– A CONTEMPLATIVE SERVICE FOR EASTER 2020 — created by Kristy Shellenberger Yordy and Nina B Lanctot
Jesus said, “If the people are silent the stones will cry out.”
LISTEN TO THE STONES CRY (Matt 27:59-61)
Narrator
Joseph took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there…
We have gathered together, each of us bringing 12 small stones and anointing oil. As we listen to these stones and their stories, they mark a scripture journey of Love and the Beloved. We hear the voices of the Shulamite and her Partner in the Song of Songs, and Mary Magdalene and Jesus in the Gospels. These stones, these stories, accompany us now as well, in The Great Dying and The Great Awakening on our planet.
EVERY TIME WE HEAR A READING, WE WILL TAKE UP ONE STONE.
EVERY TIME WE CHANT FOLLOWING THE READING,
WE WILL SET DOWN ONE STONE,
There will be four longer silences in which to listen to and anoint the stones. Use some oil or lotion that is meaningful to you much as Mary Magdalene anointed Jesus feet and head with fragrant ointment. It is a loving and soothing and blessing ritual of facing life and death with a dearly beloved one.
SINGING BOWL
- FIRST READING FROM HAFIZ
(take up a stone)
“How did the rose ever open
its heart
and give to the world
all of its beauty?
It felt the encouragement
of light against its being.
Otherwise,
we all remain too
frightened.”
CHANT (set down one stone) “Slowly blooms the rose within”
- A SECOND READING FROM THE SONG OF SONGS (take up a stone)
Female reader: I am the rose of the plains of sharon,
the lily of the valley.
I am black and becoming,
daughters of Jerusalem.
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.
CHANT (anoint and set down one stone) “Slowly blooms the rose within”
- A THIRD READING FROM THE SONG OF SONGS (take up a stone)
Male reader: A garden locked, my sister, my bride;
a garden locked; a fountain sealed.
A garden spring,
a well of living water,
flowing torrents from Lebanon
Female reader: Awake, north wind!
Come, south wind!
Let breathe, my garden,
let flow, its spices.
Male reader: I have come to my garden,
my sister, my bride,
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice,
drunk my wine with my milk.
CHANT (anoint and set down one stone) “Slowly blooms the rose within”
- A FOURTH READING FROM THE SONG OF SONGS (take up a stone)
Female reader: Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm.
For love is as strong as death,
passion as fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
the very flame of Yah.
Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
CHANT (anoint and set down one stone) “Slowly blooms the rose within”
“How did the rose ever open its heart and give to the world all of its beauty?
It felt the encouragement of light against its being.
Otherwise, we all remain too frightened.” (~Hafiz)
SINGING BOWL
SILENCE – Listen as the stones cry out and anoint the stones with fragrant oil.
SINGING BOWL
- A GOSPEL READING Jesus and Mary Magdalene Went (Luke 8:1-3a)
Narrator
Jesus went through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kin-dom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others…
CHANT “Fall Fearless into Love” (set down one stone) sing once
ERICA HESTU WAHYUNI | Inspring of the Last Supper
- A GOSPEL READING Jesus and Mary Magdalene Worked (Luke 8:3b)
Female Reader
[Mary called Magdalene and Joanna and Susanna and many other women provided for Jesus] out of their resources.
CHANT “Fall Fearless into Love” (set down one stone) sing once
Sieger Koder
- A GOSPEL READING Jesus and Mary Magdalene Wept (Matt 23:37-39)
Male Reader
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
CHANT “Fall Fearless into Love”
(set down one stone) sing once
‘
- GOSPEL READING Jesus and Mary Magdalene Prepare for Death (John 12:1-8)
Narrator
Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where he had raised Lazarus the dead man to life.
Lazarus sat at the table with Jesus. Lazarus’s sister Martha waited on them.
Then Mary took a pound of costly perfume with nard and anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping them with her hair.
Indeed, Mary took a pound of costly perfume and anointed the head of Jesus. And the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
Then Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, the disciple who would betray Jesus, remarked:
“This perfume could have been sold for over three hundred silver coins and the money given to the poor.”
Narrator
But Jesus rebuked him saying:
Male reader
“Leave her alone. Leave her alone. Leave her alone.”
“Was she not keeping it for the day of my burial? Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed all over the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
“What she has done will be told in memory of her.”
CHANT “Fall Fearless into Love” (set down one stone)
SINGING BOWL
SILENCE – Listen as the stones cry out and anoint the stones with fragrant oil.
SINGING BOWL
- GOSPEL READING Jesus and Mary Magdalene: Vigil (Mark 15:37, 40)
Narrator
“Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last . . .
And the women looked on from a distance included Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James . . .”
CHANT “Fall Fearless into Love” (set down one stone) sing once
10. GOSPEL READING Mary Magdalene at Jesus’ Burial (Matt 27:59-64)
Narrator
“Joseph of Arimathea took down the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb. He rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and departed. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary saw where the body was laid, and they remained, sitting by the tomb.”
CHANT “Fall Fearless into Love” (set down one stone) sing once
11. GOSPEL READING Mary Magdalene and Jesus at the Tomb (Luke 24:1–3)
Narrator
“On the first day of the week, when it was still dark, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary brought spices to anoint Jesus. But the stone was gone and he was not there. An angel of the Lord said, ‘Do not be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus. He is not here. He has been raised from death, as he told you. Come and see! Go and tell the others.’”
Jesus himself appeared to Mary Magdalene, but she did not recognize him.
Male: “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
Female: “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him . . . ”
Male: “Mary.”
Female: “Teacher.”
Male: “Do not cling to me . . . go and tell the others.”
Narrator: So Mary Magdalene departed and told the disciples what she had seen.
CHANT “Fall Fearless into Love” (set down one stone)
SINGING BOWL
SILENCE – Listen as the stones cry out and anoint the stones with fragrant oil.
SINGING BOWL
- THE TWELFTH STONE
(Mark 16:4)
Narrator
When Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome looked up, they saw the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.
CHANT “Fall Fearless into Love” (set down one stone)
SINGING BOWL
SILENCE A TOUCH STONE – pick up and anoint a small stone.
Place it in your pocket and carry it with you, continuing to listen for the mystery that love is stronger than death.
SINGING BOWL
THE MAGDALENE’S BLESSING by Jan Richardson
You hardly imagined
standing here,
everything you ever loved
suddenly returned to you,
looking you in the eye
and calling your name.
And now
you do not know
how to abide this ache
in the center
of your chest,
where a door
slams shut
and swings open
at the same time,
turning on the hinge
of your aching
and hopeful heart.
I tell you,
this is not a banishment
from the garden.
This is an invitation,
a choice,
a threshold,
a gate.
This is your life
calling to you
from a place
you could never
have dreamed,
but now that you
have glimpsed its edge,
you cannot imagine
choosing any other way.
So let the tears come
as anointing,
as consecration,
and then
let them go.
Let this blessing
gather itself around you.
Let it give you
what you will need
for this journey.
You will not remember
the words—
they do not matter.
All you need to remember
is how it sounded
when you stood
in the place of death
and heard the living
call your name.
© Jan Richardson
SINGING BOWL
QUAKER SILENCE
SINGING BOWL
BLESSING
All you need to remember
is how it sounded
when you stood
in the place of death
and heard the living
call your name.
SINGING BOWL
Jan Richardson Blessing
http://sanctuaryofwomen.com/blog/the-magdalenes-blessing/
Rose Chant
https://theooow.com/resources/contemplative-chants/
Fall Fearless into Love Chant by Darlene Franz
https://wisdomchant.bandcamp.com/track/fall-fearless-into-love-trio-version
Many women were there, watching from a distance, the same women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and looked after him. Among them were Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons. 
When it was evening, there came a rich man of Arimathea, called Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate thereupon ordered it to be handed over. So, Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean shroud, and put it in his own new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a large stone across the entrance of the tomb and went away. Now Mary of Magdala and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
Sounding Out Wisdom 