Morning Prayer: Saturday 31 March 2018

Saturday 31 March 2018

Holy Saturday (Easter Eve)
The Suffering Christ

Holy Week - Week of Lent 6

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: I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart,* and glorify your name for evermore. (Ps. 86.12)

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... (may be said by all)


Glory to the Father
or a suitable Hymn
(Or from 86)

1 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord,*
nor anything like your works.
2 All nations you have made will come and worship you, O Lord,*
and glorify your name.
3 For you are great; you do wondrous things;*
and you alone are God.
4 Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth;*
knit my heart to you that I may fear your name.

Glory to the Father...
or a suitable hymn

Psalm 119
Ayin

121 I have done what is just and right;*
do not deliver me to my oppressors.

122 Be surety for your servant's good;*
let not the proud oppress me.

123 My eyes have failed from watching for your salvation*
and for your righteous promise.

124 Deal with your servant according to your loving-kindness*
and teach me your statutes.

125 I am your servant; grant me understanding,*
that I may know your decrees.
126 It is time for you to act, O Lord,*
for they have broken your law.

127 Truly, I love your commandments*
more than gold and precious stones.

128 I hold all your commandments to be right for me;*
all paths of falsehood I abhor.

Pe

129 Your decrees are wonderful;*
therefore I obey them with all my heart.

130 When your word goes forth it gives light;*
it gives understanding to the simple.

131 I open my mouth and pant;*
I long for your commandments.

132 Turn to me in mercy,*
as you always do to those who love your name.

133 Steady my footsteps in your word;*
let no iniquity have dominion over me.

134 Rescue me from those who oppress me,*
and I will keep your commandments.

135 Let your countenance shine upon your servant*
and teach me your statutes.

136 My eyes shed streams of tears,*
because people do not keep your law.
Sadhe

137 You are righteous, O Lord,*
and upright are your judgements.

138 You have issued your decrees*
with justice and in perfect faithfulness.

139 My indignation has consumed me,*
because my enemies forget your words.

140 Your word has been tested to the uttermost,*
and your servant holds it dear.

141 I am small and of little account,*
yet I do not forget your commandments.

142 Your justice is an everlasting justice*
and your law is the truth.

143 Trouble and distress have come upon me,*
yet your commandments are my delight.

144 The righteousness of your decrees is everlasting;*
grant me understanding, that I may live.

Glory to the Father...

Lord, you are just and your commandments are eternal. Teach us to love you with all our heart and to love our neighbour as ourselves, for the sake of Jesus our Lord.



Conclusion

Isaiah 42

Behold my servant, whom I uphold*
my chosen, in whom
my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him*
he will bring forth justice to the nations:
He will not cry nor lift up his voice*
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break*
a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice*
he will not fail nor be discouraged,
till he has established justice in the earth*
and the coastlands wait for his law.

Glory to the Father...

I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and glorify your name for evermore.


READING(S)

Lamentations 3.37-58

Who can command and have it done,
if the Lord has not ordained it?
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?
Why should any who draw breath complain
about the punishment of their sins?


Let us test and examine our ways,
and return to the Lord.
Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands
to God in heaven.
We have transgressed and rebelled,
and you have not forgiven.


You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
killing without pity;
you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
You have made us filth and rubbish
among the peoples.


All our enemies
have opened their mouths against us;
panic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and destruction.
My eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of my people.


My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,
until the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees.
My eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the young women in my city.


Those who were my enemies without cause
have hunted me like a bird;
they flung me alive into a pit
and hurled stones on me;
water closed over my head;
I said, ‘I am lost.’


I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;
you heard my plea, ‘Do not close your ear
to my cry for help, but give me relief!’
You came near when I called on you;
you said, ‘Do not fear!’


You have taken up my cause, O Lord,
you have redeemed my life.



Hebrews 4.1-16

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For indeed the good news came to us just as to them; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,
‘As in my anger I swore,
“They shall not enter my rest” ’,
though his works were finished at the foundation of the world. For in one place it speaks about the seventh day as follows: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.’ And again in this place it says, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’ Since therefore it remains open for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he sets a certain day—‘today’—saying through David much later, in the words already quoted,
‘Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.’
For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not speak later about another day. So then, a sabbath rest still remains for the people of God;for those who enter God’s rest also cease from their labours as God did from his. Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such disobedience as theirs.

Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.

Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.


Silence

Response Psalm (Ps. 119.123)

My eyes have failed from watching for your salvation.
My eyes have failed from watching for your salvation.
And for your righteous promise.
For your salvation.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
My eyes have failed from watching for your salvation.


BENEDICTUS

Benedictus antiphon:

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:

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,
creator of heaven and earth:
as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb,
and rested on this holy Sabbath;
so may we await with him
the coming of the third day,
and rise with him to newness of life;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who now 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.