Morning Prayer (Matins) in Contemporary Language

¶ Morning Prayer
Advent
Monday, 6 December 2021
Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, c.326 [Lesser Festival]

Preparation

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

Reveal among us the light of your presence
Allthat we may behold your power and glory.

One or more of the following is said or sung:

this or another prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign God of all,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
In your tender compassion
the dawn from on high is breaking upon us
to dispel the lingering shadows of night.
As we look for your coming among us this day,
open our eyes to behold your presence
and strengthen our hands to do your will,
that the world may rejoice and give you praise.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
AllBlessed be God for ever.

a suitable hymn, or A Song of the King’s Glory

1The earth is the Lord’s and all that fills it, ♦
the compass of the world and all who dwell therein.

2For he has founded it upon the seas ♦
and set it firm upon the rivers of the deep.

3‘Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord, ♦
or who can rise up in his holy place?’

4‘Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, ♦
who have not lifted up their soul to an idol,
nor sworn an oath to a lie;

5‘They shall receive a blessing from the Lord, ♦
a just reward from the God of their salvation.’

6Such is the company of those who seek him, ♦
of those who seek your face, O God of Jacob.

7Lift up your heads, O gates;
be lifted up, you everlasting doors; ♦
and the King of glory shall come in.

8‘Who is the King of glory?’ ♦
‘The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord who is mighty in battle.’

9Lift up your heads, O gates;
be lifted up, you everlasting doors; ♦
and the King of glory shall come in.

10‘Who is this King of glory?’ ♦
‘The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory.’

Psalm 24

AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

This opening prayer may be said

The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;
let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for you;
now and for ever.
AllAmen.

The Word of God

Psalmody

The appointed psalmody is said.

Psalm 44

Refrain: Rise up, O Lord, to help us.

1 We have heard with our ears, O God, our forebears have told us, ♦
all that you did in their days, in time of old;

2 How with your hand you drove out nations and planted us in, ♦
and broke the power of peoples and set us free.

3 For not by their own sword did our ancestors take the land ♦
nor did their own arm save them,

4 But your right hand, your arm, and the light of your countenance, ♦
because you were gracious to them. R

5 You are my King and my God, ♦
who commanded salvation for Jacob.

6 Through you we drove back our adversaries; ♦
through your name we trod down our foes.

7 For I did not trust in my bow; ♦
it was not my own sword that saved me;

8 It was you that saved us from our enemies ♦
and put our adversaries to shame.

9 We gloried in God all the day long, ♦
and were ever praising your name. R

10 But now you have rejected us and brought us to shame ♦
and go not out with our armies.

11 You have made us turn our backs on our enemies, ♦
and our enemies have despoiled us.

12 You have made us like sheep to be slaughtered, ♦
and have scattered us among the nations.

13 You have sold your people for a pittance ♦
and made no profit on their sale.

14 You have made us the taunt of our neighbours, ♦
the scorn and derision of those that are round about us.

15 You have made us a byword among the nations; ♦
among the peoples they wag their heads. R

16 My confusion is daily before me, ♦
and shame has covered my face,

17 At the taunts of the slanderer and reviler, ♦
at the sight of the enemy and avenger.

18 All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten you ♦
and have not played false to your covenant.

19 Our hearts have not turned back, ♦
nor our steps gone out of your way,

20 Yet you have crushed us in the haunt of jackals, ♦
and covered us with the shadow of death.

21 If we have forgotten the name of our God, ♦
or stretched out our hands to any strange god,

22 Will not God search it out? ♦
For he knows the secrets of the heart.

23 But for your sake are we killed all the day long, ♦
and are counted as sheep for the slaughter. R

24 Rise up! Why sleep, O Lord? ♦
Awake, and do not reject us for ever.

25 Why do you hide your face ♦
and forget our grief and oppression?

26 Our soul is bowed down to the dust; ♦
our belly cleaves to the earth.

27 Rise up, O Lord, to help us ♦
and redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love.

Refrain: Rise up, O Lord, to help us.

In the darkness of unknowing,
when your love seems absent,
draw near to us, O God,
in Christ forsaken,
in Christ risen,
our Redeemer and our Lord.

Each psalm or group of psalms may end with

AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

If there are two Scripture readings, the first may be read here, or both may be read after the canticle.

Isaiah 30.1-18

Oh, rebellious children, says the Lord,
who carry out a plan, but not mine;
who make an alliance, but against my will,
   adding sin to sin;
who set out to go down to Egypt
   without asking for my counsel,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh,
   and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt;
Therefore the protection of Pharaoh shall become your shame,
   and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt your humiliation.
For though his officials are at Zoan
   and his envoys reach Hanes,
everyone comes to shame
   through a people that cannot profit them,
that brings neither help nor profit,
   but shame and disgrace.

An oracle concerning the animals of the Negeb.
Through a land of trouble and distress,
   of lioness and roaring lion,
   of viper and flying serpent,
they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys,
   and their treasures on the humps of camels,
   to a people that cannot profit them.
For Egypt’s help is worthless and empty,
   therefore I have called her,
   ‘Rahab who sits still.’

Go now, write it before them on a tablet,
   and inscribe it in a book,
so that it may be for the time to come
   as a witness for ever.
For they are a rebellious people,
   faithless children,
children who will not hear
   the instruction of the Lord;
who say to the seers, ‘Do not see’;
   and to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us smooth things,
   prophesy illusions,
leave the way, turn aside from the path,
   let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.’
Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:
Because you reject this word,
   and put your trust in oppression and deceit,
   and rely on them;
therefore this iniquity shall become for you
   like a break in a high wall, bulging out, and about to collapse,
   whose crash comes suddenly, in an instant;
its breaking is like that of a potter’s vessel
   that is smashed so ruthlessly
that among its fragments not a sherd is found
   for taking fire from the hearth,
   or dipping water out of the cistern.

For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
In returning and rest you shall be saved;
   in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.
But you refused and said,
‘No! We will flee upon horses’—
   therefore you shall flee!
and, ‘We will ride upon swift steeds’—
   therefore your pursuers shall be swift!
A thousand shall flee at the threat of one,
   at the threat of five you shall flee,
until you are left
   like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,
   like a signal on a hill.

Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you;
   therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
   blessed are all those who wait for him.

Canticle

A Song of the Wilderness, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 30 (page 581) or number 49 (page 601), may be said

Refrain:

AllLift up your voice with strength,
O herald of good tidings. Alleluia.

1The wilderness and the dry land shall rejoice, ♦
the desert shall blossom and burst into song.

2They shall see the glory of the Lord, ♦
the majesty of our God.

3Strengthen the weary hands, ♦
and make firm the feeble knees.

4Say to the anxious, ‘Be strong, fear not,
your God is coming with judgement, ♦
coming with judgement to save you.’

5Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, ♦
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

6Then shall the lame leap like a hart, ♦
and the tongue of the dumb sing for joy.

7For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, ♦
and streams in the desert;

8The ransomed of the Lord shall return with singing, ♦
with everlasting joy upon their heads.

9Joy and gladness shall be theirs, ♦
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Isaiah 35.1, 2b-4a, 4c-6, 10

AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

AllLift up your voice with strength,
O herald of good tidings. Alleluia.

Scripture Reading

One or more readings appointed for the day are read.

The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence.

Matthew 14.1-12

At that time Herod the ruler heard reports about Jesus; and he said to his servants, ‘This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and for this reason these powers are at work in him.’ For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because John had been telling him, ‘It is not lawful for you to have her.’ Though Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded him as a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and she pleased Herod so much that he promised on oath to grant her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, ‘Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.’ The king was grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he commanded it to be given; he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. The head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who brought it to her mother. His disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went and told Jesus.

A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow

Now it is time to awake out of sleep,
Allfor the night is far spent and the day is at hand.
Now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed,
Allfor the night is far spent.
Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness
and put on the armour of light,
Allfor the day is at hand.
Put on the Lord Jesus Christ
and make no provision for the flesh,
Allfor the night is far spent and the day is at hand.

from Romans 13

Gospel Canticle

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah) is normally said, or A Song of Redemption (page 620) may be said

Refrain:

All I will give you shepherds after my own heart
who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. Alleluia.

1Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, ♦
who has come to his people and set them free.

2He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour, ♦
born of the house of his servant David.

3Through his holy prophets God promised of old ♦
to save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all that hate us,

4To show mercy to our ancestors, ♦
and to remember his holy covenant.

5This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham: ♦
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,

6Free to worship him without fear, ♦
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.

7And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, ♦
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

8To give his people knowledge of salvation ♦
by the forgiveness of all their sins.

9In the tender compassion of our God ♦
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

10To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, ♦
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Luke 1.68-79

AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

Refrain:

All I will give you shepherds after my own heart
who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. Alleluia.

Prayers

Intercessions are offered
¶ for the day and its tasks
¶ for the world and its needs
¶ for the Church and her life

Prayers may include the following concerns from the cycle on pages 364–365

¶ The Church, that she may be ready for the coming of Christ
¶ The leaders of the Church
¶ The nations, that they may be subject to the rule of God
¶ Those who are working for justice in the world
¶ The broken, that they may find God’s healing

A form of prayer found on page 377 may be used.

These responses may be used

Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer

(or)

Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.

Silence may be kept.

The Collect of the day is said

Almighty Father, lover of souls,
who chose your servant Nicholas
      to be a bishop in the Church,
that he might give freely out of the treasures of your grace:
make us mindful of the needs of others
and, as we have received, so teach us also to give;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
AllAmen.

The Lord’s Prayer is said

Awaiting his coming in glory,
as our Saviour taught us, so we pray

AllOur 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.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

(or)

Awaiting his coming in glory,
let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us

AllOur Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

The Conclusion

May the Lord, when he comes,
find us watching and waiting.
AllAmen.

Let us bless the Lord. Alleluia, alleluia.
AllThanks be to God. Alleluia, alleluia.