Response (All) God, as we remember and celebrate the history of women
leaders in our Church we see your great faithfulness even through agonizing
times of suffering and trial. Give us and LCWR leaders courage and confidence
that just as your Holy Spirit called forth and accompanied women leaders in
every age of church history, so that same Spirit accompanies and guides us
today. Let love not fear, guide our sisters meeting in St. Louis. Let love, not
fear guide our Church.
Leader: So it is that we lift up our Sisters and our Church in prayer at this time…
Please respond: “God of Love and Compassion, hear our prayer…”
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For Sr. Pat Farrell, Sr. Janet Mock, CSJ, and the Leadership Team of LCWR,
as during this week, they prayerfully discern their response to the Vatican
mandate we pray…
For all 57,000 Sisters who fall under the umbrella of LCWR, that they
continue on their discipleship path of courage and integrity, we pray…
For our beloved Church, the People of God, that we will continually grow in
fidelity to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we pray…
For all prophets today, who… out of love for the Church… non-violently
challenge the abuses of power stemming from the Vatican or anywhere else,
we pray…
For what else, for whom else, shall we pray?
Sidewalk Vigil for the Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Meeting in St. Louis August 7-12
(Organizer Notes and Readings printed at bottom of this document)
Call to Worship
Prayer Leader: We gather together in the Spirit of Jesus
All: in the Spirit of wisdom, love, and courage.
Prayer Leader: We gather, from sister cities near and far,
All: uniting our own spirits with the women of LCWR.
Prayer Leader: We pray as one body, the Body of Christ
All: that the Spirit of Jesus may be abundantly poured out upon the women
of LCWR, to lead and guide them, to comfort and strengthen them, for the
good of our Church. Amen!
Opening Hymn "Come Sophia" (to the melody from “Sing a New Church")
Other options include “ “Blest are They” (David Haas,) “All Are Welcome” (Marty Haugen)
“God Beyond All Names” (Bernadett Farrell) “O God You Search Me and You Know Me”
(Bernadette Farrell)
Come Sophia Holy Wisdom, gateway to eternity. Sacred source of all that is
from long before earth came to be. In Your womb the primal waters from below
and from above gently rock you sons and daughters born to wisdom and to love.
Leader: Spirit of the Living God, we pray You guide us all- Sisters and
Brothers of one another- toward the creation of lives that bring joy, hope, and
healing for the broken corners of our world, thereby giving You glory and
praise. Amen.
Come Sophia be a clear compelling presence everywhere. Still the terror, dry the
tears; come, ease the burdens that we bear. From the first faint light of morning
through the dark when day is done, be the midwife of our borning and the rising
of our sun
Closing Song: We Are Called (David Haas © 1988 GIA Publications # 518 in Gather)
Come Sophia, intuition weaving wisdom deep within, bringing promise to
fruition through the prophets that have been, pleading justice for tomorrow and
forgiveness for today for the images we borrow and the roles we often play.
Verse 1: Come! Live in the light! Shine with the joy and the love of the Lord!
We are called to be light for the kin-dom to live in the freedom of the city of
God! Refrain
Refrain: We are called to act with justice, we are called to love tenderly, we are
called to serve one another; to walk humbly with God!
Verse 2: Come! Open your heart! Show your mercy to all those in fear! We are
called to be hope for the hopeless so all hatred and blindness will be no more!
Refrain
Verse 3: Sing! Sing a new song! Sing of that great day when all will be one!
God will reign, and we'll walk with each other as sisters and brothers united in
love! Refrain
Sr. Christine Schenk CSJ created the Litany of Women Leaders. Parts of the prayer vigil were
adapted from the Anonymous Woman prayer created by Karen Flotte for FutureChurch’s
Celebrating Women Witnesses project. Call To Prayer created by Gloria Ulterino (Available at
www.futurehurch.org) Schenk, Flotte and Ulterino have Masters degrees in Theology.
Come Sophia, we believe You are the shaman of the soul. Break us open to
receive You, fill us up and make us whole. You inspire us to envision all the
fullness of shalom on a new path through tradition that will surely lead us home.
(Words: MT Winter C 1966 Music Nettleton from Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music 1813.
From Hymns Re-Imagining and Songlines available from Medical Mission Sisters
mms@hartsem.edu 860-233-0875 Permission granted for one time use )
Prayer Leader: May the grace and peace of Jesus, our risen Christ, be with all
of you.
All: And also with you.
Prayer Leader: Let us greet one another in the peace of the Risen Christ.
(Exchange a sign of peace.)
Litany of Women Witnesses: (If possible have a cantor or cantors chant each
name and descriptive phrase. Alternatively, the litany can be recited. If sung,
the assembly’s response is “Pra -- ay with us.”)
Prayer Leader: Let us join together in prayer, calling upon the many
courageous women of faith in salvation history. Let us join our voices with the
women of the Hebrew and Christian Testaments. May the grace and wisdom of
these our foremothers accompany us and our religious sisters in their own time
of testing.
Response:
Pray with us
Eve, (mother of all the living) . . .
Sarah (mother of the Hebrew nation) . . .
Hagar (beloved and defended by God) . . .
Shiprah and Puah, (Midwives whose prophetic disobedience saved a nation) . .
Miriam, (who liberated her people from Pharoah) . . .
Esther (the queen who intervened for her people) . . .
Huldah (Prophet to all Israel) . . .
Judith (who fought to liberate her people from Assyria). . .
Ruth and Naomi, (models of sisterly love and solidarity) . . .
Deborah, (judge, warrior, poet and prophet who loved her people) . . .
Mary of Nazereth, (Mother of Jesus and Mother of the Church) . . .
Mary of Magdala, (Apostle to the Apostles and First Witness to the
Resurrection) . . .
Joanna and Suzanna (disciples and underwriters of Jesus’ mission) . . .
Woman of Samaria, (theologian who brought her city to Christ) . . .
Canaanite woman (whose love convinced Jesus to heal her daughter) . . .
Mary of Bethany, (friend of Jesus, believer and student of Torah) . . .
Martha of Bethany (who, with Peter, first proclaimed Jesus as Messiah)
Mary, wife of Cleopas (woman disciple who encountered Jesus at Emmaus) . . .
Anointing Woman (whose prophetic love comforted Jesus before his passion) .
Lydia (business woman who founded the church at Macedonia) . .
Mary, mother of John Mark (and founder of the headquarters of Jerusalem
church) . . .
Lois and Eunice (grandmother and mother who brought Timothy to Christ) . . .
Phoebe, (leader of the Church at Cenchrae and underwriter of Paul’s Mission) . .
Prisca (tentmaker, coworker with Paul and Apostle to the Gentiles) . . .
Junia (female Apostle imprisoned with Paul for the sake of Christ) . . .
Nympha (founder of the house church in Laodicea) . . .
Euodia and Syntyche (leaders of the church at Philippi) . . .
Perpetua and Felicity (mothers and martyrs who died in the Carthage arena) . .
Kale (presbytera and leader of the early church) . . .
Olympias (deacon and benefactor of St. John Chrysostom who suffered exile...
Apostles, Phoebe, woman deacon, Junia, woman apostle and other women loved
and praised by Jesus and St. Paul, teach us to turn away from fear and place our
trust in God’s power to save and help our church welcomc the leadership and
ministry of women.
Prayer leader: Let us now take a moment for silent reflection
Prayer Leader Let us join our voices with women leaders throughout Church
History even through the present day. May our voices joined with theirs bring
about a church of compassionate understanding.
Response: Pray with us!
Hildegard of Bingen (Musician, healer, theologian, placed under interdict for
resisting abusive Episcopal authority) . . .
Catherine of Siena (Mystic and church reformer who admonished two Popes) .
Julian of Norwich (Visionary who went against church teaching and preached
God’s love and compassion for sinners dying from plague) . . .
Joan of Arc (First burned at the stake and then canonized for trusting in the
inner voice of her conscience) . . .
Clare of Assisi (Franciscan Founder who resisted Vatican attempts to change
her egalitarian religious order) . . .
Sor Juana Inez De La Cruz (17th century Mexican poet, musician, writer
known as “the first feminist of the Americas”) . . .
Theresa of Avila (Mystic and reformer who narrowly evaded the Inquisition) .
Therese of Lisieux (founder of the” little way” of total love of God and called
to priesthood)
Mary Ward (Condemned as a heretic for ministering to unmet pastoral needs of
European Catholics) . . .
Henriette Delille (Beautiful quadroon whose religious foundation challenged
and transformed the sexual privileges of white male society in New Orleans) . . .
Dorothy Day (Single working mother, cofounder of the Catholic Worker
movement and “the conscience of American Catholicism”) . . .
Thea Bowman (African American “sister of everybody” who challenged US
Bishops about racism in the Church) . . .
Penny Lernoux
(American journalist who chronicled violence and torture in
Latin America) . . .
Maura Clarke, Jean Donovan, Ita Ford and Dorothy Kazel (Martyred for
the church of the poor in el Salvador,) . . .
Edith Stein (philosopher, author, lecturer martyred at Auschwicz) . . .
All you holy women of Israel, companions of Jesus and women leaders in
the ancient Church… Pray with us
Prayer leader: (Invite participants to name other contemporary women and
contemporary men leaders too!)
First Reading[s] [see “A quilt of Bible passages]
All you holy women and men leaders in church history… Pray with us!
Response (All) Hannah, your faith brought forth the prophet Samuel who
anointed and taught kings to be just. St. Mary of Magdala, Apostle to the
Second Reading[s]: [Passages from the “Showings” of Julian of Norwich and
Except from biography of Dorothy Kazel]
ORGANIZER NOTES and READINGS for Sidewalk Prayer Vigil
for the Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Organizer Notes:
o If possible, please conduct this vigil on August 7 to join in solidarity
with scores of other vigils happening around the country that day. But
other nearby days are ok if August 7 isn’t possible for you.
o
If you are able, please shoot a brief smart phone video of the closing
song “We are Called” to upload on the Tumbler site located at
http://nunjustice.tumblr.com/ In that way can share videos of vigillers
all over the world witnessing to justice for LCWR.
o
This prayer vigil may be conducted in a Church or on a sidewalk, or in
some other public place. If it is used in a Church allow 3-5 minutes for
silent reflection after each reading. The Litanies of Women Leaders
work best if chanted using the simple litany of saints format we often
hear in Church, but they can also be recited. All music can be done
without accompaniment if need be. If the service is conducted on a
sidewalk or other outside place, it would be wise to shorten the
reflection time after each reading or eliminate it altogether. You may
also wish to omit some of the readings. Please feel free to adapt this
service to suit the needs of your group, EXCEPT for the closing Hymn
and VIDEO of the closing hymn WE ARE CALLED to share on Tumblr
Readings for SIDEWALK PRAYER VIGIL FOR LCWR
First Reading: A Quilt of Bible Passages: [choose at least 2...include
Hannah]
The Song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2: 1b-2, 5, 7-9) My heart exults in the Lord!
May strength is exalted in my God! My mouth derides my enemies, Because I
have rejoiced in my victory! There is no Holy One like the Lord, No one besides
you; There is no Rock like our God! Those who were full have hired themselves
out for bread, But those who were hungry are fat with spoil. The barren has
borne seven, But she who has many children is forlorn. The Lord makes poor
and makes rich; God brings low, but also exalts! The Most High raises up the
poor from the dust, Lifts the needy from the ash heap, To make them princes
And inherit a seat of honor! For the pillars of the earth are the Lords, And on
them God has set the world. The Most High will guard the feet of the faithful
ones, But the wicked will be cut off in darkness; For not by might does one
prevail.
A Reading from the Gospel of Matthew: (Matthew 13: 33) Jesus spoke to them
another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and
mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.”
A Reading from the Gospel of Luke Luke 21: 1-4 When Jesus looked up, he saw
some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a
poor widow putting in two small coins. He said, “I tell you truly, this poor
widow putting more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings
from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole
livelihood.
A Reading from Romans 16: 1-16 I recommend to you our sister Phoebe, a
diakonos of the church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a
way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for
she has been a patron and benefactor to many people, including me. Greet Prisca
and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me.
Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also
the church that meets at their house… Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives
who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and
they were in Christ before I was…Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women
who work hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who
has worked very hard in the Lord. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the
churches of Christ send greetings.
A Reading from the Gospel of John 20: 11-23 …but Mary stood outside the
tomb crying. “Woman,” he said, “Why are you crying? Who is it you are
looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried
him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to
her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!”
(which means beloved teacher.) Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, …. Go
instead to my brothers and tell them, “I am returning to my Father and your
Father, to my God and your God.” Mary of Magdala went to the disciples with
the news: “I have seen the Lord!”
Second Reading: Passages from the “Showings” of Julian of Norwich and
Excerpt from Dorothy Kazel Biography
“ [God] showed me something small, no bigger than a hazelnut, lying in the
palm of my hand. . . . I looked at it with the eye of my understanding and
thought: What can this be? I was amazed that it could last, for I thought that
because of its littleness it would suddenly have fallen into nothing. And I was
answered in my understanding: It lasts and always will, because God loves it;
and thus everything has being through the love of God (LT 5)... I was taught that
love is our Lord's meaning. And I saw very certainly.. . . that before God made
us he loved us, which love was never abated and never will be. And in this love
he has done all his works, and in this love he has made all things profitable to
us, and in this love our life is everlasting. . . . In this love we have our
beginning, and all this shall we see in God without end (LT 86).
(Showings. Edited by Edmund Colledge and James Walsh. New York: Paulist,
1978.)
Excerpt from a biography of Sr. Dorothy Kazel OSU, Cleveland Martyr of
El Salvador “While the danger of the repression was closing in on the
[Cleveland Salvadoran] mission team, Dorothy [Kazel] and the others wrestled
with what they should do. On October 3, she wrote to a friend, "We talked quite
a bit today about what happens IF something begins. Most of us feel we would
want to stay here...We wouldn't want to just run out on the people...I thought I
should say this to you because I don't want to say it to anyone else - because I
don't think they would understand. Anyway, my beloved friend, just know how I
feel and 'treasure it in your heart.' If a day comes when others will have to
understand, please explain it for me."
That same month, Dorothy wrote a letter to Sr. Theresa Kane, a member of the
leadership team for the Sisters of Mercy. She was responding to an article she
had read about a talk given by Theresa to the Leadership Conference of Women
Religious. She wrote: "I was especially impressed with what you had to say
about the 'middle class nature of US nuns' work' - and how important it is to
serve the poor and oppressed. I believe that wholeheartedly - that's why I'm here
in El Salvador. I should be coming back to the states next year - it will be then
that I face a greater challenge...Within this past year I had been fortunate to meet
women theologians...They, along with the little I've actually read about you, do
give me the hope that the reign of God is making headway - and for this I am
grateful. Do continue to be Spirit-filled and challenging. Please keep the people
of El Salvador before the Lord as we are literally living in a time of persecution
and in need of his strength." Dorothy never made it back to the US. On the
evening of December 2, 1980, she drove with Jean Donovan to the airport to
pick up Maura Clarke and Ita Ford, who had returned together from a regional
meeting of Maryknoll Sisters in Nicaragua. On the way home, all four women
were abducted by five members of the Salvadoran National Guard. The women
were raped and finally shot execution-style in a deserted field one hour from the
airport. [excerpted from Essay on Dorothy Kazel from the Religious Task Force
on Central America, reprinted in FutureChurch’s More! Celebrating Women
Witnesses packet)