Sunday –
Year 2 Advent 1
Morning Prayer
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Isaiah 40:3
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 for ever. Amen. Alleluia.
Come let us sing
to the Lord; *
let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come
before his presence with thanksgiving *
and raise a loud shout to
him with psalms.
For the Lord is a
great God, *
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are
the caverns of the earth, *
and the heights of the hills are his
also.
The sea is his,
for he made it, *
and his hands have molded the dry land.
Come, let us bow
down, and bend the knee, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our
God,
and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his
hand. *
Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!
Glory
be 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.
146 Lauda, anima mea
1
Hallelujah!
Praise the Lord, O my soul! *
I will praise the
Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have
my being.
2 Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of
earth, *
for there is no help in them.
3 When they breathe
their last, they return to earth, *
and in that day their thoughts
perish.
4 Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their
help! *
whose hope is in the Lord their God;
5 Who made
heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; *
who keeps
his promise for ever;
6 Who gives justice to those who are
oppressed, *
and food to those who hunger.
7 The Lord sets
the prisoners free;
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind; *
the
Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
8 The Lord loves the
righteous;
the Lord cares for the stranger; *
he sustains the
orphan and widow,
but frustrates the way of the wicked.
9
The Lord shall reign for ever, *
your God, O Zion, throughout all
generations.
Hallelujah!
147 Laudate
Dominum
1 Hallelujah!
How good it is to sing praises
to our God! *
how pleasant it is to honor him with praise!
2
The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem; *
he gathers the exiles of Israel.
3
He heals the brokenhearted *
and binds up their wounds.
4
He counts the number of the stars *
and calls them all by their
names.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power; *
there is
no limit to his wisdom.
6 The Lord lifts up the lowly, *
but
casts the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with
thanksgiving; *
make music to our God upon the harp.
8 He
covers the heavens with clouds *
and prepares rain for the
earth;
9 He makes grass to grow upon the mountains *
and
green plants to serve mankind.
10 He provides food for flocks
and herds *
and for the young ravens when they cry.
11 He
is not impressed by the might of a horse; *
he has no pleasure in
the strength of a man;
12 But the Lord has pleasure in those
who fear him, *
in those who await his gracious favor.
13
Worship the Lord, O Jerusalem; *
praise your God, O Zion;
14
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; *
he has blessed
your children within you.
15 He has established peace on your
borders; *
he satisfies you with the finest wheat.
16 He
sends out his command to the earth, *
and his word runs very
swiftly.
17 He gives snow like wool; *
he scatters
hoarfrost like ashes.
18 He scatters his hail like bread
crumbs; *
who can stand against his cold?
19 He sends forth
his word and melts them; *
he blows with his wind, and the waters
flow.
20 He declares his word to Jacob, *
his statutes and
his judgments to Israel.
21 He has not done so to any other
nation; *
to them he has not revealed his judgments.
Hallelujah!
Glory to the
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
as it was in the
beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of King Uzziah of Judah and in the days of King Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel, two years* before the earthquake.
And he said:
The Lord roars from Zion,
and
utters his voice from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds
wither,
and the top of Carmel dries up.
Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of
Damascus,
and for four, I will not revoke the
punishment;*
because
they have threshed Gilead
with threshing-sledges
of iron.
So I will send a fire on the house of Hazael,
and
it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.
I will break the
gate-bars of Damascus,
and cut off the
inhabitants from the Valley of Aven,
and the one who holds the
sceptre from Beth-eden;
and the people of Aram
shall go into exile to Kir,
says the Lord.
Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of the
Ammonites,
and for four, I will not revoke the
punishment;*
because
they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead
in
order to enlarge their territory.
So I will kindle a fire against
the wall of Rabbah,
fire that shall devour its
strongholds,
with shouting on the day of battle,
with
a storm on the day of the whirlwind;
then their king shall go
into exile,
he and his officials together,
says the Lord.
Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Moab,
and
for four, I will not revoke the punishment;*
because
he burned to lime
the bones of the king of Edom.
So I will send a fire on Moab,
and it shall
devour the strongholds of Kerioth,
and Moab shall die amid
uproar,
amid shouting and the sound of the
trumpet;
I will cut off the ruler from its midst,
and
will kill all its officials with him,
says the Lord.
Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of
Judah,
and for four, I will not revoke the
punishment;*
because
they have rejected the law of the Lord,
and have
not kept his statutes,
but they have been led astray by the same
lies
after which their ancestors walked.
So
I will send a fire on Judah,
and it shall devour
the strongholds of Jerusalem.
Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of
Israel,
and for four, I will not revoke the
punishment;*
because
they sell the righteous for silver,
and the
needy for a pair of sandals—
they who trample the head of
the poor into the dust of the earth,
and
push the afflicted out of the way;
father and son go in to
the same girl,
so that my holy name is
profaned;
they lay themselves down beside every altar
on
garments taken in pledge;
and in the house of their God
they drink
wine bought with fines they
imposed.
The
Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Canticle 11
Arise, shine, for your light has come, *
and the glory of the Lord has dawned upon you.
For behold,
darkness covers the land; *
deep gloom
enshrouds the peoples.
But over you the Lord will rise, *
and his glory will appear upon you.
Nations will stream to your
light, *
and kings to the brightness of your
dawning.
Your gates will always be open; *
by day or night they will never be shut.
They will call you, The
City of the Lord, *
The Zion of the Holy One
of Israel.
Violence will no more be heard in your land, *
ruin or destruction within your borders.
You will call your
walls, Salvation, *
and all your portals,
Praise.
The sun will no more be your light by day; *
by night you will not need the brightness of the moon.
The Lord will be your everlasting light, *
and your God will be your glory.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will
be for ever. Amen.
Glory
to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
as it was in
the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Reading
When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, ‘As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.’
They asked him, ‘Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?’ And he said, ‘Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, “I am he!”* and, “The time is near!”* Do not go after them.
‘When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.’ Then he said to them, ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
‘But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defence in advance; for I will give you words* and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.
The
Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Canticle 16
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 for ever. Amen.
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
power of 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
Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us 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.
Show us your mercy, O Lord;
And grant us your salvation.
Clothe your ministers with righteousness;
Let your people sing with joy.
Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;
For only in you can we live in safety.
Lord, keep this nation under your care;
And guide us in the way of justice and truth.
Let your way be known upon earth;
Your saving health among all nations.
Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;
Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.
Create in us clean hearts, O God;
And sustain us with your Holy Spirit.
Collect of the Day: The First Sunday of Advent
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
A Collect for Sundays
O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
For Mission
Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let us pray now for our own needs and those of others.
General Thanksgiving
Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.
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