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Lucy of Syracuse, Martyr, 304

The Collect:
Rite I:
Loving God, who for the salvation of all didst give Jesus Christ as light to a world in darkness: Illumine us, as thou didst thy daughter Lucy, with the light of Christ, that by the merits of his passion, we may be led to eternal life; through the same Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Rite II:
Loving God, for the salvation of all you gave Jesus Christ as light to a world in darkness: Illumine us, as you did your daughter Lucy, with the light of Christ, that by the merits of his passion, we may be led to eternal life; through the same Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
First Lesson: Esther 4:9-16
9 Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. 10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and gave him a message for Mordecai, saying, 11 ‘All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—all alike are to be put to death. Only if the king holds out the golden sceptre to someone, may that person live. I myself have not been called to come in to the king for thirty days.’ 12 When they told Mordecai what Esther had said, 13 Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, ‘Do not think that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.’ 15 Then Esther said in reply to Mordecai, 16 ‘Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. After that I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.’
Psalm: Psalm 131
1 O Lord, I am not proud; *
I have no haughty looks.
2 I do not occupy myself with great matters, *
or with things that are too hard for me.
3 But I still my soul and make it quiet,
like a child upon its mother’s breast; *
my soul is quieted within me.
4 O Israel, wait upon the Lord, *
from this time forth for evermore.
Second Lesson: Revelation 19:5–8
5 And from the throne came a voice saying,
‘Praise our God,
all you his servants,
and all who fear him,
small and great.’
6Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunder-peals, crying out,
‘Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready;
8 to her it has been granted to be clothed
with fine linen, bright and pure’—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
Gospel: John 1:9-14
9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
14And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
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The Old Testament, New Testament and Gospels readings are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Collects, Psalms, and Canticles are from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979.
This page is available in: Español