Morning Prayer: Wednesday 4 March 2026

Wednesday 4 March 2026

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

Adrian of May Island, Abbot, and Companions, Martyrs, 875
Lent

Week 2 of Lent

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: O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you. Psalm 63.1

Opening

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

Psalm 10
1. Why do you stand so far off, O Lord, * and hide yourself in time of trouble?
2. The wicked arrogantly persecute the poor, *
but they are trapped in the schemes they have devised.
3. The wicked boast of their heart’s desire; * the covetous curse and revile the Lord.
4. The wicked are so proud that they care not for God; * their only thought is, “God does not matter.”
5. Their ways are devious at all times; your judgements are far above out of their sight; *
they defy all their enemies.
6. They say in their heart, “I shall not be shaken; * no harm shall happen to me ever.”
7. Their mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression;* under their tongue are mischief and wrong.
8. They lurk in ambush in public squares and in secret places they murder the innocent; *
they spy out the helpless.
9. They lie in wait, like a lion in a covert; they lie in wait to seize upon the lowly; *
they seize the lowly and drag them away in their net.
10. The innocent are broken and humbled before them; * the helpless fall before their power. 
11. They say in their heart, “God has forgotten, * turned aside and will never notice.”
12. Rise up, O Lord; lift up your hand, O God; * do not forget the afflicted.
13. Why should the wicked revile you? *
Why should they say in their heart, “You do not care”?
14. Surely, you behold trouble and misery; you see it and take it into your own hand. *
The helpless commit themselves to you, for you are the helper of orphans.
15. Break the power of the wicked and evil; * search out their wickedness until you find none.
16. You are sovereign for ever and ever; * the ungodly shall perish from your land.
17. You will hear the desire of the humble; *
you will strengthen their heart and your ears shall hear;
18. to give justice to the orphan and oppressed, * so that mere mortals may strike terror no more

Glory ...


Conclusion

Song of the Word of God Isaiah 55. 6-11

1. Seek the Lord while the Lord may be found,
call upon God who is near;
2. Let the wicked abandon their ways,*
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
3. Return to the Lord, who will have mercy;*
to our God, who will richly pardon.
4. ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts,*
neither are your ways my ways’, says the Lord.
5. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth,*
as the rain and the snow come down from above,*
and return not again but water the earth,
6. ‘Bringing forth life and giving growth,*
seed for sowing and bread to eat,
7. ‘So is my word that goes forth from my mouth;*
it will not return to me fruitless,
8. ‘But it will accomplish that which I purpose,*
and succeed in the task I gave it.’

Glory ...

Antiphon: O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you.

READING(S)

Genesis 42.18-28

On the third day Joseph said to them, ‘Do this and you will live, for I fear God: if you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here where you are imprisoned. The rest of you shall go and carry grain for the famine of your households, and bring your youngest brother to me. Thus your words will be verified, and you shall not die.’ And they agreed to do so. They said to one another, ‘Alas, we are paying the penalty for what we did to our brother; we saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this anguish has come upon us.’ Then Reuben answered them, ‘Did I not tell you not to wrong the boy? But you would not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.’ They did not know that Joseph understood them, since he spoke with them through an interpreter. He turned away from them and wept; then he returned and spoke to them. And he picked out Simeon and had him bound before their eyes. Joseph then gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return every man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This was done for them.

They loaded their donkeys with their grain, and departed. When one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging-place, he saw his money at the top of the sack. He said to his brothers, ‘My money has been put back; here it is in my sack!’ At this they lost heart and turned trembling to one another, saying, ‘What is this that God has done to us?’

1 Corinthians 5.9-6.8

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral persons— not at all meaning the immoral of this world, or the greedy and robbers, or idolaters, since you would then need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother or sister who is sexually immoral or greedy, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or robber. Do not even eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging those outside? Is it not those who are inside that you are to judge? God will judge those outside. ‘Drive out the wicked person from among you.’

When any of you has a grievance against another, do you dare to take it to court before the unrighteous, instead of taking it before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels—to say nothing of ordinary matters? If you have ordinary cases, then, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to decide between one believer and another, but a believer goes to court against a believer—and before unbelievers at that?

In fact, to have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud—and believers at that.

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: If you hear God’s voice, * harden not your hearts.

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: If you hear God’s voice, * harden not your hearts.

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,
you see that we lack the strength to help ourselves:
protect us both inwardly and outwardly;
that our bodies may be guarded from adversity,
and our minds may be defended from such thoughts
as assault and harm the soul;
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.