Thursday 16 December 2021
Thursday of the 3rd week of Advent
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
Hark! a herald voice is calling
Through the shadows of the night
‘Cast away the dreams of darkness
Christ descends with heavenly light.’
Wakened by the solemn warning,
Let the earthbound soul arise;
Christ, her sun, all sloth dispelling,
Shines upon the morning skies.
Lo, the Lamb, so long expected,
Comes with pardon down from heav’n;
Let us haste, with tears of sorrow,
One and all to be forgiv’n;
So, when next he comes with glory,
And his judgement-day draws near,
Faithful he may find his servants,
Watching till their Lord appear.
Honour, glory, might, and blessing
To the Father and the Son,
With the everlasting Spirit,
While eternal ages run.
________
Psalm 86 (87)
Jerusalem, mother of all nations
“The Jerusalem which is above is free and is our mother” (Gal 4:26).
Glorious things are told of you, O city of God.
On the holy mountain is his city
cherished by the Lord.
The Lord prefers the gates of Sion
to all Jacob’s dwellings.
Of you are told glorious things,
O city of God!
‘Babylon and Egypt I will count
among those who know me;
Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia,
these will be her children
and Sion shall be called “Mother”
for all shall be her children.’
It is he, the Lord Most High,
who gives each his place.
In his register of peoples he writes:
‘These are her children,’
and while they dance they will sing:
‘In you all find their home.’
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.
Glorious things are told of you, O city of God.
Psalm-prayer
Lord God, your only Son wept over ancient Jerusalem, soon to be destroyed for its lack of faith. He established the new Jerusalem firmly upon rock and made it the mother of the faithful. Make us rejoice in your Church and grant that all people may be reborn into the freedom of your Spirit.
________
Canticle
Isaiah 40
The good shepherd is God, the Most High
“Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me” (Rev 22:12).
The Lord is coming in power: the prize of his victory is with him.
Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd,
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,
or as his counsellor has instructed him?
Whom did he consult for his enlightenment,
and who taught him the path of justice,
taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are accounted as the dust on the scales;
behold, he takes up the isles
like fine dust.
Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
All the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
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 coming in power: the prize of his victory is with him.
________
Psalm 98 (99)
The Lord our God is holy
“You are higher than the Cherubim; you changed the bad state of the earth, when you came in a nature like ours” (St Athanasius).
Exalt the Lord our God; bow down before his holy mountain.
The Lord is king; the peoples tremble.
He is throned on the cherubim; the earth quakes.
The Lord is great in Sion.
He is supreme over all the peoples.
Let them praise his name, so terrible and great,
he is holy, full of power.
You are a king who loves what is right;
you have established equity, justice and right;
you have established them in Jacob.
Exalt the Lord our God;
bow down before Sion, his footstool.
He the Lord is holy.
Among his priests were Aaron and Moses,
among those who invoked his name was Samuel.
They invoked the Lord and he answered.
To them he spoke in the pillar of cloud.
They did his will; they kept the law,
which he, the Lord, had given.
O Lord our God, you answered them.
For them you were a God who forgives;
yet you punished all their offences.
Exalt the Lord our God;
bow down before his holy mountain
for the Lord our God is holy.
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.
Exalt the Lord our God; bow down before his holy mountain.
Psalm-prayer
God, you are the source of all holiness. Though no one can see you and live, you give life most generously and in an even greater way restore it. Sanctify your priests through your life-giving Word and consecrate your people in his blood until our eyes see your face.
________
Short Reading
Isaiah 45:8
Send victory like a dew, you heavens, and let the clouds rain it down. Let the earth open for salvation to spring up. Let deliverance, too, bud forth which I, the Lord, shall create.
________
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
Arise, arise, Lord, and show us your might.
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.
Arise, arise, Lord, and show us your might.
________
Prayers and intercessions
Let the heavens open, and the skies rain down the just one; let the earth bring forth Christ, who is the wisdom and power of God.
– Be near us, Lord, today.
Lord Jesus Christ, you have called us into your kingdom:
may we enter in, and live according to your call.
– Be near us, Lord, today.
The world does not know you:
show yourself, in our midst, to all our brothers.
– Be near us, Lord, today.
We thank you, Lord, for all that we have:
move us to give of our plenty to those who have little.
– Be near us, Lord, today.
We look for your coming, Lord Jesus:
when you knock, may we be found watching in prayer and rejoicing in praise.
– Be near us, Lord, today.
________
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.
________
With sorrow, Lord, we confess our sins,
unworthy servants that we are.
Heal us and bring us joy
by the coming of your only Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
________
The Lord bless us, and keep us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
Copyright © 1996-2021 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.