Morning Prayer

--Today is the Feast of Saint Patrick--
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
We give thanks to the Father, who has made us worthy to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Colossians 1:12

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 97

⁽¹⁾ The LORD reigns; Let the earth rejoice; Let the multitude of isles be glad! ⁽²⁾ Clouds and darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. ⁽³⁾ A fire goes before Him, And burns up His enemies round about. ⁽⁴⁾ His lightnings light the world; The earth sees and trembles.

⁽⁵⁾ The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. ⁽⁶⁾ The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples see His glory. ⁽⁷⁾ Let all be put to shame who serve carved images, Who boast of idols. Worship Him, all you gods. ⁽⁸⁾ Zion hears and is glad, And the daughters of Judah rejoice Because of Your judgments, O LORD.

⁽⁹⁾ For You, LORD, are most high above all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods. ⁽¹⁰⁾ You who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked. ⁽¹¹⁾ Light is sown for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in heart. ⁽¹²⁾ Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.

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 99

⁽¹⁾ The LORD reigns; Let the peoples tremble! He dwells between the cherubim; Let the earth be moved! ⁽²⁾ The LORD is great in Zion, And He is high above all the peoples. ⁽³⁾ Let them praise Your great and awesome name -- He is holy. ⁽⁴⁾ The King's strength also loves justice; You have established equity; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.

⁽⁵⁾ Exalt the LORD our God, And worship at His footstool -- He is holy. ⁽⁶⁾ Moses and Aaron were among His priests, And Samuel was among those who called upon His name; They called upon the LORD, and He answered them. ⁽⁷⁾ He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar; They kept His testimonies and the ordinance He gave them. ⁽⁸⁾ You answered them, O LORD our God; You were to them God-Who-Forgives, Though You took vengeance on their deeds.

⁽⁹⁾ Exalt the LORD our God, And worship at His holy hill; For the LORD our God is holy.

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 100

⁽¹⁾ Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! ⁽²⁾ Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. ⁽³⁾ Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. ⁽⁴⁾ Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

⁽⁵⁾ For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

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 49

⁽²⁹⁾ Then he charged them and said to them: 'I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ⁽³⁰⁾ in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place. ⁽³¹⁾ There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. ⁽³²⁾ The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth.'

⁽³³⁾ And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people. ⁽¹⁾ Then Joseph fell on his father's face, and wept over him, and kissed him. ⁽²⁾ And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. ⁽³⁾ Forty days were required for him, for such are the days required for those who are embalmed; and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days. ⁽⁴⁾ And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, 'If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying,

⁽⁵⁾ My father made me swear, saying, 'Behold, I am dying; in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.' Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come back.' ' ⁽⁶⁾ And Pharaoh said, 'Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.' ⁽⁷⁾ So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, ⁽⁸⁾ as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen.

⁽⁹⁾ And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great gathering. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they mourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. He observed seven days of mourning for his father. ⁽¹¹⁾ And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, 'This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians.' Therefore its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan. ⁽¹²⁾ So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them.

⁽¹³⁾ For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place. ⁽¹⁴⁾ And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

1 Corinthians Chapter 11

⁽¹⁷⁾ Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. ⁽¹⁸⁾ For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. ⁽¹⁹⁾ For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. ⁽²⁰⁾ Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper.

⁽²¹⁾ For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. ⁽²²⁾ What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you. ⁽²³⁾ For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; ⁽²⁴⁾ and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.'

⁽²⁵⁾ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.' ⁽²⁶⁾ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. ⁽²⁷⁾ Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. ⁽²⁸⁾ But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

⁽²⁹⁾ For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. ⁽³⁰⁾ For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. ⁽³¹⁾ For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. ⁽³²⁾ But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

⁽³³⁾ Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. ⁽³⁴⁾ But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Mark Chapter 8

⁽¹⁾ In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, ⁽²⁾ I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. ⁽³⁾ And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar.' ⁽⁴⁾ Then His disciples answered Him, 'How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?'

⁽⁵⁾ He asked them, 'How many loaves do you have?' And they said, 'Seven.' ⁽⁶⁾ So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude. ⁽⁷⁾ They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them. ⁽⁸⁾ So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.

⁽⁹⁾ Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away, ⁽¹⁰⁾ immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

A Song to the Lamb       Revelation 4:11, 5:9 to 10, 13

Splendor and honor and kingly power
are yours by right, O Lord our God,
For you created everything that is,
and by your will they were created
  and have their being;
And yours by right, O Lamb that was slain,
for with your blood you have redeemed for God,
From every family, language, people, and nation,
a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
And so, to him who sits upon the throne,
and to Christ the Lamb,
Be worship and praise, dominion and splendor,
forever and forevermore.

The Song of Zechariah Luke 1: 68 to 79

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old,
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham,
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

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:  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: O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of 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