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(US Liturgy of the Hours – Psalter Week III)
(Douay-Rheims Translation)
✠ Invitatory
V. O Lord, open thou my lips.
R. And my mouth shall declare thy praise.
Ant. 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.
Glory be to the Father…
Ant. Come, let us adore the Lord, for he is our God.
✠ Psalmody
Psalm 62 (63)
Ant. My soul thirsts for you, my 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.
Glory be to the Father…
Canticle — Daniel 3
Ant. All you works of the Lord, bless the Lord.
Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord:
praise and exalt him above all for ever.
Bless the Lord, O ye angels of the Lord:
bless the Lord, O ye heavens.
Bless the Lord, sun and moon:
bless the Lord, stars of heaven.
Bless the Lord, showers and dews:
bless the Lord, all ye spirits of God.
Let the earth bless the Lord:
let it praise and exalt him above all for ever.
Bless the Lord, O ye children of men:
praise and exalt him above all for ever.
Glory be to the Father…
Psalm 149
Ant. 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.
Glory be to the Father…
✠ Short Reading
(James 1:22–25)
Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
For if a man be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he shall be compared to a man beholding his own countenance in a glass…
But he that hath looked into the perfect law of liberty, and hath continued therein… this man shall be blessed in his deed.
✠ Benedictus
Ant. Blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;
because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people…
(To save space in the Substack layout, the full Benedictus text may be rendered in publication format; use the full Douay-Rheims text when posting.)
✠ Intercessions
Let us bless Christ, who gives light to the world and calls us to holiness.
R. Lord, let your light shine upon us.
— May we not merely admire truth, but live it.
— May our words this day be matched by our deeds.
— May our homes become little sanctuaries of praise.
— May those in doubt find courage, and those in sorrow find hope.
Our Father…
✠ Concluding Prayer
Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God,
that we who seek the grace of thy protection
may be delivered from all evils,
and serve thee with a quiet mind.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
🕯 Paradox of the Day
The only way to see clearly is to act faithfully before you feel ready.
“Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”
— G. K. Chesterton
✒ A Chestertonian Reflection
There are many people who enjoy the Word of God as one enjoys a landscape painting: they stand at a distance, admire the colors, and then go home unchanged. But St. James has a more uncomfortable suggestion. He says the Word is not a picture—it is a mirror.
And mirrors are rude things.
A mirror does not flatter. It does not congratulate you for recognizing your own nose. It quietly insists that if your collar is crooked, you must straighten it. The Gospel is precisely such a mirror. It shows us not merely who Christ is—but who we are meant to become.
The modern world loves inspiration, but fears obligation. It enjoys hearing that love conquers all; it trembles at being asked to love the unlovable neighbor next door. It praises courage in the abstract; it hesitates when courage requires a phone call, an apology, or a sacrifice.
Yet here is the secret: action clarifies belief. A man does not wait to feel charitable before he gives alms; he gives alms and discovers charity growing in his heart. He does not wait to feel brave before speaking truth; he speaks it and finds bravery in the saying.
Faith is not proven in the hearing but in the doing.
And when we dare to live what we have heard—even imperfectly—we find that the mirror becomes not a rebuke but a window. Through it shines the astonishing liberty of obedience, the joy of a life aligned with truth.
Today, then, let us straighten the collar.
Not tomorrow. Today.
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