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.
OPENING
Thursdays: From Psalm 130, De profundis
Out of the depths * have I called you, O Lord;
Lord, hear my voice; *
let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.
If you, Lord, were to note what is done amiss, * O Lord, who could stand?
For there is forgiveness with you; * therefore you shall be feared.
I wait for you, O Lord; my soul waits for you; * in your word is my hope.
My soul waits for you, O Lord, * more than sentinels for the morning.
All you people, wait for the Lord, * for with the Lord there is mercy;
with God there is plenteous redemption, *
the Lord shall redeem the people from all their sins.
CLOSING
Isaiah 7.1-9
In the days of Ahaz son of Jotham son of Uzziah, king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel went up to attack Jerusalem, but could not mount an attack against it. When the house of David heard that Aram had allied itself with Ephraim, the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.
Then the Lord said to Isaiah, Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller’s Field, and say to him, Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smouldering stumps of firebrands, because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah. Because Aram—with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah—has plotted evil against you, saying, Let us go up against Judah and cut off Jerusalem and conquer it for ourselves and make the son of Tabeel king in it; therefore thus says the Lord God:
It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass.
For the head of Aram is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
(Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered, no longer a people.)
The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you do not stand firm in faith,
you shall not stand at all.
Silence
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 been afraid of the fierceness of your love, which sears our hearts as with a laser. Lord, have mercy upon us.
We have refused to believe that you are gentle in judgment, that your hands loosen the knots of our bitterness. Christ, have mercy upon us.
We have failed to see that your eyes are wise in discernment, that your justice restores us and heals. Lord, have mercy upon us.
THURSDAYS:
God our Father, you sent your only Son in order to reconcile all things in him. See, God is coming to my aid.
Son of the living God, you shared our humanity and you gave your life for the salvation of the world. See, God is coming to my aid.
Holy Spirit, you came down upon Christ and you pour out the Father’s love upon all human beings. See, God is coming to my aid.
O Christ, may your incarnation and your birth make us love our human condition. See, God is coming to my aid.
May your faithfulness on earth make each of us faithful in our commitment. See, God is coming to my aid.
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.
COLLECTS
Stir up our hearts, Lord, to prepare the way of your only-begotten Son: that, in his coming, we might serve you with our hearts made pure; 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.
St Ternans Banchory 