MORNING PRAYER - 10/6/2016

Morning Prayer (Lauds)

Introduction (with Invitatory)

If this is not the first Hour that you are reciting today, use the version without the Invitatory Psalm instead.

Lord, open our lips.

And we shall praise your name.

Invitatory Psalm	Psalm 23 (24)

“The gates of heaven were opened to Christ because he was lifted up in the flesh” (St Irenaeus).

– Indeed, how good is the Lord: bless his holy name.

(repeat antiphon*)

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,

the world and all its peoples.

It is he who set it on the seas;

on the waters he made it firm.

(repeat antiphon*)

Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?

Who shall stand in his holy place?

The man with clean hands and pure heart,

who desires not worthless things,

who has not sworn so as to deceive his neighbour.

(repeat antiphon*)

He shall receive blessings from the Lord

and reward from the God who saves him.

Such are the men who seek him,

seek the face of the God of Jacob.

(repeat antiphon*)

O gates, lift high your heads;

grow higher, ancient doors.

Let him enter, the king of glory!

(repeat antiphon*)

Who is the king of glory?

The Lord, the mighty, the valiant,

the Lord, the valiant in war.

(repeat antiphon*)

O gates, lift high your heads;

grow higher, ancient doors.

Let him enter, the king of glory!

(repeat antiphon*)

Who is he, the king of glory?

He, the Lord of armies,

he is the king of glory.

(repeat antiphon*)

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

– Indeed, how good is the Lord: bless his holy name.*

* If you are reciting this on your own, you can choose to say the antiphon once only at the start of the psalm and not repeat it.

Hymn

Eternal glory of the sky,

Blest hope of frail humanity,

The Father’s Sole-begotten One,

Yet born a spotless Virgin’s Son.

Uplift us with your arm of might,

And let our hearts rise pure and bright,

And, ardent in God’s praises, pay

The thanks we owe him every day.

The rays of sun are glittering clear,

And tell that day itself is near:

The shadows of the night depart;

So, holy Light, illume the heart.

Within our senses ever dwell,

And worldly darkness thence expel:

Long as the days of life endure,

Preserve our souls devout and pure.

The Faith that first must be possessed,

Root deep within our inmost breast:

And joyous Hope in second place,

Then Charity, thy greatest grace.

Psalm 50 (51) God, have mercy on me

“You must be made new in mind and spirit, and put on the new nature of God’s creating” (Eph 4:23,24).

O God, you will not spurn a humbled, contrite heart.

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.

In your compassion blot out my offence.

O wash me more and more from my guilt

and cleanse me from my sin.

My offences truly I know them;

my sin is always before me.

Against you, you alone, have I sinned;

what is evil in your sight I have done.

That you may be justified when you give sentence

and be without reproach when you judge,

O see, in guilt I was born,

a sinner was I conceived.

Indeed you love truth in the heart;

then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom.

O purify me, then I shall be clean;

O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me hear rejoicing and gladness,

that the bones you have crushed may revive.

From my sins turn away your face

and blot out all my guilt.

A pure heart create for me, O God,

put a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from your presence,

nor deprive me of your holy spirit.

Give me again the joy of your help;

with a spirit of fervour sustain me,

that I may teach transgressors your ways

and sinners may return to you.

O rescue me, God, my helper,

and my tongue shall ring out your goodness.

O Lord, open my lips

and my mouth shall declare your praise.

For in sacrifice you take no delight,

burnt offering from me you would refuse,

my sacrifice, a contrite spirit.

A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.

In your goodness, show favour to Zion:

rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice,

holocausts offered on your altar.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

O God, you will not spurn a humbled, contrite heart.

Canticle	Habakkuk 3

The Lord will appear in judgement

“Lift up your heads, for your redemption is near at hand” (Lk 21:28).

In spite of your anger, Lord, have compassion.

Lord, I have heard of your fame,

I stand in awe at your deeds.

Do them again in our days,

in our days make them known!

In spite of your anger, have compassion.

God comes forth from Teman,

the Holy One comes from Mount Paran.

His splendour covers the sky

and his glory fills the earth.

His brilliance is like the light,

rays flash from his hands;

there his power is hidden.

You march out to save your people,

to save the one you have anointed.

You made a path for your horses in the sea,

in the raging of the mighty waters.

This I heard and I tremble with terror,

my lips quiver at the sound.

Weakness invades my bones,

my steps fail beneath me

yet I calmly wait for the doom

that will fall upon the people who assail us.

For even though the fig does not blossom,

nor fruit grow on the vine,

even though the olive crop fail,

and fields produce no harvest,

even though flocks vanish from the folds

and stalls stand empty of cattle,

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord

and exult in God my saviour.

The Lord my God is my strength.

He makes me leap like the deer,

he guides me to the high places.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

In spite of your anger, Lord, have compassion.

Psalm 147 (147B) God, the foundation of Jerusalem

“Come, and I will show you the bride that the Lamb has chosen” (Rev 21:9).

O praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

Zion, praise your God!

He has strengthened the bars of your gates

he has blessed the children within you.

He established peace on your borders,

he feeds you with finest wheat.

He sends out his word to the earth

and swiftly runs his command.

He showers down snow white as wool,

he scatters hoar-frost like ashes.

He hurls down hailstones like crumbs.

The waters are frozen at his touch;

he sends forth his word and it melts them:

at the breath of his mouth the waters flow.

He makes his word known to Jacob,

to Israel his laws and decrees.

He has not dealt thus with other nations;

he has not taught them his decrees.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

O praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

Short Reading
Ephesians 2:13-16

Now in Christ Jesus, you that used to be so far apart from us have been brought very close, by the blood of Christ. For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, actually destroying in his own person the hostility caused by the rules and decrees of the Law. This was to create one single New Man in himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace through the cross, to unite them both in a single Body and reconcile them with God: in his own person he killed the hostility.

Short Responsory

I call to the Lord, the Most High, for he has been my help.

– I call to the Lord, the Most High, for he has been my help.

May he send from heaven and save me.

– I call to the Lord, the Most High, for he has been my help.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

– I call to the Lord, the Most High, for he has been my help.

Canticle	Benedictus

The Messiah and the one who was sent before him

Through the loving mercy of our God, the Rising Sun has come to visit us.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel!

He has visited his people and redeemed them.

He has raised up for us a mighty saviour

in the house of David his servant,

as he promised by the lips of holy men,

those who were his prophets from of old.

A saviour who would free us from our foes,

from the hands of all who hate us.

So his love for our fathers is fulfilled

and his holy covenant remembered.

He swore to Abraham our father to grant us,

that free from fear, and saved from the hands of our foes,

we might serve him in holiness and justice

all the days of our life in his presence.

As for you, little child,

you shall be called a prophet of God, the Most High.

You shall go ahead of the Lord

to prepare his ways before him,

To make known to his people their salvation

through forgiveness of all their sins,

the loving-kindness of the heart of our God

who visits us like the dawn from on high.

He will give light to those in darkness,

those who dwell in the shadow of death,

and guide us into the way of peace.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Through the loving mercy of our God, the Rising Sun has come to visit us.

Prayers and intercessions

Father, we praise you for your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; through the Holy Spirit he offered himself in sacrifice to you, that we might be delivered from death and selfishness, and be free to live in your peace.