Morning Prayer

Today is the Feast of The Visitation -- Click for Readings
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

Saint and Major Saints' Days
Their sound has gone out into all lands, and their message to the ends of the world. Psalm 19:4

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 87

⁽¹⁾ His foundation is in the holy mountains. ⁽²⁾ The LORD loves the gates of Zion More than all the dwellings of Jacob. ⁽³⁾ Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God! Selah ⁽⁴⁾ I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to those who know Me; Behold, O Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia: 'This one was born there.' '

⁽⁵⁾ And of Zion it will be said, 'This one and that one were born in her; And the Most High Himself shall establish her.' ⁽⁶⁾ The LORD will record, When He registers the peoples: 'This one was born there.' Selah ⁽⁷⁾ Both the singers and the players on instruments say, 'All my springs are in 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.

Psalm 90

⁽¹⁾ LORD, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. ⁽²⁾ Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. ⁽³⁾ You turn man to destruction, And say, 'Return, O children of men.' ⁽⁴⁾ For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night.

⁽⁵⁾ You carry them away like a flood; They are like a sleep. In the morning they are like grass which grows up: ⁽⁶⁾ In the morning it flourishes and grows up; In the evening it is cut down and withers. ⁽⁷⁾ For we have been consumed by Your anger, And by Your wrath we are terrified. ⁽⁸⁾ You have set our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.

⁽⁹⁾ For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; We finish our years like a sigh. ⁽¹⁰⁾ The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. ⁽¹¹⁾ Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. ⁽¹²⁾ So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

⁽¹³⁾ Return, O LORD! How long? And have compassion on Your servants. ⁽¹⁴⁾ Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, That we may rejoice and be glad all our days! ⁽¹⁵⁾ Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us, The years in which we have seen evil. ⁽¹⁶⁾ Let Your work appear to Your servants, And Your glory to their children.

⁽¹⁷⁾ And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands.

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.

Ezekiel Chapter 3

⁽⁴⁾ Then He said to me: 'Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. ⁽⁵⁾ For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to the house of Israel, ⁽⁶⁾ not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you. ⁽⁷⁾ But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted.

⁽⁸⁾ Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. ⁽⁹⁾ Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.' ⁽¹⁰⁾ Moreover He said to me: 'Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears. ⁽¹¹⁾ And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' whether they hear, or whether they refuse.'

⁽¹²⁾ Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a great thunderous voice: 'Blessed is the glory of the LORD from His place!' ⁽¹³⁾ I also heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, and a great thunderous noise. ⁽¹⁴⁾ So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me. ⁽¹⁵⁾ Then I came to the captives at Tel Abib, who dwelt by the River Chebar; and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.

⁽¹⁶⁾ Now it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ⁽¹⁷⁾ Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me:

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Hebrews Chapter 5

⁽⁷⁾ who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, ⁽⁸⁾ though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. ⁽⁹⁾ And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, ⁽¹⁰⁾ called by God as High Priest 'according to the order of Melchizedek,'

⁽¹¹⁾ of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. ⁽¹²⁾ For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. ⁽¹³⁾ For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. ⁽¹⁴⁾ But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Luke Chapter 9

⁽³⁷⁾ Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him. ⁽³⁸⁾ Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, 'Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child. ⁽³⁹⁾ And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him. ⁽⁴⁰⁾ So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.'

⁽⁴¹⁾ Then Jesus answered and said, 'O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.' ⁽⁴²⁾ And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father. ⁽⁴³⁾ And they were all amazed at the majesty of God. But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, ⁽⁴⁴⁾ Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.'

⁽⁴⁵⁾ But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying. ⁽⁴⁶⁾ Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. ⁽⁴⁷⁾ And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, ⁽⁴⁸⁾ and said to them, 'Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great.'

⁽⁴⁹⁾ Now John answered and said, 'Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.' ⁽⁵⁰⁾ But Jesus said to him, 'Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.'

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 Earth and its Creatures .

Let the earth glorify the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.
Glorify the Lord, O mountains and hills,
and all that grows upon the earth,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.
Glorify the Lord,
O springs of water, seas, and streams,
O whales and all that move in the waters.
All birds of the air, glorify the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.

Glorify the Lord,
O beasts of the wild,
and all you flocks and herds.
O men and women everywhere, 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:  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: 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