Cantica Gaudia

Season of Lent: Monday Morning Prayer

Opening:  Open my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may proclaim your praise.

Canticle: Teach us, dear Lord, to number our days;
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Oh, satisfy us early with thy mercy,
that we may rejoice and be glad all of our days.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us;
and establish thou the work of our hands.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us;
and establish thou the work of our hands, dear Lord.

Psalm: I feel the heedless impulse in my heart
It speak to me as to the wicked
Saying, “Pay no attention to God who is before your eyes.”

Instead, he loves his own eyes
That blind him to desire’s poisons
So that he doesn’t know enough to seek the good
The words of his mouth are crooked and deceitful
What wisdom’s in his heart he fails to notice
What goodness is natural to him he pushes aside
He lies on his bed at night devising schemes
So that in the morning he stumbles down crooked paths
Of suffering but he does not know what he is doing

Your kindness reaches into the darkened center
Your faithfulness all the way up to the empty sky
Your uprightness is like the mountains
Your actions like the sea
Giving birth to all creatures endlessly

How precious is your kindness!
And those who seek your wide wings’ shelter—
They will be satisfied with your provisions
They will drink the delights of your streams
For you are life’s wellspring
You are the light within the light

Draw down finer the thread of your kindness
For those who recognize you
Draw down the strong filament of your uprightness
For those whose hearts are upright
Don’t let the foot of pride be in my step
Or the hand of wickedness be raised up in mine
There they are – those who have lost their way –
Thrust down
Unable to rise

Glory to God, who made us, who bears our pain, and who loves us. 
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever.  Amen.

Reading:  “And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting.   Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.  But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body.  So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
“No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and wealth.”

The Lord’s Prayer: Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be your 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,
For ever and ever.  Amen.

Prayer:  O holy Christ, bless me with your presence when my days are weary and my friends few. Bless me with your presence when my joy is full, lest I forget the Giver in the gift. Bless me with your presence when I shall make an end of living. Help me in the darkness to find the ford. And in my going comfort me with your promise that where you are, there shall your servant be. Amen.

Collect: Lord, open to us the sea of your mercy and water us with full streams from the riches of your grace and the springs of your kindness. Make us children of quietness and heirs of peace; kindle in us the fire of your love and strengthen our weakness by your power as we become close to you and to each other. Amen.

Going forth: Lord, reveal your will and remake your people.