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
Lord, who throughout these forty days
For us didst fast and pray,
Teach us with thee to mourn our sins,
And close by thee to stay.
As thou with Satan didst contend,
And didst the victory win,
O give us strength in thee to fight,
In thee to conquer sin.
As thirst and hunger thou didst bear,
So teach us, gracious Lord,
To die to self, and daily live
By thy most holy word.
And through these days of penitence,
And through thy Passiontide,
Yea, evermore, in life and death,
Jesus, with us abide.
Psalm 89 (90)
Let the Lord's glory shine upon us
In the morning, Lord, you fill us with your love.
Lord, you have been our refuge
from generation to generation.
Before the mountains were born,
before earth and heaven were conceived,
from all time to all time, you are God.
You turn men into dust,
you say to them “go back, children of men.”
A thousand years in your sight
are like yesterday, that has passed;
like a short watch in the night.
When you take them away, they will be nothing but a dream;
like the grass that sprouts in the morning:
in the morning it grows and flowers,
in the evening it withers and dries.
For we are made weak by your anger,
thrown into confusion by your wrath.
You have gazed upon our transgressions;
the light of your face illuminates our secrets.
All our days vanish in your anger,
we use up our years in a single breath.
Seventy years are what we have,
or eighty for the stronger ones;
and most of that is labour and sadness –
quickly they pass, and we are gone.
Who can comprehend the power of your wrath?
Who can behold the violence of your anger?
Teach us to reckon our days like this,
so that our hearts may be led at last to wisdom.
Turn to us, Lord, how long must we wait?
Let your servants call on you and be answered.
Fill us with your kindness in the morning,
and we shall rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.
Give us joy for as long as you afflicted us,
for all the years when we suffered.
Let your servants see your great works,
and let their children see your glory.
Let the glory of the Lord God be upon us:
make firm the work of your hands.
Make firm the work of your hands.
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 the morning, Lord, you fill us with your love.
Canticle
Isaiah 42
God, the victor and saviour
Let the praise of the Lord resound from the ends of the earth.
Sing a new song to the Lord:
sing his praise from the ends of the earth.
Praise him, who go down to the sea;
and all that are in the sea,
islands and their inhabitants.
Let the desert rejoice,
and the cities of the desert,
the villages where the people of Kedar live.
Let those who dwell in Petra rejoice,
and cry out from the mountain-tops.
Let them give glory to the Lord,
and proclaim his praise among the islands.
The Lord will go forth like a warrior,
like a man of war he will stir up zeal;
he will shout and cry out;
he will prevail against his foes.
“I have always been silent,
I have kept silence and waited;
but now I shall cry out like a woman in labour,
I shall groan and tremble.
I shall lay waste the mountains and hills,
I shall wither their grass,
I shall turn rivers into deserts,
I shall dry up the marshes.
I shall lead the blind along a way they do not know;
in paths unknown to them I shall make them walk.
I shall make the darkness that is around them into light.
I shall make crooked things straight.”
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.
Let the praise of the Lord resound from the ends of the earth.
Psalm 134 (135)
Praise the Lord, the wonder-worker
Praise the name of the Lord, you who stand in the house of the Lord.
Praise the name of the Lord:
praise it, servants of the Lord,
you who stand in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God.
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
sing to his name, for it brings happiness.
For the Lord chose Jacob for his own,
he chose Israel for his possession.
I know how great is the Lord,
how great is our God above all gods.
The Lord accomplishes all that he wills,
in the heavens and on the earth,
in the sea and the depths of the oceans.
He brings in clouds from the ends of the earth,
makes lightning for the rain-clouds,
from his storehouse he calls forth the winds.
He struck down the first-born of Egypt,
of man and of beast alike.
He sent signs and wonders among them,
to Pharaoh and all his servants.
He shattered nation after nation,
killed powerful kings:
Sihon, king of the Amorites,
Og, the king of Bashan,
all the kingdoms of Canaan.
He gave their lands as a birthright,
as a birthright for Israel his people.
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.
Praise the name of the Lord, you who stand in the house of the Lord.
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
There was a certain official whose son was ill at Capharnaum. When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee, he asked him to come and heal his son.
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.
There was a certain official whose son was ill at Capharnaum. When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee, he asked him to come and heal his son.
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.
Lord God, you give the world new life
by mysteries which are beyond our grasp.
May your Church not be deprived of earthly help
while she makes progress by the strength of these eternal gifts.
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.
