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Bishop:
Brothers and sisters, our community rejoices as it
comes together to bless this altar.
Let us ask God to look kindly on the Church’s
offering placed upon it and to receive his people as an
everlasting gift.
BLESS ING OF THE ALTAR
All pray in silence for a brief period.
Then the Bishop, with hands extended, says:
Bishop:
Blessed are you, Lord our God,
who accepted the sacrifice of Christ,
offered on the altar of the cross
for the salvation of the world.
Now with a Father’s love,
you call upon your people to celebrate his memory
by coming together at his table.
May this altar,
which we have built for your holy mysteries,
be the centre of our praise and thanksgiving.
May it be the table
at which we break the bread which gives us life
and drink the cup which makes us one.
May it be the fountain
of the unfailing waters of salvation.
Here may we draw close to Christ,
the living stone,
and, in him, grow into a holy temple.
Here may our lives of holiness
become a pleasing sacrifice to your glory.
All:
Blessed be God for ever.
The Bishop puts incense into a censer and incenses the altar; receiving
the mitre, he returns to the chair, is incensed, and then sits. Ministers,
walking through the church, incense the people and the main body of
the church, as the following hymn is sung: