or [Common of a Pastor] [For the Ministry II] [For the Unity of the Church]

Preface of a Saint (1)

The Collect

Loving God, you called Charles Chapman Grafton to be a bishop in your Church and endowed him with a burning zeal for souls: Grant that, following his example, we may ever live for the extension of your kingdom, that your glory may be the chief end of our lives, your will the law of our conduct, your love the motive of our actions, and Christ’s life the model and mold of our own; through the same Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, throughout all ages. Amen.

The First Lesson

Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 50:16–21

Then the sons of Aaron shouted;
they blew their trumpets of hammered metal;

they sounded a mighty fanfare
as a reminder before the Most High.

Then all the people together quickly
fell to the ground on their faces

to worship their Lord,
the Almighty, God Most High.


Then the singers praised him with their voices
in sweet and full-toned melody.

And the people of the Lord Most High offered
their prayers before the Merciful One,

until the order of worship of the Lord was ended,
and they completed his ritual.

Then Simon came down and raised his hands
over the whole congregation of Israelites,

to pronounce the blessing of the Lord with his lips,
and to glory in his name;

and they bowed down in worship a second time,
to receive the blessing from the Most High.

The Response

Psalm 134

Ecce nunc

1 Behold now, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, *
you that stand by night in the house of the Lord.

2 Lift up your hands in the holy place and bless the Lord; *
the Lord who made heaven and earth bless you out of Zion.

The Epistle

Revelation 5:7–10

The Lamb went and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne. When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. They sing a new song:

”You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,

for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God
saints from every tribe and language and people and nation;

you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God,
and they will reign on earth.“

The Gospel

John 10:11–16

Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”

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