Morning Prayer - Thursday 19 April 2018

Easter Season 
Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr, 1012 

Psalm 136
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is gracious, for his mercy endures for ever.
Give thanks to the God of gods, for his mercy endures for ever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his mercy endures for ever;
Who alone does great wonders, for his mercy endures for ever;
Who by wisdom made the heavens, for his mercy endures for ever;
Who laid out the earth upon the waters, for his mercy endures for ever;
Who made the great lights, for his mercy endures for ever;
The sun to rule the day, for his mercy endures for ever;
The moon and the stars to govern the night, for his mercy endures for ever;
Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, for his mercy endures for ever;
And brought out Israel from among them, for his mercy endures for ever;
With a mighty hand and outstretched arm, for his mercy endures for ever;
Who divided the Red Sea in two, for his mercy endures for ever;
And made Israel to pass through the midst of it, for his mercy endures for ever;
But Pharaoh and his host he overthrew in the Red Sea, for his mercy endures for ever;
Who led his people through the wilderness, for his mercy endures for ever;
Who smote great kings, for his mercy endures for ever;
And slew mighty kings, for his mercy endures for ever;
Sihon, king of the Amorites, for his mercy endures for ever;
And Og, the king of Bashan, for his mercy endures for ever;
And gave away their land for a heritage, for his mercy endures for ever;
A heritage for Israel his servant, for his mercy endures for ever;
Who remembered us when we were in trouble, for his mercy endures for ever;
And delivered us from our enemies, for his mercy endures for ever;
Who gives food to all creatures, for his mercy endures for ever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his mercy endures for ever.

Exodus 25.1-22
The Lord said to Moses: Tell the Israelites to take for me an offering; from all whose hearts prompt them to give you shall receive the offering for me. This is the offering that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, blue, purple, and crimson yarns and fine linen, goats’ hair, tanned rams’ skins, fine leather, acacia wood, oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing-oil and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones and gems to be set in the ephod and for the breastpiece. And have them make me a sanctuary, so that I may dwell among them. In accordance with all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.

They shall make an ark of acacia wood; it shall be two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside you shall overlay it, and you shall make a moulding of gold upon it all round. You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on one side of it, and two rings on the other side. You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, by which to carry the ark. The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. You shall put into the ark the covenant that I shall give you.

Then you shall make a mercy-seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its width. You shall make two cherubim of gold; you shall make them of hammered work, at the two ends of the mercy-seat. Make one cherub at one end, and one cherub at the other; of one piece with the mercy-seat you shall make the cherubim at its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy-seat with their wings. They shall face each other; the faces of the cherubim shall be turned towards the mercy-seat. You shall put the mercy-seat on the top of the ark; and in the ark you shall put the covenant that I shall give you. There I will meet you, and from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the covenant, I will deliver to you all my commands for the Israelites.

Luke 1.57-end
Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbours and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, ‘No; he is to be called John.’ They said to her, ‘None of your relatives has this name.’ Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. He asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And all of them were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. Fear came over all their neighbours, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. All who heard them pondered them and said, ‘What then will this child become?’ For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.

Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy:
‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favourably on his people and redeemed them.
‘He has raised up a mighty saviour for us in the house of his servant David,
‘as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
‘that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
‘Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
‘and has remembered his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,
‘to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,
‘might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
‘And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
‘for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
‘to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins.
‘By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us,
‘to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.’

The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.

The Collect
Merciful God, who raised up your servant Alphege to be a pastor of your people and gave him grace to suffer for justice and true religion: grant that we who celebrate his martyrdom may know the power of the risen Christ in our hearts and share his peace in lives offered to your service; 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.

Daily Office - Apr 19

Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr, 1012

Psalm 107
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is gracious, for his steadfast love endures for ever.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say this, those he redeemed from the hand of the enemy,

And gathered out of the lands from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

Some went astray in desert wastes and found no path to a city to dwell in.

Hungry and thirsty, their soul was fainting within them.

So they cried to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them from their distress.

He set their feet on the right way till they came to a city to dwell in.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and the wonders he does for his children.

For he satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with good.

Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound fast in misery and iron,

For they had rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High.

So he bowed down their heart with heaviness; they stumbled and there was none to help them.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

He brought them out of darkness and out of the shadow of death, and broke their bonds asunder.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and the wonders he does for his children.

For he has broken the doors of bronze and breaks the bars of iron in pieces.

Some were foolish and took a rebellious way, and were plagued because of their wrongdoing.

Their soul abhorred all manner of food and drew near to the gates of death.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

He sent forth his word and healed them, and saved them from destruction.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and the wonders he does for his children.

Let them offer him sacrifices of thanksgiving and tell of his acts with shouts of joy.

Those who go down to the sea in ships and ply their trade in great waters,

These have seen the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep.

For at his word the stormy wind arose and lifted up the waves of the sea.

They were carried up to the heavens and down again to the deep; their soul melted away in their peril.

They reeled and staggered like a drunkard and were at their wits’ end.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.

He made the storm be still and the waves of the sea were calmed.

Then were they glad because they were at rest, and he brought them to the haven they desired.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and the wonders he does for his children.

Let them exalt him in the congregation of the people and praise him in the council of the elders.

The Lord turns rivers into wilderness and water springs into thirsty ground;

A fruitful land he makes a salty waste, because of the wickedness of those who dwell there.

He makes the wilderness a pool of water and water springs out of a thirsty land.

There he settles the hungry and they build a city to dwell in.

They sow fields and plant vineyards and bring in a fruitful harvest.

He blesses them, so that they multiply greatly; he does not let their herds of cattle decrease.

He pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes.

They are diminished and brought low, through stress of misfortune and sorrow,

But he raises the poor from their misery and multiplies their families like flocks of sheep.

The upright will see this and rejoice, but all wickedness will shut its mouth.

Whoever is wise will ponder these things and consider the loving-kindness of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 7.12-end
If you heed these ordinances, by diligently observing them, the Lord your God will maintain with you the covenant loyalty that he swore to your ancestors; he will love you, bless you, and multiply you; he will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock, in the land that he swore to your ancestors to give you. You shall be the most blessed of peoples, with neither sterility nor barrenness among you or your livestock. The Lord will turn away from you every illness; all the dread diseases of Egypt that you experienced, he will not inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. You shall devour all the peoples that the Lord your God is giving over to you, showing them no pity; you shall not serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.

If you say to yourself, ‘These nations are more numerous than I; how can I dispossess them?’ do not be afraid of them. Just remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. Moreover, the Lord your God will send the pestilence against them, until even the survivors and the fugitives are destroyed. Have no dread of them, for the Lord your God, who is present with you, is a great and awesome God. The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to make a quick end of them, otherwise the wild animals would become too numerous for you. But the Lord your God will give them over to you, and throw them into great panic, until they are destroyed. He will hand their kings over to you and you shall blot out their name from under heaven; no one will be able to stand against you, until you have destroyed them. The images of their gods you shall burn with fire. Do not covet the silver or the gold that is on them and take it for yourself, because you could be ensnared by it; for it is abhorrent to the Lord your God. Do not bring an abhorrent thing into your house, or you will be set apart for destruction like it. You must utterly detest and abhor it, for it is set apart for destruction.

Ephesians 3.1-13
This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—for surely you have already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given to me for you, and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ. In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow-heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power. Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him. I pray therefore that you may not lose heart over my sufferings for you; they are your glory.

The Collect
Merciful God,
who raised up your servant Alphege
to be a pastor of your people
and gave him grace to suffer for justice and true religion:
grant that we who celebrate his martyrdom
may know the power of the risen Christ in our hearts
and share his peace in lives offered to your service;
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.