Terce (Mid-Morning Prayer)
O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
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.
At one of today's daytime hours (Terce, Sext, None), use the psalms of the day. At the others, use the complementary psalms, which are shown further down the page.
SPECIAL FOR TODAY: If you are celebrating Midday Prayer (Sext) today, use the psalms of the day then, and the complementary psalms for the other Hours.
PSALMS OF THE DAY
The fulness of the Law is love.
Lord, how I love your law!
I ponder it all day long.
Your teachings have made me wise,
far above my enemies:
your law is mine for ever.
I am wiser than all my teachers,
because I ponder your teachings.
I am wiser than the elders
because I have followed your precepts.
I have kept my feet away from evil paths
to obey your commandments.
I have not fallen away from your decrees,
for you have given me a law to live by.
Sweet to the taste are your promises,
sweeter than honey in my mouth.
Your precepts have given me wisdom
and I hate the path of deception.
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 fulness of the Law is love.
Psalm 73 (74)
Lament over the ruined Temple |
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Remember those you have gathered, O Lord: they were yours from the beginning.
Why, God, have you rejected us so finally?
Why this rage against the sheep of your flock?
Remember those you have gathered,
those who were yours from the beginning.
The stock you redeemed to be your own possession;
the mountain of Zion, where you chose to dwell.
Turn your steps towards the final devastation:
the enemy has laid waste the sanctuary.
Those who hate you have roared
in the midst of of your flock.
They have set up their emblems,
taking the place of your own.
They have raised their axes high,
hewing the wood.
With hatchets and axes
they have hewn down the doors.
They set fire to the sanctuary,
profaned and trampled your tabernacle.
They said to themselves, ‘Let us crush them
once and for all.’
They burned to the ground
every shrine of God in the land.
Our emblems have vanished,
our prophets are gone,
and none of us knows any more.
How long, O God, will the enemy deride?
Will he insult your name forever?
Why do you keep your hand away?
Why do you fold your arms?
God is our king since the beginning,
he has given us help throughout the earth.
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.
Remember those you have gathered, O Lord: they were yours from the beginning.
Rise up, O God, and judge your own cause!
You divided the sea with your power,
you smashed the heads of dragons in the water.
You smashed the head of Leviathan
and fed him to the sea-monsters.
You opened up springs and torrents
but dried up rivers that had flowed for ever.
Yours is the day and the night:
you made the sun and the other lights.
You fixed the bounds of the earth,
you created both summer and winter.
Remember all this:
and now the enemy mocks you
and a foolish people despises your name.
Do not give to the beasts
the lives of those who proclaim you.
Do not forget forever
the lives of your poor.
Think of your covenant –
every cave in the land is a refuge for the violent.
Let the humble not return ashamed:
the poor and the destitute will praise your name.
Rise up, O God, and judge your own cause!
Remember the insults you have received
all day long, from fools.
Do not forget the sound of your enemies’ voices:
their noise, growing louder.
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.
Rise up, O God, and judge your own cause!
At the daytime hours (Terce, Sext, None) when you don't choose to use the psalms of the day, use the complementary psalms instead.
COMPLEMENTARY PSALMS
Psalm 119 (120)
Longing for peace |
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I cried out to the Lord and he answered me.
I was in trouble, and cried to the Lord;
and he answered me.
Lord, free me from the lips of liars,
from deceitful tongues.
What will be given you, what will you receive,
deceitful tongue?
Sharp arrows from the warrior,
hardened in the flames.
Alas, I am an exile in Meshech;
I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
My soul has lived too long
with those who hate peace.
I am for making peace;
but whenever I spoke, they attacked me.
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 cried out to the Lord and he answered me.
Psalm 120 (121)
The guardian of the people |
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May the Lord guard your coming and your going.
I shall lift my eyes to the hills:
where is my help to come from?
My help will come from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip:
he will not doze, your guardian.
Behold, he will not doze or sleep,
the guardian of Israel.
The Lord is your guardian, the Lord is your shade;
he is at your right hand.
By day the sun will not strike you;
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will guard you from all harm;
the Lord will guard your life.
The Lord will guard your coming and your going
both now and for 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.
May the Lord guard your coming and your going.
Psalm 121 (122)
Jerusalem, the holy city |
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What they told me filled me with joy.
They filled me with joy when they said,
“We will go to the house of the Lord.”
Now our feet are standing
within your gates, Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, built as a city,
whole and self-contained:
there the tribes have gone up,
the tribes of the Lord –
the witness of Israel,
to praise the Lord’s name.
For there are the thrones of justice,
the thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“Safety for those who care for you,
peace inside your walls,
security within your ramparts!”
For my brethren and those near to me I will say
“Peace be upon you.”
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will call blessings upon you.
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.
What they told me filled me with joy.
CONCLUSION
| Short reading | Jeremiah 22:3 © |
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Practise honesty and integrity; rescue the man who has been wronged from the hands of his oppressor; do not exploit the stranger, the orphan, the widow; do no violence; shed no innocent blood in this place.
The Lord will judge the whole world in justice,
– judge the peoples impartially.
Almighty and eternal God, it was at this third hour that you poured out the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, onto the Apostles.
Send that same Spirit of love into us,
so that we may bear faithful witness to you before all mankind.
Through Christ our Lord,
A M E N
