Advent
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. Isaiah 40:5

Confession of Sin

Most merciful God,
I confess that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbors as myself. I am truly sorry and I humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on me and forgive me; that I may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

The Absolution
Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen

The Invitatory and Psalter

O God make speed to save us, O Lord make haste to help us

O Gracious Light,
pure brightness of everliving Father in heaven
O Jesus Christ holy and blessed!
Now as we come to the setting of the sun
and our eyes behold the vesper light
we sing your praises O God: Father Son and Holy Spirit.
You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices
O Son of God, O Giver of Life
and to be glorified through all worlds.
Our King and Savior now draws near: Come, let us adore him.

ⓘThe Psalms are unique for the evening, the other lessions can be read in total or those you have not included in Morning Prayer

The Lessons

Psalm 22

⁽¹⁾ My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? ⁽²⁾ O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent. ⁽³⁾ But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel. ⁽⁴⁾ Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them.

⁽⁵⁾ They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed. ⁽⁶⁾ But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. ⁽⁷⁾ All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, ⁽⁸⁾ He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!'

⁽⁹⁾ But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother's breasts. ⁽¹⁰⁾ I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother's womb You have been My God. ⁽¹¹⁾ Be not far from Me, For trouble is near; For there is none to help. ⁽¹²⁾ Many bulls have surrounded Me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.

⁽¹³⁾ They gape at Me with their mouths, Like a raging and roaring lion. ⁽¹⁴⁾ I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me. ⁽¹⁵⁾ My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death. ⁽¹⁶⁾ For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet;

⁽¹⁷⁾ I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. ⁽¹⁸⁾ They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots. ⁽¹⁹⁾ But You, O LORD, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me! ⁽²⁰⁾ Deliver Me from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog.

⁽²¹⁾ Save Me from the lion's mouth And from the horns of the wild oxen! You have answered Me. ⁽²²⁾ I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You. ⁽²³⁾ You who fear the LORD, praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel! ⁽²⁴⁾ For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard.

⁽²⁵⁾ My praise shall be of You in the great assembly; I will pay My vows before those who fear Him. ⁽²⁶⁾ The poor shall eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the LORD. Let your heart live forever! ⁽²⁷⁾ All the ends of the world Shall remember and turn to the LORD, And all the families of the nations Shall worship before You. ⁽²⁸⁾ For the kingdom is the LORD's, And He rules over the nations.

⁽²⁹⁾ All the prosperous of the earth Shall eat and worship; All those who go down to the dust Shall bow before Him, Even he who cannot keep himself alive. ⁽³⁰⁾ A posterity shall serve Him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation, ⁽³¹⁾ They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, That He has done this.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Amos Chapter 5

⁽¹⁾ Hear this word which I take up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel: ⁽²⁾ The virgin of Israel has fallen; She will rise no more. She lies forsaken on her land; There is no one to raise her up. ⁽³⁾ For thus says the Lord GOD: 'The city that goes out by a thousand Shall have a hundred left, And that which goes out by a hundred Shall have ten left to the house of Israel.' ⁽⁴⁾ For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: 'Seek Me and live;

⁽⁵⁾ But do not seek Bethel, Nor enter Gilgal, Nor pass over to Beersheba; For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, And Bethel shall come to nothing. ⁽⁶⁾ Seek the LORD and live, Lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, And devour it, With no one to quench it in Bethel -- ⁽⁷⁾ You who turn justice to wormwood, And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!' ⁽⁸⁾ He made the Pleiades and Orion; He turns the shadow of death into morning And makes the day dark as night; He calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of the earth; The LORD is His name.

⁽⁹⁾ He rains ruin upon the strong, So that fury comes upon the fortress. ⁽¹⁰⁾ They hate the one who rebukes in the gate, And they abhor the one who speaks uprightly. ⁽¹¹⁾ Therefore, because you tread down the poor And take grain taxes from him, Though you have built houses of hewn stone, Yet you shall not dwell in them; You have planted pleasant vineyards, But you shall not drink wine from them. ⁽¹²⁾ For I know your manifold transgressions And your mighty sins: Afflicting the just and taking bribes; Diverting the poor from justice at the gate.

⁽¹³⁾ Therefore the prudent keep silent at that time, For it is an evil time. ⁽¹⁴⁾ Seek good and not evil, That you may live; So the LORD God of hosts will be with you, As you have spoken. ⁽¹⁵⁾ Hate evil, love good; Establish justice in the gate. It may be that the LORD God of hosts Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. ⁽¹⁶⁾ Therefore the LORD God of hosts, the Lord, says this: 'There shall be wailing in all streets, And they shall say in all the highways, 'Alas! Alas!' They shall call the farmer to mourning, And skillful lamenters to wailing.

⁽¹⁷⁾ In all vineyards there shall be wailing, For I will pass through you,' Says the LORD.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Jude Chapter 1

⁽¹⁾ Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ: ⁽²⁾ Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. ⁽³⁾ Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. ⁽⁴⁾ For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁽⁵⁾ But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. ⁽⁶⁾ And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; ⁽⁷⁾ as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. ⁽⁸⁾ Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.

⁽⁹⁾ Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, 'The Lord rebuke you!' ⁽¹⁰⁾ But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. ⁽¹¹⁾ Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. ⁽¹²⁾ These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;

⁽¹³⁾ raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. ⁽¹⁴⁾ Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, 'Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, ⁽¹⁵⁾ to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.' ⁽¹⁶⁾ These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Matthew Chapter 22

⁽¹⁾ And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: ⁽²⁾ The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, ⁽³⁾ and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. ⁽⁴⁾ Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, 'See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.' '

⁽⁵⁾ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. ⁽⁶⁾ And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. ⁽⁷⁾ But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. ⁽⁸⁾ Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.

⁽⁹⁾ Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.' ⁽¹⁰⁾ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. ⁽¹¹⁾ But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. ⁽¹²⁾ So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless.

⁽¹³⁾ Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' ⁽¹⁴⁾ For many are called, but few are chosen.'

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The Canticles

ⓘA canticle is a hymn, or other Christian song of praise with lyrics taken from biblical texts

  
Song of the Three Young Men      Benedictus es, Domine

Glory to you, Lord God of our fathers;
you are worthy of praise; glory to you.
Glory to you for the radiance of your holy Name;
we will praise you and highly exalt you for ever.
Glory to you in the splendor of your temple;
on the throne of your majesty, glory to you.
Glory to you, seated between the Cherubim;
we will praise you and highly exalt you for ever.
Glory to you, beholding the depths;
in the high vault of heaven, glory to you.
Glory to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;
we will praise you and highly exalt you for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.


The Song of Simeon       Nunc Dimittis Luke 2:29-32  
Lord, you now have set your servant free
to go in peace as you have promised;
For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior,
whom you have prepared for all the world to see:
A Light to enlighten the nations,
and the glory of your people Israel.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.


The Apostles' Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord.
  He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
  He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
  He descended to the dead.
  On the third day he rose again.
  He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
  He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
  the holy catholic Church,
  the communion of saints,
  the forgiveness of sins,
  the resurrection of the body,
  and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Prayers

The Lord's Prayer   Traditional
Suffrages     A

Seasonal Collect:  First Sunday of Advent
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for Mission: Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake. Amen.

Personal Prayers and Reflection

This is a time to pause, consider and listen. Pray for yourself and others.


Closing Prayers   Thanksgiving

Conclude with following
May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Romans 15:13



This concludes the Daily Morning Prayer
Go in Peace to Love and Serve the Lord