Saturday 4 April 2020
Saturday of the 5th week of Lent
(optional commemoration of Saint Isidore, Bishop, Doctor)
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 118 (119): 145-152
Meditating the word of the Lord in the Law
“When anyone obeys what he has said, God’s love comes to perfection in him” (1 John 2:5)
My eyes watch for you before dawn.
I cáll with all my héart; Lord, héar me, *
I will kéep your commánds.
I cáll upón you, sáve me *
and Í will do your wíll.
I ríse before dáwn and cry for hélp, *
I hópe in your wórd.
My éyes wátch through the níght *
to pónder your prómise.
In your lóve hear my vóice, O Lórd; *
give me lífe by your decrées.
Those who hárm me unjústly draw néar; *
they are fár from your láw.
But yóu, O Lórd, are clóse, *
your commánds are trúth.
Lóng have I knówn that your wíll *
is estáblished for éver.
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 eyes watch for you before dawn.
Psalm-prayer
Save us by the power of your hand, Father, for our enemies have ignored your words. May the fire of your word consume our sins and its brightness illumine our hearts.
________
Canticle
Exodus 15
Hymn of victory after crossing the Red Sea
“Those who overcame the beast sang the hymn of Moses, the Servant of God” (cf. Rev 15:2-3).
The Lord is my strength, I will sing his praise: he is my salvation.
I will sing to the Lord, glorious his triumph! *
Horse and rider he has thrown into the sea!
The Lord is my strength, my song, my salvation. †
This is my God and I extol him, *
my father’s God and I give him praise.
The Lord is a warrior! *
‘The Lord’ is his name.
The chariots of Pharaoh he hurled into the sea.
At the breath of your anger the waters piled high; *
the moving waters stood up like a dam.
The deeps turned solid in the midst of the sea.
The enemy said: ‘I will pursue and overtake them, †
I will divide the plunder, I shall have my will. *
I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’
You blew with your breath, the sea closed over them. *
They went down like lead into the mighty waters.
Who is like you among the gods, O Lord, †
who is like you, so glorious in holiness, *
spreading fear through your deeds, you who do marvels?
You stretched forth your hand, *
the earth engulfed them;
your love has guided the people you redeemed, *
your power has led them to your holy dwelling-place.
You will lead them and plant them on your mountain, †
the place, O Lord, where you have made your home, *
the sanctuary, Lord, which your hands have made.
The Lord will reign *
for ever and ever.
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 Lord is my strength, I will sing his praise: he is my salvation.
________
Psalm 116 (117)
Praise of the merciful Lord
“I ask the nations to give praise to God for his mercy” (Rom 15:8,9).
O praise the Lord, all you nations. †
O práise the Lórd, all you nátions, *
accláim him all you péoples!
Stróng is his lóve for ús; *
he is fáithful for éver.
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 praise the Lord, all you nations.
Psalm-prayer
God our Father, may all nations and peoples praise you. May Jesus, who is called faithful and true and who lives with you eternally, possess our hearts for ever.
Or:
Lord God, everything you have promised has been done to show your faithfulness; and you have revealed your kindness to all peoples. Gather all nations into your Church that in all the various tongues of this world one hymn of praise may be offered you.
________
Short Reading
Isaiah 65:1-3
I said, ‘I am here, I am here’, to a nation that did not invoke my name. Each day I stretched out my hand to a rebellious people who went by evil ways, following their own whims, a people who provoked me to my face incessantly.
________
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
Jesus died to gather together the children of God, who were scattered.
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.
Jesus died to gather together the children of God, who were scattered.
________
Prayers and intercessions
Christ the Lord has made men into a new creation. He gives them a new birth in the waters of baptism and nourishes them with his word and his body. Let us glorify him in our prayer.
– Renew us, Lord, by your grace.
Jesus, you are gentle and humble in spirit;
grant us something of your pity, something of your kindness and something of your patience towards all men.
– Renew us, Lord, by your grace.
Teach us to be neighbours to the sad and the needy;
let us imitate you, the good Samaritan.
– Renew us, Lord, by your grace.
May the Blessed Virgin, your Mother, intercede for religious women;
through her prayers may they serve you in the Church ever more perfectly.
– Renew us, Lord, by your grace.
Grant us the gift of your mercy,
pardon our sins and save us from punishment.
– Renew us, Lord, by your grace.
________
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 God,
at all times you are working out the salvation of man,
but now more especially you enrich your people with grace.
Look kindly on this people:
keep the seal of baptism inviolate in those who have received it
and in those who still await their rebirth in the Spirit.
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.