Blessed are you, creator of all,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
As your dawn renews the face of the earth
bringing light and life to all creation,
may we rejoice in this day you have made;
as we wake refreshed from the depths of sleep,
open our eyes to behold your presence
and strengthen our hands to do your will,
that the world may rejoice and give you praise.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
AllBlessed be God for ever.

after Lancelot Andrewes (1626)

or a suitable hymn,

or A Song of God’s Praise

1O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you; ♦
my soul is athirst for you.

2My flesh also faints for you, ♦
as in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.

3So would I gaze upon you in your holy place, ♦
that I might behold your power and your glory.

4Your loving-kindness is better than life itself ♦
and so my lips shall praise you.

5I will bless you as long as I live ♦
and lift up my hands in your name.

6My soul shall be satisfied, as with marrow and fatness, ♦
and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips,

7When I remember you upon my bed ♦
and meditate on you in the watches of the night.

8For you have been my helper ♦
and under the shadow of your wings will I rejoice.

9My soul clings to you; ♦
your right hand shall hold me fast.

Psalm 63.1-9

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 68

Refrain: Sing to God, sing praises to his name.

1 Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered; ♦
let those that hate him flee before him.

2 As the smoke vanishes, so may they vanish away; ♦
as wax melts at the fire,
so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

3 But let the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; ♦
let them make merry with gladness.

4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
exalt him who rides on the clouds. ♦
The Lord is his name; rejoice before him.

5 Father of the fatherless, defender of widows, ♦
God in his holy habitation!

6 God gives the solitary a home
and brings forth prisoners to songs of welcome, ♦
but the rebellious inhabit a burning desert. R

7 O God, when you went forth before your people, ♦
when you marched through the wilderness,

8 The earth shook and the heavens dropped down rain,
at the presence of God, the Lord of Sinai, ♦
at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

9 You sent down a gracious rain, O God; ♦
you refreshed your inheritance when it was weary.

10 Your people came to dwell there; ♦
in your goodness, O God, you provide for the poor. R

11 The Lord gave the word;
great was the company of women who bore the tidings: ♦
‘Kings and their armies they flee, they flee!’
and women at home are dividing the spoil.

12 Though you stayed among the sheepfolds, ♦
see now a dove’s wings covered with silver
and its feathers with green gold.

13 When the Almighty scattered the kings, ♦
it was like snowflakes falling on Zalmon. R

14 You mighty mountain, great mountain of Bashan! ♦
You towering mountain, great mountain of Bashan!

15 Why look with envy, you towering mountains,
at the mount which God has desired for his dwelling, ♦
the place where the Lord will dwell for ever?

16 The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
even thousands upon thousands; ♦
the Lord is among them, the Lord of Sinai in holy power.

17 You have gone up on high and led captivity captive; ♦
you have received tribute,
even from those who rebelled,
that you may reign as Lord and God. R

18 Blessed be the Lord who bears our burdens day by day, ♦
for God is our salvation.

19 God is for us the God of our salvation; ♦
God is the Lord who can deliver from death.

20 God will smite the head of his enemies, ♦
the hairy scalp of those who walk in wickedness.

21 The Lord has said, ‘From the heights of Bashan, ♦
from the depths of the sea will I bring them back,

22 ‘Till you dip your foot in blood ♦
and the tongue of your dogs has a taste of your enemies.’ R

23 We see your solemn processions, O God, ♦
your processions into the sanctuary, my God and my King.

24 The singers go before, the musicians follow after, ♦
in the midst of maidens playing on timbrels.

25 In your companies, bless your God; ♦
bless the Lord, you that are of the fount of Israel.

26 At the head there is Benjamin, least of the tribes,
the princes of Judah in joyful company, ♦
the princes of Zebulun and Naphtali. R

27 Send forth your strength, O God; ♦
establish, O God, what you have wrought in us.

28 For your temple’s sake in Jerusalem ♦
kings shall bring their gifts to you.

29 Drive back with your word the wild beast of the reeds, ♦
the herd of the bull-like, the brutish hordes.

30 Trample down those who lust after silver; ♦
scatter the peoples that delight in war.

31 Vessels of bronze shall be brought from Egypt; ♦
Ethiopia will stretch out her hands to God. R

32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth; ♦
make music in praise of the Lord;

33 He rides on the ancient heaven of heavens ♦
and sends forth his voice, a mighty voice.

34 Ascribe power to God, whose splendour is over Israel, ♦
whose power is above the clouds.

35 How terrible is God in his holy sanctuary, ♦
the God of Israel, who gives power and strength to his people!
Blessed be God.

Refrain: Sing to God, sing praises to his name.

Blessed are you, gracious God;
you make your home among the weak,
you deliver us from death,
you bring us joy beyond our imagining
to the praise 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.

Job 25 - 26

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
‘Dominion and fear are with God;
   he makes peace in his high heaven.
Is there any number to his armies?
   Upon whom does his light not arise?
How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
   How can one born of woman be pure?
If even the moon is not bright
   and the stars are not pure in his sight,
how much less a mortal, who is a maggot,
   and a human being, who is a worm!’

Then Job answered:
‘How you have helped one who has no power!
   How you have assisted the arm that has no strength!
How you have counselled one who has no wisdom,
   and given much good advice!
With whose help have you uttered words,
   and whose spirit has come forth from you?
The shades below tremble,
   the waters and their inhabitants.
Sheol is naked before God,
   and Abaddon has no covering.
He stretches out Zaphon over the void,
   and hangs the earth upon nothing.
He binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
   and the cloud is not torn open by them.
He covers the face of the full moon,
   and spreads over it his cloud.
He has described a circle on the face of the waters,
   at the boundary between light and darkness.
The pillars of heaven tremble,
   and are astounded at his rebuke.
By his power he stilled the Sea;
   by his understanding he struck down Rahab.
By his wind the heavens were made fair;
   his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
These are indeed but the outskirts of his ways;
   and how small a whisper do we hear of him!
   But the thunder of his power who can understand?’

Canticle

A Song of Jerusalem our Mother, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 48 (page 600), may be said

Refrain:

AllThus says our God, I will comfort you,
you shall see and your heart shall rejoice. Alleluia.

1‘Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, ♦
all you who love her,’ says the Lord.

2 ‘Rejoice with her in joy, ♦
all you who mourn over her,

3‘That you may drink deeply with delight ♦
from her consoling breast.’

4For thus says our God, ♦
‘You shall be nursed and carried on her arm.

5‘As a mother comforts her children, ♦
so I will comfort you;

6‘You shall see and your heart shall rejoice; ♦
you shall flourish like the grass of the fields.’

Isaiah 66.10, 11a, 12a, 12c, 13a, 14a, b

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.

AllThus says our God, I will comfort you,
you shall see and your heart shall rejoice. Alleluia.

Scripture Reading

One or more readings appointed for the day are read.

The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence.

Romans 11.13-24

Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry in order to make my own people jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead! If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; and if the root is holy, then the branches also are holy.

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree, do not vaunt yourselves over the branches. If you do vaunt yourselves, remember that it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you. You will say, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’ That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity towards those who have fallen, but God’s kindness towards you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. And even those of Israel, if they do not persist in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree.

A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow

Your salvation is near to those who fear you;
that glory may dwell in our land.
AllYour salvation is near to those who fear you;
that glory may dwell in our land.
Mercy and truth have met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
AllThat glory may dwell in our land.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit.
AllYour salvation is near to those who fear you;
that glory may dwell in our land.

from Psalm 85

Gospel Canticle

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah) is normally said,
or the Te Deum Laudamus (A Song of the Church) (page 636) may be said

Refrain:

AllShine on us, O God, who dwell in darkness,
and guide us into the way of peace.

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:

AllShine on us, O God, who dwell in darkness,
and guide us into the way of peace.

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 362–363

¶ Our homes, families, friends and all whom we love
¶ Those whose time is spent caring for others
¶ Those who are close to death
¶ Those who have lost hope
¶ The worship of the Church

One of the forms of prayer found on pages 362–371 may be used.

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

Lord, you have taught us
that all our doings without love are nothing worth:
send your Holy Spirit
and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love,
the true bond of peace and of all virtues,
without which whoever lives is counted dead before you.
Grant this for your only Son Jesus Christ's sake,
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

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)

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

The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil,
and keep us in eternal life.
AllAmen.

Let us bless the Lord. Alleluia, alleluia.
AllThanks be to God. Alleluia, alleluia.