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
Sing my tongue, the glorious battle,
Sing the ending of the fray;
To the Cross, our noble trophy,
Here a fitting tribute pay,
Telling how the world’s Redeemer,
Slain as victim, won the day.
Tell how, when at length the fullness
Of the appointed time was come,
He, the Word, was born of woman,
Left for us his Father’s home,
Showed to men the perfect manhood,
Shone as light amidst the gloom.
Now the thirty years are ended
Which on earth he willed to see,
Willingly he meets his Passion,
Born to set his people free;
On the Cross the Lamb is lifted,
There the sacrifice to be.
Faithful Cross, above all other,
One and only noble Tree,
None in foliage, none in blossom,
None in fruit thy peer may be;
Sweet the wood and sweet the iron,
And the load, most sweet is he.
Unto God be praise and glory:
To the Father and the Son,
To the eternal Spirit, honour
Now and evermore be done;
Praise and glory in the highest,
While the timeless ages run.
Psalm 63 (64)
A prayer against enemies
They will mourn for him as for an only son, since it is the innocent one of the Lord who has been slain.
Listen, O God, to my voice;
keep me safe from fear of the enemy.
Protect me from the alliances of the wicked,
from the crowd of those who do evil.
They have sharpened their tongues like swords,
aimed poisonous words like arrows,
to shoot at the innocent in secret.
They will attack without warning, without fear,
for they are firm in their evil purpose.
They have set out to hide their snares
– for they say, “Who will see us?”
They have thought out plans to commit wicked deeds,
and they carry out what they have planned.
Truly the heart and soul of a man
are bottomless depths.
And God has shot them with his arrow:
in a moment, they are wounded –
their own tongues have brought them low.
All who see them will shake their heads;
all will behold them with fear
and proclaim the workings of God
and understand what he has done.
The just will rejoice and hope in the Lord:
the upright in heart will give him 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.
They will mourn for him as for an only son, since it is the innocent one of the Lord who has been slain.
Canticle
Isaiah 38
The psalm of Hezekiah on recovering from sickness
Save my soul from the gates of hell, Lord.
I said, in the middle of my days
I am going to the gates of the underworld.
Where shall I find the remainder of my years?
I said, I will not see the Lord God in the land of the living,
I will never see another of the inhabitants of the earth.
My dwelling-place is taken away, taken far away from me,
like the tent of a shepherd.
Like a weaver, he has rolled up my life
and cut it off from the loom.
From morning to night,
you have made an end of me.
I cried for help till daybreak;
like a lion, he has crushed all my bones.
From morning to night,
you have made an end of me.
I twitter like a fledgling sparrow,
make noises like a dove.
My eyes are weak
from looking upward.
But you have pulled my soul out of the pit of destruction,
you have put all my sins behind you.
For after all, the underworld will not proclaim you,
nor death praise you;
those who go down there
do not wait in hope for your faithfulness.
It is the living, the living who will proclaim you,
as I do today.
Fathers will pass on to their children
the truth of your faithfulness.
Save me, Lord,
and to the sound of the harp we will sing to you,
all the days of our life,
in the house of the Lord.
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.
Save my soul from the gates of hell, Lord.
Psalm 150
Praise the Lord
I was dead and now I am to live for ever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and of hell.
Praise the Lord in his sanctuary,
praise him in his mighty firmament.
Praise him for his mighty deeds,
praise him for all his greatness.
Praise him with trumpet-blasts,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with timbrel and dance,
praise him with strings and pipes,
praise him with cymbals resounding,
praise him with cymbals of jubilation.
All that breathes, praise the Lord!
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.
I was dead and now I am to live for ever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and of hell.
Short Reading
Hosea 5:15-6:2
©
The Lord says this: They will search for me in their misery. ‘Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces, but he will heal us; he has struck us down, but he will bandage our wounds; after a day or two he will bring us back to life, on the third day he will raise us and we shall live in his presence.’
Short Responsory
Christ humbled himself for us and, in obedience, accepted death, even death on a cross. Therefore God raised him to the heights and gave him the name which is above all other names.
Canticle
Benedictus
The Messiah and his forerunner
Save us, Saviour of the world. By your cross and the shedding of your blood you have redeemed us. Come to help us, Lord, our God.
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.
Save us, Saviour of the world. By your cross and the shedding of your blood you have redeemed us. Come to help us, Lord, our God.
Prayers and intercessions
Let us pray to our Redeemer, who suffered for us, was buried, and rose from the dead.
– Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, our Lord, you saw your mother standing by the cross;
may we share your saving passion in our time of suffering.
– Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, our Saviour, you died like a grain of wheat falling into the ground;
gather us to yourself in the harvest of redemption.
– Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, our shepherd, lying in the tomb you were hidden from men;
teach us to love our real life, which is hidden with you in God.
– Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, the new Adam, you went down into the world of the dead to free the just;
may those who are dead in sin hear your voice and live.
– Lord, have mercy on us.
Son of the living God, we were buried with you in baptism;
let us rise with you, alive to God for ever.
– Lord, have mercy on us.
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.
Almighty, ever-living God,
whose Only-Begotten Son descended to the realm of the dead,
and rose from there to glory,
grant that your faithful people,
who were buried with him in baptism,
may, by his resurrection, obtain eternal life.
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.
