Prayers at Mid-Day

Prayers at Mid-Day

Prayers at Mid-Day is an occasional service of the Reformed Episcopal Church used for the brief office of prayer at midday, whether in parish, household, school, or personal devotion.

Overview

This office gives clergy and lay people a short form of prayer for the middle of the day. It gathers psalmody, Scripture, versicles, the Lord's Prayer, collects, and blessing into a compact office suitable for public or private use.

Full Text of the Service

Minister. O God, make speed to save us.

Answer. O Lord, make haste to help us.

Minister. O Lord, open thou our lips.

Answer. And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.

¶ The following psalm, or some other psalm(s), shall be sung or said.

Levavi oculos. Psalm 121

I WILL lift up mine eyes unto the hills; * from whence cometh my help?

My help cometh even from the LORD, * who hath made heaven and earth.

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved; * and he that keepeth thee will not sleep.

Behold, he that keepeth Israel * shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD himself is thy keeper; * the LORD is thy defence upon thy right hand;

So that the sun shall not burn thee by day, * neither the moon by night.

The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil; * yea, it is even he that shall keep thy soul.

The LORD shall preserve thy going out, and thy coming in, * from this time forth for evermore.

¶ At the end of each psalm shall be said or sung the Gloria Patri.

GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost: as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

¶ Minister and people.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Christ, have mercy upon us.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

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 People with the Minister shall say the verses of Scripture, the Minister saying the prayers that follow.

The Angel Gabriel was sent from God … to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph … and the virgin’s name was Mary. St. Luke 1:26-27

WE beseech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our hearts; that as we have known the incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ announced by the message of an angel to the Virgin Mary, so by his cross and passion we may be brought unto the glory of the resurrection, Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. St. John 12:32

BLESSED Saviour, who at this hour didst hang upon the cross stretching out thy loving arms: Grant that all mankind may look unto thee and be saved; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Peter went up upon the house-top to pray, about the sixth hour. Acts 10:9

FATHER of mercies, who to thine Apostle Saint Peter didst reveal in three-fold vision thy boundless compassion: Forgive, we pray thee, our unbelief, and so enlarge our hearts, and enkindle our zeal, that we may fervently desire the salvation of all people, and with more ready diligence labour in the extension of thy kingdom; for his sake, who gave himself for the life of the world, thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

At mid-day, O king, I saw a light above the brightness of the sun. Acts 26:13

ALMIGHTY Saviour, who at mid-day didst call thy servant Saint Paul to be an Apostle to the Gentiles: We beseech thee to illumine the world with the radiance of thy glory, that all nations may come and worship thee; who art, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

¶ Additional Prayers may be added.

2 Corinthians 13:14

THE Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.

Notes on Use

• Use when a parish, school, family, or individual desires a short ordered office at noon or another suitable midday hour.
• A minister may appoint another psalm where pastoral or seasonal circumstances call for it.
• The office may be read devotionally without sermon or additional commentary.

Liturgical Structure

• Opening versicles
• Psalmody
• Gloria Patri
• Kyrie and Lord's Prayer
• Scripture verses and collects
• Blessing

Theological Themes

• Daily prayer sanctifies ordinary time.
• Psalm 121 presents God as keeper and defender.
• The collects frame the day in Christ's saving work and the help of the Holy Spirit.

Source

This text is transcribed from the official Reformed Episcopal Church PDF.

See Also

• Book of Common Prayer
• Reformed Episcopal Church
• Anglican liturgy
• Book of Occasional Services (Reformed Episcopal Church)