Family Prayer
In the Morning
These devotions follow the basic structure of the Daily Office of the Church and are particularly appropriate for families with young children.
The Reading and the Collect may be read by one person, and the other parts said in unison, or in some other convenient manner.
Opening Sentence
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth your praise.
PSALM 51:15
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
ISAIAH 40:3
The Psalm
Psalm 51:10-12
Miserere mei, Deus
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,*
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,*
and take not your holy Spirit from me.
12 O give me the comfort of your help again,*
and sustain me with your willing Spirit.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
A READING FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE
1 PETER 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Sirach 17
The Lord created man out of earth,
and turned him back to it again.
2 He gave to men few days, a limited time,
but granted them authority over the things upon the earth.
3 He endowed them with strength like his own,
and made them in his own image.
4 He placed the fear of them in all living beings,
and granted them dominion over beasts and birds.
6 He made for them tongue and eyes;
he gave them ears and a mind for thinking.
7 He filled them with knowledge and understanding,
and showed them good and evil.
8 He set his eye upon their hearts
to show them the majesty of his works.
10 And they will praise his holy name,
to proclaim the grandeur of his works.
11 He bestowed knowledge upon them,
and allotted to them the law of life.
12 He established with them an eternal covenant,
and showed them his judgments.
13 Their eyes saw his glorious majesty,
and their ears heard the glory of his voice.
14 And he said to them, “Beware of all unrighteousness.”
And he gave commandment to each of them concerning his neighbor.
15 Their ways are always before him,
they will not be hid from his eyes.
17 He appointed a ruler for every nation,
but Israel is the Lord’s own portion.
19 All their works are as the sun before him,
and his eyes are continually upon their ways.
20 Their iniquities are not hidden from him,
and all their sins are before the Lord.
22 A man’s almsgiving is like a signet with the Lord,
and he will keep a person’s kindness like the apple of his eye.
23 Afterward he will arise and requite them,
and he will bring their recompense on their heads.
24 Yet to those who repent he grants a return,
and he encourages those whose endurance is failing.
A Call to Repentance
25 Turn to the Lord and forsake your sins;
pray in his presence and lessen your offenses.
26 Return to the Most High and turn away from iniquity,
and hate abominations intensely.
27 Who will sing praises to the Most High in Hades,
as do those who are alive and give thanks?
28 From the dead, as from one who does not exist, thanksgiving has ceased;
he who is alive and well sings the Lord’s praises.
29 How great is the mercy of the Lord,
and his forgiveness for those who turn to him!
30 For all things cannot be in men,
since a son of man is not immortal.
31 What is brighter than the sun? Yet its light fails.
So flesh and blood devise evil.
32 He marshals the host of the height of heaven;
but all men are dust and ashes.
The Apostles' Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Intercessions
A hymn or canticle may be used.
Prayers may be offered for ourselves and others.
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy 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.
The Collect
O Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, you have brought us safely to the beginning of this day: Defend us by your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin nor run into any danger; and that, guided by your Spirit, we may do what is righteous in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Monday after the First Sunday in Advent
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
A COLLECT FOR THE RENEWAL OF LIFE
O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness during the day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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