Readings

Monday after the Second Sunday of Advent

The Collect of the Day

Second Sunday of Advent

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Clement of Alexandria

O God of unsearchable wisdom, you gave your servant Clement grace to understand and teach the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, the source of all truth: Grant to your church the same grace to discern your Word wherever truth is found; through Jesus Christ our unfailing light, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Sunday of Advent

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Psalms

25

Ad te, Domine, levaviBCP p. 614

1To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; my God, I put my trust in you; *let me not be humiliated, nor let my enemies triumph over me.

2Let none who look to you be put to shame; *let the treacherous be disappointed in their schemes.

3Show me your ways, O Lord, *and teach me your paths.

4Lead me in your truth and teach me, *for you are the God of my salvation; in you have I trusted all the day long.

5Remember, O Lord, your compassion and love, *for they are from everlasting.

6Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions; *remember me according to your love and for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.

7Gracious and upright is the Lord; *therefore he teaches sinners in his way.

8He guides the humble in doing right *and teaches his way to the lowly.

9All the paths of the Lord are love and faithfulness *to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

10For your Name’s sake, O Lord, *forgive my sin, for it is great.

11Who are they who fear the Lord? *he will teach them the way that they should choose.

12They shall dwell in prosperity, *and their offspring shall inherit the land.

13The Lord is a friend to those who fear him *and will show them his covenant.

14My eyes are ever looking to the Lord, *for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.

15Turn to me and have pity on me, *for I am left alone and in misery.

16The sorrows of my heart have increased; *bring me out of my troubles.

17Look upon my adversity and misery *and forgive me all my sin.

18Look upon my enemies, for they are many, *and they bear a violent hatred against me.

19Protect my life and deliver me; *let me not be put to shame, for I have trusted in you.

20Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, *for my hope has been in you.

21Deliver Israel, O God, *out of all his troubles.

Daily Office Readings

Loading...

Loading...

Loading...

Isa. 5:8-12,18-23

8 Ah, you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is room for no one but you, and you are left to live alone in the midst of the land! 9 The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing: Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant. 10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield a mere ephah. 11 Ah, you who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger in the evening to be inflamed by wine, 12 whose feasts consist of lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine, but who do not regard the deeds of the Lord, or see the work of his hands! 18 Ah, you who drag iniquity along with cords of falsehood, who drag sin along as with cart ropes, 19 who say, “Let him make haste, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the plan of the Holy One of Israel hasten to fulfillment, that we may know it!” 20 Ah, you who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21 Ah, you who are wise in your own eyes, and shrewd in your own sight! 22 Ah, you who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant at mixing drink, 23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of their rights!

1 Thess. 5:1-11

1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! 4 But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; 5 for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. 6 So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; 7 for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

Luke 21:20-28

20 “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it; 22 for these are days of vengeance, as a fulfillment of all that is written. 23 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; 24 they will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. 25 “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. 26 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”