Friday 20 December 2019
20 December
Office of Readings
(combined with Lauds)
This is the Office of Readings joined to another Hour, as described in §99 of the General Instruction. To see the Office of Readings on its own, use the menu button on the right.
Introduction (without Invitatory)
If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, use the version with the Invitatory Psalm instead.
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
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
O come, now Wisdom from on high,
Who orders all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
O come, O come, now Lord of might,
Who to your tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times you gave the law,
In cloud, and majesty, and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
________
Psalm 68 (69)
I am consumed with zeal for your house
“They gave him wine to drink mixed with gall” (Mt 27:34).
I am wearied with all my crying as I await my God.
Sáve me, O Gód, *
for the wáters have rísen to my néck.
I have súnk into the múd of the déep *
and there is nó fóothold.
I have éntered the wáters of the déep *
and the wáves overwhélm me.
I am wéaried with áll my crýing, *
my thróat is párched.
My éyes are wásted awáy *
from lóoking for my Gód.
More númerous than the háirs on my héad *
are those who háte me without cáuse.
Thóse who attáck me with líes *
are too múch for my stréngth.
Hów can Í restóre *
what I have néver stólen?
O Gód, you know my sínful fólly; *
my síns you can sée.
Let those who hópe in you nót be put to sháme *
through mé, Lord of hósts:
let not thóse who séek you be dismáyed *
through mé, God of Ísrael.
It is for yóu that I súffer táunts, *
that sháme cóvers my fáce,
that I have becóme a stránger to my bróthers, *
an álien to my ówn mother’s sóns.
I búrn with zéal for your hóuse *
and táunts against yóu fall on mé.
When I afflíct my sóul with fásting *
they máke it a táunt agáinst me.
When I pút on sáckcloth in móurning *
thén they máke me a býword,
the góssip of mén at the gátes, *
the súbject of drúnkards’ sóngs.
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 wearied with all my crying as I await my God.
________
Psalm 68 (69)
For food they gave me poison, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Thís is my práyer to yóu, *
my práyer for your fávour.
In your great lóve, ánswer me, O Gód, *
with your hélp that never fáils:
réscue me from sínking in the múd; *
sáve me from my fóes.
Sáve me from the wáters of the déep *
lest the wáves overwhélm me.
Dó not let the déep engúlf me *
nor déath clóse its móuth on me.
Lord, ánswer, for your lóve is kínd; *
in your compássion, túrn tówards me.
Do not híde your fáce from your sérvant; *
answer quíckly for Í am in distréss.
Come clóse to my sóul and redéem me; *
ránsom me préssed by my fóes.
You knów how they táunt and deríde me; *
my oppréssors are áll befóre you.
Táunts have bróken my héart; *
I have réached the énd of my stréngth.
I lóoked in váin for compássion, *
for consólers; not óne could I fínd.
For fóod they gáve me póison; *
in my thírst they gave me vínegar to drínk.
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.
For food they gave me poison, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
________
Psalm 68 (69)
Seek the Lord, and he will give life to your soul.
As for mé in my póverty and páin *
let your hélp, O Gód, lift me úp.
I will práise God’s náme with a sóng; *
I will glórify hím with thanksgíving.
A gíft pleasing Gód more than óxen, *
more than béasts prepáred for sácrifice.
The póor when they sée it will be glád *
and Gód-seeking héarts will revíve;
for the Lórd lístens to the néedy *
and does not spúrn his sérvants in their cháins.
Let the héavens and the éarth give him práise, *
the séa and all its líving créatures.
For Gód will bring hélp to Síon †
and rebúild the cíties of Júdah *
and mén shall dwéll there in posséssion.
The sóns of his sérvants shall inhérit it; *
thóse who love his náme shall dwéll there.
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.
Seek the Lord, and he will give life to your soul.
Psalm-prayer
God our Father, to show the way of salvation, you chose that the standard of the cross should go before us, and you fulfilled the ancient prophecies in Christ’s passover from death to life. Do not let us rouse your burning indignation by sin, but rather, through the contemplation of his wounds, make us burn with zeal for the honour of your Church and with grateful love for you.
________
℣. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord.
℟. Make straight the paths of our God.
________
First Reading
Isaiah 48:1-11
God alone is the Lord of the future
Listen to this, House of Jacob,
you who bear the name of Israel,
and have sprung from the seed of Judah;
you who swear by the name of the Lord
and invoke the God of Israel
though not in good faith or uprightness –
calling yourselves after the holy city
and bolstering yourselves on the God of Israel,
whose name is ‘The Lord of Hosts.’
Things now past I once revealed long ago,
they went out from my mouth and I proclaimed them;
then suddenly I acted and they happened.
For I knew you to be obstinate,
your neck an iron bar,
your forehead bronze.
And so I revealed things beforehand,
before they happened I announced them to you,
so that you could not say, ‘My idol was the one that performed them,
it was my carved image, my image of cast metal, that decreed them.’
You have heard and seen all this,
will you not admit it?
Now I am revealing new things to you,
things hidden and unknown to you,
created just now, this very moment,
of these things you have heard nothing until now,
so that you cannot say, ‘Oh yes, I knew all this.’
You had never heard,
you did not know,
I had not opened your ear beforehand;
for I knew how treacherous you were,
and that you have deserved the name of rebel from your birth.
For the sake of my name I deferred my anger,
for the sake of my honour I curbed it; I did not destroy you.
And now I have put you in the fire like silver,
I have tested you in the furnace of distress.
For my sake and my sake only have I acted –
is my name to be profaned?
Never will I yield my glory to another.
Responsory
Is 48:10-11, 54:8
℟. I have tested you in the furnace of distress. For my sake only have I acted – is my name to be profaned?* Never will I yield my glory to another.
℣. In excess of anger, for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I have taken pity on you.* Never will I yield my glory to another.
________
Second Reading
From a sermon of St Bernard of Clairvaux
The whole world awaits Mary's reply
You have heard, O Virgin, that you will conceive and bear a son; you have heard that it will not be by man but by the Holy Spirit. The angel awaits an answer; it is time for him to return to God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady, for your word of compassion; the sentence of condemnation weighs heavily upon us.
The price of our salvation is offered to you. We shall be set free at once if you consent. In the eternal Word of God we all came to be, and behold, we die. In your brief response we are to be remade in order to be recalled to life.
Tearful Adam with his sorrowing family begs this of you, O loving Virgin, in their exile from Paradise. Abraham begs it, David begs it. All the other holy patriarchs, your ancestors, ask it of you, as they dwell in the country of the shadow of death. This is what the whole earth waits for, prostrate at your feet. It is right in doing so, for on your word depends comfort for the wretched, ransom for the captive, freedom for the condemned, indeed, salvation for all the sons of Adam, the whole of your race.
Answer quickly, O Virgin. Reply in haste to the angel, or rather through the angel to the Lord. Answer with a word, receive the Word of God. Speak your own word, conceive the divine Word. Breathe a passing word, embrace the eternal Word.
Why do you delay, why are you afraid? Believe, give praise, and receive. Let humility be bold, let modesty be confident. This is no time for virginal simplicity to forget prudence. In this matter alone, O prudent Virgin, do not fear to be presumptuous. Though modest silence is pleasing, dutiful speech is now more necessary. Open your heart to faith, O blessed Virgin, your lips to praise, your womb to the Creator. See, the desired of all nations is at your door, knocking to enter. If he should pass by because of your delay, in sorrow you would begin to seek him afresh, the One whom your soul loves. Arise, hasten, open. Arise in faith, hasten in devotion, open in praise and thanksgiving. Behold the handmaid of the Lord, she says, be it done to me according to your word.
Responsory
℟. Virgin Mary, receive the word of the Lord brought to you by the angel: You will conceive and bear a son, both God and man.* You will be called, Blessed among all women.
℣. You will indeed bear a son, yet suffer no loss of virginity; you will be with child, yet remain a mother ever undefiled.* You will be called, Blessed among all women.
________
Psalm 50 (51)
God, have mercy on me
“You must be made new in mind and spirit, and put on the new nature of God’s creating” (Eph 4:23,24).
The one who is to rule will come from Sion: ‘The Lord, Immanuel’ is his great name.
Have mércy on me, Gód, in your kíndness. *
In your compássion blot óut my offénce.
O wásh me more and móre from my gúilt *
and cléanse me fróm my sín.
My offénces trúly I knów them; *
my sín is álways befóre me.
Against yóu, you alóne, have I sínned; *
what is évil in your síght I have dóne.
That you may be jústified whén you give séntence *
and be withóut repróach when you júdge,
O sée, in gúilt I was bórn, *
a sínner was Í concéived.
Indéed you love trúth in the héart; *
then in the sécret of my héart teach me wísdom.
O púrify me, thén I shall be cléan; *
O wásh me, I shall be whíter than snów.
Make me héar rejóicing and gládness, *
that the bónes you have crúshed may revíve.
From my síns turn awáy your fáce *
and blót out áll my gúilt.
A púre heart creáte for me, O Gód, *
put a stéadfast spírit withín me.
Do not cást me awáy from your présence, *
nor depríve me of your hóly spírit.
Give me agáin the jóy of your hélp; *
with a spírit of férvour sustáin me,
that I may téach transgréssors your wáys *
and sínners may retúrn to yóu.
O réscue me, Gód, my hélper, *
and my tóngue shall ríng out your góodness.
O Lórd, ópen my líps *
and my móuth shall decláre your práise.
For in sácrifice you táke no delíght, *
burnt óffering from mé you would refúse,
my sácrifice, a cóntrite spírit. *
A húmbled, contrite héart you will not spúrn.
In your góodness, show fávour to Síon: *
rebúild the wálls of Jerúsalem.
Thén you will be pléased with lawful sácrifice, *
hólocausts óffered on your áltar.
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 one who is to rule will come from Sion: ‘The Lord, Immanuel’ is his great name.
Psalm-prayer
Father, he who knew no sin was made sin for us, to save us and restore us to your friendship. Look upon our contrite heart and afflicted spirit and heal our troubled conscience, so that in the joy and strength of the Holy Spirit we may proclaim your praise and glory before all the nations.
________
Canticle
Jeremiah 14
Lamentation of the people in the time of famine and war
“The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:15).
Stand steadfast. You will see the helping power of the Lord.
Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, *
and let them not cease,
for the virgin daughter of my people is smitten with a great wound, *
with a very grievous blow.
If I go out into the field, *
behold, those slain by the sword!
And if I enter the city, *
behold, the diseases of famine!
For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land, *
and have no knowledge.
Have you utterly rejected Judah? *
Does your soul loathe Sion?
Why have you smitten us *
so that there is no healing for us?
We looked for peace, *
but no good came;
for a time of healing, *
but behold, terror.
We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord, †
and the iniquity of our fathers, *
for we have sinned against you.
Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake, †
do not dishonour your glorious throne; *
remember and do not break your covenant with 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.
Stand steadfast. You will see the helping power of the Lord.
________
Psalm 99 (100)
Enter the Temple with joy
“The Lord calls all those he has redeemed to sing a hymn of victory” (St Athanasius).
I look to the Lord; I will await the God who saves me.
Cry out with jóy to the Lórd, all the éarth. †
Sérve the Lórd with gládness. *
Come befóre him, sínging for jóy.
Know that hé, the Lórd, is Gód. †
He máde us, we belóng to hím, *
we are his péople, the shéep of his flóck.
Gó within his gátes, giving thánks. †
Enter his cóurts with sóngs of práise. *
Give thánks to him and bléss his náme.
Indéed, how góod is the Lórd, †
etérnal his mérciful lóve. *
He is fáithful from áge to áge.
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 look to the Lord; I will await the God who saves me.
Psalm-prayer
With joy and gladness we cry out to you, Lord, and ask you: open our hearts to sing your praises and announce your goodness and truth.
Or:
God, devoted to us as a Father, you created us as a sign of your power and elected us your people to show your goodness. Accept the thanks your children offer that all men may enter your courts praising you in song.
________
Short Reading
Genesis 49:10
The sceptre shall not pass from Judah, nor the mace from between his feet, until the one comes to whom it belongs, to whom the peoples shall render obedience.
________
Short Responsory
The glory of the Lord will shine on you, Jerusalem. Like the sun he will rise over you.
– The glory of the Lord will shine on you, Jerusalem. Like the sun he will rise over you.
His glory will appear in your midst.
– The glory of the Lord will shine on you, Jerusalem. Like the sun he will rise over you.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– The glory of the Lord will shine on you, Jerusalem. Like the sun he will rise over you.
________
Canticle
Benedictus
The Messiah and the one who was sent before him
The angel Gabriel was sent to the Virgin Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph.
Bléssed be the Lórd, the Gód of Ísrael! *
He has vísited his péople and redéemed them.
He has raised úp for ús a mighty sáviour *
in the hóuse of Dávid his sérvant,
as he prómised by the líps of holy mén, *
thóse who were his próphets from of óld.
A sáviour who would frée us from our fóes, *
from the hánds of áll who háte us.
So his lóve for our fáthers is fulfílled *
and his hóly covenant remémbered.
He swóre to Ábraham our fáther to gránt us, *
that frée from féar, and sáved from the hánds of our fóes,
we might sérve him in hóliness and jústice *
all the dáys of our lífe in his présence.
As for yóu, little chíld, *
you shall be cálled a próphet of Gód, the Most Hígh.
You shall go ahéad of the Lórd *
to prépare his wáys befóre him,
To make knówn to his péople their salvátion *
through forgíveness of áll their síns,
the loving-kíndness of the héart of our Gód *
who vísits us like the dáwn from on hígh.
He will give líght to those in dárkness, †
those who dwéll in the shádow of déath, *
and gúide us into the wáy of péace.
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 was sent to the Virgin Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph.
________
Prayers and intercessions
It is time for us to wake from our sleep: the day of our salvation is near.
– Lord, may your kingdom come!
Help us to show our repentance
by a new way of living.
– Lord, may your kingdom come!
Prepare us for the coming of your Word
by opening our hearts to receive him.
– Lord, may your kingdom come!
Help us to overcome our pride,
and raise us from the depths of our weakness.
– Lord, may your kingdom come!
Throw down the walls of hatred between nations,
clear the way for those who work for peace.
– Lord, may your kingdom come!
________
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, at the angel’s message
Mary, the immaculate Virgin,
became the temple of God
and was filled with the light of the Holy Spirit
when she received your divine Word.
Grant that, after her example,
we may humbly and steadfastly follow your will.
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.
Copyright © 1996-2019 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). Used with permission of A.P. Watt Ltd. All rights reserved.
________
The week’s sequence of readings from Scripture has been interrupted today, because today’s feast has a First Reading of its own.
The reading you would otherwise have seen is shown below. It is perfectly reasonable (and encouraged) to join it on to yesterday’s or tomorrow’s First Reading, if it goes well with one of them and you think this is a sensible way of avoiding a gap.
Isaiah 33:7-24
Future salvation
Look, Ariel is lamenting in the streets,
the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
The highways are deserted,
no travellers use the roads.
Treaties are broken, witnesses despised,
there is respect for no one.
The land mourns, it pines away,
Lebanon is withered with shame,
Sharon is a desert,
Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare.
‘Now I stand up,’ says the Lord
‘now I rise to my full height.
You have conceived chaff, you will give birth to straw,
my breath shall devour you like fire.
‘The peoples will be reduced to lime,
like cut thorns they will be burnt in the fire.
You who are far away, listen to what I have done,
and you who are near, realise my strength.’
Sinners in Zion are struck with horror
and fear seizes on the godless.
Which of us can live with this devouring fire,
which of us exist in everlasting flames?
– He who acts with integrity,
who speaks sincerely
and rejects extortionate profit,
who waves away bribes from his hands,
shuts suggestions of murder out of his ears
and closes his eyes against crime;
this man will dwell in the heights,
he will find refuge in a citadel built on rock,
bread will be given him, he shall not want for water.
Your eyes are going to look on a king in his beauty,
they will see an immense country;
your heart will look back on its fears:
where is he who counted,
where is he who weighed out,
where is he who counted the precious stones?
You will no longer see the overweening people,
the people of obscure, unintelligible speech,
of barbarous, senseless tongue.
Look on Zion, city of our feasts,
your eyes will see Jerusalem
as a home that is secure,
a tent not to be moved:
its pegs not pulled out,
not one of its ropes broken.
There the Lord is princely to us,
on the banks of broad-spreading rivers,
where there rows no galley,
there passes no majestic ship:
its tackle hangs loose,
it supports the mast no longer,
it does not hoist the pennon.
For the Lord is our judge, the Lord our lawgiver,
the Lord our King and our saviour.
Then immense booty shall be shared out,
even the lame fall to plundering,
no one living there shall say, ‘I am sickly’;
the people who live there will be forgiven all their faults.
Copyright © 1996-2019 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). Used with permission of A.P. Watt Ltd. All rights reserved.