In the season of Advent, the Church looks forward
to the coming of Christ at Christmas.
For many years, Saint Faith's hosted a service of
poetry,
prayer and music for the members of the Waterloo
and Seaforth group of churches.
On this page we reproduce some of the poetry, prayers and readings from an earlier service.
Advent was the theme
of
the two services recorded at St Faith's by BBC
Television in Advcent 2004.
One of the highlights of the
second service was the reading,
by local actress Sue Jenkins,
of the poem 'There was a time'
- the text is reproduced at
the foot of this page
following a number of requests.
CLICK HERE to
listen
to
Advent hymns and carols recorded at the 2006 service at St Faith's
CLICK HERE to
listen
to Fr Mark Waters' sermon preached at St Faith's on Advent
Sunday, 2008
CLICK
HERE for
the Advent index page
Come!
From Mary's sweet silence Come, Word mutely spoken!
Pledge of our real life, Come, Bread yet unbroken!
Seed of the Golden Wheat, In us be sown.
Fullness of true Light, Through us be known.
Secret held tenderly, Guarded with Love,
Cradled in purity, Child of the Dove,
Come!
Sr. M. Charlita, I.H.M.
 |
In Mary-Darkness
I live my Advent in the womb of Mary
And on one night when a great star swings free
From its high mooring and walks down the sky
To be the dot above the Christus 'i',
I shall be born of her by blessed grace.
I wait in Mary-darkness, faith's walled place,
With hope's expectance of nativity.
I knew for long she carried me and fed me,
Guarded and loved me, though I could not see,
But only now, with inward jubilee,
I come upon earth's most amazing knowledge:
Someone is hidden in this dark with me.
Jessica Powers
 |
Magnificat of Acceptance
My soul trembles in the presence of the loving
Creator
and my spirit prepares itself to walk hand in hand
with the God who saves Israel
because I have been accepted by God
as a simple helpmate.
Yes, forever in the life of humankind
people will sing of this loving encounter;
through remembering this moment, the faithful
will know all things are possible in God.
Holy is the place within me where God lives.
God's tender fingers reach out from age to age
to touch the softened inner spaces of those
who open their souls in hope.
I have experienced the creative power of God's
embracing
arms
and I know the cleansing fire of unconditional love.
I am freed from all earthly authority
and know my bonding to the Author of all earthly things.
I am filled with the news of good things;
my favor with God,
faithful trust in the gentle shadow of the Most High,
the mystery or my son, Jesus,
the gift of companionship with my beloved kinswoman,
Elizabeth. who believes as I believe.
The place in my heart that I had filled
with thoughts of fear and inadequacy
has been emptied and I am quiet within.
God comes to save Israel, our holy family,
remembering that we are the ones who remember,
... according to the kinship we have known...
remembering that we are the ones who remember
and that where God and people trust each other
there is home.
Mary Johnson
Advent Prayer
Like foolish folk of old I would not be,
Who had no room that night for Him and thee.
See, Mother Mary, here within my heart
I've made a little shrine for Him apart;
Swept it of sin, and cleansed it with all care;
Warmed it with love and scented it with prayer.
So, Mother, when the Christmas anthems start,
Please let me hold your baby - in my heart.
Sr. Maryanna, O.P.
 |
Christ be our Light
Longing for light, we wait in darkness,
Longing for truth, we turn to you.
Make us your own, your holy people,
Light for the world to see.
Christ be our light!
Shine on our hearts! Shine through the darkness!
Christ be our light!
Shine in your church, gathered today!
Longing for peace, our world is troubled.
Longing for hope, many despair.
Your word alone has power to save us.
Make us your living voice.
Christ be our light!
Longing for food, many are hungry.
Longing for water, still many thirst.
Make us your bread, broken for others,
Shared until all are fed
Christ be our light!
Longing for shelter, many are homeless.
Longing for warmth, many are cold.
Make us your building, sheltering others,
Walls made of living stone.
Christ be our light!
Many the gifts, many the people,
Many the hearts that yearn to belong.
Let us be servants to one another,
Making your kingdom come.
Christ be our light!
 |
Advent 1955
The Advent wind begins to stir
With sea-like sounds in our Scotch fir,
It's dark at breakfast, dark at tea,
And in between we only see
Clouds hurrying across the sky
And rain-wet roads the wind blows dry
And branches bending to the gale
Against great skies all silver pale
The world seems travelling into space,
And travelling at a faster pace
Than in the leisured summer weather
When we and it sit out together,
For now we feel the world spin round
On some momentous journey bound -
Journey to what? to whom? to where?
The Advent bells call out 'Prepare,
Your world is journeying to the birth
Of God made Man for us on earth.'
And how, in fact, do we prepare
The great day that waits us there -
For the twenty-fifth day of December,
The birth of Christ? For some it means
An interchange of hunting scenes
On coloured cards, And I remember
Last year I sent out twenty yards,
Laid end to end, of Christmas cards
To people that I scarcely know -
They'd sent a card to me, and so
I had to send one back. Oh dear!
Is this a form of Christmas cheer?
Or is it, which is less surprising,
My pride gone in for advertising?
The only cards that really count
Are that extremely small amount
From real friends who keep in touch
And are not rich but love us much
Some ways indeed are very odd
By which we hail the birth of God.
We raise the price of things in shops,
We give plain boxes fancy tops
And lines which traders cannot sell
Thus parcell'd go extremely well
We dole out bribes we call a present
To those to whom we must be pleasant
For business reasons. Our defence is
These bribes are charged against expenses
And bring relief in Income Tax
Enough of these unworthy cracks!
'The time draws near the birth of Christ'.
A present that cannot be priced
Given two thousand years ago
Yet if God had not given so
He still would be a distant stranger
And not the Baby in the manger.
John Betjeman
 |
An Advent Prayer
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works
of
darkness
and to put on the armour of light, now in the time of
this mortal life,
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great
humility;
that on the last day, when he shall come again in his
glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to the
life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you, in the
unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 |
On Advent Sunday, 2004, the first candle was lit on the Advent
wreath.
In the background
are toys given by members of the congregation for distribution to
underpivileged children.
There Was A Time: An Advent
Poem
There was a time when there was no time,
When darkness reigned as king,
When a formless void was all that there was
in the nothingness of eternity,
When it was night.
But over the void and over the night Love watched.
There was a time when time began.
It began when Love spoke.
Time began for light and life, for splendour and grandeur.
Time began for seas and mountains, for flowers and birds.
Time began for the valleys to ring with the songs of life,
and for the wilderness to echo with the wailing of wind
and howling of animals.
And over the earth, Love watched.
There was a time when time began to be recorded.
A time when Love breathed and a new creature came to life.
A new creature so special that it was in the image and likeness
of Love
Of Love who is God.
And so man was born and the dawn of a new day shone on the world.
And over man, Love watched.
But there came a time when the new day faded.
A time when man who was like God tried to be God.
A time when the creature challenged the creator.
A time when man preferred death to life and darkness to light.
And so the new day settled into twilight.
And over the darkness, Love watched.
There was a time of waiting in the darkness.
A time when man waited in the shadows,
And all creation groaned in sadness.
There was waiting for Love to speak again--for Love to breathe again.
And kings and nations and empires rose and faded in the shadows.
And Love waited and watched.
Finally, there came a time when Love spoke again.
A Word from eternity--a Word
Spoken to a girl who belonged to a people not known by the world
Spoken to a girl who belonged to a family not known by her people
To a girl named Mary.
And all creation waited in hushed silence for the girl's answer.
And Mary spoke her yes.
And Love watched over Mary.
And so there came a time when Love breathed again
When Love breathed new life into Mary's yes.
And a new day dawned for the World
A day when light returned to darkness, when life returned to dispel
death
And so a day came when Love became man--a mother bore a child.
And Love watched over Love--a Father watched His Son.
And, lastly, there came a time when you and I became a part of time.
Now is the time that you and I wait.
Now we wait to celebrate what the world waited for.
And as we wait to celebrate what was at one time, we become a part
of that time
A time when a new dawn and a new dream and a new creation began
for man.
And as a part of time, Love waits and Love watches over us.