Morning Prayer (Lauds)
If you have already recited the Invitatory Psalm today, you should use the alternative opening.
O Lord, open my lips.
And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
| Invitatory Psalm | Psalm 94 (95) |
|---|
Come, today, and listen to his voice: do not harden your hearts.
– Come, today, and listen to his voice: do not harden your hearts.*
Come, let us rejoice in the Lord,
let us acclaim God our salvation.
Let us come before him proclaiming our thanks,
let us acclaim him with songs.
– Come, today, and listen to his voice: do not harden your hearts.*
For the Lord is a great God,
a king above all gods.
For he holds the depths of the earth in his hands,
and the peaks of the mountains are his.
For the sea is his: he made it;
and his hands formed the dry land.
– Come, today, and listen to his voice: do not harden your hearts.*
Come, let us worship and bow down,
bend the knee before the Lord who made us;
for he himself is our God and we are his flock,
the sheep that follow his hand.
– Come, today, and listen to his voice: do not harden your hearts.*
If only, today, you would listen to his voice:
“Do not harden your hearts
as you did at Meribah,
on the day of Massah in the desert,
when your fathers tested me –
they put me to the test,
although they had seen my works.”
– Come, today, and listen to his voice: do not harden your hearts.*
“For forty years they wearied me,
that generation.
I said: their hearts are wandering,
they do not know my paths.
I swore in my anger:
they will never enter my place of rest.”
– Come, today, and listen to his voice: do not harden your hearts.*
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.
– Come, today, and listen to his voice: do not harden your hearts.*
* If you are reciting this on your own, you can choose to say the antiphon once only at the start of the psalm and not repeat it.
A suitable hymn may be inserted here.
Lord, you are near to me, and you are trustworthy in all your precepts.
I call on you with all my heart –
answer me, Lord.
I will obey your laws.
I call on you –
save me
so that I can keep your decrees.
At first light I cry to you,
I put all my hope in your word.
In the night I keep watch,
pondering your sayings.
In your mercy, Lord, hear my voice;
in your justice, give me life.
My persecutors come to do me harm:
they are far from your law.
But you, Lord, are near to me,
and you are trustworthy in all your precepts.
From the beginning I have known your decrees,
how you have made them to last 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.
Lord, you are near to me, and you are trustworthy in all your precepts.
Lord, may your Wisdom abide with me and work with me.
God of my fathers and Lord of mercy,
who made all things by your word;
who in your wisdom set man to rule over all that you created
– to arrange the world in holiness and justice
– to make right judgements according to the guidance of his heart:
give me Wisdom, who stands by your throne,
and let me not be unworthy to be your servant.
For I am your slave and the son of your servant-girl,
a man, weak, short-lived,
slow to understand your judgements and laws.
Even the highest of the children of men
– if your wisdom is absent – counts for nothing.
With you abides Wisdom, who knows your works.
She was with you when you made the world.
She knew what was pleasing to your eyes.
She saw what was right according to your precepts.
Send your Wisdom from the highest heaven;
send her from the throne of your greatness;
that she may abide with me and work with me,
so that I may know what it is that pleases you.
For Wisdom knows everything, and understands;
she will lead me wisely in what I do,
and protect me in her glory.
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.
Lord, may your Wisdom abide with me and work with me.
Psalm 116 (117)
Praise of the merciful Lord |
|---|
God’s faithfulness is for ever.
Praise the Lord, all nations; all peoples, praise him.
For his mercy is strong over us and his faithfulness is 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.
God’s faithfulness is for ever.
| Short reading | Isaiah 1:16-18 © |
|---|
Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean. Take your wrong-doing out of my sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good, search for justice, help the oppressed, be just to the orphan, plead for the widow. Come now, let us talk this over, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
He himself will free me from the hunter’s snare.
– He himself will free me from the hunter’s snare.
And from evil slander.
– He himself will free me from the hunter’s snare.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– He himself will free me from the hunter’s snare.
| The Messiah and his forerunner |
|---|
The tax collector stood some distance away, not daring even to raise his eyes to heaven; but he beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
for he has come to his people and brought about their redemption.
He has raised up the sign of salvation
in the house of his servant David,
as he promised through the mouth of the holy ones,
his prophets through the ages:
to rescue us from our enemies
and all who hate us,
to take pity on our fathers,
to remember his holy covenant
and the oath he swore to Abraham our father,
that he would give himself to us,
that we could serve him without fear
– freed from the hands of our enemies –
in uprightness and holiness before him,
for all of our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High:
for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his path,
to let his people know their salvation,
so that their sins may be forgiven.
Through the bottomless mercy of our God,
one born on high will visit us
to give light to those who walk in darkness,
who live in the shadow of death;
to lead our feet in the path 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.
The tax collector stood some distance away, not daring even to raise his eyes to heaven; but he beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’
| Prayers and Intercessions | |
|---|
Let us give glory to Christ the Lord. To renew mankind he gave us the cleansing waters of baptism; to nourish us, he gave us the feast of his body and blood. Let us pray to him:
– Lord, renew us by your grace.
Jesus, meek and humble of heart, clothe us in compassion, generosity and humility,
and make us patient with everyone.
– Lord, renew us by your grace.
Teach us to be true neighbours to the distressed and afflicted,
imitating you, the good Samaritan.
– Lord, renew us by your grace.
May your mother, the blessed Virgin, intercede for those vowed to virginity:
may they follow the vocation that binds them to you with ever greater zeal.
– Lord, renew us by your grace.
Give us the gift of your compassion:
forgiveness of sins and remission of punishment.
– Lord, renew us 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.
O Lord, we rejoice in this annual celebration.
We ask you that by attending closely to the paschal sacraments
we may have the joy of receiving their full effects.
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.
May the Lord bless us and keep us from all harm; and may he lead us to eternal life.
A M E N
The psalms and canticles here are our own translation. 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 downloadable versions of Universalis do contain the Grail translation of the psalms.
