Office of Readings

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.

Let us exult in the Lord’s presence.

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness, the world and all who live in it.
He himself founded it upon the seas and set it firm over the waters.

Let us exult in the Lord’s presence.

Who will climb the mountain of the Lord? Who will stand in his holy place?
The one who is innocent of wrongdoing and pure of heart,
who has not given himself to vanities or sworn falsely.
He will receive the blessing of the Lord and be justified by God his saviour.
This is the way of those who seek him, seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Let us exult in the Lord’s presence.

Gates, raise your heads. Stand up, eternal doors, and let the king of glory enter.
Who is the king of glory?
The Lord of might and power. The Lord, strong in battle.

Let us exult in the Lord’s presence.

Gates, raise your heads. Stand up, eternal doors, and let the king of glory enter.
Who is the king of glory?
The Lord of hosts – he is the king of glory

Let us exult in the Lord’s presence.

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.

A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.

Psalm 43 (44)
In time of defeat
Our own ears have heard, O God, and our fathers have proclaimed it to us, what you did in their days, the days of old: how with your own hand you swept aside the nations and put us in their place, struck them down to make room for us. It was not by their own swords that our fathers took over the land, it was not their own strength that gave them victory; but your hand and your strength, the light of your face, for you were pleased in them. You are my God and my king, who take care for the safety of Jacob. Through you we cast down your enemies; in your name we crushed those who rose against us. I will not put my hopes in my bow, my sword will not bring me to safety; for it was you who saved us from our afflictions, you who set confusion among those who hated us. We will glory in the Lord all the day, and proclaim your name for all ages. 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.

Psalm 43 (44)

In time of defeat

Our own ears have heard, O God,
and our fathers have proclaimed it to us,
what you did in their days, the days of old:
how with your own hand you swept aside the nations
and put us in their place,
struck them down to make room for us.

It was not by their own swords that our fathers took over the land,
it was not their own strength that gave them victory;
but your hand and your strength,
the light of your face,
for you were pleased in them.

You are my God and my king,
who take care for the safety of Jacob.
Through you we cast down your enemies;
in your name we crushed those who rose against us.

I will not put my hopes in my bow,
my sword will not bring me to safety;
for it was you who saved us from our afflictions,
you who set confusion among those who hated us.
We will glory in the Lord all the day,
and proclaim your name for all ages.

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.

Psalm 43 (44)
But now, God, you have spurned us and confounded us, so that we must go into battle without you. You have put us to flight in the sight of our enemies, and those who hate us plunder us at will. You have handed us over like sheep sold for food, you have scattered us among the nations. You have sold your people for no money, not even profiting by the exchange. You have made us the laughing-stock of our neighbours, mocked and derided by those who surround us. The nations have made us a by-word, the peoples toss their heads in scorn. All the day I am ashamed, I blush with shame as they reproach me and revile me, my enemies and my persecutors. 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.

Psalm 43 (44)

But now, God, you have spurned us and confounded us,
so that we must go into battle without you.
You have put us to flight in the sight of our enemies,
and those who hate us plunder us at will.
You have handed us over like sheep sold for food,
you have scattered us among the nations.

You have sold your people for no money,
not even profiting by the exchange.
You have made us the laughing-stock of our neighbours,
mocked and derided by those who surround us.
The nations have made us a by-word,
the peoples toss their heads in scorn.

All the day I am ashamed,
I blush with shame
as they reproach me and revile me,
my enemies and my persecutors.

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.

Psalm 43 (44)
All this happened to us, but not because we had forgotten you. We were not disloyal to your covenant; our hearts did not turn away; our steps did not wander from your path; and yet you brought us low, with horrors all about us: you overwhelmed us in the shadows of death. If we had forgotten the name of our God, if we had spread out our hands before an alien god — would God not have known? He knows what is hidden in our hearts. It is for your sake that we face death all the day, that we are reckoned as sheep to be slaughtered. Awake, Lord, why do you sleep? Rise up, do not always reject us. Why do you turn away your face? How can you forget our poverty and our tribulation? Our souls are crushed into the dust, our bodies dragged down to the earth. Rise up, Lord, and help us. In your mercy, redeem 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.

Psalm 43 (44)

All this happened to us,
but not because we had forgotten you.
We were not disloyal to your covenant;
our hearts did not turn away;
our steps did not wander from your path;
and yet you brought us low,
with horrors all about us:
you overwhelmed us in the shadows of death.

If we had forgotten the name of our God,
if we had spread out our hands before an alien god —
would God not have known? He knows what is hidden in our hearts.
It is for your sake that we face death all the day,
that we are reckoned as sheep to be slaughtered.

Awake, Lord, why do you sleep?
Rise up, do not always reject us.
Why do you turn away your face?
How can you forget our poverty and our tribulation?

Our souls are crushed into the dust,
our bodies dragged down to the earth.
Rise up, Lord, and help us.
In your mercy, redeem 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.

Reading	Isaiah 11:1 - 16 ©
A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse, a scion thrusts from his roots: on him the spirit of the Lord rests, a spirit of wisdom and insight, a spirit of counsel and power, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. (The fear of the Lord is his breath.) He does not judge by appearances, he gives no verdict on hearsay, but judges the wretched with integrity, and with equity gives a verdict for the poor of the land. His word is a rod that strikes the ruthless, his sentences bring death to the wicked. Integrity is the loincloth round his waist, faithfulness the belt about his hips. The wolf lives with the lamb, the panther lies down with the kid, calf and lion feed together, with a little boy to lead them. The cow and the bear make friends, their young lie down together. The lion eats straw like the ox. The infant plays over the cobra’s hole; into the viper’s lair the young child puts his hand. They do no hurt, no harm, on all my holy mountain, for the country is filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters swell the sea. That day, the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples. It will be sought out by the nations and its home will be glorious. That day, the Lord will raise his hand once more to ransom the remnant of his people, left over from the exile of Assyria, of Egypt, of Pathros, of Cush, of Elam, of Shinar, of Hamath, of the islands of the sea. He will hoist a signal for the nations and assemble the outcasts of Israel; he will bring back the scattered people of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Then Ephraim’s jealousy will come to an end and Judah’s enemies be put down; Ephraim will no longer be jealous of Judah nor Judah any longer the enemy of Ephraim. They will sweep down westwards on the Philistine slopes, together they will pillage the sons of the East, extend their sway over Edom and Moab, and make the Ammonites their subjects. And the Lord will dry up the gulf of the Sea of Egypt with the heat of his breath, and stretch out his hand over the River, and divide it into seven streams, for men to cross dry-shod, to make a pathway for the remnant of his people left over from the exile of Assyria, as there was for Israel when it came up out of Egypt.

Reading

A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse,
a scion thrusts from his roots:
on him the spirit of the Lord rests,
a spirit of wisdom and insight,
a spirit of counsel and power,
a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
(The fear of the Lord is his breath.)
He does not judge by appearances,
he gives no verdict on hearsay,
but judges the wretched with integrity,
and with equity gives a verdict for the poor of the land.
His word is a rod that strikes the ruthless,
his sentences bring death to the wicked.

Integrity is the loincloth round his waist,
faithfulness the belt about his hips.

The wolf lives with the lamb,
the panther lies down with the kid,
calf and lion feed together,
with a little boy to lead them.
The cow and the bear make friends,
their young lie down together.
The lion eats straw like the ox.
The infant plays over the cobra’s hole;
into the viper’s lair
the young child puts his hand.
They do no hurt, no harm,
on all my holy mountain,
for the country is filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters swell the sea.

That day, the root of Jesse
shall stand as a signal to the peoples.
It will be sought out by the nations
and its home will be glorious.
That day, the Lord will raise his hand once more
to ransom the remnant of his people,
left over from the exile of Assyria, of Egypt,
of Pathros, of Cush, of Elam,
of Shinar, of Hamath, of the islands of the sea.
He will hoist a signal for the nations
and assemble the outcasts of Israel;
he will bring back the scattered people of Judah
from the four corners of the earth.
Then Ephraim’s jealousy will come to an end
and Judah’s enemies be put down;
Ephraim will no longer be jealous of Judah
nor Judah any longer the enemy of Ephraim.
They will sweep down westwards on the Philistine slopes,
together they will pillage the sons of the East,
extend their sway over Edom and Moab,
and make the Ammonites their subjects.
And the Lord will dry up the gulf of the Sea of Egypt
with the heat of his breath,
and stretch out his hand over the River,
and divide it into seven streams,
for men to cross dry-shod,
to make a pathway for the remnant of his people
left over from the exile of Assyria,
as there was for Israel
when it came up out of Egypt.

Reading	From the apostolic constitution Divino afflatu of Pope Saint Pius X
The song of the Church
The collection of psalms found in Scripture, composed as it was under divine inspiration, has, from the very beginnings of the Church, shown a wonderful power of fostering devotion among Christians as they offer to God a continuous sacrifice of praise, the harvest of lips blessing his name. Following a custom already established in the Old Law, the psalms have played a conspicuous part in the sacred liturgy itself, and in the divine office. Thus was born what Basil calls the voice of the Church, that singing of psalms, which is the daughter of that hymn of praise (to use the words of our predecessor, Urban VIII) which goes up unceasingly before the throne of God and of the Lamb, and which teaches those especially charged with the duty of divine worship, as Athanasius says, the way to praise God, and the fitting words in which to bless him. Augustine expresses this well when he says: God praised himself so that man might give him fitting praise; because God chose to praise himself man found the way in which to bless God. The psalms have also a wonderful power to awaken in our hearts the desire for every virtue. Athanasius says: Though all Scripture, both old and new, is divinely inspired and has its use in teaching, as we read in Scripture itself, yet the Book of Psalms, like a garden enclosing the fruits of all the other books, produces its fruits in song, and in the process of singing brings forth its own special fruits to take their place beside them. In the same place Athanasius rightly adds: The psalms seem to me to be like a mirror, in which the person using them can see himself, and the stirrings of his own heart; he can recite them against the background of his own emotions. Augustine says in his Confessions: How I wept when I heard your hymns and canticles, being deeply moved by the sweet singing of your Church. Those voices flowed into my ears, truth filtered into my heart, and from my heart surged waves of devotion. Tears ran down, and I was happy in my tears. Indeed, who could fail to be moved by those many passages in the psalms which set forth so profoundly the infinite majesty of God, his omnipotence, his justice and goodness and clemency, too deep for words, and all the other infinite qualities of his that deserve our praise? Who could fail to be roused to the same emotions by the prayers of thanksgiving to God for blessings received, by the petitions, so humble and confident, for blessings still awaited, by the cries of a soul in sorrow for sin committed? Who would not be fired with love as he looks on the likeness of Christ, the redeemer, here so lovingly foretold? His was the voice Augustine heard in every psalm, the voice of praise, of suffering, of joyful expectation, of present distress.

Reading

From the apostolic constitution Divino afflatu of Pope Saint Pius X

The song of the Church

The collection of psalms found in Scripture, composed as it was under divine inspiration, has, from the very beginnings of the Church, shown a wonderful power of fostering devotion among Christians as they offer to God a continuous sacrifice of praise, the harvest of lips blessing his name. Following a custom already established in the Old Law, the psalms have played a conspicuous part in the sacred liturgy itself, and in the divine office. Thus was born what Basil calls the voice of the Church, that singing of psalms, which is the daughter of that hymn of praise (to use the words of our predecessor, Urban VIII) which goes up unceasingly before the throne of God and of the Lamb, and which teaches those especially charged with the duty of divine worship, as Athanasius says, the way to praise God, and the fitting words in which to bless him. Augustine expresses this well when he says: God praised himself so that man might give him fitting praise; because God chose to praise himself man found the way in which to bless God.
The psalms have also a wonderful power to awaken in our hearts the desire for every virtue. Athanasius says: Though all Scripture, both old and new, is divinely inspired and has its use in teaching, as we read in Scripture itself, yet the Book of Psalms, like a garden enclosing the fruits of all the other books, produces its fruits in song, and in the process of singing brings forth its own special fruits to take their place beside them. In the same place Athanasius rightly adds: The psalms seem to me to be like a mirror, in which the person using them can see himself, and the stirrings of his own heart; he can recite them against the background of his own emotions. Augustine says in his Confessions: How I wept when I heard your hymns and canticles, being deeply moved by the sweet singing of your Church. Those voices flowed into my ears, truth filtered into my heart, and from my heart surged waves of devotion. Tears ran down, and I was happy in my tears.
Indeed, who could fail to be moved by those many passages in the psalms which set forth so profoundly the infinite majesty of God, his omnipotence, his justice and goodness and clemency, too deep for words, and all the other infinite qualities of his that deserve our praise? Who could fail to be roused to the same emotions by the prayers of thanksgiving to God for blessings received, by the petitions, so humble and confident, for blessings still awaited, by the cries of a soul in sorrow for sin committed? Who would not be fired with love as he looks on the likeness of Christ, the redeemer, here so lovingly foretold? His was the voice Augustine heard in every psalm, the voice of praise, of suffering, of joyful expectation, of present distress.

Concluding Prayer
O God, no-one has ever seen gifts like those you have prepared for your loving servants. Fill our hearts with your love; may we love and serve you in all things and above all things, and receive from you gifts that surpass all our desires. 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.

August 2008
Wed 20	Saint Bernard, Abbot, Doctor
Thu 21	Saint Pius X, Pope
Fri 22	Our Lady, Mother and Queen
Sat 23	Saturday of week 20 of the year or Saint Rose of Lima, Virgin
Sun 24	21st Sunday of the year
Mon 25	Monday of week 21 of the year or Saint Louis or Saint Joseph of Calasanz, priest
Tue 26
Wed 27	Saint Monica

Calendar used: United States

Scripture readings taken from the Jerusalem Bible, 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. For on-line information about other Random House, Inc. books and authors, see the Internet web site at http://www.randomhouse.com.

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