James of Jerusalem, Martyr, c.62 (translated from 23 October)
Morning Prayer – Festivals
O Lord, open our lips:
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever.
Amen.
PSALMODY
Antiphon: The Lord is King, let the earth rejoice:*
let the multitude of the isles be glad. (Ps. 97.1)
Opening
VENITE
1 O come let us sing out to the Lord,*
let us shout in triumph to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his face with thanksgiving*
and cry out to him joyfully in psalms.
3 For the Lord is a great God,*
and a great king above all gods.
4 In his hands are the depths of the earth,*
and the peaks of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his and he made it;*
his hands moulded dry land.
6 Come let us worship and bow down,*
and kneel before the Lord our maker.
7 For he himself is our God;*
we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
8 Today if only you would hear his voice:*
‘Do not harden your hearts as Israel did in the wilderness;
9 when your fathers tested me;*
put me to proof though they had seen my works.
10 Of whom I swore in my wrath:*
“They shall not enter my rest.”’
Glory to the Father… (may be said by all)
or (from Psalm 97)
1 You are the Lord, most high over all the earth;*
you are exalted far above all gods.
2 The Lord loves those who hate evil;*
he preserves the lives of his saints
and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
3 Light has sprung up for the righteous,*
and joyful gladness for those who are truehearted.
4 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous.*
and give thanks to his holy name.
Glory to the Father…
or a suitable hymn
Psalm 149
1 Hallelujah!
Sing to the Lord a new song;*
sing his praise in the congregation of the faithful.
2 Let Israel rejoice in his maker;*
let the children of Zion be joyful in their king.
3 Let them praise his name in the dance;*
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people*
and adorns the poor with victory.
5 Let the faithful rejoice in triumph;*
let them be joyful on their beds.
6 Let the praises of God be in their throat*
and a two-edged sword in their hand;
7 To wreak vengeance on the nations*
and punishment on the peoples;
8 To bind their kings in chains*
and their nobles with links of iron;
9 To inflict on them the judgement decreed;*
this is glory for all his faithful people.
Hallelujah!
Accept our praise, God of justice, defender of the oppressed. Give us grace to join in this your holy work, that all the world may see your glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 150
1 Hallelujah!
Praise God in his holy temple;*
praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts;*
praise him for his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the blast of the ram’s-horn;*
praise him with lyre and harp.
4 Praise him with timbrel and dance;*
praise him with strings and pipe.
5 Praise him with resounding cymbals;*
praise him with loud-clanging cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath*
praise the Lord.
Hallelujah!
Maker of the universe, Source of all life, give us grace to serve you with our whole heart, that we may faithfully perform your will and joyfully participate in your creation, to the praise and glory of your name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Conclusion (Te Deum)
a We praise you, O God;
we acclaim you as Lord.
b All creation worships you,
the Father everlasting.
a To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
the cherubim and seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might:
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
a The glorious company of apostles praise you,
the noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
b The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.
Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you:
Father, of majesty unbounded;
your true and only Son, worthy of all praise:
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.
a You, Christ, are the king of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
b When you took our flesh to set us free
you humbly chose the Virgin’s womb.
a You overcame the sting of death
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
b You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come to be our judge.
Come then Lord and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints to glory everlasting.
Glory to the Father…
Antiphon: The Lord is King, let the earth rejoice,
let the multitude of the isles be glad.
READING(S)
Sirach 19:4-17
One who trusts others too quickly has a shallow mind,
and one who sins does wrong to himself.
One who rejoices in wickedness will be condemned,
but one who hates gossip has less evil.
Never repeat a conversation,
and you will lose nothing at all.
With friend or foe do not report it,
and unless it would be a sin for you, do not reveal it;
for someone may have heard you and watched you,
and in time will hate you.
Have you heard something? Let it die with you.
Be brave, it will not make you burst!
Having heard something, the fool suffers birth-pangs
like a woman in labour with a child.
Like an arrow stuck in a person’s thigh,
so is gossip inside a fool.
Question a friend; perhaps he did not do it;
or if he did, so that he may not do it again.
Question a neighbour; perhaps he did not say it;
or if he said it, so that he may not repeat it.
Question a friend, for often it is slander;
so do not believe everything you hear.
A person may make a slip without intending it.
Who has not sinned with his tongue?
Question your neighbour before you threaten him;
and let the law of the Most High take its course.
Revelation 11:1-14
Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, ‘Come and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there,but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant my two witnesses authority to prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, wearing sackcloth.’
These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes; anyone who wants to harm them must be killed in this manner. They have authority to shut the sky, so that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire.
When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that is prophetically called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days members of the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb; and the inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and celebrate and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to the inhabitants of the earth.
But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and those who saw them were terrified. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here!’ And they went up to heaven in a cloud while their enemies watched them. At that moment there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
The second woe has passed. The third woe is coming very soon.
Silence
Response (Ps. 89.1)
Lord I will sing of your loving kindnesses throughout all generations.
Lord I will sing of your loving kindnesses throughout all generations.
My mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.
Throughout all generations.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Lord I will sing of your loving kindnesses throughout all generations.
BENEDICTUS
Benedictus Antiphon: Their sound* has gone out through all the world
1 Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,*
for he has come to his people and set them free.
2 He has raised up for us a mighty saviour,*
born of the house of his servant David.
3 Through his holy prophets he promised of old*
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all that hate us.
4 He promised to show mercy to our forebears,*
and to remember his holy covenant.
5 This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:*
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
6 free to worship him without fear,*
holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
7 You my child shall be called the prophet of the Most High,*
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
8 to give his people knowledge of salvation*
by the forgiveness of all their sins.
9 In the tender compassion of our God*
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
10 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… (may be said by all)
Benedictus Antiphon: Their sound* has gone out through all the world
PRAYERS
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Do not bring us to the time of trial,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever.
Amen.
Collect of the Day
Almighty God, whose apostle James was faithful in prayer, devoted to the poor, and accepted persecution: grant us grace to follow his example; to walk in the way of the just; and to witness to our risen Lord, Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.
Amen.
God most holy, we give you thanks for bringing us out of the shadow of night into the light of morning; and we ask you for the joy of spending this day in your service, so that when evening comes, we may once more give you thanks, through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.
Let us bless the Lord:
Thanks be to God!
The Lord bless us and preserve us from all evil;
and bring us to life eternal.
Amen.
