O Lord, open our lips
Alland our mouth shall
proclaim your praise.
The Acclamation of Christ at the Dawning of the Day (page 108) may replace the Preparation as the start of Morning Prayer on any occasion.
One or more of the following is said or sung:
One of these prayers of thanksgiving (page 109),
Blessed are you, Sovereign God, creator of all,
to you be glory and praise for ever.
You founded the earth in the beginning
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
In the fullness of time you made us in your image,
and in these last days you have spoken to us
in your Son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.
As we rejoice in the gift of your presence among us
let the light of your love always shine in our hearts,
your Spirit ever renew our lives
and your praises ever be on our lips.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
AllBlessed be God for ever.
(or)
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 Blessing
1God be gracious to us
and bless us ♦
and make his face to shine upon us,
2That your way may be
known upon earth, ♦
your saving power among all nations.
3Let the peoples praise
you, O God; ♦
let all the peoples praise you.
4O let the nations rejoice
and be glad, ♦
for you will judge the peoples righteously
and govern the nations upon earth.
5Let the peoples praise
you, O God; ♦
let all the peoples praise you.
6Then shall the earth
bring forth her increase, ♦
and God, our own God, will bless us.
7God will bless us, ♦
and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.
Psalm 67
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 appointed psalmody is said.
Refrain: O Lord my God, in you I take refuge.
1 Lord, you have been our refuge ♦
from one generation to another.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or the earth and the world were formed, ♦
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You turn us back to dust and say: ♦
‘Turn back, O children of earth.’
4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday, ♦
which passes like a watch in the night.
5 You sweep them away like a dream; ♦
they fade away suddenly like the grass.
6 In the morning it is green and flourishes; ♦
in the evening it is dried up and withered. R
7 For we consume away in your displeasure; ♦
we are afraid at your wrathful indignation.
8 You have set our misdeeds before you ♦
and our secret sins in the light of your countenance.
9 When you are angry, all our days are gone; ♦
our years come to an end like a sigh.
10 The days of our life are three score years and ten,
or if our strength endures, even four score; ♦
yet the sum of them is but labour and sorrow,
for they soon pass away and we are gone.
11 Who regards the power of your wrath ♦
and your indignation like those who fear you?
12 So teach us to number our days ♦
that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. R
13 Turn again, O Lord; how long will you delay? ♦
Have compassion on your servants.
14 Satisfy us with your loving-kindness in the morning; ♦
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Give us gladness for the days you have afflicted us, ♦
and for the years in which we have seen adversity.
16 Show your servants your works, ♦
and let your glory be over their children.
17 May the gracious favour of the Lord our God be upon us; ♦
prosper our handiwork; O prosper the work of our hands.
Refrain: O Lord my God, in you I take refuge.
Almighty God,
our eternal refuge,
teach us to live with the knowledge of our death
and to rejoice in the promise of your glory,
revealed to us in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Refrain: You, O Lord, shall be exalted for evermore.
1 It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord ♦
and to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
2 To tell of your love early in the morning ♦
and of your faithfulness in the night-time,
3 Upon the ten-stringed instrument, upon the harp, ♦
and to the melody of the lyre.
4 For you, Lord, have made me glad by your acts, ♦
and I sing aloud at the works of your hands.
5 O Lord, how glorious are your works! ♦
Your thoughts are very deep. R
6 The senseless do not know, ♦
nor do fools understand,
7 That though the wicked sprout like grass ♦
and all the workers of iniquity flourish,
8 It is only to be destroyed for ever; ♦
but you, O Lord, shall be exalted for evermore.
9 For lo, your enemies, O Lord,
lo, your enemies shall perish, ♦
and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
10 But my horn you have exalted
like the horns of wild oxen; ♦
I am anointed with fresh oil.
11 My eyes will look down on my foes; ♦
my ears shall hear the ruin of the evildoers
who rise up against me. R
12 The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, ♦
and shall spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon.
13 Such as are planted in the house of the Lord ♦
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bear fruit in old age; ♦
they shall be vigorous and in full leaf;
15 That they may show that the Lord is true; ♦
he is my rock,
and there is no unrighteousness in him.
Refrain: You, O Lord, shall be exalted for evermore.
Give us the music of your praise, Lord,
morning, noon and night,
that our lives may be fruitful
and our lips confess you as the true and only God.
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.
Now when King David was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.’ Nathan said to the king, ‘Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.’
But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’ Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever. In accordance with all these words and with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
A Song of the Covenant, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 44 (page 596), may be said
Refrain:
AllI have given you as a light
to the nations,
and I have called you in righteousness. Alleluia.
1Thus says God, who created
the heavens, ♦
who fashioned the earth and all that dwells in it;
2Who gives breath to
the people upon it ♦
and spirit to those who walk in it,
3 ‘I am the Lord and I
have called you in righteousness, ♦
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
4 ‘I have given you as
a covenant to the people, ♦
a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind,
5‘To bring out the captives
from the dungeon, ♦
from the prison, those who sit in darkness.
6‘I am the Lord, that
is my name; ♦
my glory I give to no other.’
Isaiah 42.5-8a
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.
AllI have given you as a light
to the nations,
and I have called you in righteousness. Alleluia.
One or more readings appointed for the day are read.
The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence.
Stephen continued, ‘Our ancestors had the tent of testimony in the wilderness, as God directed when he spoke to Moses, ordering him to make it according to the pattern he had seen.
Our ancestors in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors. And it was there until the time of David,
who found favour with God and asked that he might find a dwelling-place for the house of Jacob.
But it was Solomon who built a house for him.
Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says,
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
or what is the place of my rest?
Did not my hand make all these things?”
‘You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are for ever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it.’
A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow
Fear not, for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
AllFear not, for I have
redeemed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.
When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned.
AllI have called you by
name; you are mine.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit.
AllFear not, for I have
redeemed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
from Isaiah 43
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)
is normally said,
or Gloria in Excelsis (A Song
of God's Glory) (page 635) may be said
Refrain:
All
Those who are wise will shine as brightly as the heavens,
and those who have instructed many in virtue will shine like stars
for all eternity. Alleluia.
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:
All
Those who are wise will shine as brightly as the heavens,
and those who have instructed many in virtue will shine like stars
for all eternity. Alleluia.
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
¶ Local government, community leaders
¶ All who provide local services
¶ Those who work with young or elderly people
¶ Schools, colleges and universities
¶ Emergency and rescue organizations
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
Merciful redeemer,
who, by the life and preaching of your servant Bernard,
rekindled the radiant light of your Church:
grant us, in our generation,
to be inflamed with the same spirit of discipline and love
and ever to walk before you as children of light;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
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 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.
©
The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England, 2000–2005
Official Common Worship apps, books and eBooks are available from
Church House Publishing.
The Bible readings (other than the psalms) are from The New Revised Standard Version Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Implemented by Simon Kershaw at
Crucix.
Implementation copyright © Simon Kershaw, 2002–2021.