Morning Prayer: the Beatitudes
The Call to Prayer
This is the day that YHWH has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
The Request for Presence
You are my God and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you.
Psalm 118:28
The Greeting
Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.
Psalm 119:73
The Hymn
Blest are they, the poor in spirit; theirs in the kingdom of God.
Blest are they, full of sorrow, they shall be consoled.
Rejoice and be glad! Blessed are you; holy are you!
Rejoice and be glad! Yours is the kingdom of God!
Blest are they, the lowly ones; they shall inherit the earth.
Blest are they, who hunger and thirst; they shall have their fill.
Rejoice and be glad! Blessed are you; holy are you!
Rejoice and be glad! Yours is the kingdom of God!
Blest are they who show mercy; mercy shall be theirs.
Blest are they, the pure of heart; they shall see God!
Rejoice and be glad! Blessed are you; holy are you!
Rejoice and be glad! Yours is the kingdom of God!
Blest are they who seek peace; they are children of God.
Blest are they who suffer in faith, the glory of God is theirs.
Rejoice and be glad! Blessed are you; holy are you!
Rejoice and be glad! Yours is the kingdom of God!
Blest are you who suffer hate all because of me.
Rejoice and be glad—yours is the kingdom—shine for all to see.
Rejoice and be glad! Blessed are you; holy are you!
Rejoice and be glad! Yours is the kingdom of God!
David R. Haas
PCC Hymn #624 Blest are they
The Refrain
YHWH does not see as mortals see; mortals see only appearances but YHWH sees into the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7
A Reading
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the mountainside, and after he sat down and the disciples had gathered around, Jesus began to teach them:
“Blessed are those who are poor in spirit: the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
Blessed are those who are mourning: they will be consoled.
Blessed are those who are gentle: they will inherit the land.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice: they will have their fill.
Blessed are those who show mercy to others: they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are those whose hearts are clean: they will see God.
Blessed are those who work for peace: they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of their struggle for justice: the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
“You are fortunate when others insult you and persecute you, and utter every kind of slander against you because of me. Be glad and rejoice, for your reward in heaven is great; they persecuted the prophets before you in the very same way.”
Matthew 5:1-12
The Refrain
YHWH does not see as mortals see; mortals see only appearances but YHWH sees into the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7
The Psalm
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.
O God, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt-offering, you would not be pleased.
The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvellous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.
O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and for evermore.
Psalm 51:1-2 ,6, 10-12 & Psalm 131
The Refrain
YHWH does not see as mortals see; mortals see only appearances but YHWH sees into the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7
The Gloria
All glory to Almighty God
For love so deep, so high, so broad
The Trinity whom we adore
Forever and forevermore.
15th c. Latin, translated by Benjamin Webb
PCC Hymn #205 O love, how deep, how broad, how high
The Lord’s Prayer
The Prayer Appointed for the Day
Gracious God, I pray that your grace may always precede and follow me, that I may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Phyllis Tickle
The Concluding Prayer of the Church
God be in my head and in my understanding;
God be in my eyes and in my looking;
God be in my mouth and in my speaking;
God be in my heart and in my thinking;
God be at my end and at my departing.
R. Pynson (1514)
Inspired by Phyllis Tickle’s The Divine Hours, Pocket Edition, and The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime
Bible translations from either the NRSV to The Inclusive Bible