Morning Prayer
Thursay after Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Week of Proper 4
O Lord, open our lips:
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever.
Amen.
Psalmody
Antiphon: Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness; make your way straight before me. Psalm 5.8
Opening
Venite
1 O come let us sing out to the Lord,*
let us shout in triumph to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his face with thanksgiving*
and cry out to him joyfully in psalms.
3 For the Lord is a great God,*
and a great king above all gods.
4 In his hands are the depths of the earth,*
and the peaks of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his and he made it;*
his hands moulded dry land.
6 Come let us worship and bow down,*
and kneel before the Lord our maker.
7 For he himself is our God;*
we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
8 Today if only you would hear his voice:*
‘Do not harden your hearts as Israel did in the wilderness;
9 when your fathers tested me;*
put me to proof though they had seen my works.
10 Of whom I swore in my wrath:*
“They shall not enter my rest.”’
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.
or a suitable Hymn
(Or from Psalm 5)
1 In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;*
early in the morning I make my appeal and watch for you.
2 Through the greatness of your mercy I will go into your house;*
I will bow down toward your holy temple in awe of you.
3 All who take refuge in you will be glad;*
they will sing out their joy for ever.
4 You will shelter them,*
so that those who love your name may exult in you.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.
or a suitable hymn
Psalm 78.40-54
40 How often the people disobeyed him in the wilderness*
and offended him in the desert!
41 Again and again they tempted God*
and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his power*
in the day when he ransomed them from the enemy;
43 How he wrought his signs in Egypt*
and his omens in the field of Zoan.
44 He turned their rivers into blood,*
so that they could not drink of their streams.
45 He sent swarms of flies among them, which ate them up,*
and frogs, which destroyed them.
46 He gave their crops to the caterpillar,*
the fruit of their toil to the locust.
47 He killed their vines with hail*
and their sycamores with frost.
48 He delivered their cattle to hailstones*
and their livestock to hot thunderbolts.
49 He poured out upon them his blazing anger:*
fury, indignation, and distress,
a troop of destroying angels.
50 He gave full rein to his anger;
he did not spare their souls from death;*
but delivered their lives to the plague.
51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,*
the flower of manhood in the dwellings of Ham.
52 He led out his people like sheep*
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 He led them to safety, and they were not afraid;*
but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 He brought them to his holy land,*
the mountain his right hand had won.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.
God of pilgrims, strengthen our faith, we pray. Guide us through the uncertainties of our journey, and hold before us the vision of your eternal kingdom, made known to us in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Conclusion
Isaiah 66
1 Rejoice with Jerusalem and exult in her,*
all you who love her.
2 Share her joy with all your heart,*
all you who mourn over her.
3 Then you may suck and be fed from her breasts,*
delighting in her plentiful milk.
4 For thus says the Lord, I will send peace flowing over her like a river,*
and the wealth of nations like a stream in flood;
5 you shall be carried in her arms,*
and rocked upon her knees.
6 As a mother comforts her child,*
so will I myself comfort you, and you shall find strength in Jerusalem.
7 This you shall see and be glad at heart;*
your limbs shall be as the fresh grass in spring.
8 Then I myself will gather all nations;*
and they shall come and behold my glory.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.
Antiphon: Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness; make your way straight before me.
Reading(s)
Genesis 23.1-20
Sarah lived for one hundred and twenty-seven years; this was the length of Sarah’s life. And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. Abraham rose up from beside his dead, and said to the Hittites, ‘I am a stranger and an alien residing among you; give me property among you for a burying-place, so that I may bury my dead out of my sight.’ The Hittites answered Abraham, ‘Hear us, my lord; you are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places; none of us will withhold from you any burial ground for burying your dead.’ Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. He said to them, ‘If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me Ephron son of Zohar, so that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as a possession for a burying-place.’ Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city, ‘No, my lord, hear me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it; in the presence of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.’ Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. He said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, ‘If you only will listen to me! I will give the price of the field; accept it from me, so that I may bury my dead there.’ Ephron answered Abraham, ‘My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver—what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.’ Abraham agreed with Ephron; and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, passed to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, in the presence of all who went in at the gate of his city. After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah facing Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. The field and the cave that is in it passed from the Hittites into Abraham’s possession as a burying-place.
Hebrews 11.32-12.2
And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, without us, be made perfect.Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
Silence
Response Psalm (Psalm 33.18)
The eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him.
The eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him.
On those who wait upon his love.
On those who fear him.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
The eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him.
Benedictus
Benedictus antiphon: God has come to us and set us free.
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 to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.
(may be said by all)
Benedictus antiphon: God has come to us and set us free.
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,
through our human frailty,
we cannot stand firm:
give us strength and protection,
that, with your help,
we may overcome all difficulties;
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.
Evening Prayer
Thursay after Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Week of Proper 4
O God, make speed to save us;
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;* as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever.
Amen.
Psalmody
Antiphon: As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God.
Opening (from Psalm 119)
1 Your faithfulness remains from one generation to another;*
you established the earth, and it abides.
2 By your decree these continue to this day,*
for all things are your servants.
3 I will never forget your commandments,*
because by them you give me life.
4 I see that all things come to an end,*
but your commandment has no bounds.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.
or a suitable Hymn
Psalm 78.55-72
55 He drove out the Canaanites before them
and apportioned an inheritance to them by lot;*
he made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
56 But they tested the Most High God, and defied him,*
and did not keep his commandments.
57 They turned away and were disloyal like their fathers;*
they were undependable like a warped bow.
58 They grieved him with their hill-altars*
and provoked his displeasure with their idols.
59 When God heard this, he was angry*
and utterly rejected Israel.
60 He forsook the shrine at Shiloh,*
the tabernacle where he had lived among his people.
61 He delivered the ark into captivity,*
his glory into the adversary's hand.
62 He gave his people to the sword*
and was angered against his inheritance.
63 The fire consumed their young men;*
there were no wedding songs for their maidens.
64 Their priests fell by the sword,*
and their widows made no lamentation.
65 Then the Lord woke as though from sleep,*
like a warrior refreshed with wine.
66 He struck his enemies on the backside*
and put them to perpetual shame.
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph*
and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;
68 He chose instead the tribe of Judah*
and Mount Zion, which he loved.
69 He built his sanctuary like the heights of heaven,*
like the earth which he founded for ever.
70 He chose David his servant,*
and took him away from the sheepfolds.
71 He brought him from following the ewes,*
to be a shepherd over Jacob his people
and over Israel his inheritance.
72 So he shepherded them with a faithful and true heart*
and guided them with the skilfulness of his hands.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.
God of pilgrims, strengthen our faith, we pray. Guide us through the uncertainties of our journey, and hold before us the vision of your eternal kingdom, made known to us in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Conclusion
Revelation 5 and 15
1 Great and wonderful are your deeds, Lord God the Almighty;*
just and true are your ways, O King of the ages!
2 Who shall not revere and praise your name, O Lord?*
for you alone are holy.
3 All nations shall come and worship in your presence,*
for your just dealings have been revealed.
4 To God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb*
be praise and honour, glory and might, for ever and ever. Amen.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.
Antiphon: As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God.
Reading(s)
John 6.60-71
When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’ But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, ‘Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, ‘For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.’Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, ‘Do you also wish to go away?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not choose you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.’ He was speaking of Judas son of Simon Iscariot, for he, though one of the twelve, was going to betray him.
Silence
Response Psalm Psalm 119.89
Lord, your word is everlasting.
Lord, your word is everlasting.
It stands firm in the heavens.
Your word is everlasting.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Lord, your word is everlasting.
Magnificat
Magnificat Antiphon: Show, O Lord, the strength of your arm; scatter the proud and exalt the lowly.
1 My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
*my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour;
2 for he has looked with favour on his lowly servant;*
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
3 The Almighty has done great things for me*
and holy is his name.
4 He has mercy on those who fear him*
in every generation.
5 He has shown the strength of his arm;*
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
6 He has cast down the mighty from their thrones*
and has lifted up the lowly.
7 He has filled the hungry with good things,*
and the rich he has sent away empty.
8 He has come to the help of his servant Israel,*
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
9 the promise he made to our forebears,*
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.
(may be said by all)
Magnificat Antiphon: Show, O Lord, the strength of your arm; scatter the proud and exalt the lowly.
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,
through our human frailty,
we cannot stand firm:
give us strength and protection,
that, with your help,
we may overcome all difficulties;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.
Lord God almighty, come and dispel the darkness from our hearts, that in the radiance of your brightness we may know you, the only unfading light, glorious in all eternity.
Amen.
Let us bless the Lord:
Thanks be to God!
The God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing:
through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Night Prayer
Thursay after Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Week of Proper 4
The Lord Almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end.
Amen.
O God, make speed to save us;
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.
Alleluia!
Psalmody
Antiphon: My body shall rest in hope.
Psalm 16
1 Protect me, O God, for I take refuge in you;*_x000D_ I have said to the Lord, 'You are my Lord,_x000D_ my good above all other.'_x000D_2 All my delight is upon the godly that are in the land,*_x000D_ upon those who are noble among the people._x000D_3 But those who run after other gods*_x000D_ shall have their troubles multiplied._x000D_4 Their libations of blood I will not offer,*_x000D_ nor take the names of their gods upon my lips._x000D_5 O Lord, you are my portion and my cup;*_x000D_ it is you who uphold my lot._x000D_6 My boundaries enclose a pleasant land;*_x000D_ indeed, I have a goodly heritage._x000D_7 I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel;*_x000D_ my heart teaches me, night after night._x000D_8 I have set the Lord always before me;*_x000D_ because he is at my right hand I shall not fall._x000D_9 My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices;*_x000D_ my body also shall rest in hope._x000D_10 For you will not abandon me to the grave,*_x000D_ nor let your holy one see the Pit._x000D_11 You will show me the path of life;*_x000D_ in your presence there is fullness of joy,_x000D_ and in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.
Antiphon: My body shall rest in hope.
Reading(s)
1 Peter 5.6,7
Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that in due time he may exalt you. Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you.
Thanks be to God.
Silence
Response (Psalm 31.5)
Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
For you have redeemed me, Lord God of truth.
I commend my spirit.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Nunc Dimittis
Antiphon: Preserve us, O Lord,* while waking, and guard us while sleeping, that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.
Now, Lord, you let your servant go in peace;* your word has been fulfilled. My own eyes have seen the salvation* which you have prepared in the sight of every people; A light to reveal you to the nations,* and the glory of your people Israel.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.
Antiphon: Preserve us, O Lord, while waking, and guard us while sleeping, that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.
Prayers
Collect
O God,
through our human frailty,
we cannot stand firm:
give us strength and protection,
that, with your help,
we may overcome all difficulties;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.
Conclusion
The Lord be with you;
and also with you.
Let us bless the Lord;
Thanks be to God.
May the almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit, bless and keep us.
Amen.
or
Bless the Lord, the God of our fathers;
Sing his praise and exalt him for ever.
Bless the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit;
Sing his praise and exalt him for ever.
The almighty and most merciful Lord
guard us and give us his blessing.
Amen.