Mon. morning Feb. 2
The Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Candlemas)
“The Presentation” (c. 1454) by Andrea Mantegna. Public domain.
Opening response
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
Your light springs up for the righteous
and all the peoples have seen your glory.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God, king of the nations, to you be praise and glory forever. From the rising of the sun to its setting, your name is proclaimed in all the world. As the Sun of Righteousness dawns in our hearts, anoint our lips with the seal of your Spirit that we may witness to your gospel and sing your praise in all the earth.
Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.
The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;
let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As we rejoice in the gift of this new day, so may the light of your presence, O God, set our hearts on fire with love for you; now and forever.
Amen.
Hymn
I Will Make the Darkness Light
Words and Music: Charles P. Jones (1916)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#476)
I will make the darkness light before thee,
what is wrong I’ll make it right before thee,
all thy battles I will fight before thee,
and the high place I’ll bring down.
With an everlasting love I’ll love thee,
though with trials deep and sore I’ll prove thee,
but there’s nothing that can hurt or move thee,
and the high place I’ll bring down.
I will make the darkness light before thee,
I will make the crooked straight before thee,
I will spread my wings protecting o’er thee,
and the high place I’ll bring down.
When thou walkest by the way I’ll lead thee,
on the fatness of the land I’ll feed thee,
and a mansion in the sky I’ll deed thee,
and the high place I’ll bring down.
Confession of Sin
The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in mercy.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor recompensed us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his mercy toward those who fear Him.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Holy God,
Holy and strong,
Holy and immortal,
have mercy upon us.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father pities his children,
so the LORD pities those who fear Him.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits.
Psalm 48
𝙍: We have thought on Your lovingkindness, O God.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God, in His holy mountain.
Beautiful in elevation,
the joy of the whole earth,
is Mount Zion on the sides of the north,
the city of the great King.
Within her citadels God is known
as a refuge.
𝙍: We have thought on Your lovingkindness, O God.
For behold, the kings assembled;
they passed by together.
They saw it, and so they were astounded;
they were troubled; they took to flight.
Trembling took hold of them there,
and pain, as of a woman in labor,
as when You break the ships of Tarshish
with an east wind.
As we have heard,
so have we seen
in the city of the LORD of Hosts,
in the city of our God;
God will establish it forever.
𝙍: We have thought on Your lovingkindness, O God.
We have thought on Your lovingkindness, O God,
in the midst of Your temple.
According to Your name, O God,
so is Your praise to the ends of the earth;
Your right hand is full of righteousness.
Let Mount Zion rejoice;
let the daughters of Judah be glad,
because of Your judgments.
Walk about Zion, and go all around her;
count her towers;
mark well her bulwarks;
go through her citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
that this is God, our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide forever.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be forever. Amen.
𝙍: We have thought on Your lovingkindness, O God.
Psalm prayer
Father of lights, raise us with Christ to your eternal city, that, with kings and nations, we may wait in the midst of your temple and see your glory forever and ever.
Psalm 146
𝙍: The LORD shall reign forever.
Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
While I live I will praise the LORD;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Do not put your trust in princes,
nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
His spirit departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.
𝙍: The LORD shall reign forever.
Blessed is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
whose hope is in the LORD his God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.
𝙍: The LORD shall reign forever.
The LORD sets free the prisoners.
The LORD opens the eyes of the blind;
the LORD raises up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the strangers;
He relieves the fatherless and widow,
but the way of the wicked He turns upside down.
The LORD shall reign forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the LORD!
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be forever. Amen.
𝙍: The LORD shall reign forever.
Psalm prayer
Lord of all, our breath and being come from you, yet our earthly end is dust; as you loose the bound and feed the hungry, so bring us in your mercy through the grave and gate of death to the feast of eternal life, where you reign forevermore.
Old Testament reading
Exodus 13:1-16
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn, the firstborn of every womb among the Israelites, both of man and of beast. It is Mine.
Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage, for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place. Nothing leavened shall be eaten. On this day, you are going out, in the month of Aviv. It shall be when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this ceremony in this month. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And there shall be no leavened bread seen among you, nor shall there be leaven seen among you in all your borders. You shall declare to your son on that day, saying, ‘This is done because of that which the LORD did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.’ It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial on your forehead, in order that the LORD’s law may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt. You shall, therefore, keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year.
“It shall be when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, just as He swore to you and to your fathers, and shall give it you, that you shall set apart to the LORD the first offspring of every womb and the first offspring of every beast which you have. The males shall be the LORD’s. But every first offspring of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck, and all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.
“It shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ‘With a strong hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage. And when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast. Therefore, I sacrifice to the LORD the first male offspring of every womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ It shall be as a sign on your hand and as frontlets on your forehead, for with a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Romans 12:1-5
I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service of worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and complete will of God.
For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sound judgment, according to the measure of faith God has distributed to every man. For just as we have many parts in one body, and not all parts have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and all are parts of one another.
Silence may be kept.
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)
Luke 1:68-79
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for He has visited and redeemed His people,
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of His servant David,
as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets of long ago,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us,
to perform the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember His holy covenant,
the oath which He swore to our father Abraham,
to grant us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies,
might serve Him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
for you will go before the presence of the Lord to prepare His ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to His people
by the remission of their sins,
through the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise from on high has visited us;
to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
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 will be forever. Amen.
Brief silence.
The Apostle’s Creed
Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:
I believe in God,
the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ,
his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the
right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge
the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
Intercession and thanksgiving
Prayers may be offered for:
the day and its tasks
the world and its needs
the Church and her life
Prayers may include the following concerns:
The unity of the Church
The peace of the world
The healing of the sick
The revelation of Christ to those from whom his glory is hidden
All who travel
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Lord, hear your people
and answer our prayers.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty and ever-living God, clothed in majesty, whose beloved Son was this day presented in the Temple, in substance of our flesh: grant that we may be presented to you with pure and clean hearts, by your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Believing the promises of God, as our Savior taught us, so we pray
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.
Conclusion
May Christ, who sends us to the nations, give us the power of his Spirit.
Amen.