The Propers for the Second Sunday in Advent
Matins / Divine Service Setting One – Page 219/151
Opening Hymn: 341 Lift Up Your Head, Ye Mighty Gates
Introit
Psalm 80:1, 8a, 9b, 7; antiphon Psalm 80:3
Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.
You brought a vine out of Egypt;
it took deep root and filled the land.
Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!
Glory be 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.
Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!
Collect
Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of Your only-begotten Son, that by His coming
we may be enabled to serve You with pure minds; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, Who
lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Old Testament Reading – Isaiah 40:1-11
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
[2] Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
[3] A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
[4] Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
[5] And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
[6] A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
[7] The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
[8] The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
[9] Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
[10] Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
[11] He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
Gradual
Zech. 9:9; Psalm 118:26, alt.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation.
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
From the house of the Lord we bless you.
Epistle Reading – 2 Peter 3:8-14
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as one day. [9] The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count
slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach
repentance. [10] But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass
away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the
works that are done on it will be exposed.
[11] Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives
of holiness and godliness, [12] waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because
of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they
burn! [13] But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which
righteousness dwells.
[14] Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without
spot or blemish, and at peace.
The Holy Gospel – Mark 1:1-8
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
[2] As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,
“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way,
[3] the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’ “
[4] John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins. [5] And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and
were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. [6] Now John was clothed
with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. [7] And
he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am
not worthy to stoop down and untie. [8] I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit.”
Hymn of the Day: 344 On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry
Distribution Hymns: 343 Prepare the Royal Highway
336 Lo, He Comes With Clouds Descending
Hymn: 347 Comfort, Comfort, Ye My People