From the Book of Common Prayer
Responses
O Lord, open thou our lips
and our mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
Praise ye the Lord.
The Lord’s name be praised.
Venite, exultemus Domino (Psalm 95)
O come, let us sing unto the Lord :
let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving :
and shew ourselves glad in him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God :
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are all the corners of the earth :
and the strength of the hills is his also.
The sea is his, and he made it :
and his hands prepared the dry land.
O come, let us worship, and fall down :
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is the Lord our God :
and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts :
as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness;
When your fathers tempted me :
proved me, and saw my works.
Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said :
It is a people that do err in their hearts, for they have not known my ways.
Unto whom I sware in my wrath :
that they should not enter into my rest.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
world without end. Amen.
Psalmody
At the end of each psalm these words are said
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
world without end. Amen.
The First Lesson
Te Deum Laudamus
We praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting.
To thee all angels cry aloud, the heavens and all the powers therein.
To thee cherubin and seraphin continually do cry,
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth;
Heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory.
The glorious company of the apostles praise thee.
The goodly fellowship of the prophets praise thee.
The noble army of martyrs praise thee.
The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee:
the Father of an infinite majesty;
thine honourable, true and only Son;
also the Holy Ghost the Comforter.
Thou art the King of glory, O Christ.
Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.
When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man,
thou didst not abhor the Virgin’s womb.
When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death,
thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come to be our judge.
We therefore pray thee, help thy servants,
whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with thy saints in glory everlasting.
O Lord, save thy people and bless thine heritage.
Govern them and lift them up for ever.
Day by day we magnify thee;
and we worship thy name, ever world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin.
O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us.
O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us, as our trust is in thee.
O Lord, in thee have I trusted; let me never be confounded.
The Second Lesson
Benedictus (Luke 1.68-79)
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel :
for he hath visited, and redeemed his people;
And hath raised up a mighty salvation for us :
in the house of his servant David;
As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets :
which have been since the world began;
That we should be saved from our enemies :
and from the hands of all that hate us;
To perform the mercy promised to our forefathers :
and to remember his holy covenant;
To perform the oath which he sware to our forefather Abraham :
that he would give us,
That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies :
might serve him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before him :
all the days of our life.
And thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest :
for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
To give knowledge of salvation unto his people :
for the remission of their sins;
Through the tender mercy of our God :
whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us;
To give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death :
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
world without end. Amen.
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth:
and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried.
He descended into hell;
the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy catholic Church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
Prayers
The Lord be with you.
And with thy spirit.
Let us pray.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come;
thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil. Amen.
O Lord, shew thy mercy upon us.
And grant us thy salvation.
O Lord, save the King.
And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee.
Endue thy ministers with righteousness.
And make thy chosen people joyful.
O Lord, save thy people.
And bless thine inheritance.
Give peace in our time, O Lord.
Because there is none other that fighteth for us, but only thou, O God.
O God, make clean our hearts within us.
And take not thy Holy Spirit from us.
The Collect of the Day
The Collect for Peace
O God, who art the author of peace and lover of concord,
in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life,
whose service is perfect freedom;
defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies;
that we, surely trusting in thy defence,
may not fear the power of any adversaries;
through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Collect for Grace
O Lord, our heavenly Father,
almighty and everlasting God,
who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day;
defend us in the same with thy mighty power;
and grant that this day we fall into no sin,
neither run into any kind of danger,
but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance,
to do always that is righteous in thy sight;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Silent prayer
A Prayer of St Chrysostom
Almighty God,
who hast given us grace at this time
with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee;
and dost promise
that when two or three are gathered together in thy Name
thou wilt grant their requests:
fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of thy servants,
as may be most expedient for them;
granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth,
and in the world to come life everlasting.
Amen.
The Grace
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost,
be with us all evermore.
Amen.