Morning Prayer

Easter
You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8

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   Alleluia


From Easter to Pentecost, Christ the Passover  can be used in place of the Venite or Jubilate.

Christ the Passover  1 Corinthians 5:7 to 8; Romans 6:9 to 11; 1 Corinthians 15:20 to 22
Alleluia.
Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us;
  therefore let us keep the feast,
Not with old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil,
  but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Alleluia.

Christ being raised from the dead will never die again;
  death no longer has dominion over him.
The death that he died, he died to sin, once for all;
  but the life he lives, he lives to God.
So also consider yourselves dead to sin,
  and alive to God in Jesus Christ our Lord. Alleluia.

  the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since by a man came death,
  by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die,
  so in Christ shall all be made alive. Alleluia.

Venite
The Antiphon:

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

Alleluia. Christ the Lord has ascended into heaven: Come let us adore him. Alleluia.

The Lessons

Psalm 80

⁽¹⁾ Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth! ⁽²⁾ Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, Stir up Your strength, And come and save us! ⁽³⁾ Restore us, O God; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved! ⁽⁴⁾ O LORD God of hosts, How long will You be angry Against the prayer of Your people?

⁽⁵⁾ You have fed them with the bread of tears, And given them tears to drink in great measure. ⁽⁶⁾ You have made us a strife to our neighbors, And our enemies laugh among themselves. ⁽⁷⁾ Restore us, O God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved! ⁽⁸⁾ You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it.

⁽⁹⁾ You prepared room for it, And caused it to take deep root, And it filled the land. ⁽¹⁰⁾ The hills were covered with its shadow, And the mighty cedars with its boughs. ⁽¹¹⁾ She sent out her boughs to the Sea, And her branches to the River. ⁽¹²⁾ Why have You broken down her hedges, So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit?

⁽¹³⁾ The boar out of the woods uproots it, And the wild beast of the field devours it. ⁽¹⁴⁾ Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts; Look down from heaven and see, And visit this vine ⁽¹⁵⁾ And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted, And the branch that You made strong for Yourself. ⁽¹⁶⁾ It is burned with fire, it is cut down; They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.

⁽¹⁷⁾ Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself. ⁽¹⁸⁾ Then we will not turn back from You; Revive us, and we will call upon Your name. ⁽¹⁹⁾ Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!

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.

Leviticus Chapter 25

⁽³⁵⁾ If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you. ⁽³⁶⁾ Take no usury or interest from him; but fear your God, that your brother may live with you. ⁽³⁷⁾ You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit. ⁽³⁸⁾ I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

⁽³⁹⁾ And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave. ⁽⁴⁰⁾ As a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee. ⁽⁴¹⁾ And then he shall depart from you -- he and his children with him -- and shall return to his own family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers. ⁽⁴²⁾ For they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.

⁽⁴³⁾ You shall not rule over him with rigor, but you shall fear your God. ⁽⁴⁴⁾ And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have -- from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves. ⁽⁴⁵⁾ Moreover you may buy the children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your property. ⁽⁴⁶⁾ And you may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.

⁽⁴⁷⁾ Now if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes rich, and one of your brethren who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner close to you, or to a member of the stranger's family, ⁽⁴⁸⁾ after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him; ⁽⁴⁹⁾ or his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him; or anyone who is near of kin to him in his family may redeem him; or if he is able he may redeem himself. ⁽⁵⁰⁾ Thus he shall reckon with him who bought him: The price of his release shall be according to the number of years, from the year that he was sold to him until the Year of Jubilee; it shall be according to the time of a hired servant for him.

⁽⁵¹⁾ If there are still many years remaining, according to them he shall repay the price of his redemption from the money with which he was bought. ⁽⁵²⁾ And if there remain but a few years until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall reckon with him, and according to his years he shall repay him the price of his redemption. ⁽⁵³⁾ He shall be with him as a yearly hired servant, and he shall not rule with rigor over him in your sight. ⁽⁵⁴⁾ And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee -- he and his children with him.

⁽⁵⁵⁾ For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Colossians Chapter 1

⁽⁹⁾ For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; ⁽¹⁰⁾ that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ⁽¹¹⁾ strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; ⁽¹²⁾ giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

⁽¹³⁾ He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, ⁽¹⁴⁾ in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Matthew Chapter 13

⁽¹⁾ On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. ⁽²⁾ And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. ⁽³⁾ Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: 'Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁽⁴⁾ And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.

⁽⁵⁾ Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. ⁽⁶⁾ But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. ⁽⁷⁾ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. ⁽⁸⁾ But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

⁽⁹⁾ He who has ears to hear, let him hear!' ⁽¹⁰⁾ And the disciples came and said to Him, 'Why do You speak to them in parables?' ⁽¹¹⁾ He answered and said to them, 'Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ⁽¹²⁾ For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

⁽¹³⁾ Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ⁽¹⁴⁾ And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; ⁽¹⁵⁾ For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.' ⁽¹⁶⁾ But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear;

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The Song of the Redeemed       Revelation 15:3 to 4  
O ruler of the universe, Lord God,
great deeds are they that you have done,
  surpassing human understanding.
Your ways are ways of righteousness and truth,
 O King of all the ages.

Who can fail to do you homage, Lord,
and sing the praises of your Name?
  for you only are the Holy One.
All nations will draw near
and fall down before you,
  because your just and holy works have been revealed.
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.

The First Song of Isaiah       Isaiah 12:2 to 6
 
Surely, it is God who saves me;
  I will trust in him and not be afraid.
For the Lord is my stronghold
and my sure defense,
  and he will be my Savior.
Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing
  from the springs of salvation.
And on that day you shall say,
  Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name;
Make his deeds known among the peoples;
  see that they remember that his Name is exalted.
Sing the praises of the Lord,
for he has done great things,
  and this is known in all the world.
Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy,
  for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel.
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.


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:  Sixth Sunday of Easter
O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for Mission: Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 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

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen. 2 Corinthians 13:14