Morning Prayer

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

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 107

⁽³³⁾ He turns rivers into a wilderness, And the watersprings into dry ground; ⁽³⁴⁾ A fruitful land into barrenness, For the wickedness of those who dwell in it. ⁽³⁵⁾ He turns a wilderness into pools of water, And dry land into watersprings. ⁽³⁶⁾ There He makes the hungry dwell, That they may establish a city for a dwelling place,

⁽³⁷⁾ And sow fields and plant vineyards, That they may yield a fruitful harvest. ⁽³⁸⁾ He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly; And He does not let their cattle decrease. ⁽³⁹⁾ When they are diminished and brought low Through oppression, affliction and sorrow, ⁽⁴⁰⁾ He pours contempt on princes, And causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way;

⁽⁴¹⁾ Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction, And makes their families like a flock. ⁽⁴²⁾ The righteous see it and rejoice, And all iniquity stops its mouth. ⁽⁴³⁾ Whoever is wise will observe these things, And they will understand the lovingkindness 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 108

⁽¹⁾ O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory. ⁽²⁾ Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. ⁽³⁾ I will praise You, O LORD, among the peoples, And I will sing praises to You among the nations. ⁽⁴⁾ For Your mercy is great above the heavens, And Your truth reaches to the clouds.

⁽⁵⁾ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, And Your glory above all the earth; ⁽⁶⁾ That Your beloved may be delivered, Save with Your right hand, and hear me. ⁽⁷⁾ God has spoken in His holiness: 'I will rejoice; I will divide Shechem And measure out the Valley of Succoth. ⁽⁸⁾ Gilead is Mine; Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the helmet for My head; Judah is My lawgiver.

⁽⁹⁾ Moab is My washpot; Over Edom I will cast My shoe; Over Philistia I will triumph.' ⁽¹⁰⁾ Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me to Edom? ⁽¹¹⁾ Is it not You, O God, who cast us off? And You, O God, who did not go out with our armies? ⁽¹²⁾ Give us help from trouble, For the help of man is useless.

⁽¹³⁾ Through God we will do valiantly, For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.

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.

Exodus Chapter 2

⁽²³⁾ Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. ⁽²⁴⁾ So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ⁽²⁵⁾ And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them. ⁽¹⁾ Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ⁽²⁾ And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. ⁽³⁾ Then Moses said, 'I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.' ⁽⁴⁾ So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, 'Moses, Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am.'

⁽⁵⁾ Then He said, 'Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.' ⁽⁶⁾ Moreover He said, 'I am the God of your father -- the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. ⁽⁷⁾ And the LORD said: 'I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. ⁽⁸⁾ So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.

⁽⁹⁾ Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.' ⁽¹¹⁾ But Moses said to God, 'Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?' ⁽¹²⁾ So He said, 'I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.'

⁽¹³⁾ Then Moses said to God, 'Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?' ⁽¹⁴⁾ And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' And He said, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' ' ⁽¹⁵⁾ Moreover God said to Moses, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.'

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

1 Corinthians Chapter 13

⁽¹⁾ Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. ⁽²⁾ And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ⁽³⁾ And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. ⁽⁴⁾ Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

⁽⁵⁾ does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; ⁽⁶⁾ does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; ⁽⁷⁾ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ⁽⁸⁾ Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

⁽⁹⁾ For we know in part and we prophesy in part. ⁽¹⁰⁾ But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. ⁽¹¹⁾ When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. ⁽¹²⁾ For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

⁽¹³⁾ And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Mark Chapter 9

⁽¹⁴⁾ And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. ⁽¹⁵⁾ Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. ⁽¹⁶⁾ And He asked the scribes, 'What are you discussing with them?' ⁽¹⁷⁾ Then one of the crowd answered and said, 'Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.

⁽¹⁸⁾ And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.' ⁽¹⁹⁾ He answered him and said, 'O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.' ⁽²⁰⁾ Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. ⁽²¹⁾ So He asked his father, 'How long has this been happening to him?' And he said, 'From childhood.

⁽²²⁾ And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.' ⁽²³⁾ Jesus said to him, 'If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.' ⁽²⁴⁾ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!' ⁽²⁵⁾ When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, 'Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!'

⁽²⁶⁾ Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, 'He is dead.' ⁽²⁷⁾ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. ⁽²⁸⁾ And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, 'Why could we not cast it out?' ⁽²⁹⁾ So He said to them, 'This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.'

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

A Song of Creation   Prayer of Manasseh 1 to 2, 4, 6 to 7, 11 to 15
Invocation
Glorify the Lord,
all you works of the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.
In the firmament of his power, glorify the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.

The People of God

Let the people of God glorify the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.
Glorify the Lord,
O priests and servants of the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.

Glorify the Lord,
O spirits and souls of the righteous,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.
You that are holy and humble of heart,
glorify the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.

Doxology
Let us glorify the Lord:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;
praise him and highly exalt him forever.
In the firmament of his power, glorify the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.

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: Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all your works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven; 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