Morning Prayer on Saturday — Saturday, 26 September 2026 — Wilson Carlile, Founder of the Church Army, 1942 [Commemoration] — Ember Day

Preparation

O Lord, open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

The Acclamation of Christ at the Dawning of the Day (page 108) may replace the Preparation as the start of Morning Prayer on any occasion.

One or more of the following is said or sung:

One of these prayers of thanksgiving (page 109),

Blessed are you, Sovereign God, creator of all, to you be glory and praise for ever. You founded the earth in the beginning and the heavens are the work of your hands. In the fullness of time you made us in your image, and in these last days you have spoken to us in your Son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. As we rejoice in the gift of your presence among us let the light of your love always shine in our hearts, your Spirit ever renew our lives and your praises ever be on our lips. Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Blessed be God for ever.

(or)

Blessed are you, creator of all, to you be praise and glory for ever. As your dawn renews the face of the earth bringing light and life to all creation, may we rejoice in this day you have made; as we wake refreshed from the depths of sleep, open our eyes to behold your presence and strengthen our hands to do your will, that the world may rejoice and give you praise. Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Blessed be God for ever.

after Lancelot Andrewes (1626)

or a suitable hymn,

or A Song of God’s Praise

1 O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you; my soul is athirst for you.

2 My flesh also faints for you, as in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.

3 So would I gaze upon you in your holy place, that I might behold your power and your glory.

4 Your loving-kindness is better than life itself and so my lips shall praise you.

5 I will bless you as long as I live and lift up my hands in your name.

6 My soul shall be satisfied, as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips,

7 When I remember you upon my bed and meditate on you in the watches of the night.

8 For you have been my helper and under the shadow of your wings will I rejoice.

9 My soul clings to you; your right hand shall hold me fast.

Psalm 63.1-9

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.

This opening prayer may be said

The night has passed, and the day lies open before us; let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As we rejoice in the gift of this new day, so may the light of your presence, O God, set our hearts on fire with love for you; now and for ever. Amen.

The Word of God

Psalmody

The appointed psalmody is said.

Psalm 68

Sing to God, sing praises to his name.

1 Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered; let those that hate him flee before him.

2 As the smoke vanishes, so may they vanish away; as wax melts at the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

3 But let the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; let them make merry with gladness.

4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name; exalt him who rides on the clouds. The Lord is his name; rejoice before him.

5 Father of the fatherless, defender of widows, God in his holy habitation!

6 God gives the solitary a home and brings forth prisoners to songs of welcome, but the rebellious inhabit a burning desert.

7 O God, when you went forth before your people, when you marched through the wilderness,

8 The earth shook and the heavens dropped down rain, at the presence of God, the Lord of Sinai, at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

9 You sent down a gracious rain, O God; you refreshed your inheritance when it was weary.

10 Your people came to dwell there; in your goodness, O God, you provide for the poor.

11 The Lord gave the word; great was the company of women who bore the tidings: ‘Kings and their armies they flee, they flee!’ and women at home are dividing the spoil.

12 Though you stayed among the sheepfolds, see now a dove’s wings covered with silver and its feathers with green gold.

13 When the Almighty scattered the kings, it was like snowflakes falling on Zalmon.

14 You mighty mountain, great mountain of Bashan! You towering mountain, great mountain of Bashan!

15 Why look with envy, you towering mountains, at the mount which God has desired for his dwelling, the place where the Lord will dwell for ever?

16 The chariots of God are twice ten thousand, even thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them, the Lord of Sinai in holy power.

17 You have gone up on high and led captivity captive; you have received tribute, even from those who rebelled, that you may reign as Lord and God.

18 Blessed be the Lord who bears our burdens day by day, for God is our salvation.

19 God is for us the God of our salvation; God is the Lord who can deliver from death.

20 God will smite the head of his enemies, the hairy scalp of those who walk in wickedness.

21 The Lord has said, ‘From the heights of Bashan, from the depths of the sea will I bring them back,

22 ‘Till you dip your foot in blood and the tongue of your dogs has a taste of your enemies.’

23 We see your solemn processions, O God, your processions into the sanctuary, my God and my King.

24 The singers go before, the musicians follow after, in the midst of maidens playing on timbrels.

25 In your companies, bless your God; bless the Lord, you that are of the fount of Israel.

26 At the head there is Benjamin, least of the tribes, the princes of Judah in joyful company, the princes of Zebulun and Naphtali.

27 Send forth your strength, O God; establish, O God, what you have wrought in us.

28 For your temple’s sake in Jerusalem kings shall bring their gifts to you.

29 Drive back with your word the wild beast of the reeds, the herd of the bull-like, the brutish hordes.

30 Trample down those who lust after silver; scatter the peoples that delight in war.

31 Vessels of bronze shall be brought from Egypt; Ethiopia will stretch out her hands to God.

32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth; make music in praise of the Lord;

33 He rides on the ancient heaven of heavens and sends forth his voice, a mighty voice.

34 Ascribe power to God, whose splendour is over Israel, whose power is above the clouds.

35 How terrible is God in his holy sanctuary, the God of Israel, who gives power and strength to his people! Blessed be God.

Sing to God, sing praises to his name.

Blessed are you, gracious God; you make your home among the weak, you deliver us from death, you bring us joy beyond our imagining to the praise of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Each psalm or group of psalms may end with

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.

If there are two Scripture readings, the first may be read here, or both may be read after the canticle.

1 Kings 19

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ‘So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.’ Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.’ Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, ‘Get up and eat.’ He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, ‘Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.’ He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’

He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.’

So he set out from there, and found Elisha son of Shaphat, who was ploughing. There were twelve yoke of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle over him. He left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, ‘Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.’ Then Elijah said to him, ‘Go back again; for what have I done to you?’ He returned from following him, took the yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them; using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled their flesh, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out and followed Elijah, and became his servant.

Canticle

A Song of Jerusalem our Mother, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 48 (page 600), may be said

Thus says our God, I will comfort you, you shall see and your heart shall rejoice. Alleluia.

1 ‘Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her,’ says the Lord.

2 ‘Rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her,

3 ‘That you may drink deeply with delight from her consoling breast.’

4 For thus says our God, ‘You shall be nursed and carried on her arm.

5 ‘As a mother comforts her children, so I will comfort you;

6 ‘You shall see and your heart shall rejoice; you shall flourish like the grass of the fields.’

Isaiah 66.10, 11a, 12a, 12c, 13a, 14a, b

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.

Thus says our God, I will comfort you, you shall see and your heart shall rejoice. Alleluia.

Scripture Reading

One or more readings appointed for the day are read.

The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence.

Acts 21.17-36

When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us warmly. The next day Paul went with us to visit James; and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. When they heard it, they praised God. Then they said to him, ‘You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the law. They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs. What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow. Join these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay for the shaving of their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself observe and guard the law. But as for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our judgement that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.’ Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having purified himself, he entered the temple with them, making public the completion of the days of purification when the sacrifice would be made for each of them.

When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, who had seen him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd. They seized him, shouting, ‘Fellow-Israelites, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place; more than that, he has actually brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.’ For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. Then all the city was aroused, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. While they were trying to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. Immediately he took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. When they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. Then the tribune came, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains; he inquired who he was and what he had done. Some in the crowd shouted one thing, some another; and as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. When Paul came to the steps, the violence of the mob was so great that he had to be carried by the soldiers. The crowd that followed kept shouting, ‘Away with him!’

A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow

Your salvation is near to those who fear you; that glory may dwell in our land. Your salvation is near to those who fear you; that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. That glory may dwell in our land. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Your salvation is near to those who fear you; that glory may dwell in our land.

from Psalm 85

Gospel Canticle

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah) is normally said, or the Te Deum Laudamus (A Song of the Church) (page 636) may be said

Shine on us, O God, who dwell in darkness, and guide us into the way of peace.

1 Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who has come to his people and set them free.

2 He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour, born of the house of his servant David.

3 Through his holy prophets God promised of old to save us from our enemies, from the hands of all that hate us,

4 To show mercy to our ancestors, and to remember his holy covenant.

5 This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham: to set us free from the hands of our enemies,

6 Free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.

7 And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

8 To give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of all their sins.

9 In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

10 To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Luke 1.68-79

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.

Shine on us, O God, who dwell in darkness, and guide us into the way of peace.

Prayers

Intercessions are offered for the day and its tasks for the world and its needs for the Church and her life

Prayers may include the following concerns from the cycle on pages 362–363

Our homes, families, friends and all whom we love Those whose time is spent caring for others Those who are close to death Those who have lost hope The worship of the Church

One of the forms of prayer found on pages 362–371 may be used.

These responses may be used

Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer

(or)

Lord, hear us. Lord, graciously hear us.

Silence may be kept.

The Collect of the day is said

O Lord, we beseech you mercifully to hear the prayers of your people who call upon you; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil them; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer is said

As our Saviour taught us, so we pray

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, 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 the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever. Amen.

(or)

Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught 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, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Conclusion

The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil, and keep us in eternal life. Amen.

Let us bless the Lord. Alleluia, alleluia. Thanks be to God. Alleluia, alleluia.

© The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England, 2000–2005 Official Common Worship apps, books and eBooks are available from Church House Publishing.

The Bible readings (other than the psalms) are from The New Revised Standard Version Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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