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
Lord God, you take them when you will
Whose absence no one can replace;
Take pity on them, they are yours
Who wait in hope to see your face.
The new beginning, endless life,
Reveal in all its mystery;
Made clean in your transforming fire,
Possessed by you, they will be free.
Their eyes will see the hidden things,
Their ears will hear the sounds concealed
By mortal insufficiency,
And promised vision be revealed.
Immortal being, three in one,
Unchanging in serenity,
Restore again lost innocence,
In light undimmed, eternally.
Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal
Psalm 50 (51)
God, have mercy on me
The bones you have crushed will rejoice in you, Lord.
Take pity on me, Lord, in your mercy;
in your abundance of mercy wipe out my guilt.
Wash me ever more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know how guilty I am:
my sin is always before me.
Against you, you alone have I sinned,
and I have done evil in your sight.
Know this, so that you may give just sentence
and an unbiased judgement.
See, I was conceived in guilt,
in sin my mother conceived me;
but you love truth in the heart,
and deep within me you have shown me your wisdom.
You will sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be made clean;
you will wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
You will make me hear the sound of joy and gladness;
the bones you have crushed will rejoice.
Turn your face away from my sins
and wipe out all my transgressions;
create a pure heart in me, God,
put a steadfast spirit into me.
Do not send me away from your presence,
or withdraw your holy spirit from me;
give me again the joy of your salvation,
and be ready to strengthen me with your spirit.
I will teach the unjust your ways,
and the impious will return to you.
Free me from the guilt of bloodshed, God, God my saviour,
and my voice will glory in your justice.
Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will proclaim your praise;
for you do not delight in sacrifices:
if I offered you a burnt offering, it would not please you.
The true sacrifice is a broken spirit:
a contrite and humble heart, O God, you will not refuse.
Be pleased, Lord, to look kindly on Zion,
so that the walls of Jerusalem can be rebuilt,
Then indeed you will accept the proper sacrifices, gifts and burnt offerings;
then indeed will bullocks be laid upon your altar.
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 bones you have crushed will rejoice in you, Lord.
Canticle
Isaiah 38
The psalm of Hezekiah on recovering from sickness
Rescue my soul, Lord, from the gate of death.
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.
Rescue my soul, Lord, from the gate of death.
Psalm 145 (146)
The blessedness of those who hope in the Lord
I will praise God all my days.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
I will praise the Lord all my life,
make music to my God as long as I exist.
Do not trust in princes to save you,
they are only sons of men.
One day their breath will leave them, they will return to the ground;
on that day perish all their plans.
Happy the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who made heaven and earth and all that is in them,
who keeps faith for ever,
who gives justice to the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord frees prisoners,
he gives light to the blind,
he raises the fallen.
The Lord loves the upright, cares for strangers,
sustains orphans and widows;
but the wicked he sends astray.
The Lord will reign for all ages,
your God, O Zion, from generation to generation.
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 will praise God all my days.
Short Reading
1 Thessalonians 4:14
©
We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus: God will bring them with him.
Short Responsory
I will praise you, Lord. You have rescued me.
– I will praise you, Lord. You have rescued me.
You have changed my mourning into gladness.
– I will praise you, Lord. You have rescued me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– I will praise you, Lord. You have rescued me.
Canticle
Benedictus
The Messiah and his forerunner
I am the resurrection and the life: he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.
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.
I am the resurrection and the life: he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.
Prayers and intercessions
God, the Father almighty, raised Jesus from the dead and he will give life to our own mortal bodies. We pray to him in faith:
– Lord, bring us to life in Christ.
Holy Father, we have been buried with your Son in baptism to rise with him in glory;
may we always live in Christ and not see death for ever.
– Lord, bring us to life in Christ.
Father, you have given us the living bread from heaven to be eaten with faith and love;
grant that we may have eternal life and be raised up on the last day.
– Lord, bring us to life in Christ.
Lord, when your Son was in agony you sent an angel to console him;
at the hour of our death take away all fear and fill our hearts with hope.
– Lord, bring us to life in Christ.
You delivered the three young men from the blazing furnace;
free the souls of the dead from the punishments their sins have deserved.
– Lord, bring us to life in Christ.
God of the living and the dead, you brought Jesus back to life;
raise up the faithful departed, and let us come with them into your heavenly glory.
– Lord, bring us to life in Christ.
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.
Grant, Lord, we pray,
that as our faith is built on the Risen Christ,
so too our hope may be steadfast
as we await the resurrection of all the faithful departed.
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.
