HOLY SATURDAY MORNING PRAYER
There are no candles lit. No Mass is celebrated. We mourn the bridegroom who has been taken away. Perhaps an icon of Christs Descent to the Dead can be placed prominently in the Sanctuary. Extracts can be read from the Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday “Awake sleeper and rise from the dead…” as found in the Office of Readings. What follows is taken from the Office of the Church of the Day.
All Stand
O God come to our aid: O Lord make haste to help us
Glory be to the Father…: As it was in the beginning…
OPENING RECITATION:
His cross stands empty in a world grown silent
Through hours of anguish and of dread.
In stillness, earth awaits the resurrection,
While Christ goes down to wake the dead.
With God the Father and Holy Spirit,
Give praise to Christ the crucified.
Who through ages seeks to save his lost ones:
The sinful ones for whom he died.
PSALMODY All sit.
The psalm verses can be prayed by alternate sides of the congregation,
one taking the verses in normal type, the other the verses in italics.
PSALM 1: Psalm 4
Ant. Now I will lie down in peace and sleep comes at once
When I call answer me O God of justice
From anguish you released me, have mercy and hear me
O men how long will your hearts be closed?
Will you love what is futile and seek what is false?
It is the Lord who grants favours to those whom he loves,
The Lord hears me whenever I call him.
Fear him, do not sin, ponder on your bed and be still
Make justice your sacrifice and trust in the Lord.
‘What can bring us happiness?’ many say
Lift up the light of your face on us O Lord.
You have put into my heart a greater joy
Than they have from the abundance of corn and new wine
I will lie down in peace and sleep comes at once
For you alone Lord make me dwell in safety
Glory be…
Ant. Now I will lie down in peace and sleep comes at once
CANTICLE: Isaiah 38: 10-14, 17-20
Ant. Save my soul from the gates of hell, Lord.
I said in the noontide of my days I must depart
I am consigned to the gates of Sheol
for the rest of my years.
I said, I shall not see the Lord
in the land of the living;
I shall look upon man no more
Among the inhabitants of the world
My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
Like a shepherd’s tent
Like a weaver, I have rolled up my life
He cuts me off from the loom
From day to night you bring me to an end
I cry for help until morning
like a lion he breaks all my bones
from day to night you bring me to an end
Like a swallow or a crane I clamour
I moan like a dove
My eyes are weary with looking upward
Lord I am oppressed; be my security
Lo it was for my welfare
That I had great bitterness
But you have held back my life
From the pit of destruction
for you have cast all my sins behind your back
For Sheol cannot thank you,
Death cannot praise you;
Those who go down to the pit
Cannot hope for your faithfulness
The living, the living, he thanks you
As I do this day;
The father makes known to the children
your faithfulness
The Lord will save me
And we will sing to stringed instruments
All the days of our life
At the house of the Lord.
Glory be…
Ant. Save my soul from the gates of hell, Lord.
PSALM II: Psalm 150
Ant. I was dead and now I am to live forever
and I hold the keys of death and of hell.
Praise God in his holy place
Praise him in his mighty heavens
Praise him for his powerful deeds
Praise his surpassing greatness
O praise him with sound of trumpet
Praise him with lute and harp
Praise him with timbrel and dance
Praise him with strings and pipes
O praise him with resounding cymbals,
Praise him with clashing of cymbals
Let everything that lives and that breathes
Give praise to the Lord.
Glory be…
Ant. I was dead and now I am to live forever
and I hold the keys of death and of hell.
SCRIPTURE READING: Hosea 6:1-3a
Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us; he has struck us down, but he will
bandage our wounds; after a day or two he will bring
us back to life, on the third day he will raise us and we
shall live in his presence.
ANTIPHON: (All say together)
Christ humbled himself for us, and, in obedience
accepted death, even death on a cross. Therefore
God raised him to the heights and gave him the name
which is above all other names.
THE BENEDICTUS
Ant. Save us Saviour of the world. By the cross and the
shedding of your blood you have redeemed us.
Come to help us Lord our God.
All Stand and say together:
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel!
For he has visited his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up for us a mighty saviour
In the house of David his servant,
As he promised by the lips of holy men,
Those who were his prophets from of old.
A saviour who would free us from our foes,
From the hands of all who hate us.
So his love for our fathers is fulfilled
And his holy covenant remembered.
He swore to Abraham our father to grant us,
That freed from fear and saved from the hands of our foes,
We might serve him in holiness and justice
All the days of our life in his presence.
As for you, little child,
You shall be called a prophet of God, the Most High.
You shall go ahead of the Lord
To prepare his ways before him,
To make known to his people their salvation,
Through the forgiveness of all their sins
The loving kindness of the heart of our God
Who visits us like the dawn from on high.
He will give light to those who dwell in darkness,
Those who dwell in the shadow of death,
And guide us into the way of peace.
Glory be …
Ant. Save us Saviour of the world. By the cross and the
shedding of your blood you have redeemed us.
Come to help us Lord our God.
INTERCESSIONS:
Let us pray to our Redeemer, who suffered for us, was buried
and rose form the dead Lord, have mercy on us.
You died like a grain of wheat falling into the ground, gather us
to yourself in the harvest of redemption. Lord, have mercy on us.
Lying in the tomb, you were hidden from us, teach us to love our
real life which is hidden with you in God Lord, have mercy on us.
We were buried with you in baptism, let us rise with you,
alive to God forever Lord, have mercy on us.
OUR FATHER
CONCLUDING PRAYER:
Almighty, ever living God, whose only begotten Son
Descended into the realm of the dead,
And rose from there to glory,
Grant that your faithful people
Who were buried with him in baptism
May by his resurrection, obtain eternal life. Amen.
May the Lord bless us, keep us from all harm
and lead us to everlasting life. Amen
Let us bless the Lord, Thanks be to God.