For those of you wanting help in praying at home, this is how I use the SEC daily prayer with simple hymns and Taize chants. If you don’t recognise the music, please feel free to simply listen, to replace with a hymn you know or to skip over the chants.
Morning Prayer:Returning to God.
Holy One, open our lips: and we shall proclaim your praise.
Glory to God, Source of all being, Eternal Word and Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.
Thursdays: From Psalm 130, Domine, refugium
Lord, you have been our refuge * from one generation to another.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or the land and the earth were born, * from age to age you are God.
You turn us back to the dust and say, * “Go back, O child of earth.”
For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past *
and like a watch in the night.
You sweep us away like a dream; * we fade away suddenly like the grass.
In the morning it is green and flourishes; * in the evening it is dried up and withered.
For we consume away in your displeasure; *
we are afraid because of your wrathful indignation.
Our iniquities you have set before you, *
and our secret sins in the light of your countenance.
When you are angry, all our days are gone; *
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
The span of our life is seventy years, perhaps in strength even eighty; *
yet the sum of them is but labour and sorrow,
for they pass away quickly and we are gone.
Who regards the power of your wrath? *
Who rightly fears your indignation?
So teach us to num-ber our days *
that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.
Return, O Lord; how long will you tarry? * Be gracious to your servants.
Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning; *
so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.
Show your servants your works * and your splendour to their children.
May the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us; *
prosper the work of our hands; prosper our handiwork.
READING: Exodus 1:6–22
Then Joseph died, and all his brothers, and that whole generation. But the Israelites were fruitful and prolific; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.
Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, ‘Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.’ Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labour. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labour. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.
The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, ‘When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.’ But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, ‘Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?’ The midwives said to Pharaoh, ‘Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.’ So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, ‘Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.’
BENEDICTUS
Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,*
for he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty saviour,*
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 that hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our forebears,*
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 all 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 and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.
PRAYERS
We have betrayed our humanity by thinking of others or ourselves as destined for dust rather than for glory.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
We have not brought the light of transfiguration into dark places.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
We have not listened to the wisdom of the divinely human One, transfigured on the mountain.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Spend time gathering your own prayers before God.
THURSDAYS:
O Christ, by remaining faithful till death,
you show us the road to greater love.
O Christ, by taking the burden of sin upon yourself,
you reveal to us the way of generosity.
O Christ, by praying for those who crucified you,
you lead us to forgive without counting the cost.
O Christ, by opening paradise to the repentant thief,
you awaken hope in us.
O Christ, come and help our weak faith.
O Christ, create a pure heart in us; renew and strengthen our spirit.
O Christ, your Word is near, may it live within us and protect us always.
Lord’s Prayer
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. Do not bring us to the time of trial, but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen.
Thursdays: Christ Jesus, even when we can feel nothing of your presence, you are always there. Your Holy Spirit remains continually active in us, opening little ways forward to escape from our dead ends and to move towards the essential of faith, of trust. Amen.
Collect of the Day: Almighty God, grant that we, who are weighed down by our sins, may be relieved and encouraged by your grace; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
God most holy, we give you thanks for bringing us out of the shadow of night into the light of morning; and we ask you for the joy of spending this day in your service, so that when evening comes, we may once more give you thanks, through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.
The Lord bless us and preserve us from all evil; and bring us to life eternal. Amen.
Compiled with Materials from:
From SEC Daily Prayer; Jim Cotter, Lectionary Resources; Taizé A prayer for each day; GS2016 Pointed Liturgical Psalter 2016 04 08; Chris Thorpe, Touching the Sacred;
St Ternans Banchory 