Morning Prayer: Thursday 31 July 2025

Thursday 31 July 2025

This is the new revised order for Daily Prayer authorised for experimental use. You can find the 2006 Revised version here.

Ignatius Loyola, Priest and Religious, 1556
Week D

Week of Proper 17

O Lord, open our lips:
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Glory be 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: Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness;* make your way straight before me. (Psalm. 5.8)

Opening

Come, let us sing

1 Come, let us sing to the Lord; *
let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before the presence of the Lord with thanksgiving *
and raise a loud shout to God with psalms.
3 For you, O Lord, are a great God, *
and a great sovereign above all gods.
4 In your hand are the caverns of the earth, *
and the heights of the hills are yours also.
5 The sea is yours, for you made it, *
and your hands have moulded the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7 For you are our God, and we are the people of your pasture and the sheep of your hand. *
Oh, that today we would hearken to your voice!
8 “Harden not your hearts, *
as your forebears did in the wilderness.
9 They put me to the test, *
though they had seen my works.
10 So I swore in my wrath, *
‘They shall not enter into my rest.’”

Glory ...
or a suitable Hymn

(Or from Psalm 5)

1. In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;*
early in the morning I make my appeal and watch for you.

2. Through the greatness of your mercy I will go into your house;*
I will bow down toward your holy temple in awe of you.

3. All who take refuge in you will be glad;*
they will sing out their joy for ever.

4. You will shelter them,*
so that those who love your name may exult in you.

Glory ...
or a suitable hymn

Psalm 18.1-19
1. I love you, O Lord my strength, *
O Lord my stronghold, my crag and my haven.
2. My God, my rock in whom I put my trust, *
my shield, the horn of my salvation and my refuge;
you are worthy of praise.
3. I will call upon the Lord, *
and so shall I be saved from my enemies.
4. The breakers of death rolled over me, *
and the torrents of oblivion made me afraid.
5. The cords of hell entangled me, *
and the snares of death were set for me.
6. I called upon the Lord in my distress and cried out to my God for help. *
You heard my voice from your heavenly dwelling; to your ears came my cry of anguish.
7. The earth reeled and rocked; *
the roots of the mountains shook; they reeled because of your anger.
8. Smoke rose from your nostrils and a consuming fire out of your mouth; *
hot burning coals blazed forth.
9. You parted the heavens and came down *
with a storm cloud under your feet.
10. You mounted on cherubim and flew; *
you swooped on the wings of the wind.
11. You wrapped darkness about you; *
you made dark waters and thick clouds your pavilion.
12. From the brightness of your presence, through the clouds, *
burst hailstones and coals of fire.
13. Lord, you thundered out of heaven; *
Most High, you uttered your voice.
14. You loosed your arrows and scattered them; *
you hurled thunderbolts and routed them.
15. The beds of the seas were uncovered, and the foundations of the world laid bare, *
at your battle cry, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
16. You reached down from on high and grasped me; *
you drew me out of great waters.
17. You delivered me from my strong enemies and from those who hated me; *
for they were too mighty for me.
18. They confronted me in the day of my disaster; *
but you, O Lord, were my support.
19.You brought me out into an open place; *
you rescued me because you delighted in me.

Glory ...


Conclusion

Isaiah 66

1. Rejoice with Jerusalem and exult in her,*
all you who love her.

2. Share her joy with all your heart,*
all you who mourn over her.

3. Then you may suck and be fed from her breasts,*
delighting in her plentiful milk.

4. For thus says the Lord, I will send peace flowing over her like a river,*
and the wealth of nations like a stream in flood;

5. you shall be carried in her arms,*
and rocked upon her knees.

6. As a mother comforts her child,*
so will I myself comfort you, and you shall find strength
in Jerusalem.

7. This you shall see and be glad at heart;*
your limbs shall be as the fresh grass in spring.*

8. Then I myself will gather all nations;*
and they shall come and behold my glory.

Glory ...

Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness;* make your way straight before me.

READING(S)

2 Samuel 4.1-12

When Saul’s son Ishbaal heard that Abner had died at Hebron, his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed. Saul’s son had two captains of raiding bands; the name of one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab. They were sons of Rimmon, a Benjaminite from Beeroth—for Beeroth is considered to belong to Benjamin. (Now the people of Beeroth had fled to Gittaim and are there as resident aliens to this day).

Saul’s son Jonathan had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled; and, in her haste to flee, it happened that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

Now the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out, and about the heat of the day they came to the house of Ishbaal, while he was taking his noonday rest. They came inside the house as though to take wheat, and they struck him in the stomach; then Rechab and his brother Baanah escaped. Now they had come into the house while he was lying on his couch in his bedchamber; they attacked him, killed him, and beheaded him. Then they took his head and travelled by way of the Arabah all night long. They brought the head of Ishbaal to David at Hebron and said to the king, ‘Here is the head of Ishbaal, son of Saul your enemy who sought your life; the Lord has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.’

David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, ‘As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity, when the one who told me, “See, Saul is dead”, thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag—this was the reward I gave him for his news. How much more then, when wicked men have killed a righteous man on his bed in his own house! And now shall I not require his blood at your hand, and destroy you from the earth?’ So David commanded the young men, and they killed them; they cut off their hands and feet, and hung their bodies beside the pool at Hebron. But the head of Ishbaal they took and buried in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.

Acts 16.25-40

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.’ The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They answered, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

When morning came, the magistrates sent the police, saying, ‘Let those men go.’ And the jailer reported the message to Paul, saying, ‘The magistrates sent word to let you go; therefore come out now and go in peace.’ But Paul replied, ‘They have beaten us in public, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they going to discharge us in secret? Certainly not! Let them come and take us out themselves.’ The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens; so they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. After leaving the prison they went to Lydia’s home; and when they had seen and encouraged the brothers and sisters there, they departed.

Silence

Response (Psalm 33.18)

Behold, your eye, O Lord, is upon those who fear you,* on those who wait upon your love.
Behold, your eye, O Lord, is upon those who fear you,* on those who wait upon your love.
On those who wait upon your love.
On those who fear you.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
Behold, your eye, O Lord, is upon those who fear you,* on those who wait upon your love.

SONG OF ZECHARIAH

Song of Zechariah 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 ... (may be said by all)

Song of Zechariah 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 God, whose providence orders all things in heaven and earth:
keep from us everything harmful,
and lead us to all that is good;
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.