Cantica Gaudia

Season of Lent: Thursday Morning Prayer

Opening:  See how the fields are ripe for harvest! Already, God is gathering fruit for eternal life. With rejoicing, let us offer our lives to the Lord.

Canticle: You O God are rich in mercy:
Out of the great love with which you loved us,
Even when we were dead through our sins:
You made us alive together with Christ.
You raised us up in union with him:
And made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
So that you might show the immeasurable riches of your grace:
In kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.
By your Spirit at work within us:
You do far more abundantly than all we ask or think.
To you be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus
Through all generations for ever and ever.  Amen.

Psalm: The heavens declare the glory of God,
And the firmament shows God’s handiwork.
One day tells its tale to another,
And one night imparts knowledge to another.
Although they have no words or language,
And their voices are not heard,
Their sound has gone out into all lands,
And their message to the ends of the world.
In the deep has God set a pavilion for the sun;
It comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber;
It rejoices like a champion to run its course.
It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens
And runs about to the end of it again;
Nothing is hidden from its burning heat.

The law of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom to the innocent.
The statutes of the Lord are just and rejoice the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is clear and gives light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean and endures forever.
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold,
Sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb.
By them also is your servant enlightened,
And in keeping them there is great reward.
Who can tell how often he offends?
Cleanse me from my secret fault.
Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not get dominion over me;
Then shall I be whole and sound, and innocent of a great offense.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

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: God neither heeds nor needs vigils, fasting, prayers, and all forms of mortificatoin in contrast to repose. God needs nothing more than for us to offer him a quiet heart. Then he accomplishes in the soul such secrets and divine deeds that no crature can serve them or even add to them... The divine nature is repose and God seeks to draw all creatures with him back again to their origin which is repose.

The Lord’s Prayer: Abba our God,
Whom the heavens disclose,
May your name be held holy,
Your authority come.
May your longing be fulfilled
As in heaven, so on earth.
Give us today the bread of tomorrow,
And cancel our debts
As we have already forgiven our debtors.
Do not draw us in
To sinful enticement,
But set us free
From the grip of evil;
For authority and power and glory
Are yours alone, for ever.  Amen.

Prayer:  Show us your mercy, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. Clothe your ministers with righteousness, let your people sing with joy. Give peace, O Lord, in all the world, for only in you can we live in safety. Lord, keep the nations under your care, and guide us in the way of justice and truth. Let your way be know upon earth, your saving health among all peoples. Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor be taken away. Create in us clean hearts, O God, and sustain us with your Holy Spirit.

Collect: God of compassion, whose Son Jesus Christ, the child of Mary, shared the life of a home in Nazareth, and on the cross drew the whole human family to himself: strengthen us in our daily living that in joy and in sorrow we may know the power of your presence to bind together and to heal; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Blessing: Glory to God, whose power working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory to God from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen.