Daily Office for Our Times

Common Prayer

Redeeming the Soul of the World Through Love and Prayer

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Compline

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First Sunday After The Epiphany: Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Theme for Sunday: Resurrection

With deep gratitude for the promise of resurrection and the gift of new life we worship God and we pray for all people still entombed by the oppression of others and all those buried in their own resentments and addictions.

The Evening Bidding

The angels of God guard us through the night

and quieten the powers of darkness.

The Spirit of God be our guide

to lead us to peace and to glory.

Confession of Sin

Almighty God, our Creator, giver of good things and lover of souls, we thank you for all that is good, for our creation and our humanity, for the stewardship you have given us of this planet earth, for the gifts of life and for one another, for your love which is unbounded and eternal.

O You most holy and beloved,
our Companion, our Guide upon the way,
our bright evening star.
We repent of our wrong doings.

silence is kept

We have wounded your love.
O God heal and restore us.

We give thanks for our right doings

silence is kept

Light of the world inspire us.
Spirit of God dwell in us.

Eternal Spirit, living God, in whom we live and move and have our being, All that we are, have been and shall be is known to you, to the very secrets of our hearts and all that rises to trouble us and inspire us. Living flame, burn into us, cleansing wind, blow through us, fountain of water, well up within us, that we love and praise you in all our words and deeds. Amen.

The Invocation

Eternal Spirit, flow through our being and open our lips.
that our mouths may proclaim your praise.

All Glory to the Loving One, Source of our being, Eternal Word, and Life-Giving Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

The Psalm

Psalm 150 Laudate Dominum

Alleluia! Praise God in the holy temple;*

praise God in the firmament of power.

Praise God for every mighty act;*

praise God's excellent greatness.

Praise God with the blast of the ram's-horn;*

praise God with lyre and harp.

Praise God with timbrel and dance;*

praise God with strings and pipe.

Praise God with resounding cymbals;*

praise God with loud-clanging cymbals.

Let everything that has breath*

praise God. Alleluia!

All Glory to the Loving One, Source of our being, Eternal Word, and Life-Giving Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Scripture for Resurrection

Set your minds on things that are above, and not on things that are on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:2-3

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people.
Amen. All that the Lord has said we will do.

Canticle

A Song of Christ's Humility Philippians 2:6-11

Though in the form of God,*

Christ Jesus did not cling to equality with God,

But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant,*

and was born in human likeness.

Being found in human form, he humbled himself*

and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.

Therefore, God has highly exalted him*

and given him the name above every name,

That at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow,*

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,*

to the glory of God the Father.

All Glory to the Loving One, Source of our being, Eternal Word, and Life-Giving Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

The Prayers

V. Into your hands, O God, I commend my spirit;

R. For you have redeemed me, O God of truth and integrity.

V. Keep us, O Lord, as the apple of your eye;

R. Hide us under the shadow of your wings.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,

Source of all that is and that shall be,

Father and Mother of us all,

Loving God, in whom is heaven:

The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!

The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!

Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!

Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.

With the bread we need for today, feed us.

In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.

In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.

From trials too great to endure, spare us.

From the grip of all that is evil, free us.

For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever. Amen.

Lord, hear our prayer;
And let our cry come to you.
Let us pray.

Collect for Resurrection

Fix that morning star which never sets, the risen light of Christ, as the North Star of our lives as together we walk in your presence, serving one another, with your love in our hearts, your truth in our minds, your strength in our wills, until, at the end of our journey, we know the joy of our homecoming and the welcome of your embrace, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Collect for Sunday Evening

Be our light in the darkness, O Lord, and in your great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of your only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

And we pray for our own needs and the needs of others...

Lord, it is night after a long day. What has been done has been done; what has not been done has not been done; help us let it be. Amen.

Lord, you are the God of growth and discovery, yours is the inspiration that has altered and changed our lives yours is the power that has brought us to new challenges and opportunities. As we take our rest this night, prepare us, your new creation, to journey in this new world, watching and learning, loving and trusting, blessing and forgiving until your kingdom comes. Amen.

Final Canticle

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping;
that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.

The Song of Simeon Nunc dimittis, Luke 2:29 32

O God, you now have set your servant free*

to go in peace as you have promised;

For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior,*

whom you have prepared for all the world to see:

A Light to enlighten the nations,*

and the glory of your people Israel.

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping;
that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.

Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God

Almighty God the source of all love, grant you an abiding joy and a restful night, that comes from knowing that you have a place in God's heart, with love to share and a life to live. Amen.

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Acknowledgements: With Gratitude

Pray for Peace, Work for Justice.

This Daily Office App was created in 2020 at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Ladue, MO, as a partial response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the murder of George Floyd. Because of the pandemic we and many congregations began offering online variations of the Daily Office from the Book of Common Prayer. George Floyd's murder brought into sharp relief the racism and many other injustices in our world. We believe it is pointless to pray for peace unless we are actively working for justice in all spheres of our daily lives.

Within our congregation we have many people such as, medical personnel and teachers, who are putting their lives at risk to help create a better world. We also have numerous parishioners employed or engaged in not-for-profit agencies, research, and outreach all of which are striving to right the wrongs of our society and in the words of the Lord's Prayer, "helping God's Kingdom come on earth". To focus our need to engage in social action we have created this Daily Office with a two week cycle of social justice themes to help us:

Pray and reflect on our part in the systemic evils that corupt our world.
Pray intentionally for parishioners and the programs they work in to "Heal the World."
Pray for courage and wisdom to discover and empower us to be the change we wish to see in the world.

The Episcopal Book of Common Prayer and its many companion books through out the Anglican Communion are wonderful treasure troves of prayers and resources for deepening our spiritual lives and inspiring action in the world. Such books are however are a frozen meal, they need thawing out, warming up, and seasoning with local spices. This is what this app seeks to do. It added the necessary flavors of St. Peter's, Ladue, so whether at home, in church, or travelling the world, we can continue to remember and pray for one another as we walk the way of love and make this a better world in which our children's children can love and grow into the image of God that God creates them to be.

If you would like to adapt this app for your own congregation or community setting and add your own spices and flavors please email us and we can create a specific parish option for you.

Specific Acknowledgements and Copyrights.

The service structure and the traditional psalms canticles and prayers are taken from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, 1979, available from The Church Hymnal Corporation, New York. Inclusive canticles and prayers have been adapted from a variety of sources including Enriching our Worship, 1998 also available from The Church Hymnal Corporation, New York.

Specific prayers such as the Inclusive Lord’s Prayer has been taken from A New Zealand Prayerbook, ©Copyright 1989 the Church of the Province of New Zealand. This prayerbook has also provided inspiration for the inclusive Compline service and partial content to many of the collects.

In general, Biblical passages are taken from The New Revised Standard Version, ©Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

We are also indebted to The Rev. Br. Richard Edward Helmer, BSG. the developer of the The Daily Office App who provided technical advice and resources as we developed this app.

We are also indebted to Sandie Willey and her gift of words and discerning eye as together we crafted many of the prayers as we worked to create this Daily Office for Our Times.

In the course of preparing this app we have visited many websites, read and prayed many prayers, and been inspired by many writers. To all the people who share their creativity with the world we say thank you for the beauty of your words and the times when a word becomes a sparkle of truth and a moment of transcendence.

With Gratitude
Rob Voyle,
Interim Rector, St. Peter's, 2020
Director of the Appreciative Way