Morning Prayer: Tuesday 23 December 2025
This is the new revised order for Daily Prayer authorised for experimental use. You can find the 2006 Revised version here.
Week 4 of Advent
Advent
Week 4 of Advent
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: Show your servants your works and your splendour to their children. (Psalm 90.16)
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 90)
1. Lord, you have been our refuge *
from one generation to another
2. Before the mountains were brought forth, or the land
and the earth were born,*
from age to age you are God.
3. Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning;
so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.
4. Make us glad by the measure of the days that you afflicted
us *
and the years in which we suffered adversity
Glory ...
or a suitable hymn
their labour is in vain who build it.
2. Unless the Lord watches over the city, * in vain the sentinels keep their vigil.
It is in vain that we rise so early and go to bed so late; *vain, too, to eat the bread of toil, for you, O Lord, give to your beloved sleep.
3. Children are a heritage from the Lord, *
and the fruit of the womb is a gift.
4. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior *
are the children of one’s youth.
5. Happy are they whose quiver is full of them! *
They shall not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.
Glory ...
Psalm 128
1. Happy are they all who fear the Lord, *
and who follow in the ways of God!
2. You shall eat the fruit of your labour; *
happiness and prosperity shall be yours.
3. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house, *
your children like olive shoots round about your table.
4. The one who fears the Lord *
shall thus indeed be blessed.
5. The Lord bless you from Zion, *
and may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
6. May you live to see your children’s children; *
may peace be upon Israel.
Conclusion
Isaiah 2.2-5
1. In days to come, the mountain where the Lord dwells*
will be lifted high above all the mountains and raised above the hills.
2. All the nations will flock to it;*
countless peoples will come to it.
3. And they will say, Come let us go to the mountain of the Lord,*
to the temple of the God of Jacob,
4. who will teach us his ways,*
and we will walk in his paths;
5 who will sit in judgement over the nations;*
be arbiter among many peoples.
6. They will beat their swords into ploughshares,*
and their spears into sickles;
7. nation shall not lift up sword against nation,*
nor ever again prepare for war.
8. people of Jacob come,*
let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Glory ...
Show your servants your works and your splendour to their children.
READING(S)
Baruch 4.21-29
and he will deliver you from the power and hand of the enemy.
For I have put my hope in the Everlasting to save you,
and joy has come to me from the Holy One,
because of the mercy that will soon come to you
from your everlasting saviour.
For I sent you out with sorrow and weeping,
but God will give you back to me with joy and gladness for ever.
For as the neighbours of Zion have now seen your capture,
so they soon will see your salvation by God,
which will come to you with great glory
and with the splendour of the Everlasting.
My children, endure with patience the wrath that has come upon you from God.
Your enemy has overtaken you,
but you will soon see their destruction
and will tread upon their necks.
My pampered children have travelled rough roads;
they were taken away like a flock carried off by the enemy.
Take courage, my children, and cry to God,
for you will be remembered by the one who brought this upon you.
For just as you were disposed to go astray from God,
return with tenfold zeal to seek him.
For the one who brought these calamities upon you
will bring you everlasting joy with your salvation.
Galatians 3.15-22
Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring would come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained through angels by a mediator. Now a mediator involves more than one party; but God is one.
Is the law then opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could make alive, then righteousness would indeed come through the law. But the scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin, so that what was promised through faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
Silence
Response ((Psalm 96.10))
Tell it out among the nations: ‘The Lord reigns!’
Tell it out among the nations: ‘The Lord reigns!’
The Lord will judge the peoples with equity.
‘The Lord reigns.’
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
Tell it out among the nations: ‘The Lord reigns!’
SONG OF ZECHARIAH
Song of Zechariah Antiphon: You will guide us with your counsel, O God: * and, after, receive us with glory. A virgin shall conceive and bear a son* * and his name shall be called Emmanuel: God with 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.
Song of Zechariah Antiphon: You will guide us with your counsel, O God: * and, after, receive us with glory. A virgin shall conceive and bear a son* * and his name shall be called Emmanuel: God with 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 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
Stir up your power, Lord, and come:and strengthen us by the might of your love;
that, although we are hindered by our sins,
your abundant grace and mercy may quickly come and save us;
for you live and reign with the Father,
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.
