MORNING and Evening Prayer
of the Sisters of Mercy


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SEVENTH WEEK WEDNESDAY
Morning Prayer


READING
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?

Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
who shepherds the people and
sets them free.

God raises from David’s house
a child with
power to save.
Through the holy prophets
God promised in
ages past
to save us from enemy hands,
from the grip of
all who hate us.

The Lord favored our ancestors
recalling the
sacred covenant,
the pledge to our an
cestor Abraham,
to free us
from our enemies,
so we might worship without fear
and be holy and just
all our days.

And you child, will be called
Prophet of
the Most High,
for you will come to prepare
a pathway
for the Lord
by teaching the peo
ple salvation
through forgiveness
of their sin.

Out of God’s deepest mercy
a dawn will come
from on high,
light for those sha
dowed by death,
a guide for our feet on the
way to peace.



INTERCESSIONS
Gracious God, you sent the Spirit to live in our hearts. You have made us your dwelling place, sacred and precious in your sight. Teach us to respect and honor our bodies as your gift.

For all who suffer from eating disorders and addictions:
~May they learn to see their bodies as good and holy.
For all who suffer disfigurement:
~May they and others look beyond their scars to the beauty within.
For all victims of incest, abuse and rape:
~May they be healed of their wounds and walk in dignity.
For all who suffer from chronic or progressive illness:
~May they be comforted in their suffering.
For all who earn their living through advertising:
~May they promote images that do not exploit or diminish human worth.



THE LORD’S PRAYER


PRAYER
Spirit of God, come and transform us. Stir up in us an ardent desire to do your will and bring about the reign of mercy and justice. Holy Spirit, praying unceasingly within us, give our tongues the words to praise you, our hearts the fervor to love you. Sanctify the work of our lives that all our acts may give glory to God, today and always. Abide with us that we may abide with you. This we ask in faith. Amen.




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SEVENTH WEEK WEDNESDAY
EVENING PRAYER


READING
2 Corinthians 1:18-22
As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been “Yes and No.” For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, was not “Yes and No”; but in him it is always “Yes.” For in him every one of God’s promises is a “Yes.” For this reason it is through him that we say the “Amen,” to the glory of God. But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.

CANTICLE OF MARY

It is through Jesus that we say the “Amen,” to the glory of God.

I acclaim the greatness of the Lord, I delight in God my savior, who regarded my humble state. Truly from this day on All ages will call me blest. For God, wonderful in power, has used that strength for me. Holy the name of the Lord! Whose mercy embraces the faithful, one generation to the next. The mighty arm of God scatters the proud in their conceit, Pulls tyrants from their thrones, and raises up the humble. The Lord fills the starving And lets the rich go hungry. God rescues lowly Israel, recalling the promise of mercy, the promise made to our ancestors, to Abraham’s heirs for ever.


INTERCESSIONS
Spirit of Fortitude, strengthen us this day. In and through you may we have the courage to challenge the oppression and injustice of our society:
~Strength us, Spirit of God.

Divest us of illusions of power, superiority or acclaim that we may not fear to walk with the humble:

Strip us of our excess that we may share our abundance with those who are in need:

Kindle in us a passion to speak out against racism, prejudice and injustice:

Nurture in us a hunger for prayer and contemplation that our works may be rooted in you:

Open our eyes to see our limitations so that we may rely on you and cast ourselves into the arms of your loving providence:


THE LORD’S PRAYER

PRAYER
Spirit of God, come and transform us. Stir up in us an ardent desire to do your will and bring about the reign of mercy and justice. Holy Spirit, praying unceasingly within us, give our tongues the words to praise you, our hearts the fervor to love you. Sanctify the work of our lives that all our acts may give glory to God, today and always. Abide with us that we may abide with you. This we ask in faith. Amen.