Fergus, Bishop, c.750
Morning Prayer – Week B
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 kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;* your dominion endures throughout all ages. (Ps. 145.13)
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 145)
1 I will exalt you, O God my king,*
and bless your name for ever and ever.
2 All your works praise you, O Lord,*
and your faithful servants bless you.
3 They make known the glory of your kingdom*
and speak of your power;
4 that the peoples may know of your power*
and the glorious splendour of your kingdom.
Glory to the Father…
or a suitable hymn
Psalm 57
1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful,
for I have taken refuge in you;*
in the shadow of your wings will I take refuge
until this time of trouble has gone by.
2 I will call upon the Most High God,*
the God who maintains my cause.
3 He will send from heaven and save me;
he will confound those who trample upon me;*
God will send forth his love and his faithfulness.
4 I lie in the midst of lions that devour the people;*
their teeth are spears and arrows,
their tongue a sharp sword.
5 They have laid a net for my feet,
and I am bowed low;*
they have dug a pit before me,
but have fallen into it themselves.
6 Exalt yourself above the heavens, O God,*
and your glory over all the earth.
7 My heart is firmly fixed, O God, my heart is fixed;*
I will sing and make melody.
8 Wake up, my spirit; awake, lute and harp;*
I myself will waken the dawn.
9 I will confess you among the peoples, O Lord;*
I will sing praise to you among the nations.
10 For your loving-kindness is greater than the heavens,*
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
11 Exalt yourself above the heavens, O God,*
and your glory over all the earth.
Conclusion (Isaiah 40)
1 The Lord is the everlasting God,*
the Creator of the ends of the earth,
2 who does not faint nor grow weary,*
whose understanding is unsearchable,
3 who gives power to the faint,*
increase of strength to those who have no might.
4 Even youth shall faint and be weary;*
the young shall fall exhausted.
5 But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;*
they shall mount up with wings like eagles.
6 They shall run and not be weary,*
they shall walk and not faint.
Glory to the Father…
Antiphon: Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;* your dominion endures throughout all ages. (Ps. 145.13)
READING(S)
1 Maccabees 3:42-60
Now Judas and his brothers saw that misfortunes had increased and that the forces were encamped in their territory. They also learned what the king had commanded to be done to the people to cause their final destruction. But they said to one another, ‘Let us restore the ruins of our people, and fight for our people and the sanctuary.’ So the congregation assembled to be ready for battle, and to pray and ask for mercy and compassion.
Jerusalem was uninhabited like a wilderness;
not one of her children went in or out.
The sanctuary was trampled down,
and aliens held the citadel;
it was a lodging-place for the Gentiles.
Joy was taken from Jacob;
the flute and the harp ceased to play.
Then they gathered together and went to Mizpah, opposite Jerusalem, because Israel formerly had a place of prayer in Mizpah. They fasted that day, put on sackcloth and sprinkled ashes on their heads, and tore their clothes. And they opened the book of the law to inquire into those matters about which the Gentiles consulted the images of their gods. They also brought the vestments of the priesthood and the first fruits and the tithes, and they stirred up the nazirites who had completed their days; and they cried aloud to Heaven, saying,
‘What shall we do with these?
Where shall we take them?
Your sanctuary is trampled down and profaned,
and your priests mourn in humiliation.
Here the Gentiles are assembled against us to destroy us;
you know what they plot against us.
How will we be able to withstand them,
if you do not help us?’
Then they sounded the trumpets and gave a loud shout. After this Judas appointed leaders of the people, in charge of thousands and hundreds and fifties and tens. Those who were building houses, or were about to be married, or were planting a vineyard, or were faint-hearted, he told to go home again, in accordance with the law. Then the army marched out and encamped to the south of Emmaus.
And Judas said, ‘Arm yourselves and be courageous. Be ready early in the morning to fight with these Gentiles who have assembled against us to destroy us and our sanctuary. It is better for us to die in battle than to see the misfortunes of our nation and of the sanctuary. But as his will in heaven may be, so shall he do.’
Revelation 21:9-21
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal. It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites; on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
The angel who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width; and he measured the city with his rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, one hundred and forty-four cubits by human measurement, which the angel was using. The wall is built of jasper, while the city is pure gold, clear as glass. The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth cornelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass.
Silence
Response (Ps. 86.12)
I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart.
I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart.
I will glorify your name for evermore.
With all my heart.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart.
BENEDICTUS
Benedictus Antiphon: God promised of old* to save us.
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 promised of old* to save us.
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
Almighty God, you sent your Son Jesus Christ to be the light of the world. Free us from all that darkens and ensnares us, and bring us to eternal light and joy; through the power of him who is alive 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.
