The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth.
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: Festivals
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.
Visitation: From Psalm 113
Hallelujah!
Give praise, you servants of the Lord;*
praise the name of the Lord.
Let the name of the Lord be blessed,*
from this time forth for evermore.
From the rising of the sun to its going down*
let the name of the Lord be praised.
The Lord is high above all nations,*
and his glory above the heavens.
Who is like the Lord our God, who sits enthroned on high,*
but stoops to behold the heavens and the earth?
He takes up the weak out of the dust*
and lifts up the poor from the ashes.
He sets them with the princes,*
with the princes of his people.
He makes the woman of a childless house*
to be a joyful mother of children.
FIRST READING: 1 Samuel 1:1–20
There was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives; the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
Now this man used to go up year by year from his town to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters; but to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. Her rival used to provoke her severely, to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it went on year after year; as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. Her husband Elkanah said to her, ‘Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?’
After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the Lord. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord, and wept bitterly. She made this vow: ‘O Lord of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head.’
As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying silently; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore Eli thought she was drunk. So Eli said to her, ‘How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine.’ But Hannah answered, ‘No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time.’ Then Eli answered, ‘Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him.’ And she said, ‘Let your servant find favour in your sight.’ Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.
They rose early in the morning and worshipped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. Elkanah knew his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, ‘I have asked him of the Lord.’
SECOND READING:Hebrews 3:1–6
Therefore, brothers and sisters, holy partners in a heavenly calling, consider that Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses also ‘was faithful in all God’s house.’ Yet Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honour than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken later. Christ, however, was faithful over God’s house as a son, and we are his house if we hold firm the confidence and the pride that belong to hope.
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 not sung of your loving kindness.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
We have not proclaimed your faithfulness to all generations.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
We have not believed your promise would be fulfilled.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Spend time gathering your own prayers before God.
FESTIVALS:
Lord Christ, reveal the presence of your Kingdom in our midst.
O God, keep watch over the gate of our lips;
may every hurt of this day be buried in your forgiveness.
Lord Jesus, show your light to the hearts
that can no longer find the road to you.
O Christ, by your life offered to God, show us the road to life.
O Christ, remain alongside all who are undergoing a night of torment,
the ill and the homeless.
O Christ, keep us from the snares of discouragement and worry.
Our eyes are turned to you, O Lord; our soul finds rest in you.
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.
Festivals: Living God, at times we are strangers on the earth, disconcerted by the violence, the harsh oppositions. And you breathe upon us the Spirit of peace like a gentle breeze. Transfigure the deserts of our doubts and so prepare us to be bearers of reconciliation wherever you place us, until a hope of peace arises in our world.
Collect of the Day: Pour your grace into our hearts, O Lord:
that, as we Almighty God, who looked with favour on your servant Mary, and called her to be the mother of your Son: nurture in us the humility and gentleness that found favour in your sight, that with her we may proclaim the greatness of your name and find the mercy you show to those who fear you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. 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 