Charles de Foucauld, Priest and Hermit, 1916
Morning Prayer – Anticipation
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: Show your servants your works*
and your splendour to their children.
(Ps. 90.16)
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 90)
1 Lord, you have been our refuge*
from one generation to another.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or the land and the earth were born,*
from age to age you are God.
3 Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning;*
so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.
4 Make us glad by the measure of the days that you afflicted us*
and the years in which we suffered adversity.
Glory to the Father…
or a suitable hymn
Psalm 20
1 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble,*
the name of the God of Jacob defend you;
2 Send you help from his holy place*
and strengthen you out of Zion;
3 Remember all your offerings*
and accept your burnt sacrifice;
4 Grant you your heart’s desire*
and prosper all your plans.
5 We will shout for joy at your victory
and triumph in the name of our God;*
may the Lord grant all your requests.
6 Now I know that the Lord gives victory to his anointed;*
he will answer him out of his holy heaven,
with the victorious strength of his right hand.
7 Some put their trust in chariots and some in horses,*
but we will call upon the name of the Lord our God.
8 They collapse and fall down,*
but we will arise and stand upright.
9 O Lord, give victory to the king*
and answer us when we call.
God, our hope and our defence, protect all those who call upon your name, that they may stand upright in the day of trouble, and share in the victory of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Conclusion (Isaiah 2.2-5)
1 In days to come, the mountain where the Lord dwells*
will be lifted high above all the mountains
and raised above the hills.
2 All the nations will flock to it;*
countless peoples will come to it.
3 And they will say, Come let us go to the mountain of the Lord,*
to the temple of the God of Jacob,
4. who will teach us his ways,*
and we will walk in his paths;
5. who will sit in judgement over the nations;*
be arbiter among many peoples.
6. They will beat their swords into ploughshares,*
and their spears into sickles;
7. nation shall not lift up sword against nation,*
nor ever again prepare for war.
8. O people of Jacob come,*
let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Glory to the Father…
Antiphon: Show your servants your works,
and your splendour to their children.
READING(S)
Amos 3:1-11
Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
You only have I known
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.
Do two walk together
unless they have made an appointment?
Does a lion roar in the forest,
when it has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from its den,
if it has caught nothing?
Does a bird fall into a snare on the earth,
when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
when it has taken nothing?
Is a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster befall a city,
unless the Lord has done it?
Surely the Lord God does nothing,
without revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.
The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken;
who can but prophesy?
Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod,
and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, ‘Assemble yourselves on Mount Samaria,
and see what great tumults are within it,
and what oppressions are in its midst.’
They do not know how to do right, says the Lord,
those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.
Therefore, thus says the Lord God:
An adversary shall surround the land,
and strip you of your defence;
and your strongholds shall be plundered.
2 Peter 1:12-21
Therefore I intend to keep on reminding you of these things, though you know them already and are established in the truth that has come to you. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to refresh your memory, since I know that my death will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honour and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.
So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
Silence
Response (Ps. 96.10)
Tell it out among the nations: ‘The Lord is King!’
Tell it out among the nations: ‘The Lord is King!’
He will judge the peoples with equity.
‘The Lord is King.’
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Tell it out among the nations: ‘The Lord is King!’
BENEDICTUS
Benedictus Antiphon: Look up and raise your heads,*
because your redemption is drawing near. (Luke 21.28)
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: Look up and raise your heads,*
because your redemption is drawing near. (Luke 21.28)
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
Stir up your power, Lord, and come: that, with you as our protector, we may be rescued from our sins; and with you as our deliverer, we may be set free; for you live and reign with God the Father, 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.
