Morning Prayer: Saturday 20 May 2023

Saturday 20 May 2023

Saturday after Sixth Sunday After Easter
New Life: the Spirit

Week 6 of Easter

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: Exalt yourself above the heavens, O God and your glory over all the earth. Psalm 57.11

Opening

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 to the Father
or a suitable Hymn
(Or from Psalm 57)

1 My heart is firmly fixed, O God, my heart is fixed;*
I will sing and make melody.
2 Wake up, my spirit; awake, lute and harp:*
I myself will waken the dawn.
3 I will confess you among the peoples, O Lord;*
I will sing praise to you among the nations.
4 For your loving-kindness is greater than the heavens,*
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

Glory to the Father...
or a suitable hymn

Psalm 147
1 Hallelujah!
How good it is to sing praises to our God!*
how pleasant it is to honour him with praise!

2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem;*
he gathers the exiles of Israel.

3 He heals the brokenhearted*
and binds up their wounds.

4 He counts the number of the stars*
and calls them all by their names.

5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power;*
there is no limit to his wisdom.

6 The Lord lifts up the lowly,*
but casts the wicked to the ground.

7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;*
make music to our God upon the harp.

8 He covers the heavens with clouds*
and prepares rain for the earth;

9 He makes grass to grow upon the mountains*
and green plants to serve mankind.

10 He provides food for flocks and herds*
and for the young ravens when they cry.

11 He is not impressed by the might of a horse,*
he has no pleasure in the strength of a man;

12 But the Lord has pleasure in those who fear him,*
in those who await his gracious favour.

13 Worship the Lord, O Jerusalem;*
praise your God, O Zion;

14 For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;*
he has blessed your children within you.

15 He has established peace on your borders;*
he satisfies you with the finest wheat.

16 He sends out his command to the earth,*
and his word runs very swiftly.

17 He gives snow like wool;*
he scatters hoarfrost like ashes.

18 He scatters his hail like bread crumbs;*
who can stand against his cold?

19 He sends forth his word and melts them;*
he blows with his wind, and the waters flow.

20 He declares his word to Jacob,*
his statutes and his judgements to Israel.

21 He has not done so to any other nation;*
to them he has not revealed his judgements.
Hallelujah!

Glory to the Father...

God of the universe, Lord of life, give us grace to see you in all your works, in all creatures, all people, and in our hearts, that we may faithfully serve you and worthily praise your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Conclusion

Isaiah 61/Luke 4

1 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,*
because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor,
2 and has sent me to proclaim release to the captives;*
recovery of sight to the blind;
3 to set at liberty those who are oppressed;*
to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
4 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;*
my soul shall exult in my God;
5 who has clothed me with the garment of salvation,*
and covered me with the robe of righteousness.
6 For as the earth brings forth its shoots,*
so the Lord will cause righteousness to spring forth before all nations.

Glory to the Father...

Antiphon: Exalt yourself above the heavens, O God, and your glory over all the earth.

READING(S)

Ezekiel 3.4-17

He said to me: Mortal, go to the house of Israel and speak my very words to them. For you are not sent to a people of obscure speech and difficult language, but to the house of Israel— not to many peoples of obscure speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you. But the house of Israel will not listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me; because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. See, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. Like the hardest stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not fear them or be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. He said to me: Mortal, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart and hear with your ears; then go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them. Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God’; whether they hear or refuse to hear. Then the spirit lifted me up, and as the glory of the Lord rose from its place, I heard behind me the sound of loud rumbling; it was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, that sounded like a loud rumbling. The spirit lifted me up and bore me away; I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong upon me. I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who lived by the river Chebar. And I sat there among them, stunned, for seven days. At the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, I have made you a sentinel for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.

Hebrews 5.7-14

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. About this we have much to say that is hard to explain, since you have become dull in understanding. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic elements of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food; for everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is unskilled in the word of righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.

Silence

Response Psalm (105.1)

Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his name, alleluia, alleluia.
Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his name, alleluia, alleluia.
Make known his deeds among the peoples,
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.

BENEDICTUS

Benedictus antiphon: I will not leave you desolate, says the Lord; I will come to you; alleluia. John 14.18

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... (may be said by all)

Benedictus antiphon: I will not leave you desolate, says the Lord; I will come to you; alleluia. John 14.18

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, from whom all good things arise:
grant such grace to those who call on you,
that, by your inspiration,
we may ponder those things that are right,
and, by your guidance, do them;
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.