Morning Prayer
Encyclopedia
Morning Prayer is one of the two main Daily Offices
in the churches of the Anglican Communion
, prescribed in the various editions of the Book of Common Prayer
and other Anglican liturgical texts. Like Evening Prayer
(and in contrast to the Eucharist), it may be led by a layperson and is recited by some Anglicans daily in private (clergy in many Anglican jurisdictions are required to do so).
’s Second Prayer Book of Edward VI, published in 1552. It draws on the monastic offices of Matins
, Lauds
and Prime
, beginning with opening versicles and responses, continuing with the invitatory "Venite" (Psalm 95), the "Te Deum
" and "Benedictus
", interspersed with Bible readings, as well as recitation of the Apostles’ Creed, and ending with closing versicles adapted from the Breviary. The Prayer Book lectionary provides for a virtually complete reading of the Bible in the course of a year.
The usual practice in medieval parish worship was for the congregation to attend the office of Matins, followed by the Latin Mass according to the Roman Rite
, followed by the Litany
of the Saints, sung in procession. Following the Reformation, the usual Sunday Service followed a similar pattern, but with the English Litany said between Morning Prayer and Holy Communion. On Sundays when there was no celebration of Communion (i.e. most of them), only the ante-Communion would be said. Even so — and taking into account the legal requirement to read one from the specified set of printed Homilies — the post-Reformation service lasted more than twice as long as its pre-Reformation equivalent. Historically, Morning Prayer was the main Sunday morning service on most Sundays in all Anglican parishes, with Holy Communion being celebrated after Morning or Evening Prayer (typically once a month, on the first Sunday). In the twentieth century, Holy Communion became the main Sunday morning service once or twice per month. With the revival of the Eucharist as the principal Sunday service during the second half of the twentieth century, Morning Prayer has been the principal Sunday service less frequently.
in its original monastic context contemplated recitation by two alternating groups of monks or nuns. This evolved into a recitation between parson and clerk on behalf of the congregation; in the 19th century the role of the clerk was increasingly given over to the whole congregation and choirs and congregations began singing the psalms and canticles to a musical setting known as Anglican chant
. With the development of the Oxford Movement
and increasing liturgicalism among high church-inclined clergy and parishes, Anglican chant was replaced by plainchant in some Anglo-Catholic constituencies, where Morning Prayer on Sundays became a devotional exercise prior to the celebration of the eucharist.
The daily recitation of Morning and Evening Prayer, canonically required of Anglican clergy, has sustained the spiritual life of Anglican communities. Nicholas Ferrar’s 17th century religious community at Little Gidding, commemorated in T.S. Eliot’s eponymous poem, required daily recitation of Morning and Evening Prayer. In the 18th century, the daily office of Morning and Evening Prayer as set out in the Book of Common Prayer was the essence of John
and Charles Wesley
's "method", which also included scriptural study, fasting and regular reception of Holy Communion. The same "method" also informed the 19th-century revival of monastic life within the Anglican Church.
On Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays Morning Prayer was to be followed by the Litany
, though in practice it was usually followed by a collection, hymn, sermon, more prayers and a final hymn on Sundays.
Other than in some cathedrals and college chapels, usually only one psalm is said or sung. A sermon or homily may be preached at the end on Sundays or other special occasions, such as important feast days, but does not form a set part of the liturgy. However, when Mattins has been the principal Sunday morning service, the sermon has been of central importance and indeed in Samuel Pepys
's Diary, documenting domestic habits of the 1660s in the London professional class and nobility, the reference is to going to hear a particular preacher.
: Daily Prayer offers a contemporary form of the liturgy. After the opening versicle, a hymn, prayer, and/or canticle are said or sung. A prayer is followed by psalms, canticles, and readings. The service concludes with intercessions, the collect, and the Lord's Prayer. Provision is also made for the continued use of the rite found in the Alternative Service Book
. This rite is largely a contemporary rendering of the Prayer Book rite. The structure is:
Preparation:
One or more of the following:
One of the following may replace the Preparation:
The Word of God:
Prayers:
Conclusion:
, like Evening Prayer and the Eucharist, Morning Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer (1979) is provided in two forms. Both are substantially similar, but one retains some concessions to traditional Elizabethan "Prayer Book" language.
After a sentence of scripture a General Confession is made. A priest, if present, absolves the people. Then follows the opening versicle, an antiphon and the Venite or another psalm or canticle. The appointed psalms are then said or sung, one or two lessons are read, each with a canticle. The Apostles' Creed and Lord's Prayer follow, then the suffrages, and various prayers. The service concludes with the grace.
of the Anglican Church of Canada
provides a simple form for Morning Prayer. The service may begin with the Penitential Rite or proceed directly to the preces. The Venite is said or sung, followed by additional psalms, one to three readings and one or more canticles. The Apostle's Creed or the Summary of the Law is said before the intercessions. The service concludes with the Lord's Prayer and dismissal.
("O come let us sing unto the Lord: let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation..."). The Te Deum
— not, strictly speaking, a canticle as such — ("We praise thee O God, we acknowledge thee to be the Lord: all the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting...") usually follows, but may be replaced by the Benedicite
, particularly in Lent
. The Benedictus ("Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people: and hath raised up a might salvation for us, in the house of his servant David...") may be replaced with the Jubilate (Psalm 100
, "O be joyful in the Lord all ye lands: serve the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with a psalm..."), Salvator Mundi ("O Saviour of the world who by thy cross and precious blood hath redeemed us, save us and help us we humbly beseech thee O Lord: thou didst save thy disciples when ready to perish; save us and help us we humbly beseech thee..."), Surge illuminare ("Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee: for behold, gross darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people..."), Benedicite
omnia opera ("O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord...") or other canticles as the liturgical year proceeds.
Throughout post-Reformation English history significant events in national life have been commemorated with specially commissioned church services. Traditionally these have been services of Morning Prayer and thus the famous Te Deums and Jubilates of Purcell, Handel and others. Handel's Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate
(as with many other settings of the Mattins canticles, though the Te Deum is not strictly speaking a canticle
), is of course a festal setting of Morning Prayer.
"In quires and places where they sing, here followeth the anthem," it says after the Third Collect in the 1662 Prayer Book, and the vast majority of church anthems composed prior to the latter part of the 20th century were contemplated as complying with that rubric. These anthems were also sung, from the second half of the nineteenth century onwards, in British Nonconformist churches.
As a principal Sunday church service Morning Prayer includes several congregational hymns.
Canonical hours
Canonical hours are divisions of time which serve as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers....
in the churches of the Anglican Communion
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
, prescribed in the various editions of the Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
and other Anglican liturgical texts. Like Evening Prayer
Evening Prayer (Anglican)
Evening Prayer is a liturgy in use in the Anglican Communion and celebrated in the late afternoon or evening...
(and in contrast to the Eucharist), it may be led by a layperson and is recited by some Anglicans daily in private (clergy in many Anglican jurisdictions are required to do so).
History
In its classic form, in the 1662 version of the Prayer Book, the Morning Prayer is essentially unchanged from Archbishop Thomas CranmerThomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from...
’s Second Prayer Book of Edward VI, published in 1552. It draws on the monastic offices of Matins
Matins
Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...
, Lauds
Lauds
Lauds is a divine office that takes place in the early morning hours and is one of the two major hours in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, it forms part of the Office of Matins...
and Prime
Prime (liturgy)
Prime, or the First Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the traditional Divine Office , said at the first hour of daylight , between the morning Hour of Lauds and the 9 a.m. Hour of Terce. It is part of the Christian liturgies of Eastern Christianity, but in the Latin Rite it was suppressed by the...
, beginning with opening versicles and responses, continuing with the invitatory "Venite" (Psalm 95), the "Te Deum
Te Deum
The Te Deum is an early Christian hymn of praise. The title is taken from its opening Latin words, Te Deum laudamus, rendered literally as "Thee, O God, we praise"....
" and "Benedictus
Benedictus (Song of Zechariah)
The Benedictus , given in Gospel of , is one of the three canticles in the opening chapters of this Gospel. The Benedictus was the song of thanksgiving uttered by Zechariah on the occasion of the birth of his son, John the Baptist.The whole canticle naturally falls into two parts...
", interspersed with Bible readings, as well as recitation of the Apostles’ Creed, and ending with closing versicles adapted from the Breviary. The Prayer Book lectionary provides for a virtually complete reading of the Bible in the course of a year.
The usual practice in medieval parish worship was for the congregation to attend the office of Matins, followed by the Latin Mass according to the Roman Rite
Roman Rite
The Roman Rite is the liturgical rite used in the Diocese of Rome in the Catholic Church. It is by far the most widespread of the Latin liturgical rites used within the Western or Latin autonomous particular Church, the particular Church that itself is also called the Latin Rite, and that is one of...
, followed by the Litany
Litany
A litany, in Christian worship and some forms of Jewish worship, is a form of prayer used in services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions...
of the Saints, sung in procession. Following the Reformation, the usual Sunday Service followed a similar pattern, but with the English Litany said between Morning Prayer and Holy Communion. On Sundays when there was no celebration of Communion (i.e. most of them), only the ante-Communion would be said. Even so — and taking into account the legal requirement to read one from the specified set of printed Homilies — the post-Reformation service lasted more than twice as long as its pre-Reformation equivalent. Historically, Morning Prayer was the main Sunday morning service on most Sundays in all Anglican parishes, with Holy Communion being celebrated after Morning or Evening Prayer (typically once a month, on the first Sunday). In the twentieth century, Holy Communion became the main Sunday morning service once or twice per month. With the revival of the Eucharist as the principal Sunday service during the second half of the twentieth century, Morning Prayer has been the principal Sunday service less frequently.
Origins of liturgical shape
The BreviaryBreviary
A breviary is a liturgical book of the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church containing the public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially by bishops, priests, and deacons in the Divine Office...
in its original monastic context contemplated recitation by two alternating groups of monks or nuns. This evolved into a recitation between parson and clerk on behalf of the congregation; in the 19th century the role of the clerk was increasingly given over to the whole congregation and choirs and congregations began singing the psalms and canticles to a musical setting known as Anglican chant
Anglican chant
Anglican chant is a way to sing un-metrical texts, such as prose translations of the psalms, canticles, and other, similar biblical texts by matching the natural speech-rhythm of the words in each verse to a short piece of metrical music. It may be fairly described as "harmonized recitative"...
. With the development of the Oxford Movement
Oxford Movement
The Oxford Movement was a movement of High Church Anglicans, eventually developing into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose members were often associated with the University of Oxford, argued for the reinstatement of lost Christian traditions of faith and their inclusion into Anglican liturgy...
and increasing liturgicalism among high church-inclined clergy and parishes, Anglican chant was replaced by plainchant in some Anglo-Catholic constituencies, where Morning Prayer on Sundays became a devotional exercise prior to the celebration of the eucharist.
The daily recitation of Morning and Evening Prayer, canonically required of Anglican clergy, has sustained the spiritual life of Anglican communities. Nicholas Ferrar’s 17th century religious community at Little Gidding, commemorated in T.S. Eliot’s eponymous poem, required daily recitation of Morning and Evening Prayer. In the 18th century, the daily office of Morning and Evening Prayer as set out in the Book of Common Prayer was the essence of John
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
and Charles Wesley
Charles Wesley
Charles Wesley was an English leader of the Methodist movement, son of Anglican clergyman and poet Samuel Wesley, the younger brother of Anglican clergyman John Wesley and Anglican clergyman Samuel Wesley , and father of musician Samuel Wesley, and grandfather of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley...
's "method", which also included scriptural study, fasting and regular reception of Holy Communion. The same "method" also informed the 19th-century revival of monastic life within the Anglican Church.
Traditional prayer books
In classical Anglican prayer books (such as the 1662 English, 1959 Canadian and 1928 American editions), the rite consists of the following elements:- One or more sentences of scripture, traditionally carrying a penitential theme.
- An exhortation urging the worshippers to repentance and also expressing the nature of worship.
- A general confession.
- A lengthy absolution by the priest detailing the conditions for forgiveness.
- The first Lord's Prayer.
- PrecesPrecesPreces are, in liturgical worship, short petitions that are said or sung as versicle and response by the officiant and congregation respectively...
, a series of verses and responses including the Gloria PatriGlory Be to the FatherGloria Patri, also known as Glory Be to the Father’ , is a doxology, a short hymn of praise to God in various Christian liturgies...
. - The Venite or invitatoryInvitatoryThe Invitatory is the psalm Venite exsultemus, traditionally numbered 94 in the Septuagint or 95 in the Masoretic text, used to start Nocturns in the Divine Office. After the reform of the Liturgy of the Hours following the Second Vatican Council, the Invitatory is said either before the Office of...
psalm (Psalm 95). In some prayer books this psalm may be shortened or provided with seasonal antiphonAntiphonAn antiphon in Christian music and ritual, is a "responsory" by a choir or congregation, usually in Gregorian chant, to a psalm or other text in a religious service or musical work....
s; it concludes with the Gloria PatriGlory Be to the FatherGloria Patri, also known as Glory Be to the Father’ , is a doxology, a short hymn of praise to God in various Christian liturgies...
. - A portion of the psalterPsalterA psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...
, i.e. one or more prose psalmsPsalmsThe Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
, concluding with the Gloria PatriGlory Be to the FatherGloria Patri, also known as Glory Be to the Father’ , is a doxology, a short hymn of praise to God in various Christian liturgies...
. - A lesson (reading) from the Old Testament.
- The Te Deum Laudamus, BenediciteBenediciteThe Benedicite is a canticle that is used in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours, and is also used in Anglican and Lutheran worship. The text is either verses 35–65 or verses 35–66 of The Song of the Three Children...
or other canticle. - A lesson from the New Testament.
- The BenedictusBenedictus (Song of Zechariah)The Benedictus , given in Gospel of , is one of the three canticles in the opening chapters of this Gospel. The Benedictus was the song of thanksgiving uttered by Zechariah on the occasion of the birth of his son, John the Baptist.The whole canticle naturally falls into two parts...
, JubilatePsalm 100Psalm 100 is part of the biblical Book of Psalms. It may be used as a canticle in the Anglican liturgy of Morning Prayer, when it is referred to by its incipit as the Jubilate or Jubilate Deo...
or other canticle. - The Apostles' Creed.
- The salutation and response.
- The Kyrie.
- The Lord's PrayerLord's PrayerThe Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
. - Suffrages and responses, including, in the English prayer book, "O Lord, save the Queen, And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee" altered in the American prayer book to "O Lord save the state" and in Canada with the response truncated to "And evermore mightily defend us."
- The CollectCollectIn Christian liturgy, a collect is both a liturgical action and a short, general prayer. In the Middle Ages, the prayer was referred to in Latin as collectio, but in the more ancient sources, as oratio. In English, and in this usage, "collect" is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable...
of the Day, and in the collect for Advent and Lent in those seasons. - The Collect for Peace and the Collect for Grace.
- An anthem following the third collect (in Advent and Lent, the fourth) ("In quires and places where they sing, here followeth the anthem," in the well-known phraseology of the 1662 edition of the English prayer book).
- The State Prayers.
- The Prayer of St. Chrysostom.
- The Grace.
On Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays Morning Prayer was to be followed by the Litany
Litany
A litany, in Christian worship and some forms of Jewish worship, is a form of prayer used in services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions...
, though in practice it was usually followed by a collection, hymn, sermon, more prayers and a final hymn on Sundays.
Other than in some cathedrals and college chapels, usually only one psalm is said or sung. A sermon or homily may be preached at the end on Sundays or other special occasions, such as important feast days, but does not form a set part of the liturgy. However, when Mattins has been the principal Sunday morning service, the sermon has been of central importance and indeed in Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
's Diary, documenting domestic habits of the 1660s in the London professional class and nobility, the reference is to going to hear a particular preacher.
Common Worship
Common WorshipCommon Worship
Common Worship is the name given to the series of services authorised by the General Synod of the Church of England and launched on the first Sunday of Advent in 2000. It represents the most recent stage of development of the Liturgical Movement within the Church and is the successor to the...
: Daily Prayer offers a contemporary form of the liturgy. After the opening versicle, a hymn, prayer, and/or canticle are said or sung. A prayer is followed by psalms, canticles, and readings. The service concludes with intercessions, the collect, and the Lord's Prayer. Provision is also made for the continued use of the rite found in the Alternative Service Book
Alternative Service Book
The Alternative Service Book 1980 was the first complete prayer book produced by the Church of England since 1662. Its name derives from the fact that it was proposed not as a replacement for the Book of Common Prayer but merely as an alternative to it...
. This rite is largely a contemporary rendering of the Prayer Book rite. The structure is:
Preparation:
- an opening versicle, 'O Lord open our lips', its response, and a second seasonally appropriate versicle and response.
One or more of the following:
- a prayer of thanksgiving, varying according to season and ending with “Blessed be God for ever.”
- a suitable hymn
- an opening canticle
- an opening prayer, if desired
One of the following may replace the Preparation:
- a Form of Penitence
- The Acclamation of Christ at the Dawning of the Day. This includes provision for the Invitatory--Psalm 95 or verses from it--that may be used with antiphons.
The Word of God:
- psalmody, each with an optional antiphonAntiphonAn antiphon in Christian music and ritual, is a "responsory" by a choir or congregation, usually in Gregorian chant, to a psalm or other text in a religious service or musical work....
and psalm prayer. - an Old Testament canticle
- provision is given for a "Psalm of Praise" to be said after the canticle, or if desired, before it. The psalms suggested for this purpose are Psalm 117 on Sunday, Psalm 146 on Monday, half of Psalm 147 on Tuesday, the other half on Wednesday, Psalm 148 on Thursday, Psalm 149 on Friday and Psalm 150 on Saturday.
- reading(s) from Holy Scripture
- a Responsory. This varies according to the season, and in ordinary timeOrdinary TimeOrdinary Time is a season of the Christian liturgical calendar, in particular the calendar of the Roman rite and related liturgical rites. The English name is intended to translate the Latin term Tempus per annum...
, the same is used as the Responsory in Evening Prayer. - the Benedictus as the Gospel Canticle, preceded and concluded with optional antiphons specific for each day, with ferial, festal and seasonal variations. Another canticle may replace the Benedictus if desired.
Prayers:
- intercessions and, especially in the evening, thanksgivings
- the Collect of the day, or the prayer which is printed in the service, or another prayer or collect.
- the Lord’s Prayer, preceded by an optional seasonally-appropriate introduction.
Conclusion:
- on Sundays and feasts outside of Lent the Te Deum Laudamus (or other canticle) may be used.
- a blessing or the Grace
- a concluding response, if desired
- the Peace may replace or follow the Conclusion
American Episcopal Church
In the Episcopal ChurchEpiscopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
, like Evening Prayer and the Eucharist, Morning Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer (1979) is provided in two forms. Both are substantially similar, but one retains some concessions to traditional Elizabethan "Prayer Book" language.
After a sentence of scripture a General Confession is made. A priest, if present, absolves the people. Then follows the opening versicle, an antiphon and the Venite or another psalm or canticle. The appointed psalms are then said or sung, one or two lessons are read, each with a canticle. The Apostles' Creed and Lord's Prayer follow, then the suffrages, and various prayers. The service concludes with the grace.
Book of Alternative Services
The Book of Alternative ServicesBook of Alternative Services
The Book of Alternative Services is the contemporary, inclusive-language liturgical book used alongside the Book of Common Prayer in most parishes of the Anglican Church of Canada...
of the Anglican Church of Canada
Anglican Church of Canada
The Anglican Church of Canada is the Province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French name is l'Église Anglicane du Canada. The ACC is the third largest church in Canada after the Roman Catholic Church and the United Church of Canada, consisting of 800,000 registered members...
provides a simple form for Morning Prayer. The service may begin with the Penitential Rite or proceed directly to the preces. The Venite is said or sung, followed by additional psalms, one to three readings and one or more canticles. The Apostle's Creed or the Summary of the Law is said before the intercessions. The service concludes with the Lord's Prayer and dismissal.
Canticles
In Morning Prayer according to the Book of Common Prayer, the first canticle of Mattins is always the Venite, Psalm 95Psalm 95
Psalm 95 is part of the biblical Book of Psalms. One of the Royal Psalms, Psalm 93-99, praising God as the King of His people.-Judaism:*Is the opening paragraph of Kabbalat Shabbat.*Is recited on Shabbat Hagadol....
("O come let us sing unto the Lord: let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation..."). The Te Deum
Te Deum
The Te Deum is an early Christian hymn of praise. The title is taken from its opening Latin words, Te Deum laudamus, rendered literally as "Thee, O God, we praise"....
— not, strictly speaking, a canticle as such — ("We praise thee O God, we acknowledge thee to be the Lord: all the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting...") usually follows, but may be replaced by the Benedicite
Benedicite
The Benedicite is a canticle that is used in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours, and is also used in Anglican and Lutheran worship. The text is either verses 35–65 or verses 35–66 of The Song of the Three Children...
, particularly in Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
. The Benedictus ("Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people: and hath raised up a might salvation for us, in the house of his servant David...") may be replaced with the Jubilate (Psalm 100
Psalm 100
Psalm 100 is part of the biblical Book of Psalms. It may be used as a canticle in the Anglican liturgy of Morning Prayer, when it is referred to by its incipit as the Jubilate or Jubilate Deo...
, "O be joyful in the Lord all ye lands: serve the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with a psalm..."), Salvator Mundi ("O Saviour of the world who by thy cross and precious blood hath redeemed us, save us and help us we humbly beseech thee O Lord: thou didst save thy disciples when ready to perish; save us and help us we humbly beseech thee..."), Surge illuminare ("Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee: for behold, gross darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people..."), Benedicite
Benedicite
The Benedicite is a canticle that is used in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours, and is also used in Anglican and Lutheran worship. The text is either verses 35–65 or verses 35–66 of The Song of the Three Children...
omnia opera ("O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord...") or other canticles as the liturgical year proceeds.
Music
See above regarding Anglican chant, used for psalms and canticles.Throughout post-Reformation English history significant events in national life have been commemorated with specially commissioned church services. Traditionally these have been services of Morning Prayer and thus the famous Te Deums and Jubilates of Purcell, Handel and others. Handel's Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate
Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate
Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate is a sacred choral composition in two parts, written by George Frideric Handel to celebrate the Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht in 1713, ending the War of the Spanish Succession. The combination of a Te Deum and Jubilate, the Psalm 100, follows...
(as with many other settings of the Mattins canticles, though the Te Deum is not strictly speaking a canticle
Canticle
A canticle is a hymn taken from the Bible. The term is often expanded to include ancient non-biblical hymns such as the Te Deum and certain psalms used liturgically.-Roman Catholic Church:From the Old Testament, the Roman Breviary takes seven canticles for use at Lauds, as follows:*...
), is of course a festal setting of Morning Prayer.
"In quires and places where they sing, here followeth the anthem," it says after the Third Collect in the 1662 Prayer Book, and the vast majority of church anthems composed prior to the latter part of the 20th century were contemplated as complying with that rubric. These anthems were also sung, from the second half of the nineteenth century onwards, in British Nonconformist churches.
As a principal Sunday church service Morning Prayer includes several congregational hymns.