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New Year's Day
Intent: Renewal of Life
THE COLLECT
O omnipotent God, who fillest and dost govern the immensity of worlds which have come forth from Thee; Thou verily art the eternal new-born Child, and yet Thou art the Ancient of Days! Thou hast veiled Thy ineffable glory and splendor in the garment of time and the cloak of space; Thou wilt transform all things so that they might return to Thee, to Thy timeless essence. We dedicate our lives to Thee, and we resolve to so live throughout this year, that Thy glory might increase and fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.
Amen.
THE LESSON
The lesson is taken from the Book of the Revelation of St. John the Divine:
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 more pain; for the former things are passed away. Behold, I make all things new.
THE GOSPEL
The gospel is taken from the words of Hermes the Thrice Great Lord:
Your consciousness is in God; draw it into yourself, and it will appear; will, and it takes birth; suspend the senses of the body and the birth of the Godhead takes place. But first you must purify yourselves from the mindless torments of matter, one of which is ignorance, though there are many others, which force the man who is confined to the prison of the body to suffer by way of the passions. But these at once depart from him on whom God has had mercy, and so the body of Gnosis in man is built. This is the way of true rebirth. And now my child be still, and keep solemn silence; and thus will the grace from God not cease to come upon us.
A Homily for New Year's Day
presented by the Most Reverend Stephan A. Hoeller, bishop of the Ecclesia Gnostica