Morning Prayer

--Today is the Feast of Saint Cyril--
Lent
To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, because we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by following his laws which he set before us. Daniel 9:9, 10

Saint and Major Saints' Days
You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Ephesians 2:19

Confession of Sin
Most merciful God,
I confess that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbors as myself. I am truly sorry and I humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on me and forgive me; that I may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen

The Invitatory and Psalter

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 will be forever. Amen

Venite
The Antiphon:

ⓘ   A short, reflective sentence recited alongside a psalm to deepen our understanding of the readings.

The Lord is full of compassion and mercy: Come let us adore him.

The Lessons

Psalm 101

⁽¹⁾ I will sing of mercy and justice; To You, O LORD, I will sing praises. ⁽²⁾ I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. ⁽³⁾ I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me. ⁽⁴⁾ A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness.

⁽⁵⁾ Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, Him I will destroy; The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, Him I will not endure. ⁽⁶⁾ My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, That they may dwell with me; He who walks in a perfect way, He shall serve me. ⁽⁷⁾ He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence. ⁽⁸⁾ Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land, That I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the LORD.

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.

Psalm 109

⁽¹⁾ Do not keep silent, O God of my praise! ⁽²⁾ For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful Have opened against me; They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. ⁽³⁾ They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, And fought against me without a cause. ⁽⁴⁾ In return for my love they are my accusers, But I give myself to prayer.

⁽²⁰⁾ Let this be the LORD's reward to my accusers, And to those who speak evil against my person. ⁽²¹⁾ But You, O GOD the Lord, Deal with me for Your name's sake; Because Your mercy is good, deliver me. ⁽²²⁾ For I am poor and needy, And my heart is wounded within me. ⁽²³⁾ I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens; I am shaken off like a locust.

⁽²⁴⁾ My knees are weak through fasting, And my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness. ⁽²⁵⁾ I also have become a reproach to them; When they look at me, they shake their heads. ⁽²⁶⁾ Help me, O LORD my God! Oh, save me according to Your mercy, ⁽²⁷⁾ That they may know that this is Your hand -- That You, LORD, have done it!

⁽²⁸⁾ Let them curse, but You bless; When they arise, let them be ashamed, But let Your servant rejoice. ⁽²⁹⁾ Let my accusers be clothed with shame, And let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle. ⁽³⁰⁾ I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; Yes, I will praise Him among the multitude.

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.

Genesis Chapter 50

⁽¹⁵⁾ When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, 'Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.' ⁽¹⁶⁾ So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, 'Before your father died he commanded, saying, ⁽¹⁷⁾ Thus you shall say to Joseph: 'I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you.' ' Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.' And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ⁽¹⁸⁾ Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, 'Behold, we are your servants.'

⁽¹⁹⁾ Joseph said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? ⁽²⁰⁾ But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. ⁽²¹⁾ Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.' And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. ⁽²²⁾ So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father's household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years.

⁽²³⁾ Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third generation. The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were also brought up on Joseph's knees. ⁽²⁴⁾ And Joseph said to his brethren, 'I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.' ⁽²⁵⁾ Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, 'God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.' ⁽²⁶⁾ So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

1 Corinthians Chapter 12

⁽¹⁾ Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: ⁽²⁾ You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. ⁽³⁾ Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. ⁽⁴⁾ There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

⁽⁵⁾ There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. ⁽⁶⁾ And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. ⁽⁷⁾ But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: ⁽⁸⁾ for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,

⁽⁹⁾ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, ⁽¹⁰⁾ to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ⁽¹¹⁾ But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Mark Chapter 8

⁽¹¹⁾ Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. ⁽¹²⁾ But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, 'Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.' ⁽¹³⁾ And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. ⁽¹⁴⁾ Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.

⁽¹⁵⁾ Then He charged them, saying, 'Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.' ⁽¹⁶⁾ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'It is because we have no bread.' ⁽¹⁷⁾ But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, 'Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? ⁽¹⁸⁾ Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?

⁽¹⁹⁾ When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?' They said to Him, 'Twelve.' ⁽²⁰⁾ Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?' And they said, 'Seven.' ⁽²¹⁾ So He said to them, 'How is it you do not understand?' ⁽²²⁾ Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.

⁽²³⁾ So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. ⁽²⁴⁾ And he looked up and said, 'I see men like trees, walking.' ⁽²⁵⁾ Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. ⁽²⁶⁾ Then He sent him away to his house, saying, 'Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town.'

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.


Glory to God        
Glory to God in the highest,
and peace to his people on earth.

Lord God, heavenly King,
almighty God and Father,
we worship you, we give you thanks,
we praise you for your glory.

Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
you take away the sin of the world:
have mercy on us;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father:
receive our prayer.

For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.


A Song of Penitence Prayer of Manasseh 1 to 2, 4, 6 to 7, 11 to 15
O Lord and Ruler of the hosts of heaven,
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
and of all their righteous offspring:
You made the heavens and the earth,
with all their vast array.
All things quake with fear at your presence;
they tremble because of your power.
But your merciful promise is beyond all measure;
it surpasses all that our minds can fathom.
O Lord, you are full of compassion,
long-suffering, and abounding in mercy.
You hold back your hand;
you do not punish as we deserve.
In your great goodness, Lord,
you have promised forgiveness to sinners,
that they may repent of their sin and be saved.
And now, O Lord, I bend the knee of my heart,
and make my appeal, sure of your gracious goodness.
I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned,
and I know my wickedness only too well.
Therefore I make this prayer to you:
Forgive me, Lord, forgive me.
Do not let me perish in my sin,
nor condemn me to the depths of the earth.
For you, O Lord, are the God of those who repent,
and in me you will show forth your goodness.
Unworthy as I am, you will save me,
in accordance with your great mercy,
and I will praise you without ceasing all the days of my life.
For all the powers of heaven sing your praises,
and yours is the glory to ages of ages. Amen.



The Apostles' Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord.
  He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
  He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
  He descended to the dead.
  On the third day he rose again.
  He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
  He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
  the holy catholic Church,
  the communion of saints,
  the forgiveness of sins,
  the resurrection of the body,
  and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Prayers

The Lord's Prayer   Traditional
Suffrages A

Seasonal Collect:  Fourth Sunday in Lent
Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for Mission: Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen.

Personal Prayers and Reflection

This is a time to pause, consider and listen. Pray for yourself and others. When you lack the words


Closing Prayers   Thanksgiving

Conclude with the following
Let Us Bless the Lord, Thanks be to God

Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20,21