Morning Prayer for Friday 5.22.26

Here is a link to our liturgy: Morning Prayer 5.22.26, Helena of Constantinople, Protector of the Holy Places, 330 | Daily Office Network

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Good morning and welcome. I'm Father Tom Royd, the Vicar of the Daily Office Network. I'm an ordained Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Minnesota in the Episcopal Church. The Daily Office Network is a community of Christians who gather together on a daily basis, Monday through Friday, at 7 and 9 Eastern time, to pray morning prayer from the Book of Common Prayer. We use the common Book of Common Prayer as our guide. We mix in artwork, news story. We come from several different faith traditions in several different countries. All are welcome here, where we do our best to exercise tolerance and decency with one another. Now let's settle in and begin morning prayer. It is Friday, the 22nd of May, 2026. In the life of the church, our saint is Helena of Constantinople, a protector of the holy places. She died in the year 330. The Daily Office Network is podcasting. You can find us on Apple or Spotify by searching Keywords Daily Office Network or by clicking on one of our links. I will put my law within them. I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. The benefit seemed especially strong in those who had previous heart attacks or other risks of coronary problems, and seems to be associated with a lower risk of dying of cardiovascular disease, regardless of a person's health or history. Of course, this type of study can't prove that dogs help us live longer. People who choose to own a dog may be in better health or have more disposable income than people who do not. Just two related dog factors that might confer a cardiovascular longevity benefit on their own. Also, owning a dog or a cat helps us combat loneliness and add a purpose to our lives and the care of that animal. In the photograph above, my wife Alexis interacts with Zeus and Echo, who seized the opportunity when they saw her on the floor cleaning. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witness in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Addie, would you lead us in the invitatory and the Psalter? Lord, open our lips, and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

SPEAKER_12 3:39

Glory 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. Hallelujah. Christ our Passover. Not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Christ being raised from the dead will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him. But the death that he died, he died to sin once for all. But the life he lives, he lives to God. So also consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God and Jesus Christ our Lord. Hallelujah. Christ has been raised from the dead. The first fruit of those who have fallen asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man come also the resurrection of the dead. So all shall be all in Christ shall be made alive. Hallelujah.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

Thank you, Addie. Our psalm appointed for today is Psalm number 102. This morning I'm going to ask Jill and Jacqueline to lead our psalm. Jill, would you start?

SPEAKER_11 5:43

Lord, hear my prayer and let my cry come before you. Hide not your face from me in the day of my trouble.

SPEAKER_04 5:53

Incline your ear to me when I call, make haste to deliver me.

SPEAKER_11 5:59

For my days drift away like smoke, and my bones are hot as burning coals.

SPEAKER_04 6:06

My heart is smitten like grass and withered, so that I forget to eat my bread.

SPEAKER_11 6:14

Because of the voice of my groaning, I am but skin and bones.

SPEAKER_04 6:21

I have become like a vulture in the wilderness, like an owl among the ruins.

SPEAKER_11 6:27

I lie awake and groan. I am like a sparrow, lonely on a housetop.

SPEAKER_04 6:34

My enemies revile me all day long, and those who scoff at me have taken an oath against me.

SPEAKER_11 6:43

For I have eaten ashes for bread and mingled my drink with weeping.

SPEAKER_04 6:50

Because of your indignation and wrath, you have lifted me up and thrown me away.

SPEAKER_11 6:57

My days pass away like a shadow, and I wither like the grass.

SPEAKER_04 7:04

But you, O Lord, endure forever, and your name from age to age.

SPEAKER_11 7:12

You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to have mercy upon it. Indeed, the appointed time has come.

SPEAKER_04 7:23

For your servants love its very rubble and are moved to pity even for its dust.

SPEAKER_11 7:30

The nations shall fear your name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth your glory.

SPEAKER_04 7:38

For you, O Lord, will build up Zion, and your glory will appear.

SPEAKER_11 7:44

You will look with favor on the prayer of the homeless. You will not despise their plea.

SPEAKER_04 7:52

Let this be written for a future generation, so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord.

SPEAKER_11 8:02

For the Lord looked down from the holy place on high, and from the heavens beheld the earth.

SPEAKER_04 8:10

To hear the groan of the captive and to set free those condemned to die.

SPEAKER_11 8:17

That they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord and the praise of our God in Jerusalem.

SPEAKER_04 8:25

When the peoples are gathered together and the realms also to serve the Lord.

SPEAKER_11 8:32

The Lord has brought down the strength before my time and shortened the number of my days.

SPEAKER_04 8:41

And I said, O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days. Your years endure throughout all generations.

SPEAKER_11 8:53

In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

SPEAKER_04 9:02

They shall perish, but you will endure. They all shall wear out like a garment, as clothing, you will change them, and they shall be changed.

SPEAKER_11 9:15

But you are always the same, and your years will never end.

SPEAKER_04 9:21

The children of your servants shall continue, and their offspring shall stand fast in your sight.

SPEAKER_11 9:32

Glory 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.

SPEAKER_01 9:45

Amen. Thank you, Jill and Jacqueline. That was a great reading. Drawing of a man with a phylactery on his left hand as well as showing how it wraps, goes up on the bicep, also goes on the forehead. Some Jewish men tie phylacteries or tefelin around their heads and their arms opposite the heart during morning prayers. These boxes contain four Torah quotations commanding their use to keep God's word nearest to one's mind and heart. Our first lesson comes from Jeremiah chapter 31, verses 27 through 34. Chad, would you lead this?

SPEAKER_00 10:41

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seeds of humans and the seed of animals. And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. In those days they shall no longer say, The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge, but all shall die for their own sins. The teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge. The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another or say to each other, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more. The word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

Thanks be to God. Thank you, Chad. Our first canticle is a song of Ezekiel. Carol, would you lead this?

SPEAKER_10 12:32

I will take you from among all nations and gather you from all lands to bring you home. I will sprinkle clean water upon you and purify you from false gods and uncleanness. A new heart I will give you and a new spirit put within you. I will take the stone heart from your chest and give you a heart of flesh. I will help you walk in my laws and cherish my commandments and do them. You shall be my people, and I will be your God.

SPEAKER_01 13:11

Thank you, Carol. Two children looking at a small candle or a small light. With the caption, children of light. Our reading comes from Ephesians chapter five, verses one through twenty. Paul, would you lead this?

SPEAKER_09 13:43

Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children, and live in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But fornication and impurity of any kind or greed must be even must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints. Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk. But instead let there be thanksgiving. Be sure of this that no fornicator or impure person or one who is greedy, that is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be associated with them, for once you were in darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light, for the futive fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them, for it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says sleeper, awake, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people, but as wise, making the most of the time because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts. Give thanks to God the Father of at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 16:29

Thanks be to God. Thank you, Paul. That was a great reading. Our next canticle is a song of our adoption. Michael Brown, would you lead this?

SPEAKER_06 16:45

Blessed are you, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For you have blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. Before the world was made, you chose to be you chose us to be yours in Christ. That we should be holy and blameless before you. You destined us for adoption of your children through Jesus Christ. According to the good pleasure of your will. And you we have redemption through the blood of Christ. The forgiveness of our sins. According to the riches of your grace which you have lavished upon us, you have made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of your will. According to your good pleasure which you set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to gather together all things in Christ. Things in heaven and things on earth.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

Thank you, Michael. By Seeger Crowder. Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners. This event is very important to millions of people. Jesus came to save sinners, not saints. There's no guile in these faces. Deacon Diana, would you lead this?

SPEAKER_07 18:45

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, Follow me. And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, Why does your teacher eat the tax collectors and sinners? But when he heard this, he said, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick, go and learn what this means. I desire mercy, not sacrifice, for I have come to call not the righteous, but sinners. Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them, The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one sows a piece of unshrunk unshrunk cloth as an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. Neither is a new wine put into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved. The word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 20:23

Thanks be to God. Thank you, Deacon. And now the Apostles' Creed. Robert, would you lead us in the creed?

SPEAKER_05 20:37

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven. He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 21:29

Amen. Thank you, Robert. And now the prayers begin with our Lord's Prayer. John R., would you lead us in the Lord's Prayer and then we'll read the suffrages.

SPEAKER_08 21:42

The Lord be with you.

SPEAKER_01 21:44

And also with you.

SPEAKER_08 21:46

Let us pray. 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. 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 forever. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

Help us, O God our Savior.

SPEAKER_08 22:20

Deliver us and forgive us our sins.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

Look upon your congregation.

SPEAKER_08 22:27

Give to your people the blessing of peace.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

Declare your glory among the nations.

SPEAKER_08 22:35

And your wonders among all people.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

Do not let the oppressed be shamed and turned away.

SPEAKER_08 22:43

Never forget the lives of your poor.

SPEAKER_01 22:47

Continue your loving kindness to those who know you.

SPEAKER_08 22:50

And your favor to those who are true of heart.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

Satisfy us by your loving kindness in the morning.

SPEAKER_08 22:58

So we shall rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

Thank you, John. Our saint of the day, Helena of Constantinople, she's standing here with the cross. This is a painting by Lucas Cranich, the elder from 1525 of St. Helena with the Cross. The Empress of Rome, when her son Constantinople succeeded her husband, she was a devout woman and she traveled to Jerusalem to find and preserve the places and artifacts of Christ's life. She located several, including the place of the crucifixion, with three buried crosses and the epitaph, Jesus, King of the Jews. She had the Church of the Holy Sepulchre built on the site, which remains today one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in the world. This particular piece of art can be found in the possession of the Cincinnati Art Museum. Helena of Constantinople, our saint of the day. And now two prayers. Deacon Elizabeth, would you lead these two?

SPEAKER_03 24:20

Sure. Most merciful God who blessed yourself and Eleanor with such grace and devotion to you that she venerated the very steps of our Savior. May we too, assisted by her prayers, an example, be given the same grace to always see your glory in the cross of your Son, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. Almighty God, whose most dear son, went not up to joy, but first he suffered pain and ended not into glory before he was crucified. Mercifully grant that we walking in the way of the cross may find it none other than the way of life and peace. Through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

We'll continue with the prayer for the mission of the church. I'm going to ask Patricia to lead that. And then I'll bless the Lord and bless us.

SPEAKER_02 25:45

Oh God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your spirit upon all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

Let us bless the Lord. Alleluia, hallelujah.

SPEAKER_02 26:16

Thanks be to God. Hallelujah.

SPEAKER_01 26:19

Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with rejoicing. To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord before all time, now and forever. And the blessing of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be upon you now and remain with you always. Amen. And that is morning prayer on this Friday. Thank you for coming to pray today. Wherever you go, take that love of Jesus that lives in your heart. Shine that Jesus in the world. Show that Jesus to the world. We all need Jesus right now. Hope to see you back with us safe and sound on Monday when we will have one service at nine.