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 95

⁽¹⁾ Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. ⁽²⁾ Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. ⁽³⁾ For the LORD is the great God, And the great King above all gods. ⁽⁴⁾ In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also.

⁽⁵⁾ The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. ⁽⁶⁾ Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. ⁽⁷⁾ For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: ⁽⁸⁾ Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness,

⁽⁹⁾ When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. ⁽¹⁰⁾ For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, 'It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.' ⁽¹¹⁾ So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.' '

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 102

⁽¹⁾ Hear my prayer, O LORD, And let my cry come to You. ⁽²⁾ Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble; Incline Your ear to me; In the day that I call, answer me speedily. ⁽³⁾ For my days are consumed like smoke, And my bones are burned like a hearth. ⁽⁴⁾ My heart is stricken and withered like grass, So that I forget to eat my bread.

⁽⁵⁾ Because of the sound of my groaning My bones cling to my skin. ⁽⁶⁾ I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert. ⁽⁷⁾ I lie awake, And am like a sparrow alone on the housetop. ⁽⁸⁾ My enemies reproach me all day long, Those who deride me swear an oath against me.

⁽⁹⁾ For I have eaten ashes like bread, And mingled my drink with weeping, ⁽¹⁰⁾ Because of Your indignation and Your wrath; For You have lifted me up and cast me away. ⁽¹¹⁾ My days are like a shadow that lengthens, And I wither away like grass. ⁽¹²⁾ But You, O LORD, shall endure forever, And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.

⁽¹³⁾ You will arise and have mercy on Zion; For the time to favor her, Yes, the set time, has come. ⁽¹⁴⁾ For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, And show favor to her dust. ⁽¹⁵⁾ So the nations shall fear the name of the LORD, And all the kings of the earth Your glory. ⁽¹⁶⁾ For the LORD shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory.

⁽¹⁷⁾ He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, And shall not despise their prayer. ⁽¹⁸⁾ This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD. ⁽¹⁹⁾ For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary; From heaven the LORD viewed the earth, ⁽²⁰⁾ To hear the groaning of the prisoner, To release those appointed to death,

⁽²¹⁾ To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, And His praise in Jerusalem, ⁽²²⁾ When the peoples are gathered together, And the kingdoms, to serve the LORD. ⁽²³⁾ He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days. ⁽²⁴⁾ I said, 'O my God, Do not take me away in the midst of my days; Your years are throughout all generations.

⁽²⁵⁾ Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. ⁽²⁶⁾ They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed. ⁽²⁷⁾ But You are the same, And Your years will have no end. ⁽²⁸⁾ The children of Your servants will continue, And their descendants will be established before You.'

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.

Jeremiah Chapter 23

⁽¹⁾ Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!' says the LORD. ⁽²⁾ Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: 'You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,' says the LORD. ⁽³⁾ But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. ⁽⁴⁾ I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,' says the LORD.

⁽⁵⁾ Behold, the days are coming,' says the LORD, 'That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. ⁽⁶⁾ In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. ⁽⁷⁾ Therefore, behold, the days are coming,' says the LORD, 'that they shall no longer say, 'As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,' ⁽⁸⁾ but, 'As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.' And they shall dwell in their own land.'

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Romans Chapter 8

⁽²⁸⁾ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. ⁽²⁹⁾ For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. ⁽³⁰⁾ Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. ⁽³¹⁾ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

⁽³²⁾ He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? ⁽³³⁾ Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. ⁽³⁴⁾ Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. ⁽³⁵⁾ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

⁽³⁶⁾ As it is written: 'For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' ⁽³⁷⁾ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ⁽³⁸⁾ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ⁽³⁹⁾ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

John Chapter 6

⁽⁵²⁾ The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, 'How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?' ⁽⁵³⁾ Then Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. ⁽⁵⁴⁾ Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁽⁵⁵⁾ For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.

⁽⁵⁶⁾ He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. ⁽⁵⁷⁾ As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. ⁽⁵⁸⁾ This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.' ⁽⁵⁹⁾ These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The Second Song of Isaiah      Isaiah 55:6 to 11

Seek the Lord while he wills to be found;
call upon him when he draws near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the evil ones their thoughts;
And let them turn to the Lord, and he will have compassion,
and to our God, for he will richly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as rain and snow fall from the heavens
and return not again, but water the earth,
Bringing forth life and giving growth,
seed for sowing and bread for eating,
So is my word that goes forth from my mouth;
it will not return to me empty;
But it will accomplish that which I have purposed,
and prosper in that for which I sent it.
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.


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: Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for Mission: O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 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

May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Romans 15:13