Morning Prayer

STAND

Invitatory

Leader: Lord, + open my lips.
All: And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Leader: Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.

Psalm 95
A call to praise God

Encourage each other daily while it is still today (Hebrews 3:13).

Leader: Come, let us sing to the Lord 
All: and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us.
Let us approach him with praise and thanksgiving 
  and sing joyful songs to the Lord.

All: Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.

All: The Lord is God, the mighty God, 
  the great king over all the gods.
He holds in his hands the depths of the earth 
  and the highest mountains as well.
He made the sea; it belongs to him, 
  the dry land, too, for it was formed by his hands.

All: Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.

All: Come, then, let us bow down and worship, 
  bending the knee before the Lord, our maker.
For he is our God and we are his people, 
  the flock he shepherds.

All: Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.

All: Today, listen to the voice of the Lord: 
Do not grow stubborn, as your fathers did
  in the wilderness, 
when at Meriba and Massah
  they challenged me and provoked me, 
Although they had seen all of my works.

All: Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.

All: Forty years I endured that generation. 
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray
  and they do not know my ways."
So I swore in my anger, 
  “They shall not enter into my rest.”

All: Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.

All: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, 
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, 
and will be for ever. Amen.

All: Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.

Hymn

The glory of these forty days
We celebrate with songs of praise;
For Christ, by whom all things were made,
Himself has fasted and has prayed.

Alone and fasting Moses saw
The loving God who gave the law;
And to Elijah, fasting, came
The steeds and chariots of flame.

So Daniel trained his mystic sight,
Deliver’d from the lions’ might;
And John, the Bridegroom’s friend, became
The herald of Messiah’s name.

Then grant us, Lord, like them to do
Such things as bring great praise to you;
Our spirits strengthen with your grace
And give us joy to see your face.

O Father, Son, and Spirit blest,
To you be every prayer addressed
And by all mankind be adored,
From age to age, the only Lord.

Tune: Erhalt’ uns, Herr L.M.
Music: J. Klug’s Geistliche Lieder, 1547
Text: Latin, sixth century
Translation: Maurice F. Bell, 1906, alt.

SIT

Psalmody

Leader; My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready.

Psalm 108
Praise of God and a plea for help

Since the Son of God has been exalted above the heavens, his glory is proclaimed through all the earth (Arnobius).

Leader: My heart is ready, O God; 
Side 1: I will sing, sing your praise.
Awake, my soul; 
awake, lyre and harp. 
I will awake the dawn.

Side 2: I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples, 
among the nations I will praise you,
for your love reaches to the heavens 
and your truth to the skies.
O God, arise above the heavens; 
may your glory shine on earth!

Side 1: O come and deliver your friends; 
help with your right hand and reply.
From his holy place God has made this promise: 
“I will triumph and divide the land of Shechem; 
I will measure out the valley of Succoth.

Side 2: Gilead is mine and Manasseh. 
Ephraim I take for my helmet,
Judah for my commander’s staff.
Moab I will use for my washbowl,
on Edom I will plant my shoe. 
Over the Philistines I will shout in triumph.”

Side 1: But who will lead me to conquer the fortress? 
Who will bring me face to face with Edom?
Will you utterly reject us, O God, 
and no longer march with our armies?

Side 2: Give us help against the foe: 
for the help of man is vain.
With God we shall do bravely 
and he will trample down our foes.

Side 1: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, 
and to the Holy Spirit:
All: as it was in the beginning, is now, 
and will be for ever. Amen.

Leader: My heart All: is ready, O God, my heart is ready.

Leader: The Lord has robed me with grace and salvation.

Canticle: Isaiah 61:10-62:5
The prophet’s joy in the vision of a new Jerusalem

I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, with the beauty of a bride adorned for her husband (Revelation 21:2).

Leader: I rejoice heartily in the Lord, 
Side 1: in my God is the joy of my soul;
for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation, 
and wrapped me in a mantle of justice,
like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, 
like a bride bedecked with her jewels.

Side 2: As the earth brings forth its plants, 
and a garden makes its growth spring up,
so will the Lord God make justice and praise 
spring up before all the nations.

Side 1: For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, 
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,
until her vindication shines forth like the dawn 
and her victory like a burning torch.

Side 2: Nations shall behold your vindication, 
and all kings your glory;
you shall be called by a new name 
pronounced by the mouth of the Lord.
You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the Lord, 
a royal diadem held by your God.

Side 1: No more shall men call you “Forsaken,” 
or your land “Desolate,”
but you shall be called “My Delight,” 
and your land “Espoused.”
For the Lord delights in you, 
and makes your land his spouse.

Side 2: As a young man marries a virgin, 
your Builder shall marry you;
and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride 
so shall your God rejoice in you.

Side 1: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, 
and to the Holy Spirit:
All: as it was in the beginning, is now, 
and will be for ever. Amen.

Leader: The Lord has All: robed me with grace and salvation.

Leader: I will praise my God all the days of my life.

Psalm 146
Those who trust in God know what it is to be happy

To praise God in our lives means all we do must be for his glory (Arnobius).

Leader: My soul, give praise to the Lord; 
Side 1: I will praise the Lord all my days, 
make music to my God while I live.

Side 2: Put no trust in princes, 
in mortal men in whom there is no help.
Take their breath, they return to clay 
and their plans that day come to nothing.

Side 1: He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God, 
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who alone made heaven and earth, 
the seas and all they contain.

Side 2: It is he who keeps faith for ever, 
who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry, 
the Lord, who sets prisoners free,

Side 1: the Lord who gives sight to the blind, 
who raises up those who are bowed down,
the Lord, who protects the stranger 
and upholds the widow and orphan.

Side 2: It is the Lord who loves the just 
but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign for ever, 
Zion’s God, from age to age.

Side 1: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, 
and to the Holy Spirit:
All: as it was in the beginning, is now, 
and will be for ever. Amen.

Leader: I will praise my God all the days of my life.

Reading

Deuteronomy 7:6, 8-9

Lector: The Lord, your God, has chosen you from all the nations on the face of the earth to be a people peculiarly his own. It was because the Lord loved you and because of his fidelity to the oath he had sworn to your fathers, that he brought you out with his strong hand from the place of slavery, and ransomed you from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Understand, then, that the Lord, your God, is God indeed, the faithful God who keeps his merciful covenant to the thousandth generation toward those who love him and keep his commandments.

Responsory

Lector: God himself will set me free, from the hunter’s snare.
All: God himself will set me free, from the hunter’s snare.

Lector: From those who would trap me with lying words
All: and from the hunter’s snare.

Lector: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
All: God himself will set me free, from the hunter’s snare.

Gospel Canticle

Leader: Whoever hears my words, says the Lord, and believes in him who sent me, has eternal life.

Canticle of Zechariah
Luke 1:68-79
The Messiah and his forerunner

Leader: Blessed + be the Lord, the God of Israel; 
All: he has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty savior, 
born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old 
  that he would save us from our enemies, 
  from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers 
and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: 
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear, 
holy and righteous in his sight
   all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High; 
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation 
by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God 
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, 
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, 
and to the Holy Spirit:
All: as it was in the beginning, is now, 
and will be for ever. Amen.

Leader: Whoever All: hears my words, says the Lord, and believes in him who sent me, has eternal life.

Intercessions

Leader: Let us give thanks to God, our Father: through the power of the Spirit he purifies our hearts and strengthens us in love. Let us humbly ask him:
All: Lord, give us your Holy Spirit.

Leader: Help us to receive good things from your bounty with a deep sense of gratitude,
All: and to accept with patience the evil that comes to us.

Leader: Teach us to be loving not only in great and exceptional moments,
All: but above all in the ordinary events of daily life.

Leader: May we abstain from what we do not really need,
All: and help our brothers and sisters in distress.

Leader: May we bear the wounds of your Son,
All: for through his body he gave us life.

The Lord's Prayer

Leader: Remember us, Lord, when you come to your kingdom and teach us how to pray:

Leader: Our Father, All: who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

Concluding Prayer

Leader: Lord,
you reward virtue
and forgive the repentant sinner.
Grant us your forgiveness
as we come before you confessing our guilt.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
All: Amen.

Dismissal

If a priest or deacon presides, he dismisses the people:

Leader: The Lord be with you.
All: And with your spirit.

Leader: May almighty God bless you,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.

Leader: Go in peace.
All: Thanks be to God.

In the absence of a priest or deacon and in individual recitation, Morning Prayer concludes:

Leader: May the Lord + bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
All: Amen.