Office of Readings
If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, you should precede it with the
Invitatory Psalm.
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.
The martyrs living now with Christ
In suffering were tried,
Their anguish overcome by love
When on his cross they died.
Across the centuries they come,
In constancy unmoved,
Their loving hearts make no complaint,
In silence they are proved.
No man has ever measured love,
Or weighed it in his hand,
But God who knows the inmost heart
Gives them the promised land.
Praise Father, Son and Spirit blest,
Who guides us through the night
In ways that reach beyond the stars
To everlasting light.
| Francis E. Mostyn (1860-1939) |
Psalm 102 (103)
Praise of the compassionate Lord
My soul, give thanks to the Lord, and never forget all his blessings. Alleluia.
My soul, bless the Lord!
All that is in me, bless his holy name.
My soul, bless the Lord!
Never forget all he has done for you.
The Lord, who forgives your wrongdoing,
who heals all your weaknesses.
The Lord, who redeems your life from destruction,
who crowns you with kindness and compassion.
The Lord, who fills your age with good things,
who renews your youth like an eagle’s.
The Lord, who gives fair judgements,
who gives judgement in favour of the oppressed.
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 soul, give thanks to the Lord, and never forget all his blessings. Alleluia.
Psalm 102 (103)
As a father has compassion on his sons, the Lord has pity on those who fear him. Alleluia.
The Lord is compassion and kindness,
full of patience, full of mercy.
He will not fight against you for ever:
he will not always be angry.
He does not treat us as our sins deserve;
he does not pay us back for our wrongdoing.
As high as the sky above the earth,
so great is his kindness to those who fear him.
As far as east is from west,
so far he has put our wrongdoing from us.
As a father cares for his children,
so the Lord cares for those who fear him.
For he knows how we are made,
he remembers we are nothing but dust.
Man – his life is like grass,
he blossoms and withers like flowers of the field.
The wind blows and carries him away:
no trace of him remains.
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.
As a father has compassion on his sons, the Lord has pity on those who fear him. Alleluia.
Psalm 102 (103)
Give thanks to the Lord, all his works. Alleluia.
The Lord has been kind from the beginning;
to those who fear him his kindness lasts for ever.
His justice is for their children’s children,
for those who keep his covenant,
for those who remember his commandments
and try to perform them.
The Lord’s throne is high in the heavens
and his rule shall extend over all.
Bless the Lord, all his angels,
strong in your strength, doers of his command,
bless him as you hear his words.
Bless the Lord, all his powers,
his servants who do his will.
Bless the Lord, all he has created,
in every place that he rules.
My soul, bless the Lord!
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.
Give thanks to the Lord, all his works. Alleluia.
℣. Anguish and distress have taken hold of me, alleluia.
℟. Yet will I delight in your commands, alleluia.
| First Reading |
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| Apocalypse 14:14-15:4 © |
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The harvest of the end times
Now in my vision I saw a white cloud and, sitting on it, one like a son of man with a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Then another angel came out of the sanctuary, and shouted aloud to the one sitting on the cloud, ‘Put your sickle in and reap: harvest time has come and the harvest of the earth is ripe.’ Then the one sitting on the cloud set his sickle to work on the earth, and the earth’s harvest was reaped.
Another angel, who also carried a sharp sickle, came out of the temple in heaven, and the angel in charge of the fire left the altar and shouted aloud to the one with the sharp sickle, ‘Put your sickle in and cut all the bunches off the vine of the earth; all its grapes are ripe.’ So the angel set his sickle to work on the earth and harvested the whole vintage of the earth and put it into a huge winepress, the winepress of God’s anger, outside the city, where it was trodden until the blood that came out of the winepress was up to the horses’ bridles as far away as sixteen hundred furlongs.
What I saw next, in heaven, was a great and wonderful sign: seven angels were bringing the seven plagues that are the last of all, because they exhaust the anger of God. I seemed to see a glass lake suffused with fire, and standing by the lake of glass, those who had fought against the beast and won, and against his statue and the number which is his name. They all had harps from God, and they were singing the hymn of Moses, the servant of God, and of the Lamb:
‘How great and wonderful are all your works,
Lord God Almighty;
just and true are all your ways,
King of nations.
Who would not revere and praise your name, O Lord?
You alone are holy,
and all the pagans will come and adore you
for the many acts of justice you have shown.’
| Responsory |
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| Rv 15:3; Ex 15:11 |
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℟. Those who were victorious sang the song of the Lamb: Lord, God Almighty, how great and wonderful are all your works!* King of all ages, how right and true are your ways, alleluia.
℣. Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, worker of wonders?* King of all ages, how right and true are your ways, alleluia.
| Second Reading |
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| From his life, written by a contemporary |
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He embraced the Cross with his whole body
With angry cries and sharpened teeth the idle crowd gathered from all around in anticipation of what the village chief would do with the holy man Adalbert. The saint, for his part, questioned as to who he was, where he came from and why he had come there, by contrast replied with an affable voice: “I was born in Bohemia, my name is Adalbert and I am a monk by profession, consecrated bishop; my task now is to be your apostle. The reason for our journey is your salvation, that you turn away from those deaf and mute idols and recognise your Creator, the only God, apart from whom there is no other, so that believing in his name you may have life and may merit in reward to receive celestial joy in the eternal courts”. Thus spoke saint Adalbert. They, however, already infuriated, shouting blasphemous words against him, threatened him with death.
Finally a pagan fury came upon them, and they swooped down on Adalbert and his companions with great violence and bound them all. Saint Adalbert, who was standing in front of Gaudentius and another of the bound brothers, said: “Brothers, do not be sad! You know that we suffer this for the name of the Lord, with power beyond all powers, beauty exceeding all fairness, of indescribable strength and singular piety. What is stronger, more beautiful, than to give a beloved life for the most beloved Jesus?”
At this, a certain Siggo, full of passion, came out of the enraged crowd and, thrusting a large spear with all his might, pierced Adalbert’s heart. Purple blood flows from the wounds in all directions. He stands praying with eyes and hands raised towards heaven. They extract the spears leaving seven large wounds open; blood flows abundantly like a red river.
Once untied, he extends his hands in the form of a cross and humbly pours out prayers to the Lord for his own salvation and that of his persecutors. Just as that saintly soul escapes from its prison, so his venerable body lies on the ground in the form of the Cross. Thus shedding much blood and with that his life, he forever enjoys a blessed dwelling with Christ whom he so much loved.
℟. In our great longing for you, we desired nothing better than to offer you our own lives, as well as God’s gospel,* so greatly had we learned to love you, alleluia.
℣. My little children, I am in travail over you afresh, until I can see Christ’s image formed in you,* so greatly had we learned to love you, alleluia.
Let us pray.
God of power and mercy, you gave Saint N.
the grace to overcome the sufferings of martyrdom.
Grant to us who celebrate his victory
that the power of your protecting hand
may keep us unshaken in the face of our ancient enemy
and all his hidden snares.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Let us praise the Lord.
– Thanks be to God.
The psalms and canticles here are our own translation from the Latin. The Grail translation of the psalms, which is used liturgically in most of the English-speaking world, cannot be displayed on the Web for copyright reasons. The Universalis apps and programs do contain the Grail translation of the psalms.
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