Morning Prayer: Thursday 6 March 2025
This is the new revised order for Daily Prayer authorised for experimental use. You can find the 2006 Revised version here.
Baldred, Bishop, 608
Lent
Thursday before Lent
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: O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you. (Psalm 63.1)
Opening
Glory ...
or a suitable Hymn
(Or from Psalm 63)
1. My soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you,*
as in a barren and dry land where there is no water.
2. For your loving-kindness is better than life itself;*
my lips shall give you praise.
3. For you have been my helper,*
and under the shadow of your wings I will rejoice.
4. My soul clings to you;*
your right hand holds me fast.
Glory ...
or a suitable hymn
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
Ezekiel 36
1. I will gather you from every country,*
and bring you home to your own land.
2. I will pour clean water over you,*
and cleanse you from your idols.
3. A new heart I will give you,*
and put a new spirit within you.
4. I will take from your body the heart of stone,*
and give you a heart of flesh.
5. I will put my spirit within you,*
and make you walk in my ways and observe my decrees.
6. You will be my people,*
and I will be your God.
Glory ...
O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you.
READING(S)
Deuteronomy 7.6-11
It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you—for you were the fewest of all peoples. It was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath that he swore to your ancestors, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and who repays in their own person those who reject him. He does not delay but repays in their own person those who reject him. Therefore, observe diligently the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that I am commanding you today.
Titus 1.1-16
To Titus, my loyal child in the faith we share:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour.
I left you behind in Crete for this reason, that you should put in order what remained to be done, and should appoint elders in every town, as I directed you: someone who is blameless, married only once, whose children are believers, not accused of debauchery and not rebellious. For a bishop, as God’s steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or addicted to wine or violent or greedy for gain; but he must be hospitable, a lover of goodness, prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled. He must have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy in accordance with the teaching, so that he may be able both to preach with sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.
There are also many rebellious people, idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision; they must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for sordid gain what it is not right to teach. It was one of them, their very own prophet, who said,
‘Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons.’
That testimony is true. For this reason rebuke them sharply, so that they may become sound in the faith, not paying attention to Jewish myths or to commandments of those who reject the truth. To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure. Their very minds and consciences are corrupted. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
Silence
Response ((Psalm 6.4))
Turn, O Lord, and deliver me.
Turn, O Lord, and deliver me.
Save me for your mercy’s sake.
And deliver me.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
Turn, O Lord, and deliver me.
SONG OF ZECHARIAH
Song of Zechariah Antiphon: You will guide us with your counsel, O God: * and, after, receive us with glory. Create in me * a clean heart, O God
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. Create in me * a clean heart, O God
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
Almighty God,you hate nothing that you have made,
and forgive the sins of all who are penitent:
create in us a clean and contrite heart;
that, in lamenting our sinfulness,
we may receive from you, the God of all mercy,
forgiveness and perfect peace;
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.
