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.
The Suffering Christ.
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 81.
1 Sing with joy to God our strength*
and raise a loud shout to the God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song and sound the timbrel,*
the merry harp, and the lyre.
3 Blow the ram’s-horn at the new moon,*
and at the full moon, the day of our feast.
4 For this is a statute for Israel,*
a law of the God of Jacob.
5 He laid it as a solemn charge upon Joseph,*
when he came out of the land of Egypt.
6 I heard an unfamiliar voice saying,*
‘I eased his shoulder from the burden;
his hands were set free from bearing the load.’
7 You called on me in trouble, and I saved you;*
I answered you from the secret place of thunder
and tested you at the waters of Meribah.
8 Hear, O my people, and I will admonish you:*
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9 There shall be no strange god among you;*
you shall not worship a foreign god.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt and said,*
‘Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.’
11 And yet my people did not hear my voice,*
and Israel would not obey me.
12 So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their hearts,*
to follow their own devices.
13 Oh, that my people would listen to me!*
that Israel would walk in my ways!
14 I should soon subdue their enemies*
and turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,*
and their punishment would last for ever.
16 But Israel would I feed with the finest wheat*
and satisfy him with honey from the rock.
READING Exodus 7:25 – 8:19
Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.
Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh and say to him, “Thus says the Lord: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. The river shall swarm with frogs; they shall come up into your palace, into your bedchamber and your bed, and into the houses of your officials and of your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your officials.” ’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron, “Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, the canals, and the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.” ’ So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. But the magicians did the same by their secret arts, and brought frogs up on the land of Egypt.
Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, ‘Pray to the Lord to take away the frogs from me and my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.’ Moses said to Pharaoh, ‘Kindly tell me when I am to pray for you and for your officials and for your people, that the frogs may be removed from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.’ And he said, ‘Tomorrow.’ Moses said, ‘As you say! So that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God, the frogs shall leave you and your houses and your officials and your people; they shall be left only in the Nile.’ Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs that he had brought upon Pharaoh. And the Lord did as Moses requested: the frogs died in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron, “Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats throughout the whole land of Egypt.” ’ And they did so; Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and gnats came on humans and animals alike; all the dust of the earth turned into gnats throughout the whole land of Egypt. The magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, but they could not. There were gnats on both humans and animals. And the magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘This is the finger of God!’ But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
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 kept silent when we should have spoken.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
We have spoken when we should have kept silent.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
We have been guilty of denial and betrayal.
Lord, have mercy upon us
Spend time gathering your own prayers before God.
THURSDAYS:
O Christ, you offer us healing; may we live by your life.
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.
Merciful God, look upon your family as we travel to the foot of the cross: and, by your great goodness, guide us in body; that, by your protection, we may also be preserved in heart and mind; 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 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 