Tuesday 24 March 2020
Tuesday of the 4th week of Lent
Morning Prayer (Lauds)
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.
________
Hymn
Lord, who throughout these forty days
For us didst fast and pray,
Teach us with thee to mourn our sins,
And close by thee to stay.
As thou with Satan didst contend,
And didst the victory win,
O give us strength in thee to fight,
In thee to conquer sin.
As thirst and hunger thou didst bear,
So teach us, gracious Lord,
To die to self, and daily live
By thy most holy word.
And through these days of penitence,
And through thy Passiontide,
Yea, evermore, in life and death,
Jesus, with us abide.
________
Psalm 100 (101)
The declaration of a just ruler
“If you love me, keep my commandments” (Jn 14:15).
I will sing to you, O Lord, and I will walk in the way of perfection.
My song is of mercy and justice;
I sing to you, O Lord.
I will walk in the way of perfection.
O when, Lord, will you come?
I will walk with blameless heart
within my house;
I will not set before my eyes
whatever is base.
I will hate the ways of the crooked;
they shall not be my friends.
The false-hearted must keep far away;
the wicked I disown.
The man who slanders his neighbour in secret
I will bring to silence.
The man of proud looks and haughty heart
I will never endure.
I look to the faithful in the land
that they may dwell with me.
He who walks in the way of perfection
shall be my friend.
No man who practises deceit
shall live within my house.
No man who utters lies shall stand
before my eyes.
Morning by morning I will silence
all the wicked in the land,
uprooting from the city of the Lord
all who do evil.
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 sing to you, O Lord, and I will walk in the way of perfection.
Psalm-prayer
So that your people might walk in innocence, you came to us, Lord Jesus, and told us to be holy as your Father is holy. Help your children to love what is truly perfect, so that we may neither speak what is evil nor do what is wrong. Let us stand in your sight and celebrate with you the Father’s love and justice.
________
Canticle
Daniel 3
The prayer of Azariah in the furnace
“Repent and turn to God, that your sins may be wiped out” (Acts 3:19).
O Lord, do not withdraw your favour from us.
Blessed are you, O Lord, God of our fathers,
and worthy of praise,
and your name is glorified for ever.
You are just
in all that you have done to us,
for we have sinned
and lawlessly departed from you,
and have sinned in all things.
For your name’s sake,
do not give us up utterly
and do not break your covenant.
Do not withdraw your mercy from us,
for the sake of Abraham your beloved,
and for the sake of Isaac your servant,
and Israel your holy one, to whom you promised
to make their descendants as many as the stars of heaven
and as the sand on the shore of the sea.
For we, O Lord, have become fewer than any nation,
and are brought low this day in all the world
because of our sins;
and at this time there is no prince, or prophet, or leader,
no burnt offering, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense,
no place to make an offering before you
or to find mercy.
Yet with a contrite heart and a humble spirit
may we be accepted,
as though it were with burnt offerings of rams and bulls
and with tens of thousands of fat lambs.
Such may our sacrifice be in your sight this day,
and may we wholly follow you,
for there will be no shame
for those who trust in you.
And now with all our heart we follow you,
we fear you and seek your face.
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.
O Lord, do not withdraw your favour from us.
________
Psalm 143 (144)
For victory and peace
“I can do all things with the help of the One who gives me strength” (Phil 4:13).
I will sing a new song to you, O God.
Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
who trains my arms for battle,
who prepares my hands for war.
He is my love, my fortress;
he is my stronghold, my saviour
my shield, my place of refuge.
He brings peoples under my rule.
Lord, what is man that you care for him,
mortal man, that you keep him in mind;
man, who is merely a breath
whose life fades like a shadow?
Lower your heavens and come down;
touch the mountains; wreathe them in smoke.
Flash your lightnings; rout the foe,
shoot your arrows and put them to flight.
Reach down from heaven and save me;
draw me out from the mighty waters,
from the hands of alien foes
whose mouths are filled with lies,
whose hands are raised in perjury.
To you, O God, will I sing a new song;
I will play on the ten-stringed harp
to you who give kings their victory,
who set David your servant free.
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 sing a new song to you, O God.
Psalm-prayer
Lord, God of strength, you gave your Son victory over death. Direct your Church’s fight against evil in the world. Clothe us with the weapons of light and unite us under the one banner of love, that we may receive our eternal reward after the battle of earthly life.
________
Short Reading
Joel 2:12-13
Come back to me with all your heart, fasting, weeping, mourning. Let your hearts be broken, not your garments torn, turn to the Lord your God again, for he is all tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness, and ready to relent.
________
Short Responsory
It is he who will free me from the snare of the hunters.
– It is he who will free me from the snare of the hunters.
And from the evil word.
– It is he who will free me from the snare of the hunters.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– It is he who will free me from the snare of the hunters.
________
Canticle
Benedictus
The Messiah and the one who was sent before him
The man who healed me told me, ‘Take up your bed and go in peace.’
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel!
He has visited his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up for us a mighty saviour
in the house of David his servant,
as he promised by the lips of holy men,
those who were his prophets from of old.
A saviour who would free us from our foes,
from the hands of all who hate us.
So his love for our fathers is fulfilled
and his holy covenant remembered.
He swore to Abraham our father to grant us,
that free from fear, and saved from the hands of our foes,
we might serve him in holiness and justice
all the days of our life in his presence.
As for you, little child,
you shall be called a prophet of God, the Most High.
You shall go ahead of the Lord
to prepare his ways before him,
To make known to his people their salvation
through forgiveness of all their sins,
the loving-kindness of the heart of our God
who visits us like the dawn from on high.
He will give light to those in darkness,
those who dwell in the shadow of death,
and guide us into the way 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.
The man who healed me told me, ‘Take up your bed and go in peace.’
________
Prayers and intercessions
Let us pray to God the Father, who gave his own Son, the Word made flesh, to be our bread of life.
– May the message of Christ, in all its richness, live in our hearts.
Father, may we hear your voice this Lent and pass with Christ from death to life;
may we celebrate his Easter feast with great joy and love.
– May the message of Christ, in all its richness, live in our hearts.
Teach us to live by your Spirit,
and help us to bring faith to those who doubt.
– May the message of Christ, in all its richness, live in our hearts.
May the knowledge of Christ penetrate our minds and our hearts;
may it find expression in all our ways of living.
– May the message of Christ, in all its richness, live in our hearts.
Purify your Church in these days of salvation;
make her the living witness of your presence in the world.
– May the message of Christ, in all its richness, live in our 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.
________
By our Lenten prayer and observance, Lord,
prepare our hearts to welcome the mystery of Easter
and to proclaim the good news of salvation.
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 © 1996-2020 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.