Sext (Midday 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.
There are no specific psalms of the day today, so the complementary psalms are used at each of the daytime hours.
COMPLEMENTARY PSALMS
Psalm 122 (123)
The Lord guards his people |
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When they went home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents’ knowledge.
To you I lift up my eyes,
to you who dwell in the heavens.
Like the eyes of a servant watching his master,
like the eyes of a maid on her mistress’s hands,
so we keep our eyes on the Lord our God,
as we wait for his kindness.
Take pity on us, Lord, take pity:
we have had our fill of contempt.
Our souls have had their fill
of the laughter of the rich,
of the contempt of the proud.
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.
When they went home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents’ knowledge.
Psalm 123 (124)
Our help is in the name of the Lord |
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When they went home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents’ knowledge.
If the Lord had not been with us
(so let Israel sing),
If the Lord had not been with us
when men rose up against us,
they might have skinned us alive,
such was their anger.
The waters could have drowned us,
the torrent poured over us,
the foaming waters poured over us.
Blessed be the Lord, who saved us
from being torn to pieces by their teeth.
We have escaped, like a bird
from the snare of the fowler.
The snare was broken,
and we escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and 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.
When they went home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents’ knowledge.
Psalm 124 (125)
The Lord guards his people |
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When they went home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents’ knowledge.
Those who trust in the Lord are like the mountain of Zion:
it cannot be shaken, it will stand firm for ever.
Jerusalem – the mountains stand guard over it,
and the Lord stands guard over his people,
both now and for ever.
The sceptre of the wicked shall not rest
upon the inheritance of the just;
lest the just themselves stretch out their hands
and turn to wickedness.
Be good, O Lord, to the good
and the upright of heart.
As for those who turn away to crooked paths,
the Lord shall treat them like the doers of evil.
Peace be on Israel!
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.
When they went home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents’ knowledge.
| Short reading | (Wisdom 10:10) © |
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As the virtuous man fled, Wisdom led him along straight paths. She showed him the kingdom of God and taught him the knowledge of holy things. She brought him success in his toil and gave him full return for all his efforts.
Glory and wealth are in his house,
– and his justice endures for all ages.
Almighty God, at the beginning of your plan to save the human race you entrusted your Son to Joseph’s care.
By his intercession may your Church
be a constant faithful guardian of your saving mysteries.
Through Christ our Lord,
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.
