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 Glorious Name

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 119.1-32

Refrain: Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes.

1 Blessed are those whose way is pure, ♦
who walk in the law of the Lord.

2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies ♦
and seek him with their whole heart,

3 Those who do no wickedness, ♦
but walk in his ways.

4 You, O Lord, have charged ♦
that we should diligently keep your commandments. R

5 O that my ways were made so direct ♦
that I might keep your statutes.

6 Then should I not be put to shame, ♦
because I have regard for all your commandments.

7 I will thank you with an unfeigned heart, ♦
when I have learned your righteous judgements.

8 I will keep your statutes; ♦
O forsake me not utterly. R

9 How shall young people cleanse their way ♦
to keep themselves according to your word?

10 With my whole heart have I sought you; ♦
O let me not go astray from your commandments.

11 Your words have I hidden within my heart, ♦
that I should not sin against you.

12 Blessed are you, O Lord; ♦
O teach me your statutes. R

13 With my lips have I been telling ♦
of all the judgements of your mouth.

14 I have taken greater delight in the way of your testimonies ♦
than in all manner of riches.

15 I will meditate on your commandments ♦
and contemplate your ways.

16 My delight shall be in your statutes ♦
and I will not forget your word. R

17 O do good to your servant that I may live, ♦
and so shall I keep your word.

18 Open my eyes, that I may see ♦
the wonders of your law.

19 I am a stranger upon earth; ♦
hide not your commandments from me.

20 My soul is consumed at all times ♦
with fervent longing for your judgements. R

21 You have rebuked the arrogant; ♦
cursed are those who stray from your commandments.

22 Turn from me shame and rebuke, ♦
for I have kept your testimonies.

23 Rulers also sit and speak against me, ♦
but your servant meditates on your statutes.

24 For your testimonies are my delight; ♦
they are my faithful counsellors. R

25 My soul cleaves to the dust; ♦
O give me life according to your word.

26 I have acknowledged my ways and you have answered me; ♦
O teach me your statutes.

27 Make me understand the way of your commandments, ♦
and so shall I meditate on your wondrous works.

28 My soul melts away in tears of sorrow; ♦
raise me up according to your word. R

29 Take from me the way of falsehood; ♦
be gracious to me through your law.

30 I have chosen the way of truth ♦
and your judgements have I laid before me.

31 I hold fast to your testimonies; ♦
O Lord, let me not be put to shame.

32 I will run the way of your commandments, ♦
when you have set my heart at liberty.

Refrain: Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes.

Faithful God,
let your word be the treasure of our hearts,
that we may delight in your truth
and walk in the glorious liberty of your Son Jesus Christ.

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.

Genesis 19.1-3, 12-29

The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed down with his face to the ground. He said, ‘Please, my lords, turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you can rise early and go on your way.’ They said, ‘No; we will spend the night in the square.’ But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

Then the men said to Lot, ‘Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city—bring them out of the place. For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.’ So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, ‘Up, get out of this place; for the Lord is about to destroy the city.’ But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.

When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, ‘Get up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or else you will be consumed in the punishment of the city.’ But he lingered; so the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and left him outside the city. When they had brought them outside, they said, ‘Flee for your life; do not look back or stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, or else you will be consumed.’ And Lot said to them, ‘Oh, no, my lords; your servant has found favour with you, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life; but I cannot flee to the hills, for fear the disaster will overtake me and I die. Look, that city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!’ He said to him, ‘Very well, I grant you this favour too, and will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Hurry, escape there, for I can do nothing until you arrive there.’ Therefore the city was called Zoar. The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire from the Lord out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord; and he looked down towards Sodom and Gomorrah and towards all the land of the Plain, and saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke of a furnace.

So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had settled.

Canticle

A Song of the Word of the Lord, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 35 (page 586), may be said

Refrain:

AllReturn to the Lord, who will have mercy,
to our God, who will richly pardon. Alleluia.

1Seek the Lord while he may be found, ♦
call upon him while he is near;

2Let the wicked abandon their ways, ♦
and the unrighteous their thoughts;

3Return to the Lord, who will have mercy; ♦
to our God, who will richly pardon.

4‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, ♦
neither are your ways my ways,’ says the Lord.

5‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, ♦
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

6‘As the rain and the snow come down from above, ♦
and return not again but water the earth,

7‘Bringing forth life and giving growth, ♦
seed for sowing and bread to eat,

8‘So is my word that goes forth from my mouth; ♦
it will not return to me fruitless,

9‘But it will accomplish that which I purpose, ♦
and succeed in the task I gave it.’

Isaiah 55.6-11

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.

AllReturn to the Lord, who will have mercy,
to our God, who will richly pardon. 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 27.45-56

From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, ‘This man is calling for Elijah.’ At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.’ Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’

Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

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

Lord, you will guide me with your counsel
and afterwards receive me with glory.
AllLord, you will guide me with your counsel
and afterwards receive me with glory.
For I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
AllAnd afterwards receive me with glory.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit.
AllLord, you will guide me with your counsel
and afterwards receive me with glory.

from Psalm 73

Gospel Canticle

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

Refrain:

AllYou show mercy to our ancestors,
and remember your holy covenant.

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:

AllYou show mercy to our ancestors,
and remember your holy covenant.

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

¶ The social services
¶ All who work in the criminal justice system
¶ Victims and perpetrators of crime
¶ The work of aid agencies throughout the world
¶ Those living in poverty or under oppression

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

God our creator,
who in the beginning
commanded the light to shine out of darkness:
we pray that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ
may dispel the darkness of ignorance and unbelief,
shine into the hearts of all your people,
and reveal the knowledge of your glory
      in the face of 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.