can conceive, be to you, most holy and glorious Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, from all angels, and all people, all creatures for ever and ever.
THE DISMISSAL
Alleluia, alleluia. Let us go forth to love and serve the Lord.
Thanks be to God, Alleluia, alleluia.
SUNG WORSHIP
Holy, holy, holy, all the saints adore Thee
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea
Cherubim and seraphim, falling down before Thee
Which, wert and art and ever more shall be
May the Peace of God be with you today
*Personal and Confidential Prayer is available after the service under the tree in front to your left.
Cn Timothy Clayton, lead pastor
Mtr Jen Keifer, clergy
Michael Pritzl, sung worship leader
Ian Clayton, production, guitar
Jennifer Mahnke, vocals
Juniper Mahnke, vocals
sung worship:
Psalm 139 (Hallelujah for the Love that Saves Me), written by Michael J Pritzl
Holy Holy Holy, written by Anglican bishop Reginald Heber to the tune of Nicea by John Bacchus Dykes
Ode to Joy, written by Friedrich Schiller, music by Ludwig van Beethoven
Calling All Angels, written by Jane Siberry
The Angel Gabriel - Words Based on the Angelus Ad Virginem - Latin 13th century, paraphrased in 1834 by Sabine Baring-Gould, adapted by Michael Pritzl, Music by Michael Pritzl
Doxology, written by Thomas Ken in 1674
Today’s liturgy is from the BCP 2019, with additions adapted from A New Zealand Prayer Book of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.
”Trinity”, and “Archangel Michael” artwork by Ukrainian Icon Artist, Ivanka Demchuk
History of Creationtide
The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (Eastern Orthodox) proposed in 1989 that September 1st (the first day of the Orthodox Church year) should be observed as a day “of protection of the natural environment”. In 2016, Pope Francis declared 1 September an annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. This was expanded in Europe to be a season — Creationtide — going from September 1st until October 4th (the Feast of St Francis), and has been adopted in many churches around the world, including some in the Anglican Communion.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We all live on Indigenous land. We would like to acknowledge the Massachusett Tribe: the tribe of Indigenous peoples from whom the Colony, Province, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts have taken their name. We would like to pay our respect to the ancestral bloodline of the Massachusett Tribe and their descendants who still inhabit historical Massachusett Tribe territories to this day.
We are grateful to Thomas Green, VP of the Massachusett Tribe, for providing this paragraph. https://massachusetttribe.org/the-tribe
be·gin·ning
/bəˈɡiniNG/
noun: the point in time or space at which something starts.
mer·cy
/ˈmərsē/
noun: compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.
