Throughout the 50 days of Eastertide, Anglican Churches substitute The Venite (Psalm 95:1-7; Psalm 96:9,13) with a series of three Scriptures prayed one after the other, followed by the Gloria Patri. These form a "Call to Worship" at the beginning of Morning Prayer which I love to pray as they truly celebrate Christ's Resurrection with great joy. Here they are from the 2011 Book of Common Prayer (with ESV Scriptures):
The Collect for the First Sunday after Easter, from the 2011 Book of Common Prayer:Alleluia. Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival; Not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Alleluia. (1 Corinthians 5:7b-8)
Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died, he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you must also consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Alleluia. (Romans 6:9-11)
Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. Alleluia. (1 Corinthians 15:20-22)
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; Now and always. Amen.
ALMIGHTY Father, you gave your only Son to die for our sins and to rise again for our justification; Grant that we may remove the leaven of malice and wrongdoing from our lives, so that we may always serve you in righteousness and truth; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and rules with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (References: 1 Corinthians 15.3-4; Romans 4.24-25; 1 Corinthians 5.7-8; Matthew 5.8).
In case you're interested, the 2011 BCP Epistle reading for this day is 1 John 5:4-12 and the Gospel reading is John 20:19-23. We are also reading Psalm 81.1-4 or Psalm 118.22-25, plus the historical reading of Acts 2.14a, 22-32. If you happen to live in the San Diego area, you are welcome to join our weekly worship at Blessed Trinity Church. We meet in the SCAIR office on East Main in downtown El Cajon at 10:00 AM. (Just look for SCAIR in Google Maps.)
A Joyous First Sunday after Easter to you all! Remember, Eastertide lasts all the way until Pentecost (that's what Pentecost means: 50 days), so we have lots of time to celebrate the Resurrection ... not that we should ever stop celebrating the pivotal fact of our faith, but now's the time to really, really make a big deal over Christ's Resurrection from the dead!
.bmp)
