Cantica Gaudia

Season of Easter: Friday Noonday Prayer

Opening: Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

Psalm: May God be merciful to us and bless us
Show us the light of the Lord’s countenance and come to us
Let your ways be known upon earth
Your saving health among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God,
Let all the peoples praise you.
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
For you judge the peoples with equity
And guide all the nations upon earth.
Let the peoples praise you, O God,
Let all the peoples praise you.
The earth has brought forth increase;
May God, our own God, give us blessing.
May God give us blessing,
And may all the ends of the earth stand in awe.

Reading: The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, "Mortal, can these bones live?" I answered, "O Lord God, you know." Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these ones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones. I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you have know that I am Lord."

So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude."

The 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.
Save us from the time of trial
And deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
Now and for ever.  Amen.

Prayers: You hear our prayers whether they are full of thanksgiving or full of complaints.  Your mercy is unending.  Even in your discipline you restrain yourself in ways we cannot know.  May our mumbled words of gratitude and our fleeting praises find crevices where they can grow within your presence, Lord of light and morning.  Amen.

Going Forth:  God's eternal blessings of love and peace be ours forevermore.