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Arch Bishop Micheal Ralph Vendegna S.O.S.M.A.

Liturgy of the Hours


  • Friday 26 November 2021

    Friday of week 34 in Ordinary Time 


    Morning Prayer (Lauds)


    Introduction (without Invitatory)

    If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, use the version with the Invitatory Psalm instead.


    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.


    ________

    Hymn

    What shall I, frail man, be pleading?
    Who for me be interceding,
    When the just are mercy needing?

    King of Majesty tremendous,
    Who dost free salvation send us,
    Fount of pity, then befriend us!

    Think, kind Jesu! – my salvation
    Caused thy wondrous Incarnation;
    Leave me not to reprobation.

    Faint and weary, thou hast sought me,
    On the Cross of suffering bought me.
    Shall such grace be vainly brought me?

    Righteous Judge, for sin’s pollution
    Grant thy gift of absolution,
    Ere the day of retribution.

    Guilty, now I pour my moaning,
    All my shame with anguish owning;
    Spare, O God, thy suppliant groaning!

    O God of majesty
    nourishing light of the Trinity
    join us with the blessed. Amen.

    Dies Iræ

    ________

    Psalm 50 (51)
    God, have mercy on me


    “You must be made new in mind and spirit, and put on the new nature of God’s creating” (Eph 4:23,24).

    O God, you will not spurn a humbled, contrite heart.

    Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
    In your compassion blot out my offence.
    O wash me more and more from my guilt
    and cleanse me from my sin.

    My offences truly I know them;
    my sin is always before me.
    Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
    what is evil in your sight I have done.

    That you may be justified when you give sentence
    and be without reproach when you judge,
    O see, in guilt I was born,
    a sinner was I conceived.

    Indeed you love truth in the heart;
    then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom.
    O purify me, then I shall be clean;
    O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.

    Make me hear rejoicing and gladness,
    that the bones you have crushed may revive.
    From my sins turn away your face
    and blot out all my guilt.

    A pure heart create for me, O God,
    put a steadfast spirit within me.
    Do not cast me away from your presence,
    nor deprive me of your holy spirit.

    Give me again the joy of your help;
    with a spirit of fervour sustain me,
    that I may teach transgressors your ways
    and sinners may return to you.

    O rescue me, God, my helper,
    and my tongue shall ring out your goodness.
    O Lord, open my lips
    and my mouth shall declare your praise.

    For in sacrifice you take no delight,
    burnt offering from me you would refuse,
    my sacrifice, a contrite spirit.
    A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.

    In your goodness, show favour to Sion:
    rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
    Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice,
    holocausts offered on your altar.

    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.

    O God, you will not spurn a humbled, contrite heart.


    Psalm-prayer

    Father, he who knew no sin was made sin for us, to save us and restore us to your friendship. Look upon our contrite heart and afflicted spirit and heal our troubled conscience, so that in the joy and strength of the Holy Spirit we may proclaim your praise and glory before all the nations.


    ________

    Canticle
    Habakkuk 3
    The Lord will appear in judgement


    “Lift up your heads, for your redemption is near at hand” (Lk 21:28).

    In spite of your anger, Lord, have compassion.

    Lord, I have heard of your fame,
    I stand in awe at your deeds.
    Do them again in our days,
    in our days make them known!
    In spite of your anger, have compassion.

    God comes forth from Teman,
    the Holy One comes from Mount Paran.
    His splendour covers the sky
    and his glory fills the earth.
    His brilliance is like the light,
    rays flash from his hands;
    there his power is hidden.

    You march out to save your people,
    to save the one you have anointed.
    You made a path for your horses in the sea,
    in the raging of the mighty waters.

    This I heard and I tremble with terror,
    my lips quiver at the sound.
    Weakness invades my bones,
    my steps fail beneath me
    yet I calmly wait for the doom
    that will fall upon the people who assail us.

    For even though the fig does not blossom,
    nor fruit grow on the vine,
    even though the olive crop fail,
    and fields produce no harvest,
    even though flocks vanish from the folds
    and stalls stand empty of cattle,

    Yet I will rejoice in the Lord
    and exult in God my saviour.
    The Lord my God is my strength.
    He makes me leap like the deer,
    he guides me to the high places.

    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.

    In spite of your anger, Lord, have compassion.


    ________

    Psalm 147 (147B)
    God, the foundation of Jerusalem


    “Come, and I will show you the bride that the Lamb has chosen” (Rev 21:9).

    O praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

    O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
    Sion, praise your God!

    He has strengthened the bars of your gates
    he has blessed the children within you.
    He established peace on your borders,
    he feeds you with finest wheat.

    He sends out his word to the earth
    and swiftly runs his command.
    He showers down snow white as wool,
    he scatters hoar-frost like ashes.

    He hurls down hailstones like crumbs.
    The waters are frozen at his touch;
    he sends forth his word and it melts them:
    at the breath of his mouth the waters flow.

    He makes his word known to Jacob,
    to Israel his laws and decrees.
    He has not dealt thus with other nations;
    he has not taught them his decrees.

    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.

    O praise the Lord, Jerusalem.


    Psalm-prayer

    Lord, you established peace within the borders of Jerusalem. Give the fullness of peace now to your faithful people. May peace rule us in this life and possess us in eternal life. You are about to fill us with the best of wheat; grant that what we see dimly now as in a mirror, we may come to perceive clearly in the brightness of your truth.


    Or:

    All-powerful God, it is through your Church, generously endowed with gifts of grace and fortified by the Holy Spirit, that you send out your word to all nations. Strengthen your Church with the best of all food and make her dauntless in faith. Multiply her children to celebrate with one accord the mysteries of your love at the altar on high.


    ________

    Short Reading
    Ephesians 2:13-16

    Now in Christ Jesus, you that used to be so far apart from us have been brought very close, by the blood of Christ. For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, actually destroying in his own person the hostility caused by the rules and decrees of the Law. This was to create one single New Man in himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace through the cross, to unite them both in a single Body and reconcile them with God: in his own person he killed the hostility.


    ________

    Short Responsory

    I call to the Lord, the Most High, for he has been my help.
    – I call to the Lord, the Most High, for he has been my help.
    May he send from heaven and save me.
    – I call to the Lord, the Most High, for he has been my help.
    Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
    – I call to the Lord, the Most High, for he has been my help.


    ________

    Canticle
    Benedictus
    The Messiah and the one who was sent before him

    Through the loving mercy of our God, the Rising Sun has come to visit us.

    Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel!
    He has visited his people and redeemed them.

    He has raised up for us a mighty saviour
    in the house of David his servant,
    as he promised by the lips of holy men,
    those who were his prophets from of old.

    A saviour who would free us from our foes,
    from the hands of all who hate us.
    So his love for our fathers is fulfilled
    and his holy covenant remembered.

    He swore to Abraham our father to grant us,
    that free from fear, and saved from the hands of our foes,
    we might serve him in holiness and justice
    all the days of our life in his presence.

    As for you, little child,
    you shall be called a prophet of God, the Most High.
    You shall go ahead of the Lord
    to prepare his ways before him,

    To make known to his people their salvation
    through forgiveness of all their sins,
    the loving-kindness of the heart of our God
    who visits us like the dawn from on high.

    He will give light to those in darkness,
    those who dwell in the shadow of death,
    and guide us into the way 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.

    Through the loving mercy of our God, the Rising Sun has come to visit us.


    ________

    Prayers and intercessions

    Father, we praise you for your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; through the Holy Spirit he offered himself in sacrifice to you, that we might be delivered from death and selfishness, and be free to live in your peace.
    – Father, in your will is our peace.

    We accept this new day as your gift, Lord;
    grant that we may live in newness of life.
    – Father, in your will is our peace.

    You made all things, and keep all things in being;
    give us the insight to see your hand at work in them all.
    – Father, in your will is our peace.

    Your Son sealed the new and everlasting covenant in his blood;
    help us to live by this covenant and honour it.
    – Father, in your will is our peace.

    As Jesus died on the cross, blood and water flowed from his side;
    as we share in the eucharist, pour out your Spirit upon us.
    – Father, in your will is our peace.


    ________

    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.


    ________


    Almighty God,
    as in this morning prayer we offer you our praise,
    grant that in your kingdom,
    together with your saints,
    we may praise you with even greater joy.
    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.


    ________

    The Lord bless us, and keep us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.
    Amen.


    Copyright © 1996-2021 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are 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. Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). Used with permission of A.P. Watt Ltd. All rights reserved.