Morning Prayer (Matins) in Contemporary Language

¶ Morning Prayer
Lent
Thursday, 3 April 2025

Preparation

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

Hear our voice, O Lord, according to your faithful love,
Allaccording to your judgement give us life.

One or more of the following is said or sung:

this or another prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, God of compassion and mercy,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
In the darkness of our sin,
your light breaks forth like the dawn
and your healing springs up for deliverance.
As we rejoice in the gift of your saving help,
sustain us with your bountiful Spirit
and open our lips to sing your praise.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
AllBlessed be God for ever.

a suitable hymn, or A Song of Penitence

1Have mercy on me, O God, in your great goodness; ♦
according to the abundance of your compassion
blot out my offences.

2Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness ♦
and cleanse me from my sin.

3For I acknowledge my faults ♦
and my sin is ever before me.

4Against you only have I sinned ♦
and done what is evil in your sight,

5So that you are justified in your sentence ♦
and righteous in your judgement.

6Cast me not away from your presence ♦
and take not your holy spirit from me.

7Give me again the joy of your salvation ♦
and sustain me with your gracious spirit;

8Then shall I teach your ways to the wicked ♦
and sinners shall return to you.

9Deliver me from my guilt, O God,
the God of my salvation, ♦
and my tongue shall sing of your righteousness.

Psalm 51.1-5, 12-15

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 53

Refrain: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

1 The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ ♦
Corrupt are they, and abominable in their wickedness;
there is no one that does good.

2 God has looked down from heaven upon the children of earth, ♦
to see if there is anyone who is wise and seeks after God.

3 They are all gone out of the way;
all alike have become corrupt; ♦
there is no one that does good, no not one. R

4 Have they no knowledge, those evildoers, ♦
who eat up my people as if they ate bread,
and do not call upon God?

5 There shall they be in great fear,
such fear as never was; ♦
for God will scatter the bones of the ungodly.

6 They will be put to shame, ♦
because God has rejected them.

7 O that Israel’s salvation would come out of Zion! ♦
When God restores the fortunes of his people
then will Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.

Refrain: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Without you, O God, nothing is real,
all things are open to corruption
and we are deadened by deceit;
do not abandon us to our folly,
but give us hearts that seek you
and, at the last, joy in your heavenly city;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 86

Refrain: All nations you have made shall come and worship
you, O Lord.

1 Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, ♦
for I am poor and in misery.

2 Preserve my soul, for I am faithful; ♦
save your servant, for I put my trust in you.

3 Be merciful to me, O Lord, for you are my God; ♦
I call upon you all the day long.

4 Gladden the soul of your servant, ♦
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. R

5 For you, Lord, are good and forgiving, ♦
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer ♦
and listen to the voice of my supplication.

7 In the day of my distress I will call upon you, ♦
for you will answer me. R

8 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord, ♦
nor any works like yours.

9 All nations you have made shall come and worship you, O Lord, ♦
and shall glorify your name.

10 For you are great and do wonderful things; ♦
you alone are God. R

11 Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; ♦
knit my heart to you, that I may fear your name.

12 I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart, ♦
and glorify your name for evermore;

13 For great is your steadfast love towards me, ♦
for you have delivered my soul from the depths of the grave. R

14 O God, the proud rise up against me
and a ruthless horde seek after my life; ♦
they have not set you before their eyes.

15 But you, Lord, are gracious and full of compassion, ♦
slow to anger and full of kindness and truth.

16 Turn to me and have mercy upon me; ♦
give your strength to your servant
and save the child of your handmaid.

17 Show me a token of your favour,
that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed; ♦
because you, O Lord, have helped and comforted me.

Refrain: All nations you have made shall come and worship
you, O Lord.

God of mercy,
who in your great love
drew your Son from the depths of the Pit,
bring your people from death to life,
that we may rejoice in your compassion
and praise you now and for ever.

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.

Jeremiah 19.1-13

Thus said the Lord: Go and buy a potter’s earthenware jug. Take with you some of the elders of the people and some of the senior priests, and go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you. You shall say: Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to bring such disaster upon this place that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. Because the people have forsaken me, and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah have known, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent, and gone on building the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as burnt-offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it enter my mind; therefore the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of Slaughter. And in this place I will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, and will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth. And I will make this city a horror, a thing to be hissed at; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters. And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and all shall eat the flesh of their neighbours in the siege, and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.

Then you shall break the jug in the sight of those who go with you, and shall say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, so that it can never be mended. In Topheth they shall bury until there is no more room to bury. Thus will I do to this place, says the Lord, and to its inhabitants, making this city like Topheth. And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled like the place of Topheth—all the houses upon whose roofs offerings have been made to the whole host of heaven, and libations have been poured out to other gods.

Canticle

The Song of Manasseh, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 20 (page 570), number 33 (page 584) or number 41 (page 592), may be said

Refrain:

AllFull of compassion and mercy and love
is God, the Most High, the Almighty. Alleluia.

1Lord almighty and God of our ancestors, ♦
you who made heaven and earth in all their glory:

2All things tremble with awe at your presence, ♦
before your great and mighty power.

3Immeasurable and unsearchable is your promised mercy, ♦
for you are God, Most High.

4You are full of compassion, long-suffering and very merciful, ♦
and you relent at human suffering.

5O God, according to your great goodness, ♦
you have promised forgiveness for repentance
to those who have sinned against you.

6The sins I have committed against you ♦
are more in number than the sands of the sea.

7I am not worthy to look up to the height of heaven, ♦
because of the multitude of my iniquities.

8And now I bend the knee of my heart before you, ♦
imploring your kindness upon me.

9I have sinned, O God, I have sinned, ♦
and I acknowledge my transgressions.

10Unworthy as I am, you will save me, ♦
according to your great mercy.

11For all the host of heaven sings your praise, ♦
and your glory is for ever and ever.

Manasseh 1a, 2, 4, 6, 7a, b, 9a, c, 11, 12, 14b, 15b

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.

AllFull of compassion and mercy and love
is God, the Most High, the Almighty. Alleluia.

Scripture Reading

One or more readings appointed for the day are read.

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

John 10.22-end

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.’

The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus replied, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?’ The Jews answered, ‘It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.’ Jesus answered, ‘Is it not written in your law, “I said, you are gods”? If those to whom the word of God came were called “gods”—and the scripture cannot be annulled—can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, “I am God’s Son”? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.’ Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands.

He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. Many came to him, and they were saying, ‘John performed no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.’ And many believed in him there.

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

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
AllO my God, in you I trust.
You are the God of my salvation,
AllTo you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
In you I hope all the day long.
AllO my God, in you I trust.
Remember, Lord, your compassion and love,
for they are from everlasting.
AllTo you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
O my God, in you I trust.

from Psalm 25

Gospel Canticle

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah) is normally said,
or Saviour of the World (page 644) may be said

Refrain:

AllBlessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.

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:

AllBlessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.

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

¶ Those preparing for baptism and confirmation
¶ Those serving through leadership
¶ Those looking for forgiveness
¶ Those misled by the false gods of this present age
¶ All who are hungry

A form of prayer found on page 380 may be used.

The Litany on pages 400-403 may be said instead of the Prayers.

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

Merciful Lord,
absolve your people from their offences,
that through your bountiful goodness
we may all be delivered from the chains of those sins
which by our frailty we have committed;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for Jesus Christ's sake, our blessed Lord and Saviour,
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

Trusting in the compassion of God,
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)

Trusting in the compassion of God,
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 God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
AllAmen.

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