Morning Prayer for Lent
From Ash Wednesday to the Fifth Sunday of Lent
The Gathering of the Community
Introductory Responses
We cast our burdens
upon you, O Lord,
and you will sustain us.
Create in us clean
hearts, O God,
and renew a right spirit within us.
Cast us not away
from your presence
and take not your Holy Spirit from us.
Give us the joy of
your saving help again
and sustain us with your bountiful Spirit.
Blessed are you, O
Lord, day by day,
the God of our salvation who bears our
burdens.
Morning Prayer
continues with the Psalm.
The Proclamation of the Word of God
The Psalm
A Psalm from the
Daily Office Lectionary, the Weekday Eucharistic Lectionary or the Revised
Common Lectionary Daily Readings is said or sung. The following short list of Psalms may be
used. [i]
Sundays Psalm 51
Mondays Psalm 3
Tuesdays Psalm 6
Wednesdays Psalm 11
Thursdays Psalm 12
Fridays Psalm 32
Saturdays Psalm 61
After the Psalm,
Morning Prayer continues with the Reading.
The Reading
A Reading from the
Daily Office Lectionary, the Weekday Eucharistic Lectionary or the Revised
Common Lectionary Daily Readings is said or sung. The following short list of Readings may be
used. [ii]
Sundays Romans 6.3-5
Mondays Joel 2.12-14
Tuesdays 1 Corinthians 9.24-27
Wednesdays Romans 7.21-25a
Thursdays Isaiah 58.6-9a
Fridays Matthew 6.1-4
Saturdays Luke 10.38-42
After a period of
silent reflection one of the following may be said.
The Word of the
Lord.
Thanks be to God.
or
Hear what the Spirit
is saying to the church.
Thanks be to God.
or
Holy Word, Holy
Wisdom.
Thanks be to God.
After the Reading,
Morning Prayer continues the Responsory or the Canticle or both. If two Readings are read, then the Responsory
follows the first Reading and the Canticle the second.
The Responsory
The Responsory is
said or sung.
Incline your ear to
me;
make haste to answer
when I call.
Incline your ear to me;
make haste to answer when I call.
Lord, hear my
prayer,
and let my cry come
before you.
Make haste to answer when I call.
Hide not your face form
me
in the day of my
trouble.
Make haste to answer when I call.
You, O Lord, endure
for ever,
and your name from
age to age.
Make haste to answer when I call.
You will arise and
have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to
have pity upon her.
Make haste to answer when I call.
Glory to God, Source
of all being, eternal Word and Holy Spirit.
Incline your ear to me;
make haste to answer when I call.
Morning Prayer
continues [with the second Reading or] the Canticle or an Affirmation of Faith.
The Canticle
‘The Song of
Zechariah’ or one of the seasonal canticles, ‘The New Jerusalem’ or ‘A Song of
the Wilderness’, may be said or sung.
The Song of Zechariah (Luke
1.68-79)
Blessed are you, Lord, the God of Israel, *
you have come to your
people and set them free.
You have raised up for us a mighty Saviour, *
born of the house of
your servant David.
Through your holy prophets, *
you promised of old to
save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us, *
to show mercy to our
forebears,
and to remember your
holy covenant.
This was the oath you swore to our father Abraham: *
to set us free from the
hands of our enemies,
free to worship you
without fear.
And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, *
for you will go before
the Lord to prepare the way,
to give God’s 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. [iii]
Or
A Song from Ezekiel
(Ezekiel 36.24-28)
I will take you from
the nations, *
and gather you from all the
countries,
and bring you home to your own land.
I will sprinkle
clean water upon you, *
and you shall be clean from all your
uncleannesses,
and from all your idols I will
cleanse you.
A new heart I will
give you, *
and a new spirit I will put within
you;
and I will remove
from your body the heart of stone *
and give you a heart of flesh.
I will put my spirit
within you, *
and make you follow my statues
and be careful to observe my
ordinances.
Then you shall live
in the land *
I gave to your ancestors;
and you shall be my
people *
and I will be your God. [iv]
Or
The Song of Manasseh
(Manasseh 1a, 2, 4, 6, 7a, b, 9a, c, 11, 12, 14b, 15b)
Lord almighty and
God of our ancestors, *
you who made heaven and earth in all
their glory:
all things tremble
with awe at your presence, *
before your great and mighty power.
Immeasurable and
unsearchable is your promised mercy, *
for you are God, Most High.
You are full of
compassion, long-suffering and very merciful, *
and you relent at human suffering.
O God, according to
your great goodness, *
you have promised forgiveness for
repentance
to those who have sinned against
you.
The sins I have
committed against you *
are more in number than the sands of
the sea.
I am not worthy to
look up to the height of heaven, *
because of the multitude of my
iniquities.
And now I bend the
knee of my heart before you, *
imploring your kindness upon me.
I have sinned, O
God, I have sinned, *
and I acknowledge my transgressions.
Unworthy as I am,
you will save me, *
according to your great mercy.
For all the host of
heaven sings your praise, *
and your glory is for ever and ever.
[v]
Morning Prayer
continues with an Affirmation of Faith or the Litany.
Affirmation of Faith
Either The Apostles’
Creed or the ‘Hear, O Israel’ may be said or sung.
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
creator of heaven
and earth.
I believe in
Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived
by the Holy Spirit,
born of the
virgin Mary,
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,
he is seated at
the right hand of the Father,
and 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. [vi]
Or
Hear, O Israel
Hear, O Israel,
the Lord our God,
the Lord is one.
Love the Lord
your God
with all your
heart,
with all your
soul,
with all your
mind,
and with all your
strength.
This is the first
and the great commandment.
The second is
like it:
Love your
neighbour as yourself.
There is no commandment
greater than these.
Morning Prayer continues with the Litany.
The Prayers of the
Community
The Litany
The Litany is said
or sung.
With confidence and
trust let us pray to the God of the prodigal, saying, “God of mercy, hear our
prayer.”
For the one holy
catholic and apostolic Church throughout the world, God of mercy, hear our prayer.
For the mission of
the Church, that in faithful witness it may preach the gospel to the ends of
the earth, God of mercy, hear our
prayer.
For those preparing
for baptism and for their teachers and sponsors, God of mercy, hear our prayer.
For peace in the
world, that a spirit of respect and reconciliation may grow among nations and
peoples, God of mercy, hear our prayer.
For the poor, the
persecuted, the sick and all who suffer; for refugees, prisoners and all in
danger; that they may be relieved and protected, God of mercy, hear our prayer.
For all whom we have
injured or offended, God of mercy, hear
our prayer.
For grace to amend
our lives and to further the reign of God, God of mercy, hear our prayer. [vii]
Additional
intercessions, petitions and thanksgivings may be offered in silence or
aloud. After a period of silence either
the Collect of the Day or one of the following Collects may be said or sung.
Lent 1
God of wilderness
and water, your Son was baptized and tempted as we are. Guide us through this season, that we may not
avoid struggle, but open ourselves to blessing, through the cleansing depths of
repentance and the heaven-rending words of the Spirit. Amen.
[viii]
Lent 2
Artist of souls, you
sculpted a people for yourself out of the rocks of wilderness and fasting. Help us as we take up your invitation to
prayer and simplicity that the discipline of this Lenten season may sharpen our
hunger for the feast of your holy friendship, and whet our thirst for the
living water you offer through Jesus Christ.
Amen. [ix]
Lent 3
God of the covenant,
in the glory of the cross your Son embraced the power of death and broke its
hold over your people. In this time of
repentance, draw all people to yourself, that we who confess Jesus as Lord may
put aside the deeds of death and accept the life of your kingdom. Amen.
[x]
Lent 4
God of the living,
through baptism we pas from the shadow of death to the light of the
resurrection. Remain with us and give us
hope that, rejoicing in the gift of the Spirit who gives life to our mortal
flesh, we may be clothed with the garment of immortality, through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen. [xi]
Morning Prayer
continues with the Lord’s Prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer
Gathering our
prayers and praises into one,
let us pray as our
Saviour taught us,
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.
Morning Prayer
continues with the Dismissal.
The Sending Forth of
the Community
The Dismissal
Let us bless the
Lord who forgives our sins.
Thanks be to God.
Morning Prayer may
conclude with the following Sentence.
Look with your
compassion upon us, O Lord, so that we may learn to know you more fully and to
serve you with a more perfect will. Amen. [xii]
Note
All liturgical texts
are taken from The Book of Alternative Services unless otherwise noted and may
have been emended for more inclusive language.
[i]
Common Worship: Daily Prayer (2005), 67.
[ii]
Common Worship: Daily Prayer (2005),
67-69.
[iii]
Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006),
303.
[iv]
The New Revised Standard Version.
[v]
Common Worship: Daily Prayer (2005), 240.
[vi]
Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006),
105.
[vii]
The Book of Alternative Services (1985),
121-122 alt.
[viii]
Revised Common Lectionary Prayers
(2002), 76.
[ix]
Revised Common Lectionary Prayers
(2002), 76 alt.
[x]
Revised Common Lectionary Prayers
(2002), 76.
[xi]
Revised Common Lectionary Prayers
(2002), 76.
[xii]
The Book of Occasional Services (2003), 26 alt.
