Invitatory
℣. Lord, open my lips.
℟. And my mouth shall declare thy praise.
Antiphon: Come, let us adore the Lord, for he is our God.
Psalm 94 (95)
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…
Glory be to the Father…
Hymn
(Public Domain Morning Hymn — Week II Cycle)
“The Dawn of Day Appears”
The dawn of day appears,
The night has passed away;
The Sun of Justice rises now,
And brings the endless day.
O Christ, true Light divine,
Illume our hearts within;
Dispel the darkness of our minds,
And pardon all our sin.
All glory be to Thee,
O Father, God most high;
And to the Son and Holy Ghost
Through all eternity. Amen.
Psalmody
Psalm 50 (51)
Antiphon: A clean heart create in me, O God.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy.
And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity.
Wash me yet more from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
Create a clean heart in me, O God:
and renew a right spirit within my bowels.
Cast me not away from thy face;
and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation,
and strengthen me with a perfect spirit.
Glory be to the Father…
Canticle — Habakkuk 3
Antiphon: The Lord is my strength, and I will praise him.
O Lord, I have heard thy hearing, and was afraid.
O Lord, thy work, in the midst of the years bring it to life.
God will come from the south,
and the Holy One from mount Pharan.
His glory covered the heavens,
and the earth is full of his praise.
The Lord God is my strength:
and he will make my feet like the feet of harts.
Glory be to the Father…
Psalm 147
Antiphon: Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem:
praise thy God, O Sion.
Because he hath strengthened the bolts of thy gates:
he hath blessed thy children within thee.
Who hath placed peace in thy borders:
and filleth thee with the fat of corn.
He sendeth forth his word to the earth:
his word runneth swiftly.
Glory be to the Father…
Short Reading — James 5:16
Confess therefore your sins one to another: and pray one for another, that you may be saved. For the continual prayer of a just man availeth much.
Benedictus
Antiphon: Serve the Lord faithfully, and he will bless you.
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…
Intercessions
Let us bless Christ, the Sun of Justice, who enlightens every man:
— Lord, guide our steps in peace.
— Keep us faithful in small duties and hidden sacrifices.
— Grant courage to those facing quiet trials today.
— Bless the work of our hands and the thoughts of our hearts.
— May Chesterton Radio remain a lamp of sanity and joy in a confused age.
Concluding Prayer
O God, who dost teach us that without thee we can do nothing, grant us the help of thy grace; that in keeping thy commandments we may please thee both in will and deed. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son… Amen.
✨ Paradox of the Day
The smallest prayer may move the largest mountain, because God weighs not the volume but the love.
“The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man.”
— G. K. Chesterton
A Chestertonian Reflection
There is something wonderfully unreasonable about prayer. If the world were sensible, it would reward the loud and the large. It would measure strength in decibels and virtue in headlines. Yet Heaven has a curious habit of leaning down to whispers.
St. James tells us that the continual prayer of a just man availeth much. He does not say it availeth immediately, nor dramatically, nor in a manner suitable for social media. He says it availeth. Which is far more alarming.
For to avail means to work quietly, like yeast in dough or roots under pavement. The prayer of a just man may not change the weather, but it may change the heart — and the heart, once changed, may change the weather of a household, a parish, a town.
We are tempted to believe that only large efforts count: public gestures, grand reforms, impressive sacrifices. But God appears to delight in the arithmetic of mustard seeds. He hides power in small things so that we may not mistake it for our own.
This morning, therefore, let us not attempt to storm heaven with noise. Let us simply knock. Let us confess, forgive, and pray — steadily, stubbornly, cheerfully.
For the Orient from on high has visited us. And when the Sun rises, even the smallest candle matters.
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