Monday, April 14, 2014

An Order for Morning Prayer on Holy Saturday (19 April 2014)

One of the least observed rites of the Three Holy Days is Morning Prayer on Holy Saturday.  Our Lord is in the tomb, the disciples scattered and uncertainty reigns.  Here is what we will be doing at Saint Faith's on Holy Saturday before the decorating of the church for Easter.

The Opening Sentences, Responsory, Canticle, Litany, Introduction to the Lord's Prayer and the Dismissal are taken from and/or adapted from 'Morning Prayer:  Passiontide' in Common Worship:  Daily Prayer, a liturgical text of the Church of England.  All other material is from The Book of Alternative Services.


Morning Prayer for Holy Saturday
19 April 2014

The Gathering of the Community

Opening Sentences

O Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Let your ways be known upon earth,
your saving power among the nations.

Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
As a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief
your only Son was lifted up
that he might draw the whole world to himself.
May we walk this day in the way of the cross
and always be ready to share its weight,
declaring your love for all the world.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God for ever.

The Proclamation of the Word of God

The Psalm:  Psalm 31.1-4, 15-16

In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame; *
         deliver me in your righteousness.

Incline your ear to me; *
         make haste to deliver me.

Be my strong rock, a fortress to save me,
for you are my rock and my stronghold; *
         guide me, and lead me for your name’s sake.

Take me out of the net
that they have laid secretly for me, *
         for you are my strength.

My times are in your hand; *
         deliver me from the hand of my enemies,
         and from those who persecute me.

Make your face to shine upon your servant, *
         and save me for your mercy’s sake.

The First Reading:  Lamentations 3.1-9, 19-24

A Reading from Lamentations.

            I am one who has seen affliction under the rod of Gods wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; against me alone he turns his hand, again and again, all day long.  He has made my flesh and my skin waste away, and broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me sit in darkness like the dead of long ago.  He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has put heavy chains on me; though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; he has blocked my ways with hewn stones, he has made my paths crooked.

            The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall!  My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me.  But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:  The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
Thanks be to God.

A Responsory

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you;
by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.
God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
We preach Christ crucified,
the power of God and the wisdom of God.
By your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.
God forbid that I should glory,
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you;
by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

The Second Reading:  John 19.38-42

A Reading from the Gospel according to John.

            After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus.  Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body.  Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.  They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews.  Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid.  And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
Thanks be to God.

The Canticle:  ‘A Song of Jonah’ (Jonah 2.2-7, 9)

I called to you, O God, out of my distress
            and you answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
         and you heard my voice.

You cast me into the deep,
            into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me,
         all your waves and billows passed over me.

Then I said, I am driven away from your sight;
         how shall I ever look again upon your holy temple?

The waters closed in over me,
            the deep was round about me;
weeds were wrapped around my head
         at the roots of the mountains.

I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me for ever,
         yet you brought up my life from the depths, O God.

As my life was ebbing away,
            I remembered you, O God,
and my prayer came to you,
         into your holy temple.

With the voice of thanksgiving,
            I will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay;
         deliverance belongs to the Lord!

The Prayers of the Community

The Litany and Collect

Let us offer our prayers saying, “Holy One, hear and have mercy.”
Holy One, hear and have mercy.

Have mercy on your people,
for whom your Son laid down his life: 
Holy One, hear and have mercy.

Bring healing and wholeness to people and nations,
and have pity on those torn apart by division: 
Holy One, hear and have mercy.

Strengthen all who are persecuted for your name’s sake,
and deliver them from evil: 
Holy One, hear and have mercy.

Look in mercy upon all who suffer,
and hear those who cry out in pain and desolation: 
Holy One, hear and have mercy.

Bring comfort to the dying,
and gladden their hearts with the vision of your glory: 
Holy One, hear and have mercy.

Give rest to the departed
and bring them, with your saints, to glory everlasting: 
Holy One, hear and have mercy.

O God,
creator of heaven and earth,
as the crucified body of your dear Son
was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath,
so may we await with him the coming of the third day,
and rise with him to newness of life;
who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Standing at the foot of the cross,
as our Saviour taught us, so we pray:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever.  Amen.

The Sending Forth of the Community

The Dismissal

Let us bless the Lord who died for us.
Thanks be to God.

May Christ, who bore our sins on the cross,
set us free to serve him with joy.  Amen.






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