In the audio, both lessons are read, and are followed by a homily by yours truly.
A Lesson from the Gospel according to 2 Chronicles 6.13
Solomon knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven, and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart, who have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’ . . . O my God, let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place. And now arise, O Lord God, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. Let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in your goodness.” As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
A Lesson from a homily by the Ven. S. Bede (II.24)
We should not pass over without comment the fact that during the dedication of the temple, when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offerings and the sacrificial victims. Now we are the burnt offerings and victims of the true Solomon; all His elect are the burnt offerings and victims of the most high King, of Whom Saint Peter says, ‘Christ died once for our sins, the just for the unjust, so that He might offer us to God, having been put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.’ The heavenly fire is the flame of extraordinary love, with which the citizens of the heavenly fatherland rejoice always to burn as they behold one another’s happiness and their Maker’s glory. Thus it is that a certain choir of the heavenly powers, which from their unique nearness to their Maker burn with immeasurable love, are called by the special name ‘Seraphim,’ that is, ‘burning’ or ‘on fire.’ . . . When the time of our resurrection comes, and faithful servants have entered into the joy of their Lord, the flame of true love which the angelic powers now burn will engulf their minds also, as they behold the vision of their Redeemer.
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