"O Lord, in thee have I trusted; let me never be confounded" — the importance of our daily, regular prayers
The Sources of our Faith and Practice in the Book of Common Prayer
1. The BCP is grounded in patristic and monastic theology and method
The BCP: the Eucharist and Daily Offices
The BCP's liturgy is an integral system of the Church's gathering for prayer
The BCP cultivates a habitual sense of the presence of God ... fosters an approach to living the Christian life that encourages us to live out our baptismal vows in our daily lives
The elements of repetition/recollection in the BCP become a continuous, even a second nature, awareness of and confidence in the divine presence in our lives
2. The BCP and the sanctification of time — our participation in the life of Christ’s Church ... the liturgy sanctifies time in three aspects:
The Propers (the Collect, Epistle and Gospel readings for each Sunday) treat of salvation history through the seasons of the Church Year returning us each and every Sunday to the eternal truths of our life and salvation
The BCP in its various rites treats the passage of each human being through the stages of life from birth to burial (7 stages of life and 7 sacraments)
Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer partake of the created rhythm of everyday life through the morning and evening cycle
Singing The TE DEUM ... O Lord, in thee have I trusted; let me never be confounded.
The TE DEUM is one of the two great canticles (along with the GLORIA IN EXCELSIS) appointed for use in the BCP not taken directly from Holy Scripture. Both canticles were written in the fourth century. Part I is a hymn to the Holy Trinity recalling the praise of God by His heavenly hosts in their unceasing Sanctus (Isaiah 6:3) and the praise of God by the Church and the saints.
WE praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting.
To thee all Angels cry aloud; the Heavens, and all the Powers therein;
To thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry,
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth;
Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy glory.
The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee.
The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise thee.
The noble army of Martyrs praise thee.
The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee;
The Father, of an infinite Majesty;
Thine adorable, true, and only Son;
Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.
Part II is a hymn to Christ very similar to the Creed: His eternal existence, His Incarnation and His passion,His exaltation, and second coming to judge the world. The final three verses in Part II are the Church's response to Jesus' person and work.
THOU art the King of Glory, O Christ.
Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.
When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, thou didst humble thyself to be born of a Virgin.
When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge.
We therefore pray thee, help thy servants, whom thou
hast redeemed with thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with thy Saints, in glory everlasting.
Part III is a series of the Church's petitions for deliverance and mercy.
O LORD, save thy people, and bless thine heritage.
Govern them, and lift them up for ever.
Day by day we magnify thee;
And we worship thy Name ever, world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin.
O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us.
O Lord, let thy mercy be upon us, as our trust is in thee.
O Lord, in thee have I trusted; let me never be confounded.
JSH+