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 14
Blessed is the man who does not blunder with his lips
and need not suffer grief for sin.
2 Blessed is he whose heart does not condemn him,
and who has not given up his hope.
Responsible Use of Wealth
3 Riches are not seemly for a stingy man;
and of what use is property to an envious man?
4 Whoever accumulates by depriving himself, accumulates for others;
and others will live in luxury on his goods.
5 If a man is mean to himself, to whom will he be generous?
He will not enjoy his own riches.
6 No one is meaner than the man who is grudging to himself,
and this is the retribution for his baseness;
7 even if he does good, he does it unintentionally,
and betrays his baseness in the end.
8 Evil is the man with a grudging eye;
he averts his face and disregards people.
9 A greedy man’s eye is not satisfied with a portion,
and mean injustice withers the soul.
10 A stingy man’s eye begrudges bread,
and it is lacking at his table.
11 My son, treat yourself well, according to your means,
and present worthy offerings to the Lord.
12 Remember that death will not delay,
and the decree of Hades has not been shown to you.
13 Do good to a friend before you die,
and reach out and give to him as much as you can.
14 Do not deprive yourself of a happy day;
let not your share of desired good pass by you.
15 Will you not leave the fruit of your labors to another,
and what you acquired by toil to be divided by lot?
16 Give, and take, and beguile yourself,
because in Hades one cannot look for luxury.
17 All living beings become old like a garment,
for the decree from of old is, “You must surely die!”
18 Like flourishing leaves on a spreading tree
which sheds some and puts forth others,
so are the generations of flesh and blood:
one dies and another is born.
19 Every product decays and ceases to exist,
and the man who made it will pass away with it.
The Happiness of Seeking Wisdom
20 Blessed is the man who meditates on wisdom
and who reasons intelligently.
21 He who reflects in his mind on her ways
will also ponder her secrets.
22 Pursue wisdom like a hunter,
and lie in wait on her paths.
23 He who peers through her windows
will also listen at her doors;
24 he who encamps near her house
will also fasten his tent peg to her walls;
25 he will pitch his tent near her,
and will lodge in an excellent lodging place;
26 he will place his children under her shelter,
and will camp under her boughs;
27 he will be sheltered by her from the heat,
and will dwell in the midst of her glory.
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.
Tuesday 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 PEACE
O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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