The Preparation:Lord, open our lips. And our mouth shall proclaim your praise. Blessed are you, Sovereign God, King of the nations, to you be praise and glory for ever! [From the rising of the sun to its setting your name is proclaimed in all the world.] As the Sun of Righteousness dawns in our hearts, anoint our lips with the seal of your Spirit that we may witness to your gospel and sing your praise in all the world, Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Blessed be God for ever. God in Christ has revealed his glory: O come, let us worship. Opening Canticle: A Song of God’s Blessing (From Psalm 67) May God be merciful to us and bless us, show us the light of his countenance and come to us. Let your ways be known upon earth, your saving health among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide all the nations upon earth. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. The earth has brought forth her increase; may God, our own God, give us his blessing. May God give us his blessing,* and may all the ends of the earth stand in awe of him. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. The Opening PrayerThe night has passed and the day lies open before us; let us pray with one heart and mind: (Silence may be kept) As we rejoice in the gift of this new day, so may the light of your presence, O God, set our hearts on fire with love for you; now and for ever. Amen. The Word of God:The PsalmodyThe appointed psalmody is said. Psalm: 119:97-120 97 Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all day long. 98 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is always with me. 99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your decrees are my meditation. 100 I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. 101 I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. 102 I do not turn away from your ordinances, for you have taught me. 103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. 106 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to observe your righteous ordinances. 107 I am severely afflicted; give me life, O LORD, according to your word. 108 Accept my offerings of praise, O LORD, and teach me your ordinances. 109 I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law. 110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts. 111 Your decrees are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. 112 I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end. 113 I hate the double-minded, but I love your law. 114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word. 115 Go away from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God. 116 Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope. 117 Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually. 118 You spurn all who go astray from your statutes; for their cunning is in vain. 119 All the wicked of the earth you count as dross; therefore I love your decrees. 120 My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments. Each psalm, or group of psalms, may end with: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. The First Lesson:If there are two Scripture Readings, the first may be read here, or both may be read after the second canticle. Genesis 27:1-29 When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called his elder son Esau and said to him, "My son"; and he answered, "Here I am." He said, "See, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me. Then prepare for me savory food, such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die." Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "I heard your father say to your brother Esau, 'Bring me game, and prepare for me savory food to eat, that I may bless you before the LORD before I die.' Now therefore, my son, obey my word as I command you. Go to the flock, and get me two choice kids, so that I may prepare from them savory food for your father, such as he likes; and you shall take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies." But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, "Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him, and bring a curse on myself and not a blessing." His mother said to him, "Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my word, and go, get them for me." So he went and got them and brought them to his mother; and his mother prepared savory food, such as his father loved. Then Rebekah took the best garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob; and she put the skins of the kids on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. Then she handed the savory food, and the bread that she had prepared, to her son Jacob. So he went in to his father, and said, "My father"; and he said, "Here I am; who are you, my son?" Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, so that you may bless me." But Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" He answered, "Because the LORD your God granted me success." Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not." So Jacob went up to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau." He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him. He said, "Are you really my son Esau?" He answered, "I am." Then he said, "Bring it to me, that I may eat of my son's game and bless you." So he brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come near and kiss me, my son." So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said, "Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed. May God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!" Canticle 2: A Song of the New Jerusalem (From Isaiah 60) Nations will come to your light,* and kings to your dawning brightness. Arise, shine out, for your light has come, the glory of the Lord is rising upon you. Though night still covers the earth, and darkness the peoples; Above you the Holy One arises, and above you God’s glory appears. The nations will come to your light, and kings to your dawning brightness. Your gates will lie open continually; shut neither by day nor by night. The sound of violence shall be heard no longer in your land, or ruin and devastation within your borders. You will call your walls, Salvation, and your gates, Praise. No more will the sun give you daylight, nor moonlight shine upon you; But the Lord will be your everlasting light, your God will be your splendor. For you shall be called the city of God, the dwelling of the Holy One of 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 for ever. Amen. Nations will come to your light,* and kings to your dawning brightness. The Second Lesson:One or more readings appointed for the day are read. The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence. Romans 12:1-8 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God — what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. Gospel Canticle: The Song of Zechariah (Luke 1: 68-79) This is the Christ, the Chosen of God,* the one who will bring healing to the nations. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people and set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty savior, born of the house of his servant David. Through his holy prophets he promised of old, that he would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant. This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham, to set us free from the hands of our enemies, Free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
