Morning Prayer (Lauds)
If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, you should precede it with the Invitatory Psalm.
INTRODUCTION
O God, come to our aid.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
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.
Hymn
Creator of the earth and skies,
To whom the words of life belong,
Grant us thy truth to make us wise;
Grant us thy power to make us strong.
Like theirs of old, our life is death,
Our light is darkness, till we see
The eternal Word made flesh and breath,
The God who walked by Galilee.
We have not known thee: to the skies
Our monuments of folly soar,
And all our self-wrought miseries
Have made us trust ourselves the more.
We have not loved thee: far and wide
The wreckage of our hatred spreads,
And evils wrought by human pride
Recoil on unrepentant heads.
For this, our foolish confidence,
Our pride of knowledge and our sin,
We come to thee in penitence;
In us the work of grace begin.
Psalm 41 (42)
Longing for the Lord and his temple
When can I enter and see the face of God?
Like a deer that longs for springs of water,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, the living God:
when shall I come and stand before the face of God?
My tears are my food, by day and by night,
and everyone asks, “where is your God?”.
I remember how I went up to your glorious dwelling-place
and into the house of God:
the memory melts my soul.
The sound of joy and thanksgiving,
the crowds at the festival.
Why are you so sad, my soul,
and anxious within me?
Put your hope in the Lord, I will praise him still,
my saviour and my God.
My soul is sad within me,
and so I will remember you
in the lands of Jordan and Hermon,
on the mountain of Mizar.
Deep calls to deep
in your rushing waters:
and all your torrents, all your waves
have flowed over me.
By day the Lord sends his kindness upon me;
by night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
I will say to God:
“You are my support, why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go in mourning, while the enemy persecutes me?.”
As my bones break,
my persecutors deride me,
all the time saying “where is your God?.”
Why are you so sad, my soul,
and anxious within me?
Put your hope in the Lord, I will praise him still,
my saviour and my God.
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.
When can I enter and see the face of God?
Canticle
Ecclesiasticus 36
A prayer for Jerusalem, the holy city
Show us, Lord, the light of your mercy.
God of all, have mercy on us, take notice of us,
and show us the light of your mercies.
Make the nations fear you, who have not sought you out,
make them know that there is no God except you,
let them tell of your wonders.
Lift up your hand over foreign nations, that they may see your power –
for just as in their sight you have been sanctified in us,
so in our sight you will be magnified in them.
Lift up your hand so that they may know, as we know,
that there is no God but you, Lord.
Bring forth new signs and repeat your wonders;
glorify your hand, show the strength of your arm.
Gather together all the tribes of Jacob,
give them back the inheritance they had from the beginning.
Take pity on your people, over whom we invoke your name,
and on Israel, whom you have made equal to your firstborn.
Take pity on the city you have sanctified,
Jerusalem, the place of your rest.
Fill Zion with your majesty;
fill your temple with your glory.
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.
Show us, Lord, the light of your mercy.
Psalm 18 (19)
Praise of God the creator
Blessed are you, Lord, in the vault of heaven.
The skies tell the story of the glory of God,
the firmament proclaims the work of his hands;
day pours out the news to day,
night passes to night the knowledge.
Not a speech, not a word,
not a voice goes unheard.
Their sound is spread throughout the earth,
their message to all the corners of the world.
At the ends of the earth he has set up
a dwelling place for the sun.
Like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
it rejoices like an athlete at the race to be run.
It appears at the edge of the sky,
runs its course to the sky’s furthest edge.
Nothing can hide from its heat.
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.
Blessed are you, Lord, in the vault of heaven.
Short Reading
Exodus 19:4-6
©
You yourselves have seen what I did with the Egyptians, how I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself. From this you know that now, if you obey my voice and hold fast to my covenant, you of all the nations shall be my very own for all the earth is mine. I will count you a kingdom of priests, a consecrated nation.
Short Responsory
It is he who will free me from the snare of the hunters.
– It is he who will free me from the snare of the hunters.
And from the evil word.
– It is he who will free me from the snare of the hunters.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– It is he who will free me from the snare of the hunters.
Canticle
Benedictus
The Messiah and his forerunner
Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate, says the Lord.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
for he has come to his people and brought about their redemption.
He has raised up the sign of salvation
in the house of his servant David,
as he promised through the mouth of the holy ones,
his prophets through the ages:
to rescue us from our enemies
and all who hate us,
to take pity on our fathers,
to remember his holy covenant
and the oath he swore to Abraham our father,
that he would give himself to us,
that we could serve him without fear
– freed from the hands of our enemies –
in uprightness and holiness before him,
for all of our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High:
for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his path,
to let his people know their salvation,
so that their sins may be forgiven.
Through the bottomless mercy of our God,
one born on high will visit us
to give light to those who walk in darkness,
who live in the shadow of death;
to lead our feet in the path 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.
Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate, says the Lord.
Prayers and intercessions
Blessed be God the Father. On this day of Lent he has given us the grace of offering the sacrifice of praise. Let us pray to him with confidence:
– Lord, transform our lives by your divine teaching.
Almighty Father, grant us a spirit of prayer and penance;
grant that we may love you and one another.
– Lord, transform our lives by your divine teaching.
Let us work with you to restore all things in Christ,
to renew the world through your justice and peace.
– Lord, transform our lives by your divine teaching.
In the name of every creature under heaven we praise you;
teach us to respect all that you have made.
– Lord, transform our lives by your divine teaching.
Forgive us for the times we have failed Christ in the poor;
have mercy on us in our weakness.
– Lord, transform our lives by your divine teaching.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
You teach us, Lord,
to discipline the body for the good of the soul:
give us grace to refrain from all sin,
and to set our hearts on fulfilling your precepts.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Lord bless us, and keep us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
