Prayers

Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Anglican Cycle of Prayer

The Most Rev. Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury

The Church of the Province of Uganda

Episcopal Church

The Most Rev. Sean Rowe, XXVIII Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church

The School of Theology, the University of the South

Dioceses of Central Ecuador, Litoral Ecuador

Diocese of Olympia

The Rt. Rev. Philip N. LaBelle, IX Bishop of the Diocese of Olympia

Holy Cross, Redmond
St. Clare’s, Snoqualmie

Those in authority

Joseph R. Biden, Jr, President of the United States
Donald J. Trump, President-Elect of the United States

Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington
Robert Ferguson, Governor-elect of Washington

Teri Gobin, Chair of the Tulalip
Cecile Hanson, Chair of the Duwamish

Lessons

Lessons appointed for use for this day from the Revised Common Lectionary (Episcopal version).

Micah 5:2-5a (NRSV)

You, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace.

Canticle 15, The Song of Mary, Luke 1:46-55 (BCP)

Magnificat

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
   for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. 
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
   the Almighty has done great things for me,
   and holy is his Name. 
He has mercy on those who fear him *
   in every generation. 
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
   he has scattered the proud in their conceit. 
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
   and has lifted up the lowly. 
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
   and the rich he has sent away empty. 
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
   for he has remembered his promise of mercy, 
The promise he made to our fathers, *
   to Abraham and his children for ever. 

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
   as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. 

Hebrews 10:5-10 (NRSV)

When Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘See, God, I have come to do your will, O God’ (in the scroll of the book it is written of me).” When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “See, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Luke 1:39-45(46-55) (NRSV)

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

[And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”]

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The Old Testament, New Testament and Gospel readings are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: 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.

The Psalm is from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979.