Antiphon https://tinyurl.com/7xjb8krr
Ant. I am the true vine, and you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me and I in them, bears fruit in plenty. John 15
O risen Christ,
in whose resurrection we find new life,
send your Spirit to dwell among us in this day of worship.
O risen Christ,
may we hear your word of peace today
and teach us once more to live in the power of Christ’s resurrection. Amen. WS2, alt.
Music: https://tinyurl.com/mb6h9xfa
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall declare your praise.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Alleluia, alleluia!
HYMN: John of Damascus; trans. John Mason Neale
Tune: St Kevin https://tinyurl.com/5dcuupep
1 Come, ye faithful, raise the strain
of triumphant gladness!
God hath brought his Israel
into joy from sadness;
loosed from Pharaoh’s bitter yoke
Jacob’s sons and daughters;
led them with unmoistened foot
through the Red Sea waters.
2 ‘Tis the spring of souls to-day;
Christ hath burst his prison,
and from three days’ sleep in death
as a sun hath risen:
all the winter of our sins,
long and dark, is flying
from his light, to whom we give
laud and praise undying.
3 Now the queen of seasons, bright
with the day of splendour,
with the royal feast of feasts,
comes its joy to render;
comes to glad Jerusalem,
who with true affection
welcomes in unwearied strains
Jesu’s resurrection.
4 Alleluia now we cry
to our King immortal,
who triumphant burst the bars
of the tomb’s dark portal;
Alleluia, with the Son
God the Father praising;
Alleluia yet again
to the Spirit raising.
PSALMS
Psalm 119:1-32
(Anglican Chant: https://tinyurl.com/y9wwyccr)
1 Blessed are those that are undefiled in the way *
and walk in the law of the Lord.
2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies *
and seek him with their whole heart.
3 For they who do no wickedness *
walk in his ways.
4 Thou hast charged *
that we shall diligently keep thy commandments.
5 O that my ways were made so direct *
that I might keep thy statutes!
6 So shall I not be confounded *
while I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7 I will thank thee with an unfeigned heart *
when I shall have learned the judgements of thy righteousness.
8 I will keep thy ceremonies *
O forsake me not utterly.
9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way *
even by ruling himself after thy word.
10 With my whole heart have I sought thee *
O let me not go wrong out of thy commandments.
11 Thy words have I hid within my heart *
that I should not sin against thee.
12 Blessed art thou, O Lord *
O teach me thy statutes.
13 With my lips have I been telling *
of all the judgements of thy mouth.
14 I have had as great delight in the way of thy testimonies *
as in all manner of riches.
15 I will talk of thy commandments *
and have respect unto thy ways.
16 My delight shall be in thy statutes *
and I will not forget thy word.
17 O do well unto thy servant *
that I may live, and keep thy word.
18 Open thou mine eyes *
that I may see the wondrous things of thy law.
19 I am a stranger upon earth *
O hide not thy commandments from me.
20 My soul breaketh out for the very fervent desire *
that it hath alway unto thy judgements.
21 Thou hast rebuked the proud *
and cursed are they that do err from thy commandments.
22 O turn from me shame and rebuke *
for I have kept thy testimonies.
23 Princes also did sit and speak against me *
but thy servant is occupied in thy statutes.
24 For thy testimonies are my delight *
and my counsellors.
25 My soul cleaveth to the dust *
O quicken thou me, according to thy word.
26 I have acknowledged my ways, and thou heardest me *
O teach me thy statutes.
27 Make me to understand the way of thy commandments *
and so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.
28 My soul melteth away for very heaviness *
comfort thou me according unto thy word.
29 Take from me the way of lying *
and cause thou me to make much of thy law.
30 I have chosen the way of truth *
and thy judgements have I laid before me.
31 I have stuck unto thy testimonies *
O Lord, confound me not.
32 I will run the way of thy commandments *
when thou hast set my heart at liberty.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
world without end. Amen.
Psalm 119:1-32
(Karl Kohlhase: http://oremus.org/chant/Psalm-119-1-32-KH.mp3)
How blessed whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
How blessed who keep his teachings,
who seek him with all of their heart.
They also do no unrighteousness;
they walk within his ways.
You have ordained your precepts,
we’ll keep them diligently.
O let my ways be firmly set,
to always keep your statutes!
Then I shall not be ashamed,
when I look upon Your commands.
I’ll give thanks with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous judgments.
Yes, I will keep your laws;
O do not completely leave me!
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping it by your word.
With all my heart I have sought you;
don’t let me stray from your laws.
Your word I’ve treasured within my heart,
so I will not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O LORD;
instruct me in your laws.
With my lips I have proclaimed,
all the rulings of your mouth.
I’ve rejoiced in the way of your teachings,
as much as in all wealth.
I will meditate on your precepts,
and also regard your ways.
I will take delight in your precepts;
and never forget your statutes.
Deal bountifully with your servant,
Let me live in keeping your word.
Open my eyes so that I may see,
wonderful things from your law.
I am a stranger upon the earth;
don’t hide from me Your commands.
My soul is crushed with a longing,
for Your judgments at all times.
You rebuke the proud who are cursed,
who wander from your commandments.
Take away my reproach and contempt,
for I hold to what you teach.
Even though princes may sit and deride me,
your laws your servant meditates.
Your teachings are also my delight;
for they are my counselors.
My soul cleaves to the dust;
revive me by your word.
Confessing my ways, you give answer;
instruct me in your laws.
To understand the way of your precepts,
I will meditate on your wonders.
My soul is weeping from grief;
O strengthen me by your word.
Please remove the false way from me,
and graciously grant me your law.
I have chosen the faithful way;
and have placed your words before me.
I will cling to your testimonies; O LORD,
don’t put me to shame!
I’ll run the way of your commands,
for you will enlarge my heart.
PRAYER
Holy God,
you are just in all your ways
and your commandments are the greatest of treasures.
Give us understanding of your law
and direct us according to your will
that we may be faithful in serving you
for the sake of Jesus our Lord. Amen. BCW
THE WORD OF GOD
I was sleeping, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My love is knocking:
“Open for me, my sister, my dearest,
my dove, my perfect one!
My head is soaked with dew,
my hair, with the night mists.”
“I have taken off my tunic—
why should I put it on again?
I have bathed my feet—
why should I get them dirty?”
My love put his hand in through the latch hole,
and my body ached for him.
I rose; I went to open for my love,
and my hands dripped myrrh,
my fingers, liquid myrrh,
over the handles of the lock.
I went and opened for my love,
but my love had turned, gone away.
I nearly died when he turned away.
I looked for him but couldn’t find him.
I called out to him, but he didn’t answer me.
They found me—the guards
who make their rounds in the city.
They struck me, bruised me.
They took my shawl away from me,
those guards of the city walls!
I place you under oath, daughters of Jerusalem:
If you find my love, what should you tell him?
That I’m weak with love!
How is your lover different from any other lover,
you who are the most beautiful of women?
How is your lover different from any other lover,
that you make us swear a solemn pledge?
My lover is radiant and ruddy;
he stands out among ten thousand!
His head is finest gold;
his wavy hair, black as a raven.
His eyes are like doves
by channels of water.
They are bathing in milk,
sitting by brimming pools.
His cheeks are like fragrant plantings,
towers of spices.
His lips are lilies
dripping liquid myrrh.
His arms are gold cylinders
studded with jewels.
His belly is smooth ivory
encrusted with sapphires.
His thighs are pillars of whitest stone
set on pedestals of gold.
His appearance—like Lebanon,
stately, like the cedars.
His mouth is everything sweet,
every bit of him desirable.
This is my love, this my dearest,
daughters of Jerusalem!
Which way did your lover go,
you who are the most beautiful of women?
Which way did your lover turn,
that we may look for him along with you?
My lover has gone down to his garden,
to the fragrant plantings,
to graze in the gardens,
to gather the lilies.
I belong to my lover and my lover belongs to me—
the one grazing among the lilies.
HYMN: Unknown
Tune: Schönster Herr Jesu https://tinyurl.com/utkmhcpc
1 Fairest Lord Jesus,
ruler of all nature,
O thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish,
Thee will I honor,
thou, my soul’s glory, joy, and crown.
2 Fair are the meadows,
fairer still the woodlands,
robed in the blooming garb of spring:
Jesus is fairer,
Jesus is purer
who makes the woeful heart to sing.
3 Fair is the sunshine,
fairer still the moonlight,
and all the twinkling starry host:
Jesus shines brighter,
Jesus shines purer
than all the angels heaven can boast.
4 Beautiful Savior!
Lord of all the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor,
praise, adoration,
now and forevermore be thine.
But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come back?” Look, fool! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t come back to life unless it dies. What you put in the ground doesn’t have the shape that it will have, but it’s a bare grain of wheat or some other seed. God gives it the sort of shape that he chooses, and he gives each of the seeds its own shape. All flesh isn’t alike. Humans have one kind of flesh, animals have another kind of flesh, birds have another kind of flesh, and fish have another kind. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. The heavenly bodies have one kind of glory, and the earthly bodies have another kind of glory. The sun has one kind of glory, the moon has another kind of glory, and the stars have another kind of glory (but one star is different from another star in its glory). It’s the same with the resurrection of the dead: a rotting body is put into the ground, but what is raised won’t ever decay. It’s degraded when it’s put into the ground, but it’s raised in glory. It’s weak when it’s put into the ground, but it’s raised in power. It’s a physical body when it’s put into the ground, but it’s raised as a spiritual body. If there’s a physical body, there’s also a spiritual body.
HYMN: John Macleod Campbell Crum
Tune: Noel nouvelet https://tinyurl.com/yf5z4yrz
1 Now the green blade riseth, from the buried grain,
Wheat that in dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again like wheat that springeth green.
2 In the grave they laid Him, Love who had been slain,
Thinking that He never would awake again,
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again like wheat that springeth green.
3 Forth He came at Easter, like the risen grain,
Jesus who for three days in the grave had lain;
Quick from the dead the risen One is seen:
Love is come again like wheat that springeth green.
4 When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,
Jesus’ touch can call us back to life again,
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again like wheat that springeth green.
Some Sadducees, who deny that there’s a resurrection, came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a widow but no children, the brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first man married a woman and then died childless. The second and then the third brother married her. Eventually all seven married her, and they all died without leaving any children. Finally, the woman died too. In the resurrection, whose wife will she be? All seven were married to her.”
Jesus said to them, “People who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy to participate in that age, that is, in the age of the resurrection from the dead, won’t marry nor will they be given in marriage. They can no longer die, because they are like angels and are God’s children since they share in the resurrection. Even Moses demonstrated that the dead are raised—in the passage about the burning bush, when he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He isn’t the God of the dead but of the living. To him they are all alive.” Some of the legal experts responded, “Teacher, you have answered well.” No one dared to ask him anything else.
Jesus said to them, “Why do they say that the Christ is David’s son? David himself says in the scroll of Psalms, The Lord said to my lord, ‘Sit at my right side until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ Since David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be David’s son?”
CANTICLE Exodus 15
(John Schiavone: https://tinyurl.com/ybknobsb)
Ant. I will sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.
I will sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously triumphant;
horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
He is my God, I praise him;
the God of my father, I extol him. Ant.
The Lord is a warrior, LORD is his name!
Pharaoh’s chariots and army he hurled into the sea;
the elite of his officers were submerged in the Red Sea. Ant.
The flood waters covered them,
they sank into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, O Lord, magnificent in power,
your right hand, O Lord, has shattered the enemy. Ant.
You brought in the people you redeemed
and planted them on the mountain of your inheritance—
the place where you made your seat, O Lord,
the sanctuary, Lord, which your hands established.
The Lord shall reign forever and ever. Ant.
THE PRAYERS CWC
For those who are behind closed doors,
trembling with fear,
hiding from unjust authorities,
we pray today.
Ruler of the earth, hear our prayer.
We pray for those who doubt
because all they see is despair and devastation.
Faithful witness, hear our prayer.
We pray for those who face trials
for speaking truth to power.
God of our ancestors, hear our prayer.
We pray for those who have been so hurt
that they cannot forgive and be healed.
Wounded Christ, hear our prayer.
Hear our prayers as we seek to do your will
and wait for the day your Holy Spirit fills every heart. Amen.
(Plainsong Mode 2: https://tinyurl.com/yctqq8cf)DL
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;
and forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.
Almighty God,
you hold all the powers of the universe within your hands,
and we are your children.
Turn us to the splendor of life in you,
transforming us through Jesus Christ our Savior,
and strengthening us in every good deed and word. Amen. RCLP
RCLP Revised Common Lectionary Prayers. © 2002 Consultation on Common Texts admin. Augsburg Fortress.
https://tinyurl.com/rkxkpmc
Go in peace, alleluia, alleluia!
Thanks be to God, alleluia, alleluia!
Glory to God whose power, working in us,
can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine:
Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church,
and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20,21
Donation to Support This Ministry
Since 1993, Oremus has been done on a volunteer basis. If you are able, please consider supporting this work at the PayPal link below. For software reasons, I’ve set the value at $10.00, but feel free to change it. Thank you.
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BCW Book of Common Worship, Presbyterian Church U.S.A., 1993.
CWC Connections Worship Companion, ed. David Gambrell © Westminster John Knox Press
WS2 The Worship Sourcebook, 2nd edition, © 2013, Faith Alive Christian Resources
The scripture readings are © 2011 Common English Bible.
The traditional language psalms are from The Book of Common Prayer (1662). The modern language version of Psalm 119 is by Karl Kohlhase http://www.k4communications.com/karl/index.html
Musical links are usually either to artists’ albums posted on Spotify or to recordings made available at smallchurchmusic.com. Audio stripped from YouTube videos is footnoted accordingly above.
Compilation © 2025 Stephen T. Benner. All links worked at the time they were created, but I cannot accept responsibility for their content or any damage resulting from their use. The linked content is under the control of the respective content creators and is subject to change at any time. Any copyright texts included in this compilation are provided for non-commercial purposes related to study or worship. Please contact the respective copyright holders for permission to use the texts in other contexts.
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