Prayer During the Day
Easter Season
    Friday, 19 April 2024
Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr, 1012 [Lesser Festival]
     
     
      Preparation  
     
    O God, make speed to save us.
All
  O Lord, make haste to help us.
     
    If I climb up to heaven, you are there;
All
  if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.
   
Psalm 139.7
     
   
Praise
 
     
    A hymn, song, canticle, extempore praise or
     
    Yesterday I was crucified with Christ;
today I am glorified with him.
Yesterday I was dead with Christ;
today I am sharing in his resurrection.
Yesterday I was buried with him;
today I am waking with him from the sleep of death.
   
Gregory of Nazianzus (389)
     
   
The Word of God
 
     
     
   
Psalmody
     
    Either, Friday Psalm 145.1-8
     
    (or)
     
    Or, on any day Psalm 118.14-24
     
    Alternatively, when Morning and Evening Prayer are also celebrated, one of these cycles may be followed.
     
   

Psalm 145

Refrain: Great is the Lord and highly to be praised.

1  I will exalt you, O God my King, 
   and bless your name for ever and ever.

2  Every day will I bless you 
   and praise your name for ever and ever.

3  Great is the Lord and highly to be praised; 
   his greatness is beyond all searching out.

4  One generation shall praise your works to another 
   and declare your mighty acts.

5  They shall speak of the majesty of your glory, 
   and I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

6  They shall speak of the might of your marvellous acts, 
   and I will also tell of your greatness.

7  They shall pour forth the story of your abundant kindness 
   and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

8  The Lord is gracious and merciful, 
   long-suffering and of great goodness.

Refrain: Great is the Lord and highly to be praised.

King of the universe,
you show the bright glory of your reign
in acts of mercy and enduring love;
raise the spirits of the downcast
and restore those who have fallen away,
that we may sing for ever of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

     
    (or)
     
   

Psalm 118.14-24

Refrain: I will give thanks to you,
for you have become my salvation.

14  The Lord is my strength and my song, 
   and he has become my salvation.

15  Joyful shouts of salvation 
   sound from the tents of the righteous:

16  ‘The right hand of the Lord does mighty deeds;
      the right hand of the Lord raises up; 
   the right hand of the Lord does mighty deeds.’

17  I shall not die, but live 
   and declare the works of the Lord.

18  The Lord has punished me sorely, 
   but he has not given me over to death.

19  Open to me the gates of righteousness, 
   that I may enter and give thanks to the Lord.

20  This is the gate of the Lord; 
   the righteous shall enter through it.

21  I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me 
   and have become my salvation.

22  The stone which the builders rejected 
   has become the chief cornerstone.

23  This is the Lord’s doing, 
   and it is marvellous in our eyes.

24  This is the day that the Lord has made; 
   we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Refrain: I will give thanks to you,
for you have become my salvation.

Saving God,
open the gates of righteousness,
that your pilgrim people may enter
and be built into a living temple
on the cornerstone of our salvation,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

    Each psalm or group of psalms may end with
     
All
  Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
     
   
Short readings
 
     
    Either, Friday
    Job said, ‘O that my words were written down! O that they were inscribed in a book! O that with an iron pen and with lead they were engraved on a rock for ever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.’
   
Job 19.23-27a
     
    Or, on any day in Easter
    Jesus said, ‘This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.’
   
John 6.39
     
   
Response
 
     
    Silence, study, song, or words from Scripture, such as
     
    Blessed are the peacemakers,
All
  for they will be called children of God.
   
Matthew 5.9
     
   
Prayers
 
     
    Prayers may include these concerns:
     
    The people of God, that they may proclaim the risen Lord
    God’s creation, that the peoples of the earth may meet their responsibility to care
    Those in despair and darkness, that they may find the hope and light of Christ
    Those in fear of death, that they may find faith through the resurrection
    Prisoners and captives
     
    A form of intercession found here may be used.
     
    Either, the following prayer is said
     
    Christ yesterday and today,
the beginning and the end,
Alpha and Omega,
all time belongs to you,
and all ages;
to you be glory and power
through every age and for ever.
All
  Amen.
   
from the Easter Vigil
     
     
    Or, the Collect of the day is said
     
    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.
AllAmen.
     
    The Lord’s Prayer is said.
     
    (Either)
     
    As our Saviour taught us, so we pray
     
All
  Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.
     
    (or)
     
    Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us
     
All
  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,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
     
   
The Conclusion
 
     
    May the risen Christ give us his peace.
All
  Alleluia. Amen.