Morning Prayer: Thursday 22 May 2025
This is the new revised order for Daily Prayer authorised for experimental use. You can find the 2006 Revised version here.
Thursday after Fifth Sunday after Easter
Easter
Week 5 of Easter
O Lord, open our lips:
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Glory to God, Source of all Being,* Eternal Word, and Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.
Amen.
PSALMODY
Antiphon: Christ has been raised from the dead:* the first fruits of those who sleep. (1 Corinthians 15-20)
Opening
Glory ...
or a suitable Hymn
(Or from Easter Anthems)
1. Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us;*
so let us celebrate the feast.
2. Not with the old leaven of corruption and wickedness,*
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
3. Christ once raised from the dead dies no more;*
death has no more dominion over him.
4. In dying, he died to sin once for all;*
in living, he lives to God.
5. See yourselves therefore as dead to sin,*
and alive to God in Jesus Christ our Lord.
6. Christ has been raised from the dead,*
the first fruits of those who sleep.
7. For as by man came death,*
by man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
8. For as in Adam all die,*
even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Glory ...
or a suitable hymn
protect me from those who rise up against me.
2. Rescue me from evildoers *
and save me from those who thirst for my blood.
3. See how they lie in wait for my life, how the mighty gather together against me; *
not for any offence or fault of mine, O Lord.
4. Not because of any guilt of mine they run and prepare themselves for battle. *
Rouse yourself, come to my side, and see;
5. for you, Lord God of hosts, are Israel’s God. Awake, and punish all the ungodly; *
show no mercy to those who are faithless and evil.
6. They go to and fro in the evening; *
they snarl like dogs and run about the city.
7. Behold, they boast with their mouths, and taunts are on their lips; *
“For who,” they say, “will hear us?”
8. But you, O Lord, you laugh at them; *
you laugh all the ungodly to scorn.
9. My eyes are fixed on you, O my Strength; *
for you, O God, are my stronghold.
10. My merciful God comes to meet me *
and will let me look in triumph on my enemies.
11. Slay them, O God, lest my people forget; *
send them reeling by your might and put them down, O Lord our shield.
12. For the sins of their mouths, for the words of their lips, for the cursing and lies that they utter, *
let them be caught in their pride.
13. Make an end of them in your wrath; make an end of them, and they shall be no more. *
Let everyone know that God rules in Jacob, and to the ends of the earth.
14. They go to and fro in the evening; *
they snarl like dogs and run about the city.
15. They forage for food, *
and if they are not filled, they howl.
16. For my part, I will sing of your strength; *
I will celebrate your love in the morning;
17. For you have become my stronghold, a refuge in the day of my trouble. *
To you, O my Strength, will I sing; for you, O God, are my stronghold and my merciful God.
Glory ...
Conclusion
Wisdom 10
1. Wisdom freed a holy people and a blameless race,*
from a nation of oppressors.
2. She entered the soul of a servant of the Lord,*
and withstood fearsome rulers with wonders and signs.
3. To the saints she gave the reward of their labours,*
and led them by a marvellous road.
4. She was their shelter by day,*
and a blaze of stars by night.
5. She brought them across the Red Sea;*
she led them through mighty waters.
6. She swallowed their enemies in the waves,*
and spat them out from the depths of the sea.
7. Then, Lord, the righteous sang the glories of your name,*
and praised together your protecting hand.
8. For wisdom opened the mouths of the silent*
and gave speech to the tongues of her children.
Glory ...
Christ has been raised from the dead:* the first fruits of those who sleep.
READING(S)
Wisdom of Solomon 14.27-15.3
is the beginning and cause and end of every evil.
For their worshippers either rave in exultation,
or prophesy lies, or live unrighteously, or readily commit perjury;
for because they trust in lifeless idols
they swear wicked oaths and expect to suffer no harm.
But just penalties will overtake them on two counts:
because they thought wrongly about God in devoting themselves to idols,
and because in deceit they swore unrighteously through contempt for holiness.
For it is not the power of the things by which people swear,
but the just penalty for those who sin,
that always pursues the transgression of the unrighteous.
But you, our God, are kind and true,
patient, and ruling all things in mercy.
For even if we sin we are yours, knowing your power;
but we will not sin, because we know that you acknowledge us as yours.
For to know you is complete righteousness,
and to know your power is the root of immortality.
Romans 14.1-12
Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honour of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honour of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honour of the Lord and give thanks to God.
We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
Why do you pass judgement on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgement seat of God. For it is written,
‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God.’
So then, each of us will be accountable to God.
Silence
Response ((Psalm 96.4; 105.1))
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, alleluia, alleluia.
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, alleluia, alleluia.
Make known God’s deeds among the nations.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, alleluia, alleluia.
SONG OF ZECHARIAH
Song of Zechariah Antiphon: You will guide us with your counsel, O God: * and, after, receive us with glory. I am the way,* * the truth and the life, says the Lord; alleluia!
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.
Song of Zechariah Antiphon: You will guide us with your counsel, O God: * and, after, receive us with glory. I am the way,* * the truth and the life, says the Lord; alleluia!
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 alone can bring harmony to the minds of your faithful people:
give us grace to love the things you command,
and to desire the things you promise;
that, amid the uncertain changes of this world,
our hearts may be firmly fixed where true joys are to be found;
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.
