Oremus for October 4, 2026

The Wicked Tenants, Speculum Humanae Salvationis, Westphalia or Cologne, ca. 1360

Antiphon 1

Ant. All things are submitted to your will, O Lord, *
and no one can resist your decisions; you have made
all things, heaven and earth, and all that is contained under
the vault of the sky; you are the master of the universe.
V. Blessed are those whose way is blameless, *
who walk in the law of the Lord!
Blessed are those who keep his decrees! *
With all their hearts they seek him. Esther 13; Psalm 119

O God, our sovereign and shepherd,
who brought again your Son Jesus Christ
from the valley of death,
comfort us with your protecting presence
and your angels of goodness and love,
that we also may come home
and dwell with him in your house for ever. Amen. CW:DP

Music: https://tinyurl.com/ycn4djk5

O Lord, open my lips.
And my mouth will declare your praise.
Make haste, O God, to deliver me;
make haste to help me, O Lord.
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.
Praise to you, O Christ, Alleluia!

HYMN: Latin; trans. John Mason Neale
Tune: Westminster Abbey https://tinyurl.com/bsr3fezz

1 Christ is made the sure foundation,
Christ the head and cornerstone,
chosen of the Lord, and precious,
binding all the Church in one;
holy Zion’s help for ever,
and her confidence alone.

2 All that dedicated city,
dearly loved of God on high,
in exultant jubilation
pours perpetual melody;
God the One in Three adoring
in glad hymns eternally.

3 To this temple, where we call thee,
come, O Lord of Hosts, today;
with thy wonted lovingkindness
hear thy servants as they pray,
and thy fullest benediction
shed within its walls alway.

4 Here vouchsafe to all thy servants
what they ask of thee to gain;
what they gain from thee, for ever
with the blessèd to retain,
and hereafter in thy glory
evermore with thee to reign.

PSALMS

Psalm 22 (Anglican Chant: https://tinyurl.com/tcvjnwc)
1 My God, my God, look upon me; why hast thou forsaken me *
and art so far from my health, and from the words of my complaint?
2 O my God, I cry in the day-time, but thou hearest not *
and in the night-season also I take no rest.
3 And thou continuest holy *
O thou worship of Israel.
4 Our fathers hoped in thee *
they trusted in thee, and thou didst deliver them.
5 They called upon thee, and were holpen *
they put their trust in thee, and were not confounded.
6 But as for me, I am a worm, and no man *
a very scorn of men, and the out-cast of the people.
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn *
they shoot out their lips, and shake their heads, saying,
8 He trusted in God, that he would deliver him *
let him deliver him, if he will have him.
9 But thou art he that took me out of my mother’s womb *
thou wast my hope, when I hanged yet upon my mother’s breasts.
10 I have been left unto thee ever since I was born *
thou art my God even from my mother’s womb.
11 O go not from me, for trouble is hard at hand *
and there is none to help me.
12 Many oxen are come about me *
fat bulls of Basan close me in on every side.
13 They gape upon me with their mouths *
as it were a ramping and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint *
my heart also in the midst of my body is even like melting wax.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue cleaveth to my gums *
and thou shalt bring me into the dust of death.
16 For many dogs are come about me *
and the council of the wicked layeth siege against me.
17 They pierced my hands and my feet; I may tell all my bones *
they stand staring and looking upon me.
18 They part my garments among them *
and cast lots upon my vesture.
19 But be not thou far from me, O Lord *
thou art my succour, haste thee to help me.
20 Deliver my soul from the sword *
my darling from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion’s mouth *
thou hast heard me also from among the horns of the unicorns.
22 I will declare thy Name unto my brethren *
in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
23 O praise the Lord, ye that fear him *
magnify him, all ye of the seed of Jacob,
and fear him, all ye seed of Israel;
24 For he hath not despised, nor abhorred,
the low estate of the poor *
he hath not hid his face from him,
but when he called unto him he heard him.
25 My praise is of thee in the great congregation *
my vows will I perform in the sight of them that fear him.
26 The poor shall eat, and be satisfied *
they that seek after the Lord shall praise him;
your heart shall live for ever.
27 All the ends of the world shall remember themselves,
and be turned unto the Lord *
and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him.
28 For the kingdom is the Lord’s *
and he is the Governor among the people.
29 All such as be fat upon earth *
have eaten, and worshipped.
30 All they that go down into the dust shall kneel before him *
and no man hath quickened his own soul.
31 My seed shall serve him *
they shall be counted unto the Lord for a generation.
32 They shall come, and the heavens shall declare his righteousness *
unto a people that shall be born, whom the Lord hath made.
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 23 (Anglican Chant: https://tinyurl.com/swfdhyk)
1  The Lord is my shepherd *
 therefore can I lack nothing.
2  He shall feed me in a green pasture *
 and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort.
3  He shall convert my soul *
 and bring me forth in the paths of righteousness, for his Name’s sake.
4  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil *
 for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff comfort me.
5  Thou shalt prepare a table before me against them that trouble me *
 thou hast anointed my head with oil, and my cup shall be full.
6  But thy loving-kindness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life *
 and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
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 22 (Tonus peregrinus)

2 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? †
Why are you far from saving me,
so far from my words of anguish?
3 O my God, I call by day and you do not answer; *
I call by night and find no reprieve.
4 Yet you, O God, are holy, *
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
5 In you our ancestors put their trust; *
they trusted and you set them free.
6 When they cried to you, they escaped; *
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
7 But I am a worm and no man, *
scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
8 All who see me deride me; *
they curl their lips, they toss their heads:
9 “He trusted in the LORD, let him save him; *
let him release him, for in him he delights.”
10 Yes, it was you who took me from the womb, *
entrusted me to my mother’s breast.
11 To you I was committed from birth; *
from my mother’s womb, you have been my God.
12 Stay not far from me; *
trouble is near, and there is no one to help.
13 Many bulls have surrounded me *
fierce bulls of Bashan close me in.
14 Against me they open wide their mouths, *
like a lion, rending and roaring.
15 Like water I am poured out, *
disjointed are all my bones.
My heart has become like wax, *
it is melted within my breast.
16 Parched as burnt clay is my throat, *
my tongue cleaves fast to my jaws.
You lay me in the dust of death. †
17 For dogs have surrounded me; *
a band of the wicked besets me.
They tear holes in my hands and my feet; *
18 I can count every one of my bones.
They stare at my and gloat. †
19 They divide my clothing among them, *
they cast lots for my robe.
20 But you, O LORD, do not stay afar off; *
my strength, make haste to help me!
21 Rescue my soul from the sword, *
my life from the grip of the dog.
22 Save my life from the jaws of the lion, *
my poor soul from the horns of wild bulls.
23 I will tell of your name to my kin, *
and praise you in the midst of the assembly.
24 “You who fear the LORD, give him praise; †
all descendants of Jacob give him glory; *
revere him, all you descendants of Israel.
25 For he has never despised *
nor scorned the poverty of the poor.
From him he has not hidden his face, *
but has heard him whenever he cried.”
26 You are my praise in the great assembly. †
My vows I will pay before those who fear him. *
27 The poor shall eat and shall have their fill.
They shall praise the LORD, those who seek him. *
May your hearts live on forever and ever!
28 All the earth shall remember and return to the LORD, †
all families of the nations worship before him, *
29 for the kingdom is the LORD’s, he is the ruler of the nations.
32 They have eaten and adore him, all who sleep in the earth; *
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust.
31 And my soul shall live for him, my descendants serve him. *
They shall tell of the Lord to generations yet to come.
32 declare his saving justice to the peoples yet unborn: *
“These are the things the LORD has done.”

Psalm 23 (Gregorian Tone 6)

1 The Lord is my shepherd; *
there is nothing I shall want.
2 Fresh and green are the pastures *
where he gives me repose.
Near restful waters he leads me; *
3 he revives my soul.
He guides me along the right path, *
for the sake of his name.
4 Though I should walk in the valley of the shadow of death †
no evil would I fear, for you are with me. *
Your crook and your staff will give me comfort.
5 You have prepared a table before me *
in the sight of my foes.
6 My head you have anointed with oil; *
my cup is overflowing.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me *
all the days of my life.
In the LORD’s own house shall I dwell *
for length of days unending.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ, our good shepherd,
in the waters of Baptism you give us birth,
and at your table you nourish us with heavenly food.
In your goodness and mercy,
lead us along safe paths,
beyond the terrors of evil and death,
to the house of the Lord
where we may rest securely in you forever. Amen. BCW

THE WORD OF GOD
READING: Isaiah 5:1-7
I will sing for my beloved
my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes,
but it yielded rotten grapes.

And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
and people of Judah,
judge between me
and my vineyard.
What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to yield grapes,
why did it yield rotten grapes?

And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.
I will make it a wasteland;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are his cherished garden;
he expected justice
but saw bloodshed;
righteousness
but heard a cry!

HYMN: Psalm 80; para. vv. 1-2 Sing Psalms; para. vv. 3-19 Bert Polman ©
Tune: Todos Los Colores https://tinyurl.com/bdewjjnx

1 Hear us, O Israel’s Shepherd, Joseph’s guide,
the one enthroned between the cherubim.
2 Show forth your splendor to the threatened tribes,
Manasseh, Benjamin and Ephraïm.
3 Restore us, LORD, your saving power release;
make your face shine on us and give us peace.

4 How long, O LORD, will you disdain our prayer?
5 For you have fed us with the bread of tears.
Your holy anger brings us to despair;
6 the nations mock us with their scornful jeers.
7 Restore us, LORD, your saving power release;
make your face shine on us and give us peace.

8 You brought a vine from Egypt with your hand;
9 you drove the nations out to give it room.
It took deep root and spread throughout the land;
10 the hills were covered with its shade and bloom.
11 Under its branches mighty cedars hide;
it sent out shoots to sea and riverside.

12 Why have you broken down the vineyard wall
so that its grapes are eaten off the vine?
13 Boars from the forest root around it all;
its fruit is ravaged by the hungry swine.
14 Return to us, O LORD, with power divine;
look down from heaven on your chosen vine.

15 This vine, once planted with your own right hand,
16 now burns with fire; your people cry and moan.
17 Let your hand rest on those you cause to stand;
18 then we will call on your great name alone.
19 Restore us, LORD, your saving power release;
make your face shine on us and give us peace.

READING: Philippians 3:12-21
Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have laid hold of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us, then, who are mature think this way, and if you think differently about anything, this, too, God will reveal to you. Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.

Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.

HYMN: Fanny Crosby
Tune: https://tinyurl.com/2ajb82az

1 Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.

2 Perfect communion, perfect delight,
visions of rapture now burst on my sight.
Angels descending bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love. [Refrain]

3 Perfect submission, all is at rest.
I in my Savior am happy and bless’d,
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love. [Refrain]

READING: Matthew 21:33-46
Jesus said, “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went away. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them in the same way. Then he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes’?

“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruits. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

CANTICLE Luke 1:68-79
(John Harper, https://tinyurl.com/4wwy9fbs)

Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, 
who has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour, 
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets God promised of old 
to save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all that hate us,
To show mercy to our ancestors, 
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham: 
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear, 
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, 
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation 
by the forgiveness of all their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God 
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, 
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
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.

PRAYERS BCW2018

Let us pray for the needs of the church,
the whole human family,
and all the world, saying: Hear our prayer.

That churches of all traditions
may discover their unity in Christ
and exercise their gifts in service of all,
we pray to you, O God: Hear our prayer.

That the earth may be freed
from war, famine, and disease,
and the air, soil, and waters cleansed of poison,
we pray to you, O God: Hear our prayer.

That those who govern and maintain peace in every land
may exercise their powers in obedience to your commands,
we pray to you, O God: Hear our prayer.

That you will strengthen this nation to pursue just priorities
so that the races may be reconciled;
the young, educated; and the old, cared for;
the hungry, filled; and the homeless, housed;
and the sick, comforted and healed,
we pray to you, O God: Hear our prayer.

That you will preserve all who live and work
in this [city, town, village, community]
in peace and safety,
we pray to you, O God: Hear our prayer.

That you will comfort and empower
those who face any difficulty or trial:
the sick [especially N., N.],
the disabled, the poor, the oppressed,
those who grieve and those in prison,
we pray to you, O God: Hear our prayer.

That you will accept our thanksgiving
for all faithful servants of Christ now at rest,
who, with us, await a new heaven and a new earth,
your everlasting kingdom,
we pray to you, O God: Hear our prayer.

Setting: Sanford Dole https://tinyurl.com/y7ldq7h5

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today the bread of life;
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.

Holy God,
you love justice and hate oppression;
you call us to righteousness and not to exploitation.
Give us generous and loving hearts,
and eyes to see the splendor of your reign,
that we may live in truth and honor,
and praise you for the transformation of our lives,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. RCLP

Music: https://tinyurl.com/y9efvwm5
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen. 2 Cor. 13:14


BCW Book of Common Worship, Presbyterian Church U.S.A., 1993.

FATS For All the Saints, © The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, 2014

CW:DP Common Worship: Daily Prayer, material from which is included here,
is copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2005 and published by Church House Publishing

RCLP Revised Common Lectionary Prayers. © 2002 Consultation on Common Texts admin. Augsburg Fortress.

1 Adam Bartlett, Simple English Propers; audio from https://musicasacra.com/additional-publications/sep-practice-videos/ ©

The main scripture readings are from the New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The traditional version of the psalms is from The Book of Common Prayer (1662).

Psalms marked Gregorian are from The Abbey Psalms and Canticles ©2010, 2018 The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. ©2020 as recorded for the Chants and Rants YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chantsandrants

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 © 2026 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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