Morning Prayer

STAND

Invitatory

Leader: Lord, + open my lips.
All: And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Leader: Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.

Psalm 95
A call to praise God

Encourage each other daily while it is still today (Hebrews 3:13).

Leader: Come, let us sing to the Lord 
All: and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us.
Let us approach him with praise and thanksgiving 
  and sing joyful songs to the Lord.

All: Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.

All: The Lord is God, the mighty God, 
  the great king over all the gods.
He holds in his hands the depths of the earth 
  and the highest mountains as well.
He made the sea; it belongs to him, 
  the dry land, too, for it was formed by his hands.

All: Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.
Or: Today if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts.

All: Come, then, let us bow down and worship, 
  bending the knee before the Lord, our maker.
For he is our God and we are his people, 
  the flock he shepherds.

All: Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.

All: Today, listen to the voice of the Lord: 
Do not grow stubborn, as your fathers did
  in the wilderness, 
when at Meriba and Massah
  they challenged me and provoked me, 
Although they had seen all of my works.

All: Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.

All: Forty years I endured that generation. 
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray
  and they do not know my ways.”
So I swore in my anger, 
  “They shall not enter into my rest.”

All: Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.

All: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, 
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, 
and will be for ever. Amen.

All: Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.

Hymn

The glory of these forty days
We celebrate with songs of praise;
For Christ, by whom all things were made,
Himself has fasted and has prayed.

Alone and fasting Moses saw
The loving God who gave the law;
And to Elijah, fasting, came
The steeds and chariots of flame.

So Daniel trained his mystic sight,
Deliver’d from the lions’ might;
And John, the Bridegroom’s friend, became
The herald of Messiah’s name.

Then grant us, Lord, like them to do
Such things as bring great praise to you;
Our spirits strengthen with your grace
And give us joy to see your face.

O Father, Son, and Spirit blest,
To you be every prayer addressed
And by all mankind be adored,
From age to age, the only Lord.

Tune: Erhalt’ uns, Herr L.M.
Music: J. Klug’s Geistliche Lieder, 1547
Text: Latin, sixth century
Translation: Maurice F. Bell, 1906, alt.

SIT

Psalmody

Leader: Each morning, Lord, you fill us with your kindness.

Psalm 90
May we live in the radiance of God

There is no time with God: a thousand years, a single day, it is all one (2 Peter 3:8).

Leader: O Lord, you have been our refuge 
Side 1: from one generation to the next.
Before the mountains were born 
or the earth or the world brought forth, 
you are God, without beginning or end.

Side 2: You turn men back to dust 
and say: “Go back, sons of men.
To your eyes a thousand years 
are like yesterday, come and gone, 
no more than a watch in the night.

Side 1: You sweep men away like a dream, 
like the grass which springs up in the morning.
In the morning it springs up and flowers: 
by evening it withers and fades.

Side 2: So we are destroyed in your anger, 
struck with terror in your fury.
Our guilt lies open before you; 
our secrets in the light of your face.

Side 1: All our days pass away in your anger. 
Our life is over like a sigh.
Our span is seventy years 
or eighty for those who are strong.

Side 2: And most of these are emptiness and pain. 
They pass swiftly and we are gone.
Who understands the power of your anger 
and fears the strength of your fury?

Side 1: Make us know the shortness of our life 
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Lord, relent! Is your anger for ever? 
Show pity to your servants.

Side 2: In the morning, fill us with your love; 
we shall exult and rejoice all our days.
Give us joy to balance our affliction 
for the years when we knew misfortune.

Side 1: Show forth your work to your servants; 
let your glory shine on their children.
Let the favor of the Lord be upon us: 
give success to the work of our hands, 
give success to the work of our hands.

Side 2: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, 
and to the Holy Spirit:
All: as it was in the beginning, is now, 
and will be for ever. Amen.

Leader: Each morning, Lord, you fill us with your kindness.

Leader: From the farthest bounds of earth, may God be praised!

Canticle: Isaiah 42:10-16
God, victor and savior

They were singing a new hymn before the throne of God (Revelation 14:3).

Leader: Sing to the Lord a new song, 
Side 1: his praise from the end of the earth:

Side 2: Let the sea and what fills it resound, 
the coastlands, and those who dwell in them.
Let the steppe and its cities cry out, 
the villages where Kedar dwells;

Side 1: let the inhabitants of Sela exult, 
and shout from the top of the mountains.
Let them give glory to the Lord, 
and utter his praise in the coastlands.

Side 2: The Lord goes forth like a hero, 
like a warrior he stirs up his ardor;
he shouts out his battle cry, 
against his enemies he shows his might:

Side 1: I have looked away, and kept silence, 
I have said nothing, holding myself in;
but now, I cry out as a woman in labor, 
gasping and panting.

Side 2: I will lay waste mountains and hills, 
all their herbage I will dry up;
I will turn the rivers into marshes, 
and the marshes I will dry up.

Side 1: I will lead the blind on their journey; 
by paths unknown I will guide them.
I will turn darkness into light before them, 
and make crooked ways straight.

Side 2: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, 
and to the Holy Spirit:
All: as it was in the beginning, is now, 
and will be for ever. Amen.

Leader: From the farthest bounds of earth, may God be praised!

Leader: You who stand in his sanctuary, praise the name of the Lord.

Psalm 135:1-12
Praise for the wonderful things God does for us

He has won you for himself . . .and you must proclaim what he has done for you: he has called you out of darkness into his own wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9).

Leader: Praise the name of the Lord, 
Side 1: praise him, servants of the Lord,
who stand in the house of the Lord, 
in the courts of the house of our God.

Side 2: Praise the Lord for the Lord is good. 
Sing a psalm to his name for he is loving.
For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself 
and Israel for his own possession.

Side 1: For I know the Lord is great, 
that our Lord is high above all gods.
The Lord does whatever he wills, 
in heaven, on earth, in the seas.

Side 2: He summons clouds from the ends of the earth; 
makes lightning produce the rain; 
from his treasuries he sends forth the wind.

Side 1: The first-born of the Egyptians he smote, 
of man and beast alike.
Signs and wonders he worked 
in the midst of your land, O Egypt, 
against Pharaoh and all his servants.

Side 2: Nations in their greatness he struck 
and kings in their splendor he slew. 
Sihon, king of the Amorites,
Og, the king of Bashan, 
and all the kingdoms of Canaan.
He let Israel inherit their land; 
on his people their land he bestowed.

Side 1: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, 
and to the Holy Spirit:
All: as it was in the beginning, is now, 
and will be for ever. Amen.

Leader: You All: who stand in his sanctuary, praise the name of the Lord.

Reading

Exodus 19:4-6

Lector: You have seen for yourselves how I bore you up on eagle wings and brought you here to myself. Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mine. You shall be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.

Responsory

Lector: God himself will set me free, from the hunter’s snare.
All: God himself will set me free, from the hunter’s snare.

Lector: From those who would trap me with lying words
All: and from the hunter’s snare.

Lector: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
All: God himself will set me free, from the hunter’s snare.

Gospel Canticle

Leader: A royal official, hearing that Jesus had come to Galilee, begged him to heal his son who lay ill in Capernaum.

Canticle of Zechariah
Luke 1:68-79
The Messiah and his forerunner

Leader: Blessed + be the Lord, the God of Israel; 
All: he has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty savior, 
born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old 
  that he would save us from our enemies, 
  from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers 
and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: 
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear, 
holy and righteous in his sight
   all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High; 
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation 
by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God 
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
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 will be forever. Amen.

Leader: A royal official, All:  hearing that Jesus had come to Galilee, begged him to heal his son who lay ill in Capernaum.

Intercessions

Leader: Blessed be God the Father for his gift of this sacrifice of praise. In the spirit of this Lenten season, let us pray:
All: Instruct us, Lord, in the ways of your kingdom.

Leader: God of power and mercy, give us the spirit of prayer and repentance,
All: with burning love for you and all mankind.

Leader: Help us to work with you in making all things new in Christ,
All: and in spreading justice and peace throughout the world.

Leader: Teach us the meaning and value of creation,
All: so that we may join its voice to ours as we sing your praise.

Leader: Forgive us for failing to see Christ in the poor, the distressed and the troublesome,
All: and for our failure to reverence your Son in their persons.

The Lord's Prayer

Leader: Remember us, Lord, when you come to your kingdom and teach us to pray:

Leader: Our Father, All: who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

Concluding Prayer

Leader: Father, creator,
you give the world new life by your sacraments.
May we, your Church, grow in your life
and continue to receive your help on earth.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
All: Amen.

Dismissal

If a priest or deacon presides, he dismisses the people:

Leader: The Lord be with you.
All: And with your spirit.

Leader: May almighty God bless you,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.

Leader: Go in peace.
All: Thanks be to God.

In the absence of a priest or deacon and in individual recitation, Morning Prayer concludes:

Leader: May the Lord + bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
All: Amen.