Ritual Texts

Preparation

Words spoken by the person performing the ritual in their mind before the act

Through your power, O Spirit of God,
I shall point to you
the souls entrusted to me.
Thy light illumine the circle of my thoughts,
Thy warmth of life permeate the center of my feeling,
Thy power of soul permeate the radiant body of my will,
Be in the service that I want to do for Thee.

Sunday Service

The person conducting the service stands before the picture of Christ. If the service is held with three people, the two helpers sit on chairs to the right and left of the altar. One or two others let the children enter, one at a time or in pairs, and speak to each:

You know you are going to the service that
which is to uplift your soul to the spirit of the world.

Those who have entered line up in front of the officiant, with the teachers and relatives of the children standing or sitting behind them.

The two assistants stand up, the officiant turns around and says:

We now raise our thoughts and feelings to the spirit,
To the spirit that lives and works
In stone, plants and animals;
That lives and works in human thoughts and deeds,
That works in everything that works,
That lives in everything that lives,
He who leads the living into death, so that it may live anew,
He who leads the dead into the living, so that it may behold the spirit.

The doer points to the image of Christ. He speaks:

In him took on body, who works as a spirit in the universe.
Christ died.
He came to life in the being of people
Who gave him a home in their hearts.
Let our hearts turn to him too
Let his power permeate us
So that he may work in us
So that he may permeate
Our thinking, feeling and willing.

The speaker speaks again to the children:

My dears! We learn in order to understand the world.
We learn in order to work in the world.
The love of people for one another brings all human labor to life.
Without love, being human becomes bleak and empty.
Christ is the teacher of human love.

Prayer. The person saying the prayer says, “We want to pray,” then recites each line, and the children repeat after them:

We lift up all our feelings and thoughts to the Spirit of God.
We honor the Spirit of God.
We love the Spirit of God.
We will remember the Spirit of God
When we are alone
And also when we are with people.
Then he will be with us.

The leader – or the helper on the right – goes up to each child and says:

The Spirit of God will be with you if you seek it.

The child answers:

I will seek it.

The person acting — or the helper on the right — returns to his position in front of the picture of Christ. The person acting speaks with hands that bless:

I call upon the Spirit of God
to be with you when you seek him.

The Performer says: “The Gospel will now be proclaimed according to...”

The Performer, or the Helper on the left, reads the Gospel according to the appointed pericope.

Song, which is announced by the officiant.

Then the officiant says:

Dear children! I now dismiss you,
But keep in good thoughts
What you have heard, felt, thought here.

The person carrying out the rite turns to the altar, the helpers sit down.

Music.

The children are dismissed by all those carrying out the rite and those helping them.

Sunday rite On Pentecost Sunday

The rite is performed as usual. Only for the Gospel reading did Rudolf Steiner make a special suggestion for this day:

After the reading of the Pentecost event (from Acts 2:1-18) (by the actor or the left-hand assistant), the actor then reads the Goethe translation of the old Pentecost hymn “Veni Creator Spiritus”:

Come Holy Spirit, Creator,
Come, haunt your souls;
With abundance of grace bless them
The chest you have created. You are called Comforter, Paraclete,
The highest gift of God,
Living Spring and Love's ardor
And anointing of the Holy Ghost's power. You sevenfold treasure of gifts,
You finger of God's right hand,
Promised and sent by Him,
You give voice and speech to the throat. Light the senses,
And to our hearts a joyful courage,
So that we, walking in our bodies,
Are ready for action, for battle. Press the enemy, drive him away,
So that we may enjoy peace,
And so, at your guiding hand,
We may escape harm everywhere. From the Father give us knowledge,
Knowledge also from the Son at the same time,
To us who believe in the Spirit of both
At all times, beseech. Therefore, God the Father be praised,
The Son, who rose from the dead,
The Paraclete, the one who works
from eternity to eternity.

After these words, the agent announces the song as usual and then dismisses the children with the words: “Dear children, I now dismiss you...”

Christmas action

The entrance is the same as for the Sunday action.

Dear children We live in the beginning of winter.
Our eyes see little of the outer sun.
It appears late and disappears early.
But within, our soul's eye sees
In winter's cold and winter's darkness:
The bright shining spiritual sun of Christ,
Which through Jesus has appeared to humanity
From the divine realms. In the humble shepherds' souls
The word of heaven was heard:
God's spirit reveals itself in the heights,
And it brings peace to the people of the earth,
In whose hearts dwells good will. And the shepherds were led,
By the lofty word of heaven,
And they sought the Spirit of God
After the proclamation on earth.
At the place of poverty they found
The child Jesus, who then became
The Christ. It was the first Christmas in the world
When the humble shepherds
With a praying heart
Kneeled at the place of poverty before Jesus, the infant,
Through whom the light of the spirit
Appeared to men on earth. Through the Christ
Who is the sun of the spirit
We will find
The way to spiritual heights,
And so will
Only true people.
So the humble shepherds thought
In their intuitive souls,
When they saw the light
That shone from the child's eyes
In the first Christmas in the world. And as they beheld the light,
the humble shepherds
saw a new beginning:
the beginning of the Christmas of mankind.
And since then it can become bright
in the hearts of men,
who learn to say with love
“Behold, there is the Christ
through whom the soul finds
the path to the sunlit realm of the spirit. And it will remain bright
in the hearts of men,
who lovingly feel
in their deepest innermost being
the light that shines there
on the path to the Christ
sunlit realm. In the hearts of men
the dark night of winter
becomes a bright spiritual day
when the soul consecrates itself
to the light that shines through Jesus
during life on earth.

Brief turn towards the altar.

The officiant or the assistant on the right approaches each child in turn and speaks to them:

Lift up your thoughts and feelings
to the Christ-Spirit.

After the person carrying out the activity – or the helper on the right – has gone to the front again, the person carrying out the activity speaks to all the children:

You should raise your thoughts and feelings
to the spirit of Christ,
He is the light
that shines in the hearts of men
so that they may find
the way to the Kingdom of God.

The officiant says: “The Christmas Gospel according to Luke, chapter 2, is now proclaimed.” This is read by the officiant or the assistant on the left. Turn to face the altar. A piece of music suitable for Christmas should now be played.

Then the person performing the act continues, stepping forward slightly:

Through the power of salvation,
In the world of Christmas,
Souls are awakened,
Human strength is brought,
Courage of the heart is brought,
Once awakened,
From times of Christmas
To eternal salvation.

The person carrying out the act steps back and continues:

Man fulfills himself
With true soul meaning,
When at Christmas time
He turns within,
In strong thinking
In heartfelt feeling
To the power of Christ,
Man strengthens himself
Through true spiritual power
When at Christmas time
He turns within
In bright thinking
In warm feeling
To the light of Christ.

The officiant announces the hymn: “Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen.

Dear children:
Hold all this in your hearts
and bring it from the holy Christmas season
into the life of the whole year.

The person conducting the service turns to face the altar, the helpers take their seats.
Final music.

Farewell as for the Sunday service.

Youth celebration

(For the same room in which the Sunday celebration is held, which is also set up in the same way as usual):

1. Each child enters individually. As he enters, he is told, as he is extended a hand:

Remember the importance of this moment in your life.

1. All children are assembled. The officiant speaks to them all:

Dear children; remember the importance of this moment in your life. You are entering a new age. You are rising from childhood to youth. Your teachers have guided you. Their concern was that the Spirit of God

shine in your thinking
be strong in your feeling
be effective in your willing.

Your teachers wanted to show you the Christ who died so that the human souls could live, so that He might be:

the light in your soul
the guide on your paths through life
the giver of the joys of existence
the comforter in the sorrows of existence.

The person performing the ritual turns around and raises his arms to the image of Christ.

He speaks:

You light of souls
You guide on our paths through life
You giver of the joys of existence
You comforter in the suffering of existence
To You I spoke beseechingly
When I implored light
For the thinking of these children
When I longed for strength
For the feeling of these children
When I strove for a blessing of activity
for these children's volition;
then send thy light
bestow thy strength
let thy blessings flow.
In this hour
upon those who were entrusted to us
and whom we now surrender to life
so that they
think through thy light
feel through thy strength
work through your blessings
in all their life on earth
until the moments of their death
you lead them into the realm of the soul. –
For you have said:

At this point the person leading the prayer turns around and reads the high-priestly prayer from the Gospel of John to the children. Then the person leading the prayer goes to each individual child, takes them by the hand and says:

Through the Spirit of Christ
Who conquered death
So that the human soul
Life was saved
You were led
Here in this school of childhood;
So may the spirit of Christ guide
Your life forces
Your soul powers
Your spiritual goals
Through the great school of life.

The person acting returns to his place and speaks about Easter in a speech that has something like the following content:

Dear children. It was in spring, when the earth finds new life in its plants, that the Christ went through death on Golgotha. He died. But he overcame death. As victor over death, he lives with people; he lives in people who seek him, seek him with all their thinking, feeling and wanting. And every time spring brings the high feast of Easter, then, when he sees the new life of the earth, man should remember the death and resurrection of Christ. Dear children, remember every year at this Easter time the festival that we celebrate with you today and celebrate it anew every year, so that the thought of the death, resurrection of Christ and of his dwelling in the souls of those who seek him may be revived in you.

This speech can be further expanded to include everything the speaker would like to tell the children.

Then the hymn as for Sunday celebrations.

Finally:

Dear children, every Sunday I have dismissed you
, asking you to remember
what you have experienced here;
now I dismiss you
with a sorrowful soul
into life
The Christ-Spirit be with you
Seek him
you shall find him:
As your light
As your strength
As your guide
As your comforter.

Each child is dismissed individually; they take them by the hand and say to them:

Remember the importance of this moment in your life.
Never forget it, not in joy, not in sorrow.

Sacrifice ceremony

I: The person celebrating the sacrifice (with the helpers on the left and right) stands before the altar, facing it, and says:

Christ's deeds at Golgotha
Stand before our souls.
The consecration of our souls
reveals to us Christ's deeds on earth.
The worship of our souls
prays to Christ's sacrifice of humanity.
The devotion of our souls
leads into this sacrificial space
the experience of Christ's sacrifice of humanity.

After a pause, the celebrant continues:

May the Father-God be in us
May the Son-God create in us
May the Holy-Ghost enlighten us.

The officiant turns around and addresses the congregation:

Christ in you.

The assistant standing to the right of the celebrant replies:

And fill your spirit.

Now the assistant standing to the right of the celebrant speaks in the direction of the altar:

We turn to the Father-God
Our spirit
He weaves in the depths of the world
He lives in our humanity. We are everything
That we are
In his being
Through his power. To the Son of God
We turn our soul.
He reigns as eternal word
In the being of the world and of man
We find consolation
for our weakness
in his strength,
in his sacrifice. To the spirit god
we turn our will
that it may shine in our resolutions
and rule in our actions.
We find strength
in our darkness
through his light,
And strength of soul through him
As spirit sun.

With his face to the congregation, the Helper, standing to the left of the celebrant, now reads a chapter from the Gospel.

But before he does so, he says:

My heart shall carry within it
the consciousness of Your life
O Christ; My lips shall pour forth
Your pure word
O Christ.
Your grace dignifies
me to speak Your word
O Christ.

(Gospel reading)

The celebrant in the center speaks facing the altar:

We lift up our soul
To You, O Christ.
Your Gospel
As pure word
Erase from our words
What is impure in them.

The officiant turns to the congregation and says:

Christ in you

The one standing to his right, facing the altar, replies:

And fill your spirit.
[Pause].

The assistant standing to the right of the celebrant (always facing the altar) speaks with his face turned towards the altar:

To you, eternal ground of the world,
weaving in the expanse of space
and in the distance of time
sacrificing the most sacred feelings
of your human offspring
Devoted hearts. You look into the weaknesses
Of these hearts;
So let the longing of these hearts also flow to you.

The helper on the left turns to the altar with his face:

Yes, so be it.

The celebrant speaks to the altar with his face turned towards it: (very slowly)

All our humanity
Think of Christ's deed.
Our body longs
For Christ's strength
Our blood longs
For Christ's light.
(with raised arms)
In Thy heights of sunshine
O Christ look
upon the sacrifice
of our humanity;
of our ensouled body,
of our spiritualized blood.
They be in Thee
Thou be in them.

The helper on the right speaks to the altar with the vision:

From the human soul sacrifice
From the human spirit sacrifice
Become the essence-creating fire of love
That reigns from human to God
That reigns from human to human.

The assistant on the left turns to face the altar and speaks:
Our will powers towards

Yes, so be it.

The officiant turns to face the congregation and speaks:
for You

Christ in you.

The Helper on the right turns to the community and says:
Our feeling longs

And may He fill your spirit.
[Pause].

The Helper on the left speaks with his face to the altar:

May our thoughts shine towards You

Divine Ground of the World.

The helper standing on the right speaks with his face to the altar:

Our destiny rules with You

Christ, You, our advocate.

The celebrant speaks with his face turned toward the altar:

He united Himself Before He went

He consecrated his body

The bearer of his soul

To the divine ground of the world

He consecrated his blood

The bearer of his spirit

To the light of the ground of the world

And so he gave himself

So let our body, in spiritual transformation,

become the bearer of our soul,

the bearer of our spirit,

His grace let us speak,

we would give to You:

The helper on the right speaks (face to the altar):

Christ is in us
His light shines
His grace reigns
His power weaves here.

The helper on the left speaks (face to the altar):

The spirit-god
Rules over our thinking
Weaves in our feeling
Works from our will.

The celebrant turns to the community and says:

Christ in you

The assistant on the right turns to face the congregation and replies:

And fill your spirit.

The assistant on the left to the congregation:

Yes, so be it.
(Pause)

The left-hand helper, facing the altar:

O Christ, You who
In unfailing goodness
In immeasurable love
In boundless mercy
Have given peace
To Thine own –

The right helper, facing the table of offerings, continues:

So may our minds
Be brightly filled with light
So may our speech
Be purely filled with thoughts
So may our hearts
Be pure and sinless.

The celebrant, facing the altar: (speak slowly)

Christ in us
His bright, light-filled spirit
In our spirit His pure, soul-filled thoughts
In our soul His pure, sinless heart
In our hearts. Christ, we receive You
For the recovery of our body
For the recovery of our soul
For the recovery of our spirit.

The helper on the left, facing the table of offerings:

Yes, so be it.

The helper on the right goes to each parishioner, touches their forehead with two fingers and says:

Christ's spirit lives in you.

The parishioner replies:

I may receive Christ's spirit.

After completion, the assistant on the right returns to his place (music can be added here).

Then the end:

The celebrant, facing the congregation:

Christ in you

The assistant on the right, facing the congregation:

And fill your spirit.

The assistant on the left, facing the congregation:

Take this
As the sacrificing
Act of the human soul.

The helper on the right, to the community.

Yes, so be it.