Friday 8 January 2021
Friday after Epiphany Sunday
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. Alleluia.
________
Hymn
O more than mighty cities known,
Dear Bethlehem, in thee alone
Salvation’s Lord from heaven took birth
In human form upon the earth.
And from a star that far outshone
The radiant circle of the sun
In beauty, swift the tidings ran
Of God on earth in flesh of man.
The wise men, seeing him, so fair,
Bow low before him, and with prayer
Their treasured eastern gifts unfold
Of incense, myrrh, and royal gold.
The fragrant incense which they bring,
The gold, proclaim him God and King;
The bitter spicy dust of myrrh
Foreshadows his new sepulchre.
All glory, Lord, to thee we pay
For thine Epiphany today;
All glory, as is ever meet,
To Father and to Paraclete.
________
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).
O God, you will not spurn a humbled, contrite heart.
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
My offences truly I know them;
my sin is always before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
what is evil in your sight I have done.
That you may be justified when you give sentence
and be without reproach when you judge,
O see, in guilt I was born,
a sinner was I conceived.
Indeed you love truth in the heart;
then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom.
O purify me, then I shall be clean;
O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me hear rejoicing and gladness,
that the bones you have crushed may revive.
From my sins turn away your face
and blot out all my guilt.
A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.
Give me again the joy of your help;
with a spirit of fervour sustain me,
that I may teach transgressors your ways
and sinners may return to you.
O rescue me, God, my helper,
and my tongue shall ring out your goodness.
O Lord, open my lips
and my mouth shall declare your praise.
For in sacrifice you take no delight,
burnt offering from me you would refuse,
my sacrifice, a contrite spirit.
A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.
In your goodness, show favour to Sion:
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice,
holocausts offered on 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.
O God, you will not spurn a humbled, contrite heart.
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
Habakkuk 3
The Lord will appear in judgement
“Lift up your heads, for your redemption is near at hand” (Lk 21:28).
In spite of your anger, Lord, have compassion.
Lord, I have heard of your fame,
I stand in awe at your deeds.
Do them again in our days,
in our days make them known!
In spite of your anger, have compassion.
God comes forth from Teman,
the Holy One comes from Mount Paran.
His splendour covers the sky
and his glory fills the earth.
His brilliance is like the light,
rays flash from his hands;
there his power is hidden.
You march out to save your people,
to save the one you have anointed.
You made a path for your horses in the sea,
in the raging of the mighty waters.
This I heard and I tremble with terror,
my lips quiver at the sound.
Weakness invades my bones,
my steps fail beneath me
yet I calmly wait for the doom
that will fall upon the people who assail us.
For even though the fig does not blossom,
nor fruit grow on the vine,
even though the olive crop fail,
and fields produce no harvest,
even though flocks vanish from the folds
and stalls stand empty of cattle,
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord
and exult in God my saviour.
The Lord my God is my strength.
He makes me leap like the deer,
he guides me to the high places.
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.
In spite of your anger, Lord, have compassion.
________
Psalm 147 (147B)
God, the foundation of Jerusalem
“Come, and I will show you the bride that the Lamb has chosen” (Rev 21:9).
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
Sion, praise your God!
He has strengthened the bars of your gates
he has blessed the children within you.
He established peace on your borders,
he feeds you with finest wheat.
He sends out his word to the earth
and swiftly runs his command.
He showers down snow white as wool,
he scatters hoar-frost like ashes.
He hurls down hailstones like crumbs.
The waters are frozen at his touch;
he sends forth his word and it melts them:
at the breath of his mouth the waters flow.
He makes his word known to Jacob,
to Israel his laws and decrees.
He has not dealt thus with other nations;
he has not taught them his decrees.
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, Jerusalem.
Psalm-prayer
Lord, you established peace within the borders of Jerusalem. Give the fullness of peace now to your faithful people. May peace rule us in this life and possess us in eternal life. You are about to fill us with the best of wheat; grant that what we see dimly now as in a mirror, we may come to perceive clearly in the brightness of your truth.
Or:
All-powerful God, it is through your Church, generously endowed with gifts of grace and fortified by the Holy Spirit, that you send out your word to all nations. Strengthen your Church with the best of all food and make her dauntless in faith. Multiply her children to celebrate with one accord the mysteries of your love at the altar on high.
________
Short Reading
Isaiah 45:22-23
Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God unrivalled. By my own self I swear it, what comes from my mouth is truth, a word irrevocable: before me every knee shall bend, by me every tongue shall swear.
________
Short Responsory
All the kings of the earth will adore him.
– All the kings of the earth will adore him.
All the peoples will serve him.
– All the kings of the earth will adore him.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– All the kings of the earth will adore him.
________
Canticle
Benedictus
The Messiah and the one who was sent before him
All who despised you shall come and bow down at your feet.
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.
All who despised you shall come and bow down at your feet.
________
Prayers and intercessions
To Christ be honour and glory. He came to create a new man, reborn in mind and heart. Let us pray that his saving will may be fulfilled:
– May your birth renew our lives.
In your manhood you revealed to us your Godhead;
grant that we may recognize you in the mysteries of your Church.
– May your birth renew our lives.
Through the Immaculate Virgin you came to live with men:
help us, by her prayers, to attain your life with the Father.
– May your birth renew our lives.
You are the source of eternal life;
come to us today in your word and in the bread which is your body.
– May your birth renew our lives.
We adore you as the holy child of Bethlehem;
help us to attain the maturity and full vigour of your life.
– May your birth renew our lives.
________
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.
________
Almighty God and Father,
by the guidance of a star
you revealed the birth of the Saviour of the world.
Open our minds to that revelation,
and let it bear fruit in our lives.
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.