Hilda of Whitby, 680 and Hugh of Lincoln, Bishop, 1200
Morning Prayer – Week C
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: Be joyful in God, all you lands;*
sing the glory of his name! (Ps. 66.1)
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 Psalms 66 and 92)
1 All the earth bows down before you,*
sings to you, sings out your name.
2 Bless our God, you peoples;*
make the voice of his praise to be heard.
3 It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord,*
and to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
4 to tell of your loving-kindness early in the morning*
and of your faithfulness in the night season.
Glory to the Father…
or a suitable hymn
Psalm 107.1-32
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,*
and his mercy endures for ever.
2 Let all those whom the Lord has redeemed proclaim*
that he redeemed them from the hand of the foe.
3 He gathered them out of the lands;*
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
4 Some wandered in desert wastes;*
they found no way to a city where they might dwell.
5 They were hungry and thirsty;*
their spirits languished within them.
6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,*
and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He put their feet on a straight path*
to go to a city where they might dwell.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his mercy*
and the wonders he does for his children.
9 For he satisfies the thirsty*
and fills the hungry with good things.
10 Some sat in darkness and deep gloom,*
bound fast in misery and iron;
11 Because they rebelled against the words of God*
and despised the counsel of the Most High.
12 So he humbled their spirits with hard labour;*
they stumbled, and there was none to help.
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,*
and he delivered them from their distress.
14 He led them out of darkness and deep gloom*
and broke their bonds asunder.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his mercy*
and the wonders he does for his children.
16 For he shatters the doors of bronze*
and breaks in two the iron bars.
17 Some were fools and took to rebellious ways;*
they were afflicted because of their sins.
18 They abhorred all manner of food*
and drew near to death’s door.
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,*
and he delivered them from their distress.
20 He sent forth his word and healed them*
and saved them from the grave.
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his mercy*
and the wonders he does for his children.
22 Let them offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving*
and tell of his acts with shouts of joy.
23 Some went down to the sea in ships*
and plied their trade in deep waters;
24 They beheld the works of the Lord*
and his wonders in the deep.
25 Then he spoke, and a stormy wind arose,*
which tossed high the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to the heavens and fell back to the depths;*
their hearts melted because of their peril.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards*
and were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,*
and he delivered them from their distress.
29 He stilled the storm to a whisper*
and quieted the waves of the sea.
30 Then were they glad because of the calm,*
and he brought them to the harbour they were bound for.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his mercy*
and the wonders he does for his children.
32 Let them exalt him in the congregation of the people*
and praise him in the council of the elders.
O God, the divine seeker, you are light to the lost, bread to the hungry, deliverance to the captive, healing to the sick, eternal vision to the dying, and harbour to every soul in peril. Gather the wanderers from every corner of the world into the community of your mercy and grace, that we may eternally praise you for our salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Conclusion (from Isaiah 12)
1 Behold God is my salvation;*
I will trust and not be afraid;
2 the Lord God is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
3 With joy you will draw water*
from the wells of salvation.
4 Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name;*
make known his deeds among the nations.
5 Sing to the Lord for he has done gloriously;*
let this be known in all the earth.
6 Shout and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Sion,*
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Glory to the Father…
Antiphon: Be joyful in God, all you lands;
Sing the glory of his name!
READING(S)
Malachi 2:1-16
And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not lay it to heart to give glory to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse on you and I will curse your blessings; indeed I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and I will put you out of my presence.
Know, then, that I have sent this command to you, so that my covenant with Levi may hold, says the Lord of hosts. My covenant with him was a covenant of life and well-being, which I gave him; this called for reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in integrity and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of theLord of hosts. But you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you have not kept my ways but have shown partiality in your instruction.
Have we not all one father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our ancestors?Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. May theLord cut off from the tents of Jacob anyone who does this—any to witness or answer, or to bring an offering to the Lord of hosts.
And this you do as well: You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favour at your hand. You ask, ‘Why does he not?’ Because the Lord was a witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did not one God make her? Both flesh and spirit are his. And what does the one God desire? Godly offspring. So look to yourselves, and do not let anyone be faithless to the wife of his youth.For I hate divorce, says the Lord, the God of Israel, and covering one’s garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So take heed to yourselves and do not be faithless.
James 4:13 – 5:6
Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.’Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin.
Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasurefor the last days. Listen! The wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts on a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.
Silence
Response (Ps. 63.4)
I will bless you Lord as long as I live.
I will bless you Lord as long as I live.
And lift up my hands in your name.
As long as I live.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
I will bless you Lord as long as I live.
BENEDICTUS
Benedictus Antiphon: God has come to us* and set us free.
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: God has come to us* and set us free.
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 Lord, forgive the transgressions of your people: and by your goodness release us from the snare of sin, in which, by our frailty, we have been caught; through 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.
