Monday Morning Prayer

The Minister, turning to the people, shall say the Exhortation in the form following. Occasionally the second paragraph may be omitted, or in place of the Exhortation the Minister may say, Let us humbly confess our sins to Almighty God.

DEARLY beloved brethren, the Scripture moveth us in sundry places to acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness; and that we should not dissemble nor cloke them before the face of Almighty God our heavenly Father; but confess them with an humble, lowly, penitent, and obedient heart; to the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same, by his infinite goodness and mercy.

And although we ought at all times humbly to acknowledge our sins before God; yet ought we most chiefly so to do, when we assemble and meet together to render thanks for the great benefits that we have received at his hands, to set forth his most worthy praise, to hear his most holy Word, and to ask those things which are requisite and necessary, as well for the body as the soul.

Wherefore I pray and beseech you, as many as are here present, to accompany me with a pure heart and humble voice unto the throne of the heavenly grace.

A general Confession to be said of the whole Congregation with the Minister, all kneeling.

ALMIGHTY and most merciful Father, We have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep, We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts, We have offended against thy holy laws, We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, And we have done those things which we ought not to have done; And there is no health in us. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou them, O God, which confess their faults. Restore thou them that are penitent; According to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesu our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, To the glory of thy holy Name. Amen.

The Absolution, or Remission of sins, to be pronounced by the Priest alone, standing: the people still kneeling.

ALMIGHTY God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn from his wickedness, and live, hath given power and commandment to his Ministers, to declare and pronounce to his people, being penitent, the Absolution and Remission of their sins.

He pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent and unfeignedly believe his holy Gospel.

Wherefore we beseech him to grant us true repentance and his Holy Spirit, that those things may please him which we do at this present, and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure and holy; so that at the last we may come to his eternal joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The people shall answer here, and at the end of all other prayers:

Amen.

Here the Lord's Prayer may be said; the people repeating it with the Minister.

OUR 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 them that 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.

Minister. O Lord, open thou our lips;

People. And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.

Minister. O God, make speed to save us;

People. O Lord, make haste to help us.

Here, all standing up, the Minister shall say:

GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and the the Holy Ghost;

People. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Minister. Praise ye the Lord;

People. The Lord's Name be praised.

Then shall be said or sung this Psalm following; except on days for which Proper Anthems are provided. On the nineteenth day of the month, this Psalm shall be omitted in the ordinary course of the Psalms.

At the discretion of the Minister the last four verses may be omitted.

Invitatories may be said or sung before this Psalm and after the Gloria Patri which follows it, as provided on page 25.

Invitatory: Alleluia. Christ is risen: O come, let us worship. Alleluia.

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 show 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.

TO-DAY, O that ye would 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 that 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.

Then shall follow THE PSALMS.

PSALMS: 119: 89-104

Then shall be read THE FIRST LESSON as appointed and before each Lesson the Minster shall say, The First [or Second] Lesson is written in such a book, in such a chapter, beginning at such a verse. And after the Lesson he shall say, Here endeth the First [or Second] Lesson.

THE FIRST LESSON: Ecclesiasticus (Sirach): 51 :13-end

After the First Lesson shall be sung or said the Hymn Te Deum Laudamus. But the Canticle Benedicte, Omnia Opera, page 26, is suitable of use in Advent, in Lent, on Ember Days (except those in Whitsun Week), on Rogation Days, and when the third chapter of Daniel is read as the First Lesson.

At the discretion of the Minister, the third section of Te Deum may be omitted.

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 therin.

To thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry,

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts;

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.

Then shall be read in like manner, THE SECOND LESSON as appointed; and after that the following Canticle, except when it forms part of the Gospel or Second Lesson appointed for the day.

THE SECOND LESSON: Acts 15: 35-end


Benedictus. St Luke 1:68
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 grant us

That we being delivered our 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 day-spring 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.

Or instead Jubilate Deo, the 100th Psalm, page 457.

Then shall be said or sung the Confession of the Faith, called 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.

And after the Creed these prayers following, all devoutly kneeling, the Minister first pronouncing:

The Lord be with you;

People. And with thy spirit.

Minister. Let us pray.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Christ, have mercy upon us.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

OUR 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 them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. Amen.

Then the Priest standing up shall say:

O Lord, show thy mercy upon us;

People. And grant us thy salvation.

Priest. O Lord, save the Queen;

People. And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee.

Priest. Endue thy Ministers with righteousness;

People. And make thy chosen people joyful.

Priest. O Lord, save thy people;

People. And bless thine inheritance.

Priest. Give peace in our time, O Lord;

People. And evermore mightily defend us.

Priest. O God, make clean our hearts within us;

People. And take not thy Holy Spirit from us.

Then shall follow THE COLLECT OF THE DAY , together with any other Collects appointed to be said, and these two prayers in order.

COLLECT OF THE DAY: O Almighty God, who hast instructed thy holy Church with the heavenly doctrine of the Evangelist Saint Mark: Give us grace, that, being not like children carried away with every blast of vain doctrine, we may be established in the truth of they holy Gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

The Second 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 Third 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.

* This to be said when any that have been prayed for desire to return thanks.
ALMIGHTY God, Father of all mercies, We thine unworthy servants do give thee most humble and hearty thanks For all thy goodness and loving-kindness To us and to all men; [* particularly to those who desire now to offer up their praises and thanksgivings.] We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; But above all for thine inestimable love In the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; For the means of grace, And for the hope of glory. And we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, That our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, And that we show forth thy praise, Not only with our lips, but in our lives; By giving up ourselves to thy service, And by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, To whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

A Prayer of Saint 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.

2 Corinthians 13:14.

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.

Easter IV Sermon by Fr. Peter Jardine

THE COMFORTER


Today we read verses 5-15 from Ch.16 of the Gospel according to St. John. Taken as a whole, this section shows us a number of important things.

Firstly it shows the compassion of our Lord. That comes through in every word when he says, I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. How well he knew his Apostles and how deeply he cared for them!

Secondly, it shows us the nature of God’s Love. It is an all knowing Love which brings firm discipline as well as compassion, gentleness and generosity. Jesus knows that the hearts of his Apostles are breaking because he has told them he must leave them. But that knowledge does not weaken his resolve one tiny bit.

Gently, but firmly, he tells them, I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away. He goes on to tell them why, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

God Loves us, but in his Love He knows us intimately and knows what is best for us His Love is so perfect that we can be absolutely sure that God will give us only what is best for us, which may coincide only rarely with what we think we want or need. This is a tough love; a Divine Love; a love we must accept in all its fullness.

Now one of the things which we all need is undoubtedly the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. But we need to examine that need rather carefully and to put it in the context of God’s Love.

The Holy Spirit is God, the Third Person of the Trinity. That is why I cringe when I hear ministers, or lay people, declaring that they will call down the Holy Spirit. Such people often go as far as telling us that we will tremble, or get hot, or fall over; that the roof will shake and the windows rattle, as a mighty rushing wind blows all around us.

Who do they think they are, to demand anything of God? God does not dance to the tune of a human piper. What arrogance such demands betray and how clear the New Testament teachings are about such proud hearts. He hath scattered the proud in the imaginations of their hearts, says Mary in Luke 1:51, part of what we should say daily during Evensong in the Magnificat, the beautiful Song of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In v6 of Ch.4 of his epistle, James refers to Proverbs 3:34, stating that, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

St. Peter says exactly the same thing in his first epistle, ch.5:5.

If we think about it, why would the Comforter come to someone whose heart is so filled with pride that there is no room for anything else. Such a person is not even aware of their need for the Holy Spirit. The Greek word used by St. John is πparakleton, which translates correctly as paraclete, meaning advocate. If we do not know that we need an advocate, we are hardly likely to go looking for one, or even to accept the suggestion that we use one.

Many of us are supremely, blindly confident of our own self sufficiency and when such arrogance drives us to think we can make demands on God, it is our own power we are trying to demonstrate, not God’s power.

The Psalmist wrote in psalm 51, The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, shalt thou not despise.

That is how we make room for the Holy Spirit. When we are truly contrite and able to fall on our knees before God, asking in all humility for the Holy Spirit to fill us.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, the first words of Our Lord’s public ministry are Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Similarly, in Mark we find, The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye and believe in the Gospel.

Repentence is clearly high on the Lord’s list of priorities, so we can be sure that he is not referring to some casual, “Oops, sorry God!” What we are talking about is gut wrenching, heartfelt, totally sincere repentance. Usually such repentance is accompanied by acts of contrition – giving to the poor, for example. Not public breast beating, but genuine acts of contrition, offered to God and known only to Him.

Of course, in order to repent, we first have to know what sins we have committed, to understand the harm they do to us and to our relationship with God. This is not as easy as it sounds because it can be quite comfortable and even enjoyable to waltz through life in blissful ignorance of what we are really doing.

How many times, for example, have we used that self serving term, a little white lie, and convinced ourselves that the deceit was ever so small and therefore unimportant. How many times have we looked at a member of the opposite sex and thought, Wow, what a corker! And gone on into raunchy fantasies. But no one was hurt, because it stayed in our minds, right?.

Wrong on both counts. Jesus tells us that and we need to develop a serious respect for what those sins will mean if we do not truly repent, but carry them with us to the time when we come before God to receive his judgement and justice. None of us can escape that, lease of all those of us who tell ourselves it will never happen.

In verse 8 of John 16, Jesus begins to explain the work of the Holy Spirit and that work begins in convincing the world of sin in all its aspects, especially that the fruit of sin is death. In Romans 6:23, St. Paul writes exactly that, the wages of sin is death.

Jesus also explains that the Holy Spirit will convince us of Righteousness, that is that Jesus is righteous. The Spirit will guide us in all truth, showing us, teaching us, convincing us that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. The Holy Spirit is sent to convince us of the mighty, saving power of the crucified, risen Lord.

Then Jesus says, it is the work of the Holy Spirit to convince us of judgement. We must let the Spirit into our hearts to show us without a shadow of doubt that on the Cross evil was condemned and defeated. But we must all know that one day we will stand before God to answer to him for our sins.

It is necessary to know the danger we are in, in order to appreciate and understand fully the salvation given through Jesus Christ.

Such knowledge, such appreciation and understanding will come slowly to most of us. Con version to Christianity in the most profound sense is much more a journey than it is a Damascus Road experience, at least for most of us. Sanctification is generally both slow and rather painful. We will stumble and fall often.

But, to the glory of the Lord, the Holy Spirit will be there to help us to pick ourselves up, re-focus our eyes on the light of Christ and struggle on towards our heavenly home.

It has been that way for 2,000 years and if it were not so, Jesus of Nazareth would be buried in the silt of the ages as just one more criminal who got his just deserts.

But Jesus is not buried in history. He is here today, risen, living, loving us and calling us to his side. The Holy Spirit will convince us of that.

Veni, Creator Spiritus!
Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,
And lighten with Celestial fire;
Thy blessed unction from above
Is comfort, life and fire of love,
Enable with perpetual light
The dullness of our blinded sight.

Alleluia, Christ is risen. Alleluia.

Peter Jardine+
Easter IV, 2005