The Thanksgiving Canticle

At Morning Pray + Holy Communion this morning I was once again surprised by the Opening Sentences for today, not to mention the Thanksgiving Day Canticle (p. 264). I didn't note Thanksgiving Day in this blog last year but did the year before, when I encountered for the first time ever.

The sentences:

  Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the

Thanksgiving Day.

firstfruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with

plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
Prov. iii. 9, 10.
  The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by
understanding hath he established the heavens. By his
knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds
drop down the dew. Prov. iii. 19, 20.

And this canticle replaced the Venite (slight trap for the unwary -- the rubrics in Morning Prayer do not explicitly call out this substitution):

¶ Instead of the Venite, the following shall be said or sung. O PRAISE the LORD, for it is a good thing to sing praises unto our God; * yea, a joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful.
The LORD doth build up Jerusalem, * and gather together the outcasts of Israel.
He healeth those that are broken in heart, * and giveth medicine to heal their sickness.
O sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; * sing praises upon the harp unto our God:
Who covereth the heaven with clouds, and prepareth rain for the earth; * and maketh the grass to grow upon the mountains, and herb for the use of men;
Who giveth fodder unto the cattle, * and feedeth the young ravens that call upon him.
Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; * praise thy God, O Sion.
For he hath made fast the bars of thy gates, * and hath blessed thy children within thee.
He maketh peace in thy borders, * and filleth thee with the flour of wheat.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

This morning we were blessed to welcome a visitor who just thought it right to attend a service on Thanksgiving morning, but her church wasn't holding one. So, this was a small outreach to the community.