INVITATORY
The Invitatory is said when this is the first ‘hour’ of the day.
Lord, + open my lips.
— And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
The antiphon is repeated. In individual recitation, the antiphon may be said only at the beginning of the psalm; it need not be repeated after each strophe.
Psalm 95
A call to praise God
Encourage each other daily while it is still today (Hebrews 3:13).
Come, let us sing to the Lord *
and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us.
Let us approach him with praise and thanksgiving *
and sing joyful songs to the Lord.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
The Lord is God, the mighty God, *
the great king over all the gods.
He holds in his hands the depths of the earth *
and the highest mountains as well.
He made the sea; it belongs to him, *
the dry land, too, for it was formed by his hands.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
Come, then, let us bow down and worship, *
bending the knee before the Lord, our maker.
For he is our God and we are his people, *
the flock he shepherds.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
Today, listen to the voice of the Lord: †
Do not grow stubborn, as your fathers did
in the wilderness, *
when at Meriba and Massah
they challenged me and provoked me, *
Although they had seen all of my works.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
Forty years I endured that generation. *
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray
and they do not know my ways.”
So I swore in my anger, *
“They shall not enter into my rest.”
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
If the Invitatory is not said, then the following is used:
God, + come to my assistance.
— Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.
HYMN
During the night or at dawn:
Light eternal, Light almighty,
day that neither wanes nor fails;
vanquisher of night and shadow,
great restorer of the light,
bold destroyer of the darkness,
splendor of the mind and heart:
By your birth our hearts are gladdened,
at your call we rise from sleep;
by your action we are blessed,
at your leaving, filled with grief;
freed from death by your salvation,
we are radiant in your light.
You have given us the vict’ry
over death, the world, and night;
therefore grant us, King eternal,
heaven’s light and radiant dawn
darkened by no night or shadow,
joyful in your light alone.
Praise to you and to the Father,
honor to the Spirit blest,
to the name beyond all sweetness,
to the holy will divine,
God of peace and life and splendor,
wholly One yet perfect Three. Amen.
Tune: WESTMINSTER ABBEY, 8 7 8 7 8 7
Music: adapted from an anthem by Henry Purcell, 1659-1695
or Mode II, melody 34; Liber Hymnarius, Solesmes, 1983*
Text: Lux æterna, lumen potens, Gottschalk of Fulda, O. S. B., ca. 808-868, © 2023 ICEL
During the day:
O God, sole unbegotten source,
O God from God, begotten Son,
O God proceeding from them both,
come dwell in us and bring your aid.
May you remain our sole desire
and be our deepest love and joy;
may all our longing rest in you
and may you be our heart’s delight.
O Father, Lord of all that is;
with Christ your Son, the Virgin-born,
come rule us by the Spirit blest,
our rampart and our help within.
Remember, Holy Trinity,
the wondrous works your goodness wrought,
when first you made the human race
and then remade it, cleansed by blood.
Those whom the Three in One have made
the charity of Christ redeemed;
enduring death, he loved us then:
now may he love us as his own.
All joy and peace, all pow’r and might,
all beauty and omnipotence,
all rev’rence, honor, glory, praise
to God the blessed Three in One. Amen.
Tune: ABENDS, 8 8 8 8
Music: Herbert Stanley Oakley, 1830-1903
or Mode II, melody 43; Liber Hymnarius, Solesmes, 1983
Text: Deus de nullo veniens, ca. 14th c., © 2023 ICEL
PSALMODY
Ant. 1 The Lord summons heaven and earth to witness his judgment on his people.
Psalm 50
Genuine love of God
I have come not to abolish the law but to bring it to perfection (Matthew 5:17).
I
The God of gods, the Lord, *
has spoken and summoned the earth,
from the rising of the sun to its setting. *
Out of Zion’s perfect beauty he shines.
Our God comes, he keeps silence no longer.
Before him fire devours, *
around him tempest rages.
He calls on the heavens and the earth *
to witness his judgment of his people.
“Summon before me my people *
who made covenant with me by sacrifice.”
The heavens proclaim his justice, *
for God himself is the judge.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. The Lord summons heaven and earth to witness his judgment on his people.
Ant. 2 Come to me in your distress, and I will save you.
II
“Listen, my people, I will speak; *
Israel, I will testify against you,
for I am God your God. *
I accuse you, lay the charge before you.
I find no fault with your sacrifices, *
your offerings are always before me.
I do not ask more bullocks from your farms, *
nor goats from among your herds.
For I own all the beasts of the forest, *
beasts in their thousands on my hills.
I know all the birds in the sky, *
all that moves in the field belongs to me.
Were I hungry, I would not tell you, *
for I own the world and all it holds.
Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls, *
or drink the blood of goats?
Pay your sacrifice of thanksgiving to God *
and render him your votive offerings.
Call on me in the day of distress. *
I will free you and you shall honor me.”
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. Come to me in your distress, and I will save you.
Ant. 3 A sacrifice of praise will give me glory.
III
But God says to the wicked:
“But how can you recite my commandments *
and take my covenant on your lips,
you who despise my law *
and throw my words to the winds,
you who see a thief and go with him; *
who throw in your lot with adulterers,
who unbridle your mouth for evil *
and whose tongue is plotting crime,
you who sit and malign your brother *
and slander your own mother’s son.
You do this, and should I keep silence? *
Do you think that I am like you?
Mark this, you who never think of God, *
lest I seize you and you cannot escape;
a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me *
and I will show God’s salvation to the upright.”
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Psalm Prayer
Father, because Jesus, your servant, became obedient even unto death, his sacrifice was greater than all holocausts of old. Accept the sacrifice of praise we offer you through him, and may we show the effects of it in our lives by striving to do your will until our whole life becomes adoration in spirit and truth.
Ant. A sacrifice of praise will give me glory.
We are always praying earnestly for you.
— That you may have a deep knowledge of God’s will.
READINGS
FIRST READING
From the book of Job
13:13—14:6
Job appeals to God’s judgment
Job replied to his friends and said:
Be silent, let me alone!
that I may speak and give vent to my feelings.
I will carry my flesh between my teeth,
and take my life in my hand.
Slay me though he might, I will wait for him;
I will defend my conduct before him.
And this shall be my salvation,
that no impious man can come into his presence.
Pay careful heed to my speech,
and give my statement a hearing.
Behold, I have prepared my case,
I know that I am in the right.
If anyone can make a case against me,
then I shall be silent and die.
These things only do not use against me,
then from your presence I need not hide:
Withdraw your hand far from me,
and let not the terror of you frighten me.
Then call me, and I will respond;
or let me speak first, and answer me.
What are my faults and my sins?
My misdeeds and my sins make known to me!
Why do you hide your face
and consider me your enemy?
Will you harass a wind-driven leaf,
or pursue a withered straw?
For you draw up bitter indictments against me,
and punish in me the faults of my youth.
You put my feet in the stocks;
you watch all my paths
and trace out all my footsteps.
Man born of woman
is short-lived and full of trouble,
Like a flower that springs up and fades,
swift as a shadow that does not abide.
Upon such a one will you cast your eyes
so as to bring him into judgment before you,
Though he wears out like a leather bottle
like a garment that the moth has consumed?
Can a man be found who is clean of defilement?
There is none, however short his days.
You know the number of his months;
you have fixed the limit which he cannot pass.
Look away from him and let him be,
while, like a hireling, he completes his day.
RESPONSORY
See Job 13:20, 21: see Jeremiah 10:24
O Lord, do not hide your face from me;
lift away from me the weight of your hand,
— and let not the fear of you terrify me.
O God, rebuke me with gentleness and not in anger,
for your anger will reduce me to nothing.
— And let not the fear of you terrify me.
SECOND READING
From a sermon by Saint Zeno of Verona, bishop
(Tract 15, 2: PL 11, 441-443)
Job was a type of Christ
Is Job a type of Christ? If I am right, he is, and the comparison will reveal the truth of my claim. But while Job was called a just man by God, God himself is the fountain of justice from whom all the saints drink. See what Scripture says: The sun of justice will arise for you. Job was called truthful, but the Lord is, as he says in the Gospel, the way, the truth and the life. And while Job was rich, the Lord is far richer, for the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it; the world and all who dwell in it. All rich men are his servants, and the whole world and all of nature as well.
But we may compare Job and Christ in many ways. As Job was tempted by the devil three times, so too Christ was tempted three times. The Lord set aside his riches out of love for us and chose poverty so that we might become rich, while Job lost all that he possessed. A violent wind killed Job’s sons, while the sons of God, the prophets, were killed by the fury of the Pharisees. Job became ulcerated and disfigured, while the Lord, by becoming man, took on the defilement of the sins committed by all mankind. The wife of Job tempted him to sin, much as the synagogue tried to force the Lord to yield to corrupt leadership. Thus he was insulted by the priests, the servants of his altar, as Job was insulted by his friends. And as Job sat on a dunghill of worms, so all the evil of the world is really a dunghill which became the Lord’s dwelling place, while men that abound in every sort of crime and base desire are really worms.
The restoration of health and riches to Job prefigures the resurrection, which gives health and eternal life to those who believe in Christ. Regaining lordship over all the world, Christ says: All things have been given to me by my Father. And just as Job fathered other sons, so too did Christ, for the apostles, the sons of the Lord, succeeded the prophets.
Job died happily and in peace, but there is no death for the Lord. He is praised for ever, just as he was before time began, and as he always will be as time continues and moves into eternity.
RESPONSORY
Hebrews 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 6:4-5
Let us throw off every encumbrance
and steadily run the race we have started,
— keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,
the source of our faith and its goal.
Let us prove ourselves
by patient endurance of trials,
in times of difficulty and in distress,
and when we are flogged or imprisoned.
— Keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,
the source of our faith and its goal.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Let us pray.
Lord,
guide the course of world events
and give your Church the joy and peace
of serving you in freedom.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
— Amen.
Or:
Grant us, O Lord, we pray,
that the course of the world
may be directed by your peaceful rule
and that your Church may rejoice,
untroubled in her devotion.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
— Amen.
ACCLAMATION
Let us praise the Lord.
— And give him thanks.
******
Psalm 24
The Lord’s entry into his temple
Christ opened heaven for us in the manhood he assumed (Saint Irenaeus).
The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness, *
the world and all its peoples.
It is he who set it on the seas; *
on the waters he made it firm.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord? *
Who shall stand in his holy place?
The man with clean hands and pure heart, †
who desires not worthless things, *
who has not sworn so as to deceive his neighbor.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
He shall receive blessings from the Lord *
and reward from the God who saves him.
Such are the men who seek him, *
seek the face of the God of Jacob.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
O gates, lift high your heads; †
grow higher, ancient doors. *
Let him enter, the king of glory!
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
Who is the king of glory? †
The Lord, the mighty, the valiant, *
the Lord, the valiant in war.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
O gates, lift high your heads; †
grow higher, ancient doors. *
Let him enter, the king of glory!
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
Who is he, the king of glory? †
He, the Lord of armies, *
he is the king of glory.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
Psalm 67
People of all nations will worship the Lord
You must know that God is offering his salvation to all the world (Acts 28:28).
O God, be gracious and bless us *
and let your face shed its light upon us.
So will your ways be known upon earth *
and all nations learn your saving help.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the peoples praise you.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
Let the nations be glad and exult *
for you rule the world with justice.
With fairness you rule the peoples, *
you guide the nations on earth.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the peoples praise you.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
The earth has yielded its fruit *
for God, our God, has blessed us.
May God still give us his blessing *
till the ends of the earth revere him.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
Psalm 100
The joyful song of those entering God’s temple
The Lord calls his ransomed people to sing songs of victory (Saint Athanasius).
Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth. †
Serve the Lord with gladness. *
Come before him, singing for joy.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
Know that he, the Lord, is God. †
He made us, we belong to him, *
we are his people, the sheep of his flock.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
Go within his gates, giving thanks. †
Enter his courts with songs of praise. *
Give thanks to him and bless his name.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
Indeed, how good is the Lord, †
eternal his merciful love. *
He is faithful from age to age.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. Let us listen to the voice of God; let us enter into his rest.
Praise the Lord, ye heavens, adore him;
Praise him, angels in the height;
Sun and moon, rejoice before him;
Praise him, all ye stars of light.
Praise the Lord for he has spoken;
Worlds his mighty voice obeyed;
Laws which never shall be broken,
For their guidance he has made.
Praise the Lord, for he is glorious,
Never shall his promise fail;
God hath made his saints victorious,
Sin and death shall not prevail.
Praise the God of our salvation;
Hosts on high his power proclaim;
Heaven and earth and all creation,
Praise and magnify his name.
Worship, honor, glory, blessing,
Lord, we offer unto thee;
Young and old, thy praise expressing,
In glad homage bend the knee.
All the saints in heaven adore thee,
We would bow before thy throne;
As thine angels serve before thee,
So on earth thy will be done.
Tune: Austria 87.87 D
Music: Franz Josef Haydn, 1797
Text: Stanzas 1 and 2, Foundling Hospital Collection, c. 1801; stanza 3, Edward Osler, 1836