Morning Prayer on Maundy Thursday

Morning Prayer on Maundy Thursday

Join us for this short service of prayer and scripture for Maundy Thursday, you can follow the text below:

The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. God is close to those who trust in him. – Nahum 1.7

Opening Sentences

O Lord, open our lips

and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;

let us pray with one heart and mind.

Pause for reflection as you offer the day to God.

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.

Psalm 42

1 As the deer longs for the water brooks,

so longs my soul for you, O God.

2 My soul is athirst for God, even for the living God;

when shall I come before the presence of God?

3 My tears have been my bread day and night,

while all day long they say to me, ‘Where is now your God?’

4 Now when I think on these things, I pour out my soul:

how I went with the multitude

and led the procession to the house of God,

5 With the voice of praise and thanksgiving,

among those who kept holy day.

6 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul,

and why are you so disquieted within me?

7 O put your trust in God;

for I will yet give him thanks,

who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

8 My soul is heavy within me;

therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan,

and from Hermon and the hill of Mizar.

9 Deep calls to deep in the thunder of your waterfalls;

all your breakers and waves have gone over me.

10 The Lord will grant his loving-kindness in the daytime;

through the night his song will be with me,

a prayer to the God of my life.

11 I say to God my rock,

‘Why have you forgotten me,

and why go I so heavily, while the enemy oppresses me?’

12 As they crush my bones, my enemies mock me;

while all day long they say to me, ‘Where is now your God?’

13 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul?

and why are you so disquieted within me?

14 O put your trust in God;

for I will yet give him thanks,

who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

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.

John 13. 1-17, 31b-35

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ Peter said to him, ‘You will never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.’ Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’ Jesus said to him, ‘One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.’ For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, “Where I am going, you cannot come.” I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you;
by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.
God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
We preach Christ crucified,
the power of God and the wisdom of God.
By your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.
God forbid that I should glory,
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you;
by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

cf 1 Corinthians 1 and Galatians 6

Time for silent prayer

Almighty and everlasting God,
who in your tender love towards the human race
sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ
to take upon him our flesh
and to suffer death upon the cross:
grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility,
and also be made partakers of his resurrection;
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.

Standing at the foot of the cross,
as our Saviour taught us, so we pray

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

May Christ, who bore our sins on the cross,
set us free to serve him with joy.
Amen.

Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

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