THE EPIPHANY
Morning Prayer – Incarnation
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: Your justice Lord dawns like morning light;*
its dawning is as sure as the sunrise. (Hos. 6.3)
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 85)
1 I will listen to what the Lord God is saying,*
for he is speaking peace to his faithful people.
2 Truly his salvation is very near to those who fear him,*
that his glory may dwell in our land.
3 Mercy and truth have met together;*
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
4 Truth shall spring up from the earth,*
and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
Glory to the Father…
or a suitable hymn
Psalm 72
1 Give the king your justice, O God,*
and your righteousness to the king’s son;
2 That he may rule your people righteously*
and the poor with justice;
3 That the mountains may bring prosperity to the people,*
and the little hills bring righteousness.
4 He shall defend the needy among the people;*
he shall rescue the poor and crush the oppressor.
5 He shall live as long as the sun and moon endure,*
from one generation to another.
6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown field,*
like showers that water the earth.
7 In his time shall the righteous flourish;*
there shall be abundance of peace till the moon shall be no more.
8 He shall rule from sea to sea,*
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 His foes shall bow down before him,*
and his enemies lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall pay tribute,*
and the kings of Arabia and Saba offer gifts.
11 All kings shall bow down before him,*
and all the nations do him service.
12 For he shall deliver the poor who cries out in distress,*
and the oppressed who has no helper.
13 He shall have pity on the lowly and poor;*
he shall preserve the lives of the needy.
14 He shall redeem their lives from oppression and violence,*
and dear shall their blood be in his sight.
15 Long may he live!
and may there be given to him gold from Arabia;*
may prayer be made for him always,
and may they bless him all the day long.
16 May there be abundance of grain on the earth,
growing thick even on the hilltops;*
may its fruit flourish like Lebanon,
and its grain like grass upon the earth.
17 May his name remain for ever
and be established as long as the sun endures;*
may all the nations bless themselves in him and
call him blessed.
18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,*
who alone does wondrous deeds!
19 And blessed be his glorious name for ever!*
and may all the earth be filled with his glory.
Amen. Amen.
O God, bring our nation and all nations to a sense of justice and equity, that poverty, oppression, and violence may vanish and all may know peace and plenty. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Conclusion Isaiah 60
1 Arise, shine, for your light has come,*
the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
2 For behold darkness shall cover the earth,*
thick darkness the peoples;
3 but the Lord will arise upon you;*
God’s glory will be seen upon you.
4 Nations shall come to your light;*
kings to the brightness of your rising.
5 The sun shall be no more your light by day;*
nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you by night;
6 but the Lord will be your everlasting light,*
your God will be your glory.
Glory to the Father…
Antiphon: Your justice Lord dawns like morning light,
its dawning is as sure as the sunrise.
READING(S)
Isaiah 49.1-7
Listen to me, O coastlands,
pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The Lord called me before I was born,
while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me away.
And he said to me, ‘You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’
But I said, ‘I have laboured in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the Lord,
and my reward with my God.’
And now the Lord says,
who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honoured in the sight of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
he says,
‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’
Thus says the Lord,
the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations,
the slave of rulers,
‘Kings shall see and stand up,
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.’
Revelation 21.22-27
I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honour of the nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practises abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Silence
Response Ps. 119.130
When your word goes forth it gives light.
When your word goes forth it gives light.
It gives understanding to the simple.
It gives light.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
When your word goes forth it gives light.
BENEDICTUS
Benedictus Antiphon: Glory to Christ*
who is preached among the nations and believed on in the world. (from 1 Tim 3.16)
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: Glory to Christ*
who is preached among the nations and believed on in the world. (from 1 Tim 3.16)
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
O God,
who, by the guidance of a star,
revealed your only-begotten Son to the nations:
Grant that we, who know you now by faith,
may at the last be led to see your glory face to face;
through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord,
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.
