Morning Prayer (Matins) in Contemporary Language

Blessed are you, creator of all,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
As your dawn renews the face of the earth
bringing light and life to all creation,
may we rejoice in this day you have made;
as we wake refreshed from the depths of sleep,
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.

after Lancelot Andrewes (1626)

or a suitable hymn,

or A Song of God’s Righteousness

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 87

Refrain: The Lord has chosen Zion for himself.

1 His foundation is on the holy mountains. ♦
The Lord loves the gates of Zion
more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

2 Glorious things are spoken of you, ♦
Zion, city of our God.

3 I record Egypt and Babylon as those who know me; ♦
behold Philistia, Tyre and Ethiopia:
in Zion were they born.

4 And of Zion it shall be said, ‘Each one was born in her, ♦
and the Most High himself has established her.’

5 The Lord will record as he writes up the peoples, ♦
‘This one also was born there.’

6 And as they dance they shall sing, ♦
‘All my fresh springs are in you.’

Refrain: The Lord has chosen Zion for himself.

Lord, as you call us to your city
founded on the rock of ages,
let the springs of living water
rise within us to eternal life;
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 89.1-18

Refrain: Truly the Lord is our shield.

1 My song shall be always of the loving-kindness of the Lord: ♦
with my mouth will I proclaim your faithfulness
throughout all generations.

2 I will declare that your love is established for ever; ♦
you have set your faithfulness as firm as the heavens.

3 For you said: ‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one; ♦
I have sworn an oath to David my servant:

4 ‘ “Your seed will I establish for ever ♦
and build up your throne for all generations.” ’ R

5 The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, ♦
and your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones;

6 For who among the clouds can be compared to the Lord? ♦
Who is like the Lord among the host of heaven?

7 A God feared in the council of the holy ones, ♦
great and terrible above all those round about him.

8 Who is like you, Lord God of hosts? ♦
Mighty Lord, your faithfulness is all around you. R

9 You rule the raging of the sea; ♦
you still its waves when they arise.

10 You crushed Rahab with a deadly wound ♦
and scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.

11 Yours are the heavens; the earth also is yours; ♦
you established the world and all that fills it.

12 You created the north and the south; ♦
Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name. R

13 You have a mighty arm; ♦
strong is your hand and high is your right hand.

14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; ♦
steadfast love and faithfulness go before your face.

15 Happy are the people who know the shout of triumph: ♦
they walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance.

16 In your name they rejoice all the day long ♦
and are exalted in your righteousness.

17 For you are the glory of their strength, ♦
and in your favour you lift up our heads.

18 Truly the Lord is our shield; ♦
the Holy One of Israel is our king.

Refrain: Truly the Lord is our shield.

As we sing of your love, O Lord,
anoint us with the Spirit’s seal,
that we may praise your faithfulness
and proclaim your truth from age to age;
through Jesus Christ 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.

Job 38

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Gird up your loins like a man,
   I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

‘Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
   Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
   Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
   or who laid its cornerstone
when the morning stars sang together
   and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?

‘Or who shut in the sea with doors
   when it burst out from the womb?—
when I made the clouds its garment,
   and thick darkness its swaddling band,
and prescribed bounds for it,
   and set bars and doors,
and said, “Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
   and here shall your proud waves be stopped”?

‘Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
   and caused the dawn to know its place,
so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
   and the wicked be shaken out of it?
It is changed like clay under the seal,
   and it is dyed like a garment.
Light is withheld from the wicked,
   and their uplifted arm is broken.

‘Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
   or walked in the recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
   or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
   Declare, if you know all this.

‘Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
   and where is the place of darkness,
that you may take it to its territory
   and that you may discern the paths to its home?
Surely you know, for you were born then,
   and the number of your days is great!

‘Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
   or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
   for the day of battle and war?
What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,
   or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?

‘Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain,
   and a way for the thunderbolt,
to bring rain on a land where no one lives,
   on the desert, which is empty of human life,
to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
   and to make the ground put forth grass?

‘Has the rain a father,
   or who has begotten the drops of dew?
From whose womb did the ice come forth,
   and who has given birth to the hoar-frost of heaven?
The waters become hard like stone,
   and the face of the deep is frozen.

‘Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades,
   or loose the cords of Orion?
Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
   or can you guide the Bear with its children?
Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
   Can you establish their rule on the earth?

‘Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
   so that a flood of waters may cover you?
Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go
   and say to you, “Here we are”?
Who has put wisdom in the inward parts,
   or given understanding to the mind?
Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
   Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
when the dust runs into a mass
   and the clods cling together?

‘Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
   or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
when they crouch in their dens,
   or lie in wait in their covert?
Who provides for the raven its prey,
   when its young ones cry to God,
   and wander about for lack of food?

Canticle

A Song of Peace, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 26 (page 577), may be said

Refrain:

AllSpirit of God, teach us your ways,
that we may walk in the paths of peace. Alleluia.

1Come, let us go up to the mountain of God, ♦
to the house of the God of Jacob;

2That God may teach us his ways, ♦
and that we may walk in his paths.

3For the law shall go out from Zion, ♦
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

4God shall judge between the nations, ♦
and shall mediate for many peoples.

5They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, ♦
and their spears into pruning hooks.

6Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, ♦
neither shall they learn war any more.

7O people of Jacob, come: ♦
let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Isaiah 2.3-5

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.

AllSpirit of God, teach us your ways,
that we may walk in the paths of peace. Alleluia.

Scripture Reading

One or more readings appointed for the day are read.

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

Romans 15.1-13

We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Each of us must please our neighbour for the good purpose of building up the neighbour. For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, ‘The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.’ For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
‘Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles,
   and sing praises to your name’;
and again he says,
‘Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people’;
and again,
‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
   and let all the peoples praise him’;
and again Isaiah says,
‘The root of Jesse shall come,
   the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;
in him the Gentiles shall hope.’
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

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

Open my eyes, O Lord
that I may see the wonders of your law.
AllOpen my eyes, O Lord
that I may see the wonders of your law.
Lead me in the path of your commandments
Allthat I may see the wonders of your law.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit.
AllOpen my eyes, O Lord
that I may see the wonders of your law.

from Psalm 119

Gospel Canticle

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah) is normally said,
or The Song of Christ's Glory (page 619) 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 362–363

¶ All who are sick in body, mind or spirit
¶ Those in the midst of famine or disaster
¶ Victims of abuse and violence, intolerance and prejudice
¶ Those who are bereaved
¶ All who work in the medical and healing professions

One of the forms of prayer found on pages 362–371 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 God,
by whose grace we celebrate again
the feast of your servant Swithun:
grant that, as he governed with gentleness
      the people committed to his care,
so we, rejoicing in our Christian inheritance,
may always seek to build up your Church in unity and love;
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

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)

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

The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil,
and keep us in eternal life.
AllAmen.

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