Morning Prayer: Thursday 8 May 2025
This is the new revised order for Daily Prayer authorised for experimental use. You can find the 2006 Revised version here.
Julian of Norwich, c 1417
Easter
Week 3 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
and are so far from my cry and from the words of my
distress?
2. O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not
answer;*
by night as well, but I find no rest.
3. Yet you are the Holy One, *
enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
4. Our ancestors put their trust in you; *
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5. They cried out to you and were delivered; *
they trusted in you and were not put to shame.
6. But as for me, I am a worm and not human, *
scorned by all and despised by the people.
7. All who see me laugh me to scorn; *
they curl their lips and wag their heads, saying,
8. “You trusted in the Lord; let the Lord deliver you; *
let God rescue you, if God delights in you.”
9. Yet you are the one who took me out of the womb, *
and kept me safe upon my mother’s breast.
10. I have been entrusted to you ever since I was born; *
you were my God when I was still in my mother’s
womb.
11. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, *
and there is none to help.
12. Many young bulls encircle me; *
strong bulls of Bashan surround me.
13. They open wide their jaws at me, *
like a ravening and a roaring lion.
14. I am poured out like water; all my bones are out of
joint; *
my heart within my breast is melting wax.
15. My mouth is dried out like a potsherd; my tongue sticks
to the roof of my mouth; *
and you have laid me in the dust of the grave.
16. Packs of dogs close me in and gangs of evildoers circle
around me; *
they pierce my hands and my feet.
17. I can count all my bones *
while they stare and gloat over me.
18. They divide my garments among them; *
they cast lots for my clothing.
19. Be not far away, O Lord; *
you are my strength; hasten to help me.
20. Save me from the sword, *my life from the power of the dog.
21. Save me from the lion’s mouth, *
my wretched body from the horns of wild bulls.
22. I will declare your name to my kindred; *
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.
23. Praise the Lord, you that fear God; *
stand in awe of God, O offspring of Israel; all you of
Jacob’s line, give glory.
24. For God does not despise nor abhor the poor in their
poverty; neither turns away from them; *
when they cry to the Lord, they are heard.
25. My praise is of God in the great assembly; *
I will perform my vows in the presence of those who
worship the Lord.
26. The poor shall eat and be satisfied, and those who seek
the Lord shall give praise: *
“May your heart live for ever!”
27. All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to
the Lord, *
and all the families of the nations shall bow before God.
28. For sovereignty belongs to the Lord, *
who rules over the nations.
29. To God alone all who sleep in the earth bow down in
worship; *
all who go down to the dust fall before God
30. My soul shall live for God; my descendants shall serve
God; *
they shall be known as the Lord’s for ever.
31. They shall come and make known to a people yet
unborn *
the saving deeds that God has done.
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)
Daniel 5.13-31
Then Daniel answered in the presence of the king, ‘Let your gifts be for yourself, or give your rewards to someone else! Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and let him know the interpretation. O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar kingship, greatness, glory, and majesty. And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. He killed those he wanted to kill, kept alive those he wanted to keep alive, honoured those he wanted to honour, and degraded those he wanted to degrade. But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he acted proudly, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and his glory was stripped from him. He was driven from human society, and his mind was made like that of an animal. His dwelling was with the wild asses, he was fed grass like oxen, and his body was bathed with the dew of heaven, until he learned that the Most High God has sovereignty over the kingdom of mortals, and sets over it whomsoever he will. And you, Belshazzar his son, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this! You have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven! The vessels of his temple have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them. You have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know; but the God in whose power is your very breath, and to whom belong all your ways, you have not honoured.
‘So from his presence the hand was sent and this writing was inscribed. And this is the writing that was inscribed: mene, mene, tekel, and parsin. This is the interpretation of the matter: mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; tekel, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.’
Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed in purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made concerning him that he should rank third in the kingdom.
That very night Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.
1 Letter of John 5.13-20
And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him. If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one—to those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal.
We know that those who are born of God do not sin, but the one who was born of God protects them, and the evil one does not touch them. We know that we are God’s children, and that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
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 good shepherd,* * 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 good shepherd,* * 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, in the death and resurrection of your Son,have raised up this fallen world:
may we and all your people,
whom you have saved from the gates of everlasting death,
rejoice in your eternal presence;
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.
