A Sample Flower Communion
In its essentials, a flower communion involves the following: each congregant brings a flower to be used in the service; congregants leave their flowers in a central location either as they enter or during the service. Early in the service the bouquets of flowers are carried in, often by children. Towards the end of the service, the flowers are distributed or congregants come forward and choose a flower different from the one they brought.
The actual order of service varies widely in different congregations, and often closely resembles the ordinary order of service. Other service elements might include a sermon, the blessing of or a prayer over the flowers, a reading by Norbert Čapek, the story of the Flower Communion, hymns, etc.
Many congregations include this blessing used by Čapek to "consecrate" the flowers before they are passed to or distributed among the people:
"Infinite Spirit of Life, we ask thy blessing on these, thy messengers of fellowship and love. May they remind us, amid diversities of knowledge and of gifts, to be one in desire and affection, and devotion to thy holy will. May they also remind us of the value of comradeship, of doing and sharing alike. May we cherish friendship as one of thy most precious gifts. May we not let awareness of another's talents discourage us, or sully our relationship, but may we realize that, whatever we can do, great or small, the efforts of all of us are needed to do thy work in this world."
Read more about this topic: Flower Communion
Famous quotes containing the words sample, flower and/or communion:
“As a rule they will refuse even to sample a foreign dish, they regard such things as garlic and olive oil with disgust, life is unliveable to them unless they have tea and puddings.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)
“Great speeches have always had great soundbites. The problem now is that the young technicians who put together speeches are paying attention only to the soundbite, not to the text as a whole, not realizing that all great soundbites happen by accident, which is to say, all great soundbites are yielded up inevitably, as part of the natural expression of the text. They are part of the tapestry, they aren’t a little flower somebody sewed on.”
—Peggy Noonan (b. 1950)
“There is a communion of more than our bodies when bread is broken and wine drunk.”
—M.F.K. Fisher (1908–1992)