Morning Prayer: Wednesday 17 December 2025

Wednesday 17 December 2025

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

Week 3 of Advent
Advent

Week 3 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

Psalm 118
1. Give thanks to the Lord who is good; *
the mercy of the Lord endures for ever.
2. Let Israel now proclaim, *
”The mercy of the Lord endures for ever.”
3. Let the house of Aaron now proclaim, *
” The mercy of the Lord endures for ever.”
4. Let those who fear the Lord now proclaim, *
” The mercy of the Lord endures for ever.”
5. I called to the Lord in my distress; *
who answered by setting me free.
6. The Lord is at my side, therefore I will not fear; *
what can anyone do to me?
7. The Lord is at my side to help me; *
I will triumph over those who hate me.
8. It is better to rely on the Lord *
than to put any trust in flesh.
9. It is better to rely on the Lord *
than to put any trust in rulers.
10. All the ungodly encompass me; *
in the name of the Lord I will repel them.
11. They hem me in, they hem me in on every side; *
in the name of the Lord I will repel them.
12. They swarm about me like bees; they blaze like a fire of thorns; *
in the name of the Lord I will repel them.
13. I was pressed so hard that I almost fell, *
but the Lord came to my help.
14. The Lord is my strength and my song, *
and has become my salvation.
15. There is a sound of exultation and victory *
in the tents of the righteous:
16. ”The mighty hand of the Lord has triumphed! *
the mighty hand of the Lord is exalted! the mighty hand of the Lord has triumphed!”
17. I shall not die, but live, *
and declare the works of the Lord.
18. The Lord has punished me sorely, *
but did not hand me over to death.
19. Open for me the gates of righteousness; *
I will enter them; I will offer thanks to the Lord.
20. ”This is the gate of the Lord; *
those who are righteous may enter.”
21. I will give thanks to the Lord who answered me *
and has become my salvation.
22. The same stone which the builders rejected *
has become the chief cornerstone.
23. This is the Lord’s doing, *
and it is marvellous in our eyes.
24. On this day the Lord has acted; *
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25. Hosannah, Lord, hosannah! *
Lord, send us now success.
26. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord; *
we bless you from the house of the Lord.
27. God is the Lord and has shined upon us; *
form a procession with branches up to the horns of the altar.
28. ”You are my God, and I will thank you; *
you are my God, and I will exalt you.”
29. Give thanks to the Lord who is good; *
the mercy of the Lord endures for ever.

Glory ...


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)

Zechariah 3.1-10

Then he showed me the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, ‘The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this man a brand plucked from the fire?’ Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, ‘Take off his filthy clothes.’ And to him he said, ‘See, I have taken your guilt away from you, and I will clothe you in festal apparel.’ And I said, ‘Let them put a clean turban on his head.’ So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him in the apparel; and the angel of the Lord was standing by.

Then the angel of the Lord assured Joshua, saying ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. Now listen, Joshua, high priest, you and your colleagues who sit before you! For they are an omen of things to come: I am going to bring my servant the Branch. For on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven facets, I will engrave its inscription, says the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the guilt of this land in a single day. On that day, says the Lord of hosts, you shall invite each other to come under your vine and fig tree.’

Revelation 4.1-8

After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’ At once I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! And the one seated there looks like jasper and cornelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald. Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads. Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God; and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal.

Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing,
‘Holy, holy, holy,
the Lord God the Almighty,
who was and is and is to come.’

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: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,* * because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted.

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: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,* * because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted.

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 our prayers, Lord, and hear us:
that they who are sorrowful and suffering
may rejoice at the Advent of your only-begotten Son;
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.