Monday, October 20
The Morning Office To Be Observed on the Hour or Half Hour Between 6 and 9 a.m.


The Call to Prayer
Let my mouth be full of your praise* and your glory all the day long. Do not cast me off in my old age;* forsake me not when my strength fails.
Psalm 71:8–9

The Request for Presence
O LORD, my God, my Savior,* by day and night I cry to you. Let my prayer enter into your presence.
Psalm 88:1–2


The Greeting

Show me your ways, O LORD,* and teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me,* for you are the God of my salvation; in you have I trusted all the day long.
Psalm 25:3–4

The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Deliverance belongs to the LORD.* Your blessing be upon your people!
Psalm 3:8

A Reading

St. James of Jerusalem, brother of Jesus, was the Bishop of Jerusalem who led the early church and directed its expansion to the gentiles. He was stoned to death on October 23 c. 62 c.e.

When Jesus had finished these parables he left the district; and, coming to his home town, he taught the people in their synagogue in such a way that they were astonished and said, ‘Where did the man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? This is the carpenter’s son, surely? Is not his mother the woman called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Jude? His sisters, too, are they not all here with us? So where did the man get it all?’ And they would not accept him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is despised only in his own country and in his own house,’ and he did not work many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
Matthew 13:53–58

The Refrain

Deliverance belongs to the LORD.* Your blessing be upon your people!

The Morning Psalm

The LORD Knows the Way of the Righteous

Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked,* nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful! Their delight is in the law of the LORD,* and they meditate on his law day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither;* everything they do shall prosper. It is not so with the wicked;* they are like chaff which the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes,* nor the sinner in the council of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,* but the way of the wicked is doomed.
Psalm 1

The Refrain

Deliverance belongs to the LORD.* Your blessing be upon your people!

The Gloria

Glory be to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, so it is now and so it shall ever be, world without end. Alleluia.* Amen.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your Name. May your kingdom come, and your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for yours are the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

The Prayer Appointed for the Week

Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.†

Concluding Prayers of the Church

Grant, O God, that, following the example of your servant James, the brother of our Lord, your Church may give itself continually to prayer and to the reconciliation of all who are at variance and enmity; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.† Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought me in safety to this new day: Preserve me with your mighty power, that I may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all I do direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.†