Prayer for the Morning (Thursday, December 16)
Prayer for the Morning
Behold, the Bridegroom comes:
let us give thanks and praise!
Glory to the Father…. Alleluia!
Hymn
Great love divine, whose compass broad
Involves the utmost point from God;
Wide as the sun its radiance sheds,
Broad as the night its darkness spreads;
Far as the heav’ns creation span
Reaches the love of God for man.
Great love divine, far reaching, vast,
To endless time from ages past;
As far as stretches human need,
Far as the sin of man can lead;
No wandering soul outstrips its pace,
Or gains the limit of its grace.
Psalm 19:2-7
He who has become your husband is your Maker;/ his name is the Lord of hosts;/ Your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,/ called God of all the earth. (Is 54:5)
The tangled covenant love story of God and his people will be brought at last to fulfillment in the wedding feast of the Lamb, the unbreakable communion of divinity and humanity in the one Body of Christ. Our Advent hope stands on tiptoe, searching the horizon for that glorious day.
The heavens proclaim the glory of God
and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands.
Day unto day takes up the story
and night unto night makes known the message.
No speech, no word, no voice is heard
yet their span extends through all the earth,
their words to the utmost bounds of the world.
There he has placed a tent for the sun;
it comes forth like a bridegroom coming from his tent,
rejoices like a champion to run its course.
At the end of the sky is the rising of the sun;
to the furthest end of the sky is its course.
There is nothing concealed from its burning heat.
Glory to the Father….
Word of God. Hosea 2:21-22
I will espouse you to me forever:/ I will espouse you in right and in justice,/ in love and in mercy;/ I will espouse you in fidelity,/ and you shall know the Lord.
My love shall never leave you/ nor my covenant
of peace be shaken,/ says the Lord. (Is 54:10)
Canticle of Zechariah
Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb. (Rv 19:9)
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.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet
of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory to the Father…
Intercessions
With joy we pray:
R/Come and save your people!
You have loved us with an everlasting love:
– grant us fidelity to the bond of our baptism. R/
You have made us your own in love and mercy:
– instill in us a love that the winds of change cannot extinguish. R/
You will come for us in your glory:
– teach us to await you in hope. R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
Lord God almighty, fulfill in time the timeless covenant of love which you have made with us through the Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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PRAYER FOR THIS EVENING (FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18)
