Sext (Midday Prayer)
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 and Maker of all things,
Creation is upheld by you.
While all must change and know decay,
You are unchanging, always new.
You are man’s solace and his shield,
His Rock secure on which to build.
You are the spirit’s tranquil home,
In you alone is hope fulfilled.
To God the Father and the Son
And Holy Spirit render praise:
Blest Trinity, from age to age
The strength of all our living days.
Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal
Psalm 118(119): 97-104
The angel Gabriel said to Mary, ‘Rejoice, most highly favoured one! The Lord is with you. Of all women you are the most blessed.’
Lord, how I love your law!
I ponder it all day long.
Your teachings have made me wise,
far above my enemies:
your law is mine for ever.
I am wiser than all my teachers,
because I ponder your teachings.
I am wiser than the elders
because I have followed your precepts.
I have kept my feet away from evil paths
to obey your commandments.
I have not fallen away from your decrees,
for you have given me a law to live by.
Sweet to the taste are your promises,
sweeter than honey in my mouth.
Your precepts have given me wisdom
and I hate the path of deception.
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.
Psalm 73 (74)
Lament over the ruined Temple
Why, God, have you rejected us so finally?
Why this rage against the sheep of your flock?
Remember those you have gathered,
those who were yours from the beginning.
The stock you redeemed to be your own possession;
the mountain of Zion, where you chose to dwell.
Turn your steps towards the final devastation:
the enemy has laid waste the sanctuary.
Those who hate you have roared
in the midst of your flock.
They have set up their emblems,
taking the place of your own.
They have raised their axes high,
hewing the wood.
With hatchets and axes
they have hewn down the doors.
They set fire to the sanctuary,
profaned and trampled your tabernacle.
They said to themselves, ‘Let us crush them
once and for all.’
They burned to the ground
every shrine of God in the land.
Our emblems have vanished,
our prophets are gone,
and none of us knows any more.
How long, O God, will the enemy deride?
Will he insult your name forever?
Why do you keep your hand away?
Why do you fold your arms?
God is our king since the beginning,
he has given us help throughout the earth.
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.
Psalm 73 (74)
You divided the sea with your power,
you smashed the heads of dragons in the water.
You smashed the head of Leviathan
and fed him to the sea-monsters.
You opened up springs and torrents
but dried up rivers that had flowed for ever.
Yours is the day and the night:
you made the sun and the other lights.
You fixed the bounds of the earth,
you created both summer and winter.
Remember all this:
and now the enemy mocks you
and a foolish people despises your name.
Do not give to the beasts
the lives of those who proclaim you.
Do not forget forever
the lives of your poor.
Think of your covenant –
every cave in the land is a refuge for the violent.
Let the humble not return ashamed:
the poor and the destitute will praise your name.
Rise up, O God, and judge your own cause!
Remember the insults you have received
all day long, from fools.
Do not forget the sound of your enemies’ voices:
their noise, growing louder.
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 angel Gabriel said to Mary, ‘Rejoice, most highly favoured one! The Lord is with you. Of all women you are the most blessed.’
Short Reading
Isaiah 4:3
©
Those who are left of Zion and remain of Jerusalem shall be called holy and those left in Jerusalem, noted down for survival.
℣. Remember us, Lord, for the love you bear your people.
℟. Come to us as a saviour.
Let us pray.
Father,
by your will your Son took upon himself
that human nature which you fashioned and redeemed.
Grant that the Word who took flesh
in the womb of the ever-virgin Mary
and became a man like us
may share with us his godhead.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Let us praise the Lord.
– Thanks be to God.
