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. Alleluia.
Hymn
Light’s glittering morn bedecks the sky,
Heav’n thunders forth its victor cry:
The glad earth shouts her triumph high,
And groaning hell makes wild reply.
While he, the King of sovereign might,
Treads down death’s strength in death’s despite,
And trampling hell by victor’s right,
Brings forth his sleeping saints to light.
Fast barred beneath the stone of late,
In watch and ward where soldiers wait,
Now shining in triumphant state,
He rises victor from death’s gate.
Hell’s pains are loosed and tears are fled:
Captivity is captive led:
The angel, crowned with light, hath said:
‘The Lord is risen from the dead.’
Author of all, be thou our guide
In this our joy of Eastertide;
Whene’er assaults of death impend,
Thy people strengthen and defend.
To thee who, dead, again dost live,
All glory, Lord, thy people give:
All glory, as is ever meet,
To Father and to Paraclete.
Psalm 41 (42)
Longing for the Lord and his temple
My soul is yearning for you, my God, like a deer that seeks running streams. Alleluia.
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.
My soul is yearning for you, my God, like a deer that seeks running streams. Alleluia.
Canticle
Ecclesiasticus 36
A prayer for Jerusalem, the holy city
Fill Sion with songs of your praise, Lord, and let the stories of your great deeds be told. Alleluia.
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.
Fill Sion with songs of your praise, Lord, and let the stories of your great deeds be told. Alleluia.
Psalm 18 (19)
Praise of God the creator
The glory of God will illumine the city; the Lamb will be its light, alleluia.
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.
The glory of God will illumine the city; the Lamb will be its light, alleluia.
Short Reading
Romans 10:8-10
©
The word is very near to you, it is on your lips and in your heart: the word, that is, of the faith we proclaim. If your lips confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved. By believing from the heart you are made righteous; by confessing with your lips you are saved.
Short Responsory
The Lord has risen from the dead, alleluia, alleluia.
– The Lord has risen from the dead, alleluia, alleluia.
For our sake he died on the cross, alleluia, alleluia.
– The Lord has risen from the dead, alleluia, alleluia.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– The Lord has risen from the dead, alleluia, alleluia.
Canticle
Benedictus
The Messiah and his forerunner
God gave us new birth as his sons and daughters, by raising Jesus Christ from the dead, so that we have a sure hope and the promise of an inheritance that will never perish, alleluia.
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.
God gave us new birth as his sons and daughters, by raising Jesus Christ from the dead, so that we have a sure hope and the promise of an inheritance that will never perish, alleluia.
Prayers and intercessions
Let us pray to the Father, whose glory was displayed in the death and resurrection of his Son.
– Lord, enlighten our minds and hearts.
God, Father of light, you have illumined the world with the glory of Christ;
may the light of faith shine in our lives today.
– Lord, enlighten our minds and hearts.
Through the resurrection of your Son you have opened man’s way to everlasting life;
may all our work today be filled with the hope of your kingdom.
– Lord, enlighten our minds and hearts.
Through your risen Son you sent the Holy Spirit into the world;
set our hearts on fire with his divine love.
– Lord, enlighten our minds and hearts.
By hanging on the cross, your Son won our lasting freedom;
may he stay with us today as our Saviour and Redeemer.
– Lord, enlighten our minds and hearts.
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.
God of mercy,
let the mystery we celebrate at Eastertide
bear fruit for us in every season.
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.
