Invitatory
Lord, open thou my lips.
— And my mouth shall declare thy praise.
Antiphon: Christ the Lord was tempted and suffered for us: come, let us adore him.
Invitatory Psalm — Psalm 94 (95)
Douay–Rheims
Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods:
For in his hand are all the ends of the earth: and the heights of the mountains are his.
For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us.
For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts:
As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works.
Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said:
These always err in heart.
And these men have not known my ways:
So I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon: Christ the Lord was tempted and suffered for us: come, let us adore him.
Hymn
(Public Domain Liturgy of the Hours Hymn Cycle)
Now That the Daylight Fills the Sky
Now that the daylight fills the sky,
We lift our hearts to God on high,
That he, in all we do or say,
Would keep us free from harm today.
Would guard our hearts and tongues from strife;
From anger’s din would hide our life;
From evil sights would turn our eyes;
And close our ears to vanities.
Fill thou our hearts with love of thee,
From every ill and danger free;
And grant us grace when day is done
To praise thee for the victory won.
To God the Father, heavenly light,
To Christ revealed in earthly night,
To God the Holy Ghost we raise
Our equal and unceasing praise. Amen.
Psalmody
Antiphon I
The Lord is compassionate and merciful.
Psalm 102 (103)
Bless the Lord, O my soul:
and let all that is within me bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul:
and never forget all he hath done for thee.
Who forgiveth all thy iniquities:
who healeth all thy diseases.
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction:
who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion.
Who satisfieth thy desire with good things:
thy youth shall be renewed like the eagle’s.
The Lord doth mercies,
and judgment for all that suffer wrong.
He hath made his ways known to Moses:
his wills to the children of Israel.
The Lord is compassionate and merciful:
long suffering and plenteous in mercy.
He will not always be angry:
nor will he threaten for ever.
He hath not dealt with us according to our sins:
nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For according to the height of the heaven above the earth:
he hath strengthened his mercy towards them that fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far hath he removed our iniquities from us.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon: The Lord is compassionate and merciful.
Antiphon II
Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord.
Canticle — Daniel 3:57–88
Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
Bless the Lord, ye angels of the Lord:
Bless the Lord, ye heavens.
Bless the Lord, all ye waters that are above the heavens:
Bless the Lord, all ye powers of the Lord.
Bless the Lord, ye sun and moon:
Bless the Lord, ye stars of heaven.
Bless the Lord, every shower and dew:
Bless the Lord, all ye spirits of God.
Bless the Lord, ye fire and heat:
Bless the Lord, cold and heat.
Bless the Lord, ye dews and hoarfrost:
Bless the Lord, ye frost and cold.
Bless the Lord, ye ice and snow:
Bless the Lord, ye nights and days.
Bless the Lord, ye light and darkness:
Bless the Lord, ye lightnings and clouds.
Let the earth bless the Lord:
let it praise and exalt him above all for ever.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon: Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord.
Antiphon III
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.
Psalm 150
Praise ye the Lord in his holy places:
praise ye him in the firmament of his power.
Praise ye him for his mighty acts:
praise ye him according to the multitude of his greatness.
Praise him with sound of trumpet:
praise him with psaltery and harp.
Praise him with timbrel and choir:
praise him with strings and organs.
Praise him on high sounding cymbals:
praise him on cymbals of joy.
Let every spirit praise the Lord.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon: Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.
Short Reading
Isaiah 55:6–7
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found: call upon him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him: and to our God, for he is bountiful to forgive.
Benedictus
Antiphon: I will arise and go to my father, and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee.
Canticle of Zechariah — Luke 1:68–79
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;
because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people.
And hath raised up an horn of salvation to us,
in the house of David his servant.
As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets,
who are from the beginning.
Salvation from our enemies,
and from the hand of all that hate us.
To perform mercy to our fathers,
and to remember his holy testament.
The oath, which he swore to Abraham our father,
that he would grant to us.
That being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
we may serve him without fear,
In holiness and justice before him,
all our days.
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest:
for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways.
To give knowledge of salvation to his people,
unto the remission of their sins.
Through the bowels of the mercy of our God,
in which the Orient from on high hath visited us.
To enlighten them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death:
to direct our feet into the way of peace.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Antiphon: I will arise and go to my father, and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee.
Intercessions
Let us praise Christ, who gave us this season of grace and prayer, and say:
Lord, renew our hearts.
Christ, our life, through baptism we were buried with you and rose to new life,
— grant that we may walk always in the newness of that life.
You call us to conversion during this holy season,
— help us to grow in sincerity of heart.
Teach us to hunger for justice and truth,
— and make us servants of your mercy.
May we seek you with a humble and contrite heart,
— and find you in the poor and forgotten.
The Lord’s Prayer
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. Amen.
Concluding Prayer
O God, who grantest sinners the grace of conversion and the blessing of reconciliation,
look mercifully upon thy people who turn to thee in repentance,
that those who confess their sins may be strengthened by thy grace
to persevere in good works.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son,
who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost,
God, world without end.
Amen.
Paradox of the Day
The man who turns back toward God does not lose his freedom — he discovers that he was walking in circles.
G.K. Chesterton
“The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man.”
Reflection — A Road That Turns
There is a curious misunderstanding about repentance.
People imagine it to be a kind of humiliation, as though a man must first admit that he has lost the road before he may begin the journey again.
But the Christian story is almost the opposite.
The moment a man turns around, he has already begun to walk home.
The world suggests that freedom consists in going wherever one pleases. But a man who walks in every direction at once does not travel very far. He simply describes circles around himself and calls it independence.
Lent interrupts this strange wandering.
It reminds us that the road to God is not hidden by complexity but by pride. The prodigal son did not discover a map. He merely remembered his father.
And the moment he remembered, the road appeared.
This is why repentance in Christianity is not despair but adventure. The man who confesses his sin has already done the bravest thing in the world: he has stopped pretending that he was never lost.
And because he has stopped pretending, he can begin traveling.
God, in the Gospel, is not the judge waiting at the end of the road.
He is the Father who runs down it.
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