New Testament Canticles.
Prayerfulness is deeply a part of you: in body, mind and spirit.
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In the New Testament there are many beautiful texts that are read as Canticles or songs, and recited as part of daily prayer and worship.
The New Testament Canticles have inspired many Christian songs and hymns down the ages.
Here are a selection of the Canticles (Jerusalem Bible texts):
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From the Gospels:
The Beatitudes: Matthew 5:3-10
How happy are the poor in spirit;theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Happy the gentle:
they shall have the earth for their heritage.
Happy those who mourn:
they shall be comforted.
Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right:
they shall be satisfied.
Happy the merciful:
they shall have mercy shown them.
Happy the pure in heart:
they shall see God.
Happy the peacemakers:
they shall be called sons of God.
Happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right:
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah): Luke 1:68-79
(Recited with Morning Prayer)
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israelfor he has visited his people, he has come to their rescue
and he has raised up for us a power for salvation
in the House of his servant David,
even as he proclaimed,
by the mouth of his holy prophets from ancient times,
that he would save us from our enemies
and from the hands of all who hate us.
Thus he shows mercy to our ancestors,
thus he remembers his holy covenant,
the oath he swore to our father Abraham
that he would grant us, free from fear,
to be delivered from the hands of our enemies,
to serve him in holiness and virtue
in his presence, all our days.
And you, little child,
you shall be called Prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord
to prepare the way for him.
To give his people knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins;
this by the tender mercy of our God
who from on high will bring the rising Sun to visit us,
to give light to those who live
in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
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The Magnificat (The Song of Mary): Luke 1:46-55
(Recited with Evening Prayer).
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lordand my spirit exults in God my saviour;
because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.
Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name,
and his mercy reaches from age to age
for those who fear him.
He has shown the power of his arm,
he has routed the proud of heart.
He has pulled down princes from their thrones
and exalted the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things,
the rich sent empty away.
He has come to the help of Israel his servant,
mindful of his mercy
– according to the promise he made to our ancestors
of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.
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The Nunc Dimittis – Song of Simeon: Luke 2:29-32
(now you dismiss / let your servant depart)
(Recited with Night Prayer).
Now, Master,you can let your servant
go in peace, just as you promised;
because my eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared for all the nations to see,
a light to enlighten the pagans
and the glory of your people Israel.
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From the Letters:
A Song of Divine Love: 1 Corinthians 13:4-13
Love is always patient and kind;it is never jealous;
love is never boastful or conceited;
it is never rude or selfish;
it does not take offense,
and is not resentful.
Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins
but delights in the truth;
it is always ready to excuse, to trust,
to hope, and to endure whatever comes.
Love does not come to an end.
But if there are gifts of prophecy,
the time will come when they must fail;
or the gift of languages, it will not continue for ever;
and knowledge-for this, too,
the time will come when it must fail.
For our knowledge is imperfect
and our prophesying is imperfect;
but once perfection comes,
all imperfect things will disappear.
When I was a child, I used to talk like a child,
and think like a child, and argue like a child,
but now I am a man,
all childish ways are put behind me.
Now we are seeing a dim reflection in a mirror;
but then we shall be seeing face to face.
The knowledge that I have now is imperfect;
but then I shall know as fully as I am known.
In short, there are three things that last:
faith, hope and love;
and the greatest of these is love.
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A Song of God’s Grace: Ephesians 1:3-10
Blessed be God the Fatherof our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us
with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ.
Before the world was made,
he chose us,
chose us in Christ,
to be holy and spotless,
and to live through love in his presence,
determining that we should become
his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ
for his own kind purposes,
to make us praise the glory of his grace,
his free gift to us in the Beloved,
in whom, through his blood,
we gain our freedom,
the forgiveness of our sins.
Such is the richness of the grace
which he has showered on us
in all wisdom and insight.
He has let us know the mystery of his purpose,
the hidden plan he so kindly made
in Christ from the beginning
to act upon
when the times had run their course to the end:
that he would bring everything together
under Christ, as head,
everything in the heavens
and everything on earth.
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The Song of Christ’s Glory: Philippians 2:5-11
In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus:His state was divine,
yet he did not cling
to his equality with God
but emptied himself
to assume the condition of a slave,
and became as men are;
and being as all men are,
he was humbler yet,
even to accepting death,
death on a cross.
But God raised him high
and gave him the name
which is above all other names
so that all beings
in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld,
should bend the knee at the name of Jesus
and that every tongue should acclaim
Jesus Christ as Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
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A Song of Redemption: Colossians 1:13-18a, 19, 20a
Thanking the Fatherwho has made it possible
for you to join the saints and with them
to inherit the light.
Because that is what he has done:
he has taken us out of the power of darkness
and created a place for us
in the kingdom of the Son that he loves,
and in him, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.
He is the image of the unseen God
and the first-born of all creation,
for in him were created
all things in heaven and on earth:
everything visible and everything invisible.
(All) things were created
through him and for him.
Before anything was created,
he existed,
and he holds all things in unity.
Now the Church is his body,
he is its head.
As he is the Beginning,
he was first to be born from the dead,
so that he should be first in every way;
because God wanted all perfection
to be found in him
and all things to be reconciled
through him and for him,
everything in heaven and everything on earth,
when he made peace
by his death on the cross.
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A Song of Christ the Servant: 1 Peter 2:21b-25
Christ suffered for youand left an example
for you to follow the way he took.
He had not done anything wrong,
and there had been no perjury in his mouth.
He was insulted
and did not retaliate with insults;
when he was tortured
he made no threats
but he put his trust in the righteous judge.
He was bearing our faults
in his own body on the cross,
so that we might die to our faults
and live for holiness;
through his wounds you have been healed.
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From the Book of Revelation
A Song of Praise: Revelation 4:11; 5:9b, 10, 12
This Canticle is also known as Glory and Honour
You are our Lord and our God,you are worthy of glory and honour and power,
because you made all the universe
and it was only by your will that everything was made and exists.
You are worthy to take the scroll
and break the seals of it,
because you were sacrificed, and with your blood
you bought men for God
of every race, language, people and nation
and made them a line of kings and priests,
to serve our God and to rule the world.
The Lamb that was sacrificed
is worthy to be given power, riches,
wisdom, strength,
honour, glory and blessing.
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A Song of the Redeemed: Revelation 7:9, 10, 14b-17
After that I saw a huge number,impossible to count, of people
from every nation,
race, tribe and language;
they were standing in front of the throne
and in front of the Lamb,
dressed in white robes
and holding palms in their hands.
They shouted aloud,
“Victory to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb!”
they now stand in front of God’s throne
and serve him day and night in his sanctuary;
and the One who sits on the throne will
spread his tent over them.
They will never hunger or thirst again;
neither the sun nor scorch? wind will ever plague them,
because the Lamb who is at the throne
will be their shepherd
and will lead them to springs of living water;
and God will wipe away all tears from their eyes.
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Excerpt from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, copyright (c) 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd. and Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House, Inc. Reproduced with Permission.
Excerpt from THE GRAIL PSALMS, with permission of A P Watt at United Agents on behalf of The Grail, England. Copyright © 1963 by The Grail, England.
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