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 118 (119): 145-152
My eyes watch for you before dawn.
I call on you with all my heart –
answer me, Lord.
I will obey your laws.
I call on you –
save me
so that I can keep your decrees.
At first light I cry to you,
I put all my hope in your word.
In the night I keep watch,
pondering your sayings.
In your mercy, Lord, hear my voice;
in your justice, give me life.
My persecutors come to do me harm:
they are far from your law.
But you, Lord, are near to me,
and you are trustworthy in all your precepts.
From the beginning I have known your decrees,
how you have made them to last for ever.
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.
My eyes watch for you before dawn.
Canticle
Exodus 15
Hymn of victory after crossing the Red Sea
The Lord is my strength, I will sing his praise: he is my salvation.
I will sing to the Lord, for his triumph is glorious. Horse and rider he has cast into the sea.
The Lord is my support and my strength, and he has saved me.
This is my God, and I will give him glory
This is my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a warrior – ‘The Lord’ is his name!
Pharaoh’s chariots and army he has thrown into the sea.
Your storm raged, and the waters were piled high,
the flowing waters were a rampart, the sea-bed was exposed.
The enemy said: “I will follow and surround them;
I will divide their spoils,
have my fill of booty,
draw my sword and kill them all.”
Your wind blew,
and the sea covered them,
they sank like lead in the raging waters.
What god is like you, O Lord?
What god is like you,
so great in your holiness,
a worker of miracles,
terrible and worthy of praise?
You stretched out your hand and the earth swallowed them.
In your mercy you led your people whom you had redeemed,
in your strength you brought them to your dwelling-place.
You will lead them in and establish them
on the mountain that is your inheritance,
your solid dwelling-place, which you made, Lord;
your sanctuary, Lord, which your hands made firm.
The Lord will reign, to eternity and beyond!
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.
The Lord is my strength, I will sing his praise: he is my salvation.
Psalm 116 (117)
Praise of the merciful Lord
O praise the Lord, all you nations.†
Praise the Lord, all nations; all peoples, praise him.
For his mercy is strong over us and his faithfulness is for ever.
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, all you nations.
Short Reading
Isaiah 65:1-3
©
I said, ‘I am here, I am here’, to a nation that did not invoke my name. Each day I stretched out my hand to a rebellious people who went by evil ways, following their own whims, a people who provoked me to my face incessantly.
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
Jesus died to gather together the children of God, who were scattered.
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.
Jesus died to gather together the children of God, who were scattered.
Prayers and intercessions
Christ the Lord has made men into a new creation. He gives them a new birth in the waters of baptism and nourishes them with his word and his body. Let us glorify him in our prayer.
– Renew us, Lord, by your grace.
Jesus, you are gentle and humble in spirit;
grant us something of your pity, something of your kindness and something of your patience towards all men.
– Renew us, Lord, by your grace.
Teach us to be neighbours to the sad and the needy;
let us imitate you, the good Samaritan.
– Renew us, Lord, by your grace.
May the Blessed Virgin, your Mother, intercede for religious women;
through her prayers may they serve you in the Church ever more perfectly.
– Renew us, Lord, by your grace.
Grant us the gift of your mercy,
pardon our sins and save us from punishment.
– Renew us, Lord, by your grace.
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,
at all times you are working out the salvation of man,
but now more especially you enrich your people with grace.
Look kindly on this people:
keep the seal of baptism inviolate in those who have received it
and in those who still await their rebirth in the Spirit.
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.
