Morning Prayer (Church Of England) on Monday 11 March 2024
Morning Prayer Lent Monday, 11 March 2024
O Lord, open our lips
Alland our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Hear our voice, O Lord, according to your faithful love,
Allaccording to your judgement give us life.
One or more of the following is said or sung:
this or another prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, God of compassion and mercy,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
In the darkness of our sin,
your light breaks forth like the dawn
and your healing springs up for deliverance.
As we rejoice in the gift of your saving help,
sustain us with your bountiful Spirit
and open our lips to sing your praise.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
AllBlessed be God for ever.
a suitable hymn, or A Song of Penitence
1Have mercy on me, O God, in your great goodness; ♦
according to the abundance of your compassion
blot out my offences.
2Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness ♦
and cleanse me from my sin.
3For I acknowledge my faults ♦
and my sin is ever before me.
4Against you only have I sinned ♦
and done what is evil in your sight,
5So that you are justified in your sentence ♦
and righteous in your judgement.
6Cast me not away from your presence ♦
and take not your holy spirit from me.
7Give me again the joy of your salvation ♦
and sustain me with your gracious spirit;
8Then shall I teach your ways to the wicked ♦
and sinners shall return to you.
9Deliver me from my guilt, O God,
the God of my salvation, ♦
and my tongue shall sing of your righteousness.
Psalm 51.1-5, 12-15
AllGlory 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.
This opening prayer may be said
The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;
let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for you;
now and for ever.
AllAmen.
The Word of God Psalmody
The appointed psalmody is said.
Psalm 70
Refrain:Come to me quickly, O God.
1O God, make speed to save me; ♦
O Lord, make haste to help me.
2Let those who seek my life
be put to shame and confusion; ♦
let them be turned back and disgraced
who wish me evil.
3Let those who mock and deride me ♦
turn back because of their shame. R
4But let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; ♦
let those who love your salvation say always, ‘Great is the Lord!’
5As for me, I am poor and needy; ♦
come to me quickly, O God.
6You are my help and my deliverer; ♦
O Lord, do not delay.
Refrain:Come to me quickly, O God.
O God, our helper and defender,
deliver us in our weakness,
answer our longings
and vindicate our faith,
that we may see your glory
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 77
Refrain:In the day of my trouble I have sought the Lord.
1I cry aloud to God; ♦
I cry aloud to God and he will hear me.
2In the day of my trouble I have sought the Lord; ♦
by night my hand is stretched out and does not tire;
my soul refuses comfort.
3I think upon God and I groan; ♦
I ponder, and my spirit faints.
4You will not let my eyelids close; ♦
I am so troubled that I cannot speak. R
5I consider the days of old; ♦
I remember the years long past;
6I commune with my heart in the night; ♦
my spirit searches for understanding.
7Will the Lord cast us off for ever? ♦
Will he no more show us his favour?
8Has his loving mercy clean gone for ever? ♦
Has his promise come to an end for evermore?
9Has God forgotten to be gracious? ♦
Has he shut up his compassion in displeasure?
10And I said, ‘My grief is this: ♦
that the right hand of the Most High has lost its strength.’ R
11I will remember the works of the Lord ♦
and call to mind your wonders of old time.
12I will meditate on all your works ♦
and ponder your mighty deeds.
13Your way, O God, is holy; ♦
who is so great a god as our God?
14You are the God who worked wonders ♦
and declared your power among the peoples.
15With a mighty arm you redeemed your people, ♦
the children of Jacob and Joseph. R
16The waters saw you, O God;
the waters saw you and were afraid; ♦
the depths also were troubled.
17The clouds poured out water; the skies thundered; ♦
your arrows flashed on every side;
18The voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lit up the ground; ♦
the earth trembled and shook.
19Your way was in the sea, and your paths in the great waters, ♦
but your footsteps were not known.
20You led your people like sheep ♦
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Refrain:In the day of my trouble I have sought the Lord.
God our shepherd,
you led us and saved us in times of old;
do not forget your people in their troubles,
but raise up your power
to sustain the poor and helpless;
for the honour of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Each psalm or group of psalms may end with
AllGlory 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.
If there are two Scripture readings, the first may be read here, or both may be read after the canticle.
Exodus 2.11-22
One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and saw their forced labour. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsfolk. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When he went out the next day, he saw two Hebrews fighting; and he said to the one who was in the wrong, ‘Why do you strike your fellow Hebrew?’ He answered, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?’ Then Moses was afraid and thought, ‘Surely the thing is known.’ When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses.
But Moses fled from Pharaoh. He settled in the land of Midian, and sat down by a well. The priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to draw water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. But some shepherds came and drove them away. Moses got up and came to their defence and watered their flock. When they returned to their father Reuel, he said, ‘How is it that you have come back so soon today?’ They said, ‘An Egyptian helped us against the shepherds; he even drew water for us and watered the flock.’ He said to his daughters, ‘Where is he? Why did you leave the man? Invite him to break bread.’ Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah in marriage. She bore a son, and he named him Gershom; for he said, ‘I have been an alien residing in a foreign land.’
Canticle
The Song of Manasseh, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 20 (page 570), number 33 (page 584) or number 41 (page 592), may be said
Refrain:
AllFull of compassion and mercy and love
is God, the Most High, the Almighty.
1Lord almighty and God of our ancestors, ♦
you who made heaven and earth in all their glory:
2All things tremble with awe at your presence, ♦
before your great and mighty power.
3Immeasurable and unsearchable is your promised mercy, ♦
for you are God, Most High.
4You are full of compassion, long-suffering and very merciful, ♦
and you relent at human suffering.
5O God, according to your great goodness, ♦
you have promised forgiveness for repentance
to those who have sinned against you.
6The sins I have committed against you ♦
are more in number than the sands of the sea.
7I am not worthy to look up to the height of heaven, ♦
because of the multitude of my iniquities.
8And now I bend the knee of my heart before you, ♦
imploring your kindness upon me.
9I have sinned, O God, I have sinned, ♦
and I acknowledge my transgressions.
10Unworthy as I am, you will save me, ♦
according to your great mercy.
11For all the host of heaven sings your praise, ♦
and your glory is for ever and ever.
Manasseh 1a, 2, 4, 6, 7a, b, 9a, c, 11, 12, 14b, 15b
AllGlory 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.
AllFull of compassion and mercy and love
is God, the Most High, the Almighty.
Scripture Reading
One or more readings appointed for the day are read.
The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence.
Hebrews 9.1-14
Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. For a tent was constructed, the first one, in which were the lampstand, the table, and the bread of the Presence; this is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a tent called the Holy of Holies. In it stood the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which there were a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy-seat. Of these things we cannot speak now in detail.
Such preparations having been made, the priests go continually into the first tent to carry out their ritual duties; but only the high priest goes into the second, and he but once a year, and not without taking the blood that he offers for himself and for the sins committed unintentionally by the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the sanctuary has not yet been disclosed as long as the first tent is still standing. This is a symbol of the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshipper, but deal only with food and drink and various baptisms, regulations for the body imposed until the time comes to set things right.
But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!
A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
AllO my God, in you I trust.
You are the God of my salvation,
AllTo you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
In you I hope all the day long.
AllO my God, in you I trust.
Remember, Lord, your compassion and love,
for they are from everlasting.
AllTo you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
O my God, in you I trust.
from Psalm 25
Gospel Canticle
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah) is normally said,
or Saviour of the World (page 644) may be said
Refrain:
AllBlessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.
1Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, ♦
who has come to his people and set them free.
2He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour, ♦
born of the house of his servant David.
3Through his holy prophets God promised of old ♦
to save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all that hate us,
4To show mercy to our ancestors, ♦
and to remember his holy covenant.
5This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham: ♦
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
6Free to worship him without fear, ♦
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
7And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, ♦
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
8To give his people knowledge of salvation ♦
by the forgiveness of all their sins.
9In the tender compassion of our God ♦
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
10To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, ♦
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Luke 1.68-79
AllGlory 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.
Refrain:
AllBlessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.
Prayers
Intercessions are offered
¶ for the day and its tasks
¶ for the world and its needs
¶ for the Church and her life
Prayers may include the following concerns from the cycle on pages 364–365
¶ Those preparing for baptism and confirmation
¶ Those serving through leadership
¶ Those looking for forgiveness
¶ Those misled by the false gods of this present age
¶ All who are hungry
A form of prayer found on page 380 may be used.
The Litany on pages 400-403 may be said instead of the Prayers.
These responses may be used
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer
(or)
Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.
Silence may be kept.
The Collect of the day is said
Merciful Lord,
absolve your people from their offences,
that through your bountiful goodness
we may all be delivered from the chains of those sins
which by our frailty we have committed;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for Jesus Christ’s sake, our blessed Lord and Saviour,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
AllAmen.
The Lord’s Prayer is said
Trusting in the compassion of God,
as our Saviour taught us, so we pray
AllOur 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.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.
(or)
Trusting in the compassion of God,
let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us
AllOur Father, 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.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Conclusion
May God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
AllAmen.
Let us bless the Lord.
AllThanks be to God.
