Invitatory
V. O Lord, open thou my mouth.
R. And my mouth shall declare thy praise.
Antiphon:
Come, let us adore Christ the Lord, who calls us to watchfulness of heart.
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, 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:
Come, let us adore Christ the Lord, who calls us to watchfulness of heart.
Hymn (Public Domain Cycle)
Creator of the Stars of Night
Creator of the stars of night,
Thy people’s everlasting light,
O Jesu, Saviour of us all,
Regard Thy servants when they call.
Thou, grieving that the ancient curse
Should doom to death a universe,
Hast found the medicine, full of grace,
To save and heal a ruined race.
Thou cam’st, the Bridegroom of the bride,
As drew the world to evening tide;
Proceeding from a virgin shrine,
The spotless victim all divine.
O equal to the Father, Thou!
Gird on Thy fleshly mantle now;
The weakness of our mortal state
With deathless might invigorate.
Psalmody
Psalm 62 (63) — Longing for God
Antiphon:
My soul thirsts for thee, O God, my living God.
O God, my God, to thee do I watch at break of day.
For thee my soul hath thirsted;
for thee my flesh, O how many ways!
In a desert land, and where there is no way, and no water:
so in the sanctuary have I come before thee,
to see thy power and thy glory.
For thy mercy is better than lives:
thee my lips shall praise.
Thus will I bless thee all my life long:
and in thy name I will lift up my hands.
Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness:
and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.
If I have remembered thee upon my bed,
I will meditate on thee in the morning.
Because thou hast been my helper.
And I will rejoice under the covert of thy wings.
My soul hath stuck close to thee:
thy right hand hath received me.
Glory be to the Father...
Antiphon:
My soul thirsts for thee, O God, my living God.
Canticle — Daniel 3:57-88
Antiphon:
All you works of the Lord, bless the Lord.
O all ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord:
praise and exalt him above all for ever.
O ye angels of the Lord, bless the Lord.
O ye heavens, bless the Lord.
O all ye waters that are above the heavens, bless the Lord.
O all ye powers of the Lord, bless the Lord.
O ye sun and moon, bless the Lord.
O ye stars of heaven, bless the Lord.
O every shower and dew, bless ye the Lord.
O all ye spirits of God, bless the Lord.
O ye fire and heat, bless the Lord.
O ye cold and heat, bless the Lord.
O ye dew and hoar frost, bless the Lord.
O ye frost and cold, bless the Lord.
O ye ice and snow, bless the Lord.
O ye nights and days, bless the Lord.
O ye light and darkness, bless the Lord.
O ye lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord.
O let the earth bless the Lord:
let it praise and exalt him above all for ever.
Glory be to the Father...
Antiphon:
All you works of the Lord, bless the Lord.
Psalm 149 — Joy of the Saints
Antiphon:
Let the saints rejoice in glory.
Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle:
let his praise be in the church of the saints.
Let Israel rejoice in him that made him:
and let the children of Sion be joyful in their king.
Let them praise his name in choir:
let them sing to him with the timbrel and the psaltery.
For the Lord is well pleased with his people:
and he will exalt the meek unto salvation.
The saints shall rejoice in glory:
they shall be joyful in their beds.
The high praises of God shall be in their mouth:
and two-edged swords in their hands.
Glory be to the Father...
Antiphon:
Let the saints rejoice in glory.
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 (Canticle of Zechariah)
Antiphon:
Serve the Lord in holiness and justice all the days of your life.
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.
Glory be to the Father...
Antiphon:
Serve the Lord in holiness and justice all the days of your life.
Intercessions
Let us bless Christ, who calls us to holiness.
R. Lord, guide us in your truth.
That we may seek the Lord early in the day and order our works according to His will.
R. Lord, guide us in your truth.
That our homes may become places of prayer, gratitude, and Christian joy.
R. Lord, guide us in your truth.
That those burdened with anxiety, labor, or illness may receive strength this day.
R. Lord, guide us in your truth.
That the Church may shine as a light in a darkened world.
R. Lord, guide us in your truth.
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 dost call thy people to seek thee with a sincere heart, grant that as we begin this day we may desire thee above all things, and by thy grace persevere in the path of righteousness.
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 thinks he has found himself usually discovers he has lost God; the man who kneels before God often discovers he has finally found himself.
G.K. Chesterton Quote
“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”
— G.K. Chesterton
Reflection — The Difficulty of Joy
There is a curious mistake in the modern mind which supposes that Christianity is gloomy because it is serious. In truth, Christianity is serious because it is joyful.
A man can laugh at many things; but he cannot laugh at nothing. And the Christian laughs because he believes there is something at the center of the universe worth laughing about.
The saints wake early not because the world is dark, but because the dawn is coming. Morning prayer is not the duty of a frightened man hiding from chaos. It is the salute of a soldier who has heard the trumpet.
When Isaiah says, “Seek the Lord while he may be found,” he is not warning us that God is hiding behind the furniture. Rather, he is reminding us that our own hearts are astonishingly good at wandering away.
The real tragedy of man is not that God is distant, but that we are distracted.
Yet every morning the world begins again. The sun rises without consulting the newspapers. The birds sing without first checking the stock market. And the Church — stubbornly and gloriously — begins the psalms again.
That is why the saints pray at dawn.
For the Christian knows something the cynic has forgotten: that every sunrise is a resurrection rehearsal.
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