Universalis
Thursday 12 September 2024    (other days)
Thursday of week 23 in Ordinary Time 
 or The Most Holy Name of Mary 

Using calendar: United States - Omaha. You can change this.

Office of Readings

If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, you should precede it with the Invitatory Psalm.
INTRODUCTION
Deus, in adiutórium meum inténde.
  Dómine, ad adiuvándum me festína.
Glória Patri et Fílio*
  et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*
  et in sǽcula sæculórum.
Amen. Allelúia.
INTRODUCTION
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.
Hymnus
Nox atra rerum cóntegit
terræ colóres ómnium:
nos confiténtes póscimus
te, iuste iudex córdium,
Ut áuferas piácula
sordésque mentis ábluas,
donésque, Christe, grátiam
ut arceántur crímina.
Mens, ecce, torpet ímpia,
quam culpa mordet nóxia;
obscúra gestit tóllere
et te, Redémptor, quǽrere.
Repélle tu calíginem
intrínsecus quam máxime,
ut in beáto gáudeat
se collocári lúmine.
Sit, Christe, rex piíssime,
tibi Patríque glória
cum Spíritu Paráclito,
in sempitérna sǽcula. Amen.
Hymn
Eternal Father, through your Word
You gave new life to Adam’s race,
And call us now to live in light,
New creatures by your saving grace.
To you who stooped to all who sin
We render homage and give praise:
To Father, Son and Spirit blest
Whose loving gift is endless days.
Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal

Ps 88:39-46
Lamentatio de ruina domus David

“Erexit cornu salutis nobis in domo David” (Lc 1, 69).

Intuére, Dómine, et réspice oppróbrium nostrum.
39Tu vero reppulísti et reiecísti,*
  irátus es contra christum tuum;
40evertísti testaméntum servi tui,*
  profanásti in terram diadéma eius.
41Destruxísti omnes muros eius,*
  posuísti munitiónes eius in ruínas.
42Diripuérunt eum omnes transeúntes viam,*
  factus est oppróbrium vicínis suis.
43Exaltásti déxteram depriméntium eum,*
  lætificásti omnes inimícos eius.
44Avertísti áciem gládii eius*
  et non es auxiliátus ei in bello.
45Finem posuísti splendóri eius*
  et sedem eius in terram collisísti.
46Minorásti dies iuventútis eius,*
  perfudísti eum confusióne.
Glória Patri et Fílio*
  et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*
  et in sǽcula sæculórum.
Amen.
Intuére, Dómine, et réspice oppróbrium nostrum.

Psalm 88 (89)
A lament at the ruin of the house of David

Pay heed, Lord, and see how we are taunted.
But you have spurned and rejected him;
  you are enraged against your anointed.
You have repudiated the covenant of your servant,
  you have trampled his crown in the dust.
You have demolished his walls
  and laid his fortifications in ruins.
Anyone who passes can despoil him;
  he is a mockery among his neighbours.
You have strengthened the arm of those who oppress him,
  you have gladdened the hearts of his enemies.
You have turned back the sharp edge of his sword;
  you have deprived him of your help in battle.
You have put an end to his splendour,
  and cast his throne to the ground.
You have cut short the days of his youth;
  you have covered him from head to foot in shame.
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.
Pay heed, Lord, and see how we are taunted.

Ps 88:47-53

Ego sum radix et genus David, stella spléndida et matutína.
47Usquequo, Dómine, abscondéris in finem,*
  exardéscet sicut ignis ira tua?
48Memoráre, quam brevis mea substántia.*
  Ad quam vanitátem creásti omnes fílios hóminum?
49Quis est homo, qui vivet et non vidébit mortem,*
  éruet ánimam suam de manu ínferi?
50Ubi sunt misericórdiæ tuæ antíquæ, Dómine,*
  sicut iurásti David in veritáte tua?
51Memor esto, Dómine, oppróbrii servórum tuórum,*
  quod contínui in sinu meo, multárum géntium,
52quo exprobravérunt inimíci tui, Dómine,*
  quo exprobravérunt vestígia christi tui.
53Benedíctus Dóminus in ætérnum.*
  Fiat, fiat.
Glória Patri et Fílio*
  et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*
  et in sǽcula sæculórum.
Amen.
Ego sum radix et genus David, stella spléndida et matutína.

Psalm 88 (89)

I am the root and stock of David; I am the splendid morning star.
How long, O Lord, will you hide yourself? For ever?
  Will your anger always burn like fire?
Remember how short is my time.
  Was it truly so pointless, your creation of man?
Who is the man who can live and not die,
  who can save his life from the grasp of the underworld?
Where are the kindnesses you showed us of old?
  Where is the truth of your oath to David?
Remember, Lord, how your servants are taunted,
  the taunts I bear in my bosom, the taunts of the nations –
  the insults of your enemies, Lord,
  the insults that follow the steps of your anointed!
Blessed be the Lord for ever!
  Amen, amen!
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 am the root and stock of David; I am the splendid morning star.

Ps 89:1-17
Sit splendor Domini super nos

“Unus dies apud Dominum sicut mille anni, et mille anni sicut dies unus” (2 Petr 3, 8).

Anni nostri sicut herba tránseunt: a sǽculo tu es, Deus.
1Dómine, refúgium factus es nobis*
  a generatióne in generatiónem.
2Priúsquam montes nasceréntur†
  aut gignerétur terra et orbis,*
  a sǽculo et usque in sǽculum tu es Deus.
3Redúcis hóminem in púlverem;*
  et dixísti: «Revertímini, fílii hóminum».
4Quóniam mille anni ante óculos tuos tamquam dies hestérna, quæ prætériit,*
  et custódia in nocte.
5Auferes eos, sómnium erunt:*
  6mane sicut herba succréscens,
mane floret et crescit,*
  véspere décidit et aréscit.
7Quia defécimus in ira tua*
  et in furóre tuo turbáti sumus.
8Posuísti iniquitátes nostras in conspéctu tuo,*
  occúlta nostra in illuminatióne vultus tui.
9Quóniam omnes dies nostri evanuérunt in ira tua,*
  consúmpsimus ut suspírium annos nostros.
10Dies annórum nostrórum sunt septuagínta anni*
  aut in valéntibus octogínta anni,
et maior pars eórum labor et dolor,*
  quóniam cito tránseunt, et avolámus.
11Quis novit potestátem iræ tuæ*
  et secúndum timórem tuum indignatiónem tuam?
12Dinumeráre dies nostros sic doce nos,*
  ut inducámus cor ad sapiéntiam.
13Convértere, Dómine, úsquequo?*
  Et deprecábilis esto super servos tuos.
14Reple nos mane misericórdia tua,*
  et exsultábimus et delectábimur ómnibus diébus nostris.
15Lætífica nos pro diébus, quibus nos humiliásti,*
  pro annis, quibus vídimus mala.
16Appáreat servis tuis opus tuum*
  et decor tuus fíliis eórum.
17Et sit splendor Dómini Dei nostri super nos,†
  et ópera mánuum nostrárum confírma super nos*
  et opus mánuum nostrárum confírma.
Glória Patri et Fílio*
  et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*
  et in sǽcula sæculórum.
Amen.
Anni nostri sicut herba tránseunt: a sǽculo tu es, Deus.

Psalm 89 (90)
Let the Lord's glory shine upon us

Our years pass like grass; but you, God, are without beginning or end.
Lord, you have been our refuge
  from generation to generation.
Before the mountains were born,
  before earth and heaven were conceived,
  from all time to all time, you are God.
You turn men into dust,
  you say to them “go back, children of men.”
A thousand years in your sight
  are like yesterday, that has passed;
  like a short watch in the night.
When you take them away, they will be nothing but a dream;
  like the grass that sprouts in the morning:
in the morning it grows and flowers,
  in the evening it withers and dries.
For we are made weak by your anger,
  thrown into confusion by your wrath.
You have gazed upon our transgressions;
  the light of your face illuminates our secrets.
All our days vanish in your anger,
  we use up our years in a single breath.
Seventy years are what we have,
  or eighty for the stronger ones;
and most of that is labour and sadness –
  quickly they pass, and we are gone.
Who can comprehend the power of your wrath?
  Who can behold the violence of your anger?
Teach us to reckon our days like this,
  so that our hearts may be led at last to wisdom.
Turn to us, Lord, how long must we wait?
  Let your servants call on you and be answered.
Fill us with your kindness in the morning,
  and we shall rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.
Give us joy for as long as you afflicted us,
  for all the years when we suffered.
Let your servants see your great works,
  and let their children see your glory.
Let the glory of the Lord God be upon us:
  make firm the work of your hands.
  Make firm the work of your hands.
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.
Our years pass like grass; but you, God, are without beginning or end.
℣. Dómine, apud te est fons vitæ.
℟. Et in lúmine tuo vidébimus lumen.
℣. With you, O Lord, is the source of life.
℟. It is your light that enlightens us.
Lectio prior
Incipit liber Lamentatiónum 1, 1-12. 18-20

Ierusalem desolata

1Quómodo sedet sola
cívitas plena pópulo!
Facta est quasi vídua
dómina géntium;
princeps provinciárum
facta est sub tribúto.
2Plorans plorat in nocte,
et lácrimæ eius in maxíllis eius;
non est qui consolétur eam
ex ómnibus caris eius:
omnes amíci eius sprevérunt eam
et facti sunt ei inimíci.
3Migrávit Iudas præ afflictióne
et multitúdine servitútis;
hábitat inter gentes,
nec invénit réquiem:
omnes persecutóres eius apprehendérunt eam
inter angústias.
4Viæ Sion lugent,
eo quod non sint qui véniant ad sollemnitátem;
omnes portæ eius destrúctæ,
sacerdótes eius geméntes,
vírgines eius afflíctæ,
et ipsa oppréssa amaritúdine.
5Facti sunt hostes eius in caput,
inimíci eius in securitáte,
quia Dóminus afflíxit eam
propter multitúdinem iniquitátum eius;
párvuli eius ducti sunt captívi
ante fáciem tribulántis.
6Et egréssus est a fília Sion
omnis decor eius;
facti sunt príncipes eius velut cervi
non inveniéntes páscua
et abiérunt absque fortitúdine
ante fáciem persequéntis.
7Recordáta est Ierúsalem
diérum afflictiónis suæ et peregrinatiónis,
ómnium desiderabílium suórum,
quæ habúerat a diébus antíquis,
cum cáderet pópulus eius in manu hostíli,
et non esset auxiliátor;
vidérunt eam hostes
et derisérunt intéritum eius.
8Peccátum peccávit Ierúsalem,
proptérea abominábilis facta est;
omnes, qui glorificábant eam, sprevérunt illam,
quia vidérunt ignomíniam eius:
ipsa autem gemens
convérsa est retrórsum.
9Sordes eius in fímbriis eius,
nec recordáta est finis sui;
depósita est veheménter,
non habens consolatórem.
«Vide, Dómine, afflictiónem meam,
quóniam eréctus est inimícus!».
10Manum suam misit hostis
ad ómnia desiderabília eius,
quia vidit gentes
ingréssas sanctuárium suum,
de quibus præcéperas,
ne intrárent in ecclésiam tuam.
11Omnis pópulus eius gemens
et quærens panem;
dedérunt pretiósa quæque pro cibo
ad refocillándam ánimam.
«Vide, Dómine, et consídera,
quóniam facta sum vilis!
12O vos omnes, qui transítis per viam,
atténdite et vidéte,
si est dolor sicut dolor meus,
quem parávit mihi,
quo afflíxit me Dóminus
in die iræ furóris sui.
18Iustus est Dóminus,
quia contra os eius rebéllis fui.
Audíte, óbsecro, univérsi pópuli,
et vidéte dolórem meum:
vírgines meæ et iúvenes mei
abiérunt in captivitátem.
19Vocávi amícos meos,
et ipsi decepérunt me;
sacerdótes mei et senes mei
in urbe consúmpti sunt,
quia quæsiérunt cibum sibi,
ut refocillárent ánimam suam.
20Vide, Dómine, quóniam tríbulor;
efferbuérunt víscera mea,
subvérsum est cor meum in memetípsa,
quóniam valde rebéllis fui;
foris orbávit me gládius
et domi mors».
First Reading
Lamentations 1:1-12,18-20

Jerusalem desolate

Aleph
Oh, how lonely she sits,
  the city once thronged with people,
as if suddenly widowed.
  Though once great among the nations,
she, the princess among provinces,
  is now reduced to vassalage.
Beth
She passes her nights weeping;
  the tears run down her cheeks.
Not one of all her lovers
  remains to comfort her.
Her friends have all betrayed her
  and become her enemies.
Ghimel
Judah is exiled after her downfall
  and harsh enslavement.
She dwells among the nations now,
  but finds no relief there.
Her pursuers all overtake her
  in places where there is no way out.
Daleth
The roads to Zion are in mourning;
  no one comes to her festivals now.
Her gateways are all deserted;
  her priests groan;
her virgins are grief-stricken;
  she suffers bitterly.
He
Her oppressors now have the upper hand,
  her enemies enjoy prosperity;
the Lord himself has made her suffer
  for her many, many sins;
her little children have left her as prisoners
  driven in front of the oppressor.
Waw
From the daughter of Zion
  all her glory has departed.
Her leaders were like rams
  that find no pasture.
Listlessly they took the road,
  driven by the drover.
Zain
Jerusalem remembers
  her days of misery and distress,
when her people fell before the enemy
  and no one came to help her.
Her oppressors looked at her
  and laughed at her downfall.
Heth
Jerusalem has sinned grievously
  and she has become a thing unclean.
All those who used to honour her despise her;
  they have seen her nakedness.
While she herself groans
  and turns her face away.
Teth
Her filth clings to the hem of her clothes.
  She had never thought of ending like this,
sinking as low as this.
  She has no one to comfort her.
‘O Lord, look on my degradation;
  my enemy is triumphant.’
Yod
The oppressor has laid his hands
  on all she treasured;
she has seen the pagans
  enter her sanctuary,
men whom you had forbidden
  to attend your Assembly.
Kaph
All her people groan
  as they search for bread;
they barter their valuables for food,
  to keep life in them.
‘Look, O Lord, and mark
  how despised I am.’
Lamed
All you who pass this way,
  look and see:
is any sorrow like the sorrow
  that afflicts me,
with which the Lord has struck me
  on the day of his burning anger?
Sade
The Lord is acting rightly,
  for I had rebelled against his order.
Listen therefore, all you nations,
  and see my sorrow.
My virgins and my young men
  have gone into exile.
Qoph
I called for help to my lovers;
  they failed me.
My priests and my elders
  were perishing inside the city,
as they searched for food
  to keep life in them.
Resh
Look, O Lord. How great my anguish!
  My entrails shudder;
my heart turns over inside me.
  Alas! I have always been a rebel –
and now, outside, the sword has robbed me of my children,
  and inside, there is death.
Responsorium
 Cf. Iob 16, 16; cf. Lam 1, 16 b. 18 b
℟. Caligavérunt óculi mei a fletu meo, quia elongátus est a me, qui consolabátur me; vidéte, omnes pópuli,* Si est dolor símilis sicut dolor meus.
℣. O vos omnes, qui transítis per viam, atténdite et vidéte* Si est.
Responsory
Job 16:16; Lm 1:18,12
℟. My eyes are dark with weeping; no comforter is near to revive my courage. Tell me,* is there any sorrow like my sorrow?
℣. All you who pass by, look and see:* is there any sorrow like my sorrow?
Lectio altera
Ex Expositióne sancti Brunónis presbýteri in Psalmos (Ps 83: edit. Cartusiæ de Pratis, 1891, 376-377)

Si oblitus fuero tui, Ierusalem

Quam dilécta tabernácula tua! Concupíscit ánima mea perveníre in átria Dómini, id est in amplitúdinem Ierúsalem cæléstis, quæ cívitas est Dómini.
  Osténdit autem quare concupíscit veníre in átria Dómini: et hoc ídeo, o Dómine, Deus virtútum supernárum exsístens, Rex meus et Deus meus, quóniam beáti qui hábitant in domo tua, Ierúsalem cælésti. Ac si dicat: Quis non concupísceret veníre in átria tua, cum sis Deus, id est creátor et Dóminus virtútum et rex, et cum omnes beáti sint qui in domo tua hábitant? Atria et domus pro eódem hic habet. Cum dicit beáti, ínnuit eos tantam habére beatitúdinem, quanta intéllegi potest. Et inde constat eos esse beátos, quia laudábunt te devotiónis amóre in sǽcula sæculórum, id est in ætérnum; non enim in ætérnum laudárent, nisi in ætérnum beáti essent.
  Ad hanc autem beatitúdinem per se nemo potest pertíngere, líceat hábeat spem, fidem et dilectiónem; sed beátus est vir ille, id est ille solúmmodo vir ad hanc beatitúdinem pérvenit, cuius est auxílium abs te ad ascensiónes beatitúdinis quas dispósuit in corde suo. Quod est dícere: Ille solus dicéndus est ad beatitúdinem perventúrus, qui, cum dispónat in corde ad hanc beatitúdinem ascéndere per multas ascensiónes virtútum et bonórum óperum, a grátia tua súscipit auxílium; per se namque nullíus est ascéndere, Dómino sic attestánte: Nemo ascéndit in cælum, per se scílicet, nisi Fílius hóminis qui est in cælo.
  Dico quod ascensiónes dispósuit útpote exsístens in valle lacrimárum, id est in hac vita, quæ húmilis est et plena lácrimis tribulatiónum, ad comparatiónem alteríus vitæ, quæ comparáta huic mons dicénda est et gáudio plena.
  Quóniam autem díxerat, beátus vir cuius est auxílium abs te, posset áliquis quǽrere: Auxiliatúrne Deus ad hoc? Ad quod sic respóndet: Vere auxílium est beátis a Deo; étenim legislátor, Christus scílicet qui nobis legem dedit, dat et dabit perseveránter benedictiónes, id est multiplícia dona grátiæ, per quæ suos benedícet, id est, exaltábit ad beatitúdinem; et per ipsas benedictiónes, ibunt de virtúte in virtútem ascendéndo; et in futúro in Sion cælésti vidébitur Christus Deus deórum, scílicet qui, cum Deus sit, deificábit quoque suos; vel, in ipsis Sion exsisténtibus vidébitur spiritáliter Deus deórum, Trínitas scílicet Deus; quod est dícere: Ratióne vidébunt in se Deum quem hic vidére néqueunt; erit enim Deus ómnia in ómnibus.
Second Reading
St Bruno's commentary on Psalm 83

If I forget you, Jerusalem

How delightful is your dwelling-place, Lord of hosts!
  My soul is weak with longing for the courts of your palace
That is, for the broad spaces of the heavenly Jerusalem, which is the city of God.
Blessed are they who dwell in your house:
  they will praise you for ever.
Now the psalmist shows why he desires to enter the courts of the Lord: Lord, God of all powers in heaven, my king and my God, blessed are they who dwell in your house. It is as if he said, ‘Who would not wish to enter your courts, since you are God, that is, the Creator, the Lord of the powers, the King, and since all are blessed who live in your house?’ Because ‘courts’ and ‘house’ mean the same thing here. When he says ‘blessed’ he means that they have all conceivable blessedness. And they are surely blessed, because they will praise you with loving devotion for ever, that is, for all eternity. They would not be able to praise the Lord for all eternity unless they were blessed for all eternity.
Blessed the man whose help comes from you,
  who has set his heart on climbing to you.
But no-one can reach this blessedness on his own, even if he has hope, faith and love. Blessed is the man whose help comes from you – in other words, only the man whose help comes from you will attain the blessedness he has set his heart on. That is to say: the only people who will attain blessedness are those who set their hearts on climbing many steps of virtue and good works, but also receive the help of your grace. No-one can climb by himself, as the Lord himself has said: No-one has gone up to heaven except the Son of Man who is in heaven.
  I say that he is climbing to you because he now lives in the valley of tears, that is, in this present life, which is lowly and filled with the tears of tribulation; as opposed to the other life, which can be called a mountain in comparison, a mountain full of joy.
  Since the psalmist has said, Blessed the man whose help comes from you, one might ask, ‘Will God give his help?’ The answer is that help is truly offered by God to the blessed. For the lawgiver, that is, Christ, gave us the law and he gives us and will go on giving us blessings (that is, the many gifts of grace) by which he blesses his own people. This means he will raise them up to blessedness, and so they will go from strength to strength as they climb. In the future heavenly Zion Christ will be seen, the God of gods, and since he is God he will make his people divine also. Or, if you prefer, you can say that the God of gods, God the Trinity, will be visible in a spiritual sense in those who dwell in Zion. By the light of their understanding they will see God in themselves in a way that now they cannot, for God will be all in all.
Responsorium1 Io 3, 2-3
℟. Nunc fílii Dei sumus et nondum manifestátum est quid érimus;* Scimus quóniam cum ipse apparúerit, símiles ei érimus, quóniam vidébimus eum sícuti est.
℣. Et omnis qui habet spem hanc in eo, castíficat se, sicut et ille castus est.* Scimus.
Responsory
℟. We are now God’s children, but it is not yet clear what we shall become;* all we know is that when Christ appears we shall become like him, because we shall see him as he really is.
℣. Everyone who has this hope in Christ keeps himself pure, just as Christ is pure;* all we know is that when Christ appears we shall become like him, because we shall see him as he really is.
Oremus.
  Deus, per quem nobis et redémptio venit et præstátur adóptio, fílios dilectiónis tuæ benígnus inténde, ut in Christo credéntibus et vera tribuátur libértas et heréditas ætérna.
Per Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum, Fílium tuum,
qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus,
per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum.
Amen.
Let us pray.
Since it is from you, God our Father,
  that redemption comes to us, your adopted children,
look with favour on the family you love,
  give true freedom to us and to all who believe in Christ,
  and bring us all alike to our eternal heritage.
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.
Benedicámus Dómino.
– Deo grátias.
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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Copyright © 1996-2024 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Hodder & Stoughton and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers.
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