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.
Mondays: From Psalm 27.
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?*
the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?
2 When evildoers came upon me to eat up my flesh,*
it was they, my foes and my adversaries, who
stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army should encamp against me,*
yet my heart shall not be afraid;
4 And though war should rise up against me,*
yet will I put my trust in him.
5 One thing have I asked of the Lord; one thing I seek;*
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life;
6 To behold the fair beauty of the Lord*
and to seek him in his temple.
7 For in the day of trouble he shall keep me safe in his shelter;*
he shall hide me in the secrecy of his dwelling
and set me high upon a rock.
8 Even now he lifts up my head*
above my enemies round about me.
9 Therefore I will offer in his dwelling an oblation
with sounds of great gladness;*
I will sing and make music to the Lord.
10 Hearken to my voice, O Lord, when I call;*
have mercy on me and answer me.
11 You speak in my heart and say, ‘Seek my face.’*
Your face, Lord, will I seek.
12 Hide not your face from me,*
nor turn away your servant in displeasure.
13 You have been my helper; cast me not away;*
do not forsake me, O God of my salvation.
14 Though my father and my mother forsake me,*
the Lord will sustain me.
15 Show me your way, O Lord;*
lead me on a level path, because of my enemies.
16 Deliver me not into the hand of my adversaries,*
for false witnesses have risen up against me,
and also those who speak malice.
17 What if I had not believed
that I should see the goodness of the Lord*
in the land of the living!
18 O tarry and await the Lord’s pleasure;*
be strong, and he shall comfort your heart;
wait patiently for the Lord.
READING Lamentations 1:1–2, 6–12
How lonely sits the city
that once was full of people!
How like a widow she has become,
she that was great among the nations!
She that was a princess among the provinces
has become a vassal.
She weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers
she has no one to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her,
they have become her enemies.
From daughter Zion has departed
all her majesty.
Her princes have become like stags
that find no pasture;
they fled without strength
before the pursuer.
Jerusalem remembers,
in the days of her affliction and wandering,
all the precious things
that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the foe,
and there was no one to help her,
the foe looked on mocking
over her downfall.
Jerusalem sinned grievously,
so she has become a mockery;
all who honoured her despise her,
for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself groans,
and turns her face away.
Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
she took no thought of her future;
her downfall was appalling,
with none to comfort her.
‘O Lord, look at my affliction,
for the enemy has triumphed!’
Enemies have stretched out their hands
over all her precious things;
she has even seen the nations
invade her sanctuary,
those whom you forbade
to enter your congregation.
All her people groan
as they search for bread;
they trade their treasures for food
to revive their strength.
Look, O Lord, and see
how worthless I have become.
Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Look and see
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me,
which the Lord inflicted
on the day of his fierce anger.
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.
MONDAYS:
For the victims of war and violence, O God, we pray.
For those wounded by the constraints and the harshness of life,
O God, we pray.
For the elderly and the ill who are alone, O God, we pray.
For those who devote their energies to restoring peace, to creating justice, to helping those who suffer, O God, we pray.
O Christ, you died and rose for us
so that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God.
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.
Mondays: Christ of compassion, through your Gospel we discover that measuring what we are or what we are not leads nowhere. What matters is the humble trusting of faith. By it we are led to glimpse the innocence of God and to understand that “all God can do is give his love.” Amen
Almighty God,
whose most dear Son went not up to joy, but first he suffered pain,
and entered not into glory before he was crucified: mercifully grant,
that we, walking in the way of his cross,
may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through the same 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 