TUESDAY OF HOLY WEEK
Morning Prayer – The Suffering Christ
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: I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart,* and glorify your name for evermore. (Ps. 86.12)
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 86)
1 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord,*
nor anything like your works.
2 All nations you have made will come and worship you, O Lord,*
and glorify your name.
3 For you are great; you do wondrous things;*
and you alone are God.
4 Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth;*
knit my heart to you that I may fear your name.
Glory to the Father…
or a suitable hymn
Psalm 69:1-18
1 Save me, O God,*
for the waters have risen up to my neck.
2 I am sinking in deep mire,*
and there is no firm ground for my feet.
3 I have come into deep waters,*
and the torrent washes over me.
4 I have grown weary with my crying;
my throat is inflamed;*
my eyes have failed from looking for my God.
5 Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs
of my head;
my lying foes who would destroy me are mighty.*
Must I then give back what I never stole?
6 O God, you know my foolishness,*
and my faults are not hidden from you.
7 Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me,
Lord God of hosts;* let not those who seek you
be disgraced because of me,O God of Israel.
8 Surely, for your sake have I suffered reproach,*
and shame has covered my face.
9 I have become a stranger to my own kindred,*
an alien to my mother’s children.
10 Zeal for your house has eaten me up;*
the scorn of those who scorn you has fallen upon me.
11 I humbled myself with fasting,*
but that was turned to my reproach.
12 I put on sack-cloth also,*
and became a byword among them.
13 Those who sit at the gate murmur against me,*
and the drunkards make songs about me.
14 But as for me, this is my prayer to you,*
at the time you have set, O Lord:
15 ‘In your great mercy, O God,*
answer me with your unfailing help.
16 Save me from the mire; do not let me sink;*
let me be rescued from those who hate me
and out of the deep waters.
17 Let not the torrent of waters wash over me,
neither let the deep swallow me up;*
do not let the Pit shut its mouth upon me.
18 Answer me, O Lord, for your love is kind;*
in your great compassion, turn to me.’
Conclusion (from Lamentations 3)
Remember my affliction and bitterness*
the wormwood and the gall!
My soul continually thinks of it*
and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind*
and therefore I have hope –
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases*
his mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning*
great is his faithfulness.
‘The Lord is my portion.’ says my soul:*
‘therefore I will hope in him.’
Glory to the Father…
Antiphon: I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart,* and glorify your name for evermore. (Ps. 86.12)
READING(S)
Jeremiah 15:10-21
Woe is me, my mother, that you ever bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me. The Lord said: Surely I have intervened in your life for good, surely I have imposed enemies on you in a time of trouble and in a time of distress. Can iron and bronze break iron from the north?
Your wealth and your treasures I will give as plunder, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn for ever.
O Lord, you know;
remember me and visit me,
and bring down retribution for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance do not take me away;
know that on your account I suffer insult.
Your words were found, and I ate them,
and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart;
for I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.
I did not sit in the company of merrymakers,
nor did I rejoice;
under the weight of your hand I sat alone,
for you had filled me with indignation.
Why is my pain unceasing,
my wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook,
like waters that fail.
Therefore, thus says the Lord:
If you turn back, I will take you back,
and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
you shall serve as my mouth.
It is they who will turn to you,
not you who will turn to them.
And I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you
to save you and deliver you,
says the Lord.
I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.
Philippians 3:15-21
Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.
Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation so that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.
Silence
Response (Ps. 119.123)
My eyes have failed from watching for your salvation.
My eyes have failed from watching for your salvation.
And for your righteous promise.
For your salvation.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
My eyes have failed from watching for your salvation.
BENEDICTUS
Benedictus Antiphon: False witnesses have risen against me,* and they breathe out violence. (Ps 27.12)
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: False witnesses have risen against me,* and they breathe out violence. (Ps 27.12)
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 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
O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life. May our lives be so transformed by his passion that we may witness to his grace; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. 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.
