Pre-Nicene Mass

The first Christians fasted on Saturday and celebrated Mass
on Sunday.

I. Service of the Word at Dawn

Presbyter (All sit): AWAKE, thou that sleepest, and arise
from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. HONOUR
and glory through endless ages to the king of all the ages,
the immortal, the invisible, who alone is God. Amen.

All (kneel): GLORY in the heights to God, on earth peace,
to men favour. We Praise you, bless you, worship you,
laud you, we give you thanks for your great glory, O lord, King of heaven,
God the Father all-powerful, Lord the only Son, Jesus Christ,
and you, Holy Spirit. O Lord God, God’s Lamb, the Father’s Son,
you take the world’s sins away: have mercy on us.
You take the world’s sins away: accept our prayer.
You sit at the Father’s right hand: have mercy on us.
For you alone are holy, you alone are Lord, O Jesus Christ,
for God the Father’s glory. Amen.

-Morning Prayer and Oath

All (stand): I RISE and pledge myself to God to do no deed
at all of dark.
This day shall be his sacrifice and I, unmoved, my passions’ lord.
I blush to be so old and foul and yet to stand before his table.
You know what I would do, O Christ; O then, to do it make
me able.

- End Service of the Word and resumption of daily
activities until Mass at the end of the day.

II. Mass

- Opening Intercessory Prayer

Presbyter (arms outstretched) All (stand): MAY God, the
author of all endurance and all encouragement, enable you
to be all of one mind according to the mind of Christ Jesus,
so that you may all have but one heart and one mouth, to
glorify God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. . . .
May God, the author of our hope, fill you with all joy and
Peace in your believing; so that you may have hope in
abundance, through the power of the Holy Spirit. . . .
May God, the author of peace, be with you all, Amen.
God, who is the author of peace, will crush Satan under
your feet before long. May the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with you.

All: And also with you, Amen.

- Reading of Scripture

All (sit) Presbyter: Any scripture from the Epistles of Paul
(Galatians, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Romans, 1st and 2nd
Thessalonians, Laodiceans, Colossians, Philemon and
Philippians) or The Gospel of The Lord may be read here.

- Sermon

Presbyter: Bases sermon on scripture read above and
applies it to events and issues facing the church and
community. Material can also be found in The Gospel of
the Lord (pages 1-72).

III. Communion

- Eucharistic Prayer

Presbyter: THE Lord is with you.

All: May he be with your spirit too.

Presbyter: Set your hearts on the things above.

All: They are fixed on the Lord.

Presbyter: Let us give thanks to the Lord.

All: It is right and proper that we should.

Presbyter: We give you thanks, O God, through your dear
Child, Jesus Christ, whom in this, the last of all periods of
time, you sent to save and redeem us and to tell us what
you wanted of us. He is your Word, inseparable from you; you 
made all things through him and you were well pleased with him. 
He did what you wanted him to do, and when he suffered,
acquiring thereby a holy people for you, he stretched out
his hands to free those who believed in you from suffering.
When he was handed over to undergo the suffering he had
chosen himself, thereby to destroy death, to break the
chains the Devil held us in, crush hell beneath his feet, give
light to the just, make a covenant and manifest his
resurrection: he took bread, gave thanks to you and said:
Take this and eat it: it is this body of mine that is to be
broken for you. In the same way, he took the chalice,
saying: This is my blood being shed for you. When you do this,
you will be commemorating me.

Calling, then, his death and resurrection to mind, we offer
you bread and a chalice and we thank you for enabling us
to stand before you and serve you. We ask you to send down 
your Holy Spirit on the offering holy Church makes you, to 
unite all who receive holy communion and to fill them with 
the Holy Spirit, for the strengthening of their faith in the truth.
So may we give you praise and glory, through your Child,
Jesus Christ.

All: Amen.

Presbyter: Dispenses communion.

Presbyter: LORD God, all-powerful, Father of Christ the
blessed (yes, he is indeed your Child), when we ask your
help sincerely you answer our prayers, and
even when we are silent you know what petitions we would
make. We thank you for enabling us to take part in your
holy mysteries, which you gave us to perfect our faith,
maintain our devotion and forgive our sins; for
we arc called by the name of your Christ and we live with
you. You have withdrawn us from the society of the wicked:
enable us, then, to join with those who are dedicated to
you; grant that the continual visitation of your Holy Spirit
may ground us firmly in the truth; make good
our deficiencies, consolidate what we have acquired.
Keep your priests blameless in your service, give peace to
kings and justice to magistrates, make the weather
temperate and the crops fruitful, watch over the whole
world with your invincible providence, bring
gentleness to those nations that are inclined to war and set
in the right way those that have gone astray.
Make all your people holy: protect the virgins, keep the
married faithful, give strength to those who have made their
peace with the Church, bring our children to maturity,
strengthen the newly baptised, teach the catechumens and
make them fit for initiation; gather us all into your kingdom
in heaven, bring us together in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
To him be glory, to you and to the Holy Spirit: glory, honor
and veneration throughout the ages. Amen.

IV. Song & Closing Prayer

All: O gladsome Light, O Grace of God the Father's face,
th'eternal splendor wearing; celestial, holy, blest, our Savior
Jesus Christ, joyful in Thine appearing!
Now, as day fadeth quite, we see the evening light, our
wonted hymn outpouring; Father of might unknown, Thee,
His incarnate Son, and Holy Ghost adoring.
To Thee of right belongs all praise of holy songs, O Son of
God, Life-giver; Thee, therefore, O Most High, the world does 
glorify and shall exalt forever.

- Closing Prayer of Perseverance

Presbyter: YOUR prayers are more likely to be answered
now, for it is easier to obtain what you ask when you are
being persecuted. Beseech the good God, then, as earnestly
as you can that we may all confess His name to the end,
and that we too may emerge unscathed and glorious from
the snares of this world and its darkness.
As we have been linked together by charity and peace, and
together have withstood persecution from the pagans, so
may we rejoice together in the kingdom of heaven.

All: Amen.