Night Prayer - June 4

Petroc, Abbot of Padstow, 6th century

O God, make speed to save us. O Lord, make haste to help us.
Send your Holy Spirit upon us, and clothe us with power from on high. Alleluia..

Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, to you be glory and praise for ever.
Raised to your right hand on high
the ascended Christ shows the prints of love and bestows on us the gifts of grace.
As your Spirit renews the face of the earth,
may we bring forth the fruit of the Spirit and reveal your glory in all the world.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit for ever.

A Song of God’s Greatness
Creator Spirit, Lord of grace, come, make in us your dwelling place;
O purest Light, in darkness shine; fill loveless hearts, O Love Divine.

Consoler, hear your people’s cry; come down, O Gift of God, Most High.
Descend in peace, O heav’nly Dove; come Fount of Life; come Flame of Love.

As once on Christ the Servant’s head the oil of sevenfold grace you shed,
so now anoint from love’s deep springs your chosen prophets, priests and kings.

Of ev’ry gift the living source, of mighty deeds the unseen force,
the Father sends his promised One to speak for all who serve his Son.

Keep far all those who wish us ill, O Dove of Peace, be with us still,
in ev’ry danger at our side O Friend, befriend us; be our guide.

Reveal to us the Father’s love, reveal his Son, who reigns above.
To truth, O Truth, make us all true; in love, O Love, make all things new.

That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful, let us pray with one heart and mind.

A time of silent reflection upon the day now past.

As our evening prayer rises before you, O God,
so may your mercy come down upon us to cleanse our hearts
and set us free to sing your praise now and for ever. Amen.

Psalm 36
Sin whispers to the wicked, in the depths of their heart; there is no fear of God before their eyes.
They flatter themselves in their own eyes that their abominable sin will not be found out.
Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens and your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness stands like the strong mountains, your justice like the great deep; you, Lord, shall save both man and beast.

How precious is your loving mercy, O God! All mortal flesh shall take refuge under the shadow of your wings. They shall be satisfied with the abundance of your house; they shall drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the well of life and in your light shall we see light.

O continue your loving-kindness to those who know you and your righteousness to those who are true of heart. Let not the foot of pride come against me, nor the hand of the ungodly thrust me away. There are they fallen, all who work wickedness. They are cast down and shall not be able to stand.

Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble; Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, and though the mountains tremble in the heart of the sea; Though the waters rage and swell, and though the mountains quake at the towering seas. There is a river whose streams make glad the city  of God, the holy place of the dwelling of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; therefore shall she not be removed; God shall help her at the break of day.

The nations are in uproar and the kingdoms are shaken, but God utters his voice and the earth shall melt away.
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Come and behold the works of the Lord, what destruction he has wrought upon the earth. He makes wars to cease in all the world; he shatters the bow and snaps the spear and burns the chariots in the fire.

‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.’

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Glory 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.


Deuteronomy 31.30-32.14
Then Moses recited the words of this song, to the very end, in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:

Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
May my teaching drop like the rain, my speech condense like the dew; like gentle rain on grass, like showers on new growth.
For I will proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God!

The Rock, his work is perfect, and all his ways are just.
A faithful God, without deceit, just and upright is he; yet his degenerate children have dealt falsely with him, a perverse and crooked generation.

Do you thus repay the Lord, O foolish and senseless people?
Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you?

Remember the days of old, consider the years long past; ask your father, and he will inform you; your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High apportioned the nations, when he divided humankind, he fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the gods; the Lord’s own portion was his people, Jacob his allotted share.

He sustained him in a desert land, in a howling wilderness waste; he shielded him, cared for him, guarded him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, and hovers over its young; as it spreads its wings, takes them up, and bears them aloft on its pinions, the Lord alone guided him; no foreign god was with him. He set him upon the heights of the land, and fed him with produce of the field; he nursed him with honey from the crags, with oil from flinty rock; curds from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs and rams; Bashan bulls and goats, together with the choicest wheat - you drank fine wine from the blood of grapes.

1 John 3.11-end
For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death. All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

The Magnificat
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; he has looked with favour on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed; the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his name.
He has mercy on those who fear him, from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm and has scattered the proud in their conceit, casting down the mighty from their thrones and lifting up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.
He has come to the aid of his servant Israel, to remember his promise of mercy,
The promise made to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory 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.


A time of prayer when thanks for the day, and intercessions, are made.

Intercessions are offered for peace and for individuals and their needs

The Collect
O God the King of glory,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven:
we beseech you, leave us not comfortless,
but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us and exalt us to the place where our Saviour Christ is gone before,
who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Being made one by the power of the Spirit, as our Saviour taught us, so we pray:
Our 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.

May the Spirit kindle in us the fire of God’s love. Amen.
Let us bless the Lord. Alleluia, alleluia.
Thanks be to God. Alleluia, alleluia.

Morning Prayer - June 4

Petroc, Abbot of Padstow, 6th century

Psalm 2
Why are the nations in tumult, and why do the peoples devise a vain plot?
The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his anointed:
‘Let us break their bonds asunder and cast away their cords from us.’

He who dwells in heaven shall laugh them to scorn; the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury:
‘Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.’

I will proclaim the decree of the Lord; he said to me: ‘You are my Son; this day have I begotten you.
‘Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession.
‘You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’

Now therefore be wise, O kings; be prudent, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and with trembling kiss his feet, lest he be angry and you perish from the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Happy are all they who take refuge in him.

Psalm 29
Ascribe to the Lord, you powers of heaven, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the honour due to his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is upon the mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is mighty in operation; the voice of the Lord is a glorious voice.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedar trees; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon; He makes Lebanon skip like a calf and Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord splits the flash of lightning; the voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord makes the oak trees writhe and strips the forests bare; in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’
The Lord sits enthroned above the water flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king for evermore.
The Lord shall give strength to his people; the Lord shall give his people the blessing of peace.

Numbers 23.13-end
So Balak said to him, ‘Come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only part of them, and shall not see them all; then curse them for me from there.’ So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah. He built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. Balaam said to Balak, ‘Stand here beside your burnt-offerings, while I meet the Lord over there.’ The Lord met Balaam, put a word into his mouth, and said, ‘Return to Balak, and this is what you shall say.’ When he came to him, he was standing beside his burnt-offerings with the officials of Moab. Balak said to him, ‘What has the Lord said?’ Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying:
‘Rise, Balak, and hear; listen to me, O son of Zippor:
 God is not a human being, that he should lie, or a mortal, that he should change his mind.
 Has he promised, and will he not do it?
 Has he spoken, and will he not fulfil it?
 See, I received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.
 He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob; nor has he seen trouble in Israel.
 The Lord their God is with them, acclaimed as a king among them.
 God, who brings them out of Egypt, is like the horns of a wild ox for them.
 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel,

“See what God has done!”
Look, a people rising up like a lioness, and rousing itself like a lion!
It does not lie down until it has eaten the prey and drunk the blood of the slain.’

Then Balak said to Balaam, ‘Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.’ But Balaam answered Balak, ‘Did I not tell you, “Whatever the Lord says, that is what I must do”?’

So Balak said to Balaam, ‘Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.’ So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the waste-land. Balaam said to Balak, ‘Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.’ So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Luke 8.16-25
‘No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light. Then pay attention to how you listen; for to those who have, more will be given; and from those who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away.’
Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.’ But he said to them, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.’

One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side of the lake.’ So they put out, and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A gale swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger. They went to him and woke him up, shouting, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’ And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?’

The Collect
O God the King of glory,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven:
we beseech you, leave us not comfortless, but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us and exalt us to the place where our Saviour Christ is gone before,
who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Daily Office - June 4

Petroc, Abbot of Padstow, 6th century

Psalm 32
Happy the one whose transgression is forgiven,
and whose sin is covered.

Happy the one to whom the Lord imputes no guilt,
and in whose spirit there is no guile.

For I held my tongue;
my bones wasted away through my groaning all the day long.

Your hand was heavy upon me day and night;
my moisture was dried up like the drought in summer.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you and my iniquity I did not hide.

I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’
and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

Therefore let all the faithful make their prayers to you
in time of trouble;
in the great water flood, it shall not reach them.

You are a place for me to hide in;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with songs of deliverance.

‘I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go; •
I will guide you with my eye.

‘Be not like horse and mule which have no understanding;
whose mouths must be held with bit and bridle,
or else they will not stay near you.’

Great tribulations remain for the wicked,
but mercy embraces those who trust in the Lord.

Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord;
shout for joy, all who are true of heart.

Psalm 36
Sin whispers to the wicked, in the depths of their heart;
there is no fear of God before their eyes.
They flatter themselves in their own eyes
that their abominable sin will not be found out.
The words of their mouth are unrighteous and full of deceit;
they have ceased to act wisely and to do good.
They think out mischief upon their beds and have set themselves in no good way;
nor do they abhor that which is evil.

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens and your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness stands like the strong mountains,
your justice like the great deep;
you, Lord, shall save both man and beast.

How precious is your loving mercy, O God!
All mortal flesh shall take refuge under the shadow of your wings.
They shall be satisfied with the abundance of your house;
they shall drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the well of life and in your light shall we see light.

O continue your loving-kindness to those who know you
and your righteousness to those who are true of heart.
Let not the foot of pride come against me,
nor the hand of the ungodly thrust me away.
There are they fallen, all who work wickedness.
They are cast down and shall not be able to stand.

Job 14
‘A mortal, born of woman, few of days and full of trouble,
   comes up like a flower and withers,
   flees like a shadow and does not last.
Do you fix your eyes on such a one?
   Do you bring me into judgement with you?
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
   No one can.
Since their days are determined,
   and the number of their months is known to you,
   and you have appointed the bounds that they cannot pass,
look away from them, and desist,
   that they may enjoy, like labourers, their days.

‘For there is hope for a tree,
   if it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
   and that its shoots will not cease.
Though its root grows old in the earth,
   and its stump dies in the ground,
yet at the scent of water it will bud
   and put forth branches like a young plant.
But mortals die, and are laid low;
   humans expire, and where are they?
As waters fail from a lake,
   and a river wastes away and dries up,
so mortals lie down and do not rise again;
   until the heavens are no more, they will not awake
   or be roused out of their sleep.
O that you would hide me in Sheol,
   that you would conceal me until your wrath is past,
   that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
If mortals die, will they live again?
   All the days of my service I would wait
   until my release should come.
You would call, and I would answer you;
   you would long for the work of your hands.
For then you would not number my steps,
   you would not keep watch over my sin;
my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,
   and you would cover over my iniquity.

‘But the mountain falls and crumbles away,
   and the rock is removed from its place;
the waters wear away the stones;
   the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
   so you destroy the hope of mortals.
You prevail for ever against them, and they pass away;
   you change their countenance, and send them away.
Their children come to honour, and they do not know it;
   they are brought low, and it goes unnoticed.
They feel only the pain of their own bodies,
   and mourn only for themselves.’

Romans 7.7-end
What then should we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the law sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died, and the very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.

Did what is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, working death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.
For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin.

The Collect
 O God,
the strength of all those who put their trust in you,
mercifully accept our prayers
and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature
we can do no good thing without you,
grant us the help of your grace,
that in the keeping of your commandments
we may please you both in will and deed;
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. Amen.