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  • Writer's pictureKay Marshall

The 18th Sunday after PentecostThe Feast of St. Francis – The Blessing of the Animals 4 Oct

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Daily Morning Prayer: Rite Two


Opening Hymn 400 (“All Creatures of Our God and King”)





The Officiant begins the service with one or more of these sentences of  Scripture, or with the versicle "Lord, open our lips" on page 80.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.    Philippians 1:2

I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord."    Psalm 122:1

The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him. Habakkuk 2:20

Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling. Psalm 43:3

Confession of Sin

The Officiant says to the people

Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor. 

Silence may be kept.

Officiant and People together:

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


The Priest or Officiant alone says:

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


The Invitatory and Psalter

Officiant: Lord, open our lips.

People: And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Officiant and People together:

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. Alleluia!

Officiant: The mercy of the Lord is everlasting: come let us adore him.

Officiant and People together:

Venite Psalm 95:1-7

Come, let us sing to the Lord; *

let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving *

and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

For the Lord is a great God, *

and a great King above all gods.

In his hand are the caverns of the earth, *

and the heights of the hills are his also.

The sea is his, for he made it, *

and his hands have molded the dry land.

Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *

and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

For he is our God,

and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *

Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!

Then Officiant and People together recite The Psalm Appointed


Lector: Let us together recite the Psalm Appointed for today.

Psalm (19) Caeli enarrant

1 The heavens declare the glory of God, * and the firmament shows his handiwork.

2 One day tells its tale to another, * and one night imparts knowledge to another.

3 Although they have no words or language, * and their voices are not heard,

4 Their sound has gone out into all lands, * and their message to the ends of the world.

5 In the deep has he set a pavilion for the sun; * it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber; it rejoices like a champion to run its course.

6 It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens and runs about to the end of it again; * nothing is hidden from its burning heat.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul; * the testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom to the innocent.

8 The statutes of the Lord are just and rejoice the heart; * the commandment of the Lord is clear and gives light to the eyes.

9 The fear of the Lord is clean and endures for ever; * the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold, * sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb.

11 By them also is your servant enlightened, * and in keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can tell how often he offends? * cleanse me from my secret faults.

13 Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not get dominion over me; * then shall I be whole and sound, and innocent of a great offense.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, * O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

At the end is sung or said

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. Alleluia!


The Readings


The Hebrew Scriptures

Lector: A reading from Exodus (20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20)


Then God spoke all these words:

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work.

Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.”

Lector: Here ends the reading.

Silence may be kept after each Reading.


Officiant and People together:


Canticle 9 The First Song of Isaiah (Isaiah 12:2-6) Ecce, Deus

Surely, it is God who saves me; *     I will trust in him and not be afraid. For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, *     and he will be my Savior. Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing *     from the springs of salvation. And on that day you shall say, *     Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name; Make his deeds known among the peoples; *     see that they remember that his Name is exalted. Sing the praises of the Lord, for he has done great things, *     and this is known in all the world. Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy, *     for the great one in the midst of you is 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.


The Epistle


Lector: A reading from Philippians (3:4b-14)


If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Lector: Here ends the reading.


The Gloria is sung to a familiar tune

Glory to God in the highest,     and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father,     we worship you, we give you thanks,     we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world:     have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father:      receive our prayer.

For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High,     Jesus Christ,     with the Holy Spirit,     in the glory of God the Father. Amen.


The Gospel

Lector: A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew (21:33-46)

Jesus said, “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”


Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;

this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

Lector: Here ends the reading.


The Sermon (and/or Announcements)


Praise Hymn 405 (“All Things Bright and Beautiful”)





The Blessing of the Animals

The Apostles' Creed

Officiant and People together:

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 power of 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

Officiant: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Officiant: Let us pray.

Officiant and People together:

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 those           who trespass against us.  And lead us not into temptation,       but deliver us from evil.  For thine is the kingdom,       and the power, and the glory,       for ever and ever. Amen.

Then follows the Suffrages

Suffrages A

V.    Show us your mercy, O Lord; R.    And grant us your salvation. V.    Clothe your ministers with righteousness; R.    Let your people sing with joy. V.    Give peace, O Lord, in all the world; R.    For only in you can we live in safety.

V.    Lord, keep this nation under your care; R.    And guide us in the way of justice and truth. V.    Let your way be known upon earth; R.    Your saving health among all nations. V.    Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten; R.    Nor the hope of the poor be taken away. V.    Create in us clean hearts, O God; R.    And sustain us with your Holy Spirit.


The Officiant then says one or more of the following Collects


The Collect of the Day 

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


A Collect for Sundays

O God, you make us glad with the weekly remembrance of the glorious resurrection of your Son our Lord: Give us this day such blessing through our worship of you, that the week to come may be spent in your favor; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


A Collect for Grace

Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


A Collect for Guidance

Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


Then, unless the Eucharist or a form of general intercession is to follow, one of these prayers for mission is added.


O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


Authorized intercessions and thanksgivings may follow.


The Prayers of the People

Before the close of the Office one or both of the following may be used

The General Thanksgiving

Officiant and People together:

Almighty God, Father of all mercies,  we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks  for all your goodness and loving-kindness  to us and to all whom you have made.  We bless you for our creation, preservation,  and all the blessings of this life;  but above all for your immeasurable 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 pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies,  that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise,  not only with our lips, but in our lives,  by giving up our selves to your service,  and by walking before you  in holiness and righteousness all our days;  through Jesus Christ our Lord,  to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit,  be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.


A Prayer of St. Chrysostom 

Officiant:

Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen.

Officiant Let us bless the Lord!

People Thanks be to God!

The Officiant may then conclude with the following

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen. 2 Corinthians 13:14

Closing Hymn 624 (“Jerusalem the Golden”)





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