O Lord, open my lips.
And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Invitatory Psalm
Psalm 99 (100)
Let us come before the Lord and proclaim our thanks.
– Let us come before the Lord and proclaim our thanks.
Rejoice in the Lord, all the earth,
and serve him with joy.
Exult as you enter his presence.
– Let us come before the Lord and proclaim our thanks.
Know that the Lord is God.
He made us and we are his
– his people, the sheep of his flock.
– Let us come before the Lord and proclaim our thanks.
Cry out his praises as you enter his gates,
fill his courtyards with songs.
Proclaim him and bless his name;
for the Lord is our delight.
His mercy lasts for ever,
his faithfulness through all the ages.
– Let us come before the Lord and proclaim our thanks.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
– Let us come before the Lord and proclaim our thanks.
Hymn
Our limbs refreshed with slumber now,
And sloth cast off, in prayer we bow;
And while we sing thy praises dear,
O Father, be thou present here.
To thee our earliest morning song,
To thee our hearts’ full powers belong;
And thou, O Holy One prevent
Each following action and intent.
As shades at morning flee away,
And night before the star of day;
So each transgression of the night
Be purged by thee, celestial light!
Cut off, we pray Thee, each offence,
And every lust of thought and sense;
That by their lips who thee adore
Thou mayst be praised forevermore.
Grant this, O Father ever One
With Christ, thy sole-begotten Son,
And Holy Ghost, whom all adore,
Reigning and blest forevermore.
A prayer for relief from affliction
Psalm 6
In your compassion, save me, O Lord.
Lord, do not condemn me in your fury:
do not destroy me in your anger.
Take pity on me, Lord, for I am sick;
heal me, Lord, for my bones are in disarray.
My spirit is deeply disturbed,
and you, Lord – how long?
Turn to me, Lord, rescue my spirit:
in your pity, save me.
If I die, how can I praise you?
Can anyone in the underworld proclaim your name?
I struggle and groan,
soak my bed with weeping night after night;
my eyes are troubled with sadness:
I grow older as my enemies watch.
Leave me, all who do evil,
for the Lord has heard my voice as I wept.
The Lord listened to my prayer,
granted me what I asked.
Let my enemies be ashamed and confounded:
let shame and confusion overtake them soon.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
In your compassion, save me, O Lord.
Psalm 9A (9)
Thanksgiving for victory
The Lord is a refuge for the poor and weak in times of trouble.
I will thank you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of your wonders.
I will rejoice in you and triumph,
make music to your name, O Most High.
Because my enemies are in full retreat;
they stumble and perish at your presence.
For you have given judgement in my favour,
upheld my case,
taken your seat on the throne of judgement.
You have rebuked the nations,
condemned the wicked,
wiped out their name for ever and for ever.
My enemies are no more;
their land is a desert for ever.
You have demolished their cities,
their very memory is wiped away.
But the Lord will reign for ever:
he has made his throne his judgement-seat.
He himself will judge the whole world in justice,
judge the peoples impartially.
The Lord will be a refuge for the oppressed,
a refuge in good times and in bad.
Let them put their hope in you, those who know your name;
for you, Lord, have never abandoned those who seek you.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
The Lord is a refuge for the poor and weak in times of trouble.
Psalm 9A (9)
I will proclaim your praise at the gates of the daughter of Zion.
Sing to the Lord who dwells in Zion,
proclaim to the nations his loving care.
For he has remembered the poor and avenged them with blood:
he has not forgotten the cry of the weak.
Take pity on me, Lord:
see how my enemies torment me.
You raise me up from the gates of death,
and I will proclaim your praise at the gates of the daughter of Zion;
I will rejoice in your salvation.
The nations have fallen into the pit that they made,
into the very trap that they set: their feet are caught fast.
The Lord’s justice shines forth:
the sinner is trapped by his very own action.
Sinners will go down to the underworld,
and all nations that forget God.
For the weak will not always be forgotten:
the hope of the weak will never perish.
Rise up, Lord, let men not be complacent:
let the nations come before you to be judged.
Put fear into them, Lord:
let them know that they are only men.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
I will proclaim your praise at the gates of the daughter of Zion.
Give me understanding, and I will follow your law.
– I will keep it wholeheartedly.
Reading
Joel 4:1-3,9-21
‘For in those days and at that time,
when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
I am going to gather all the nations
and take them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
there I intend to put them on trial
for all they have done to Israel, my people and my heritage.
For they have scattered them among the nations
and have divided up my land among themselves.
They have cast lots for my people;
they have bartered the boys for prostitutes,
have sold the girls for wine and drunk it.
‘Proclaim this among the nations.
“Prepare for war!
Muster the champions!
Warriors, advance,
quick march!
Hammer your ploughshares into swords,
your sickles into spears,
let the weakling say, ‘I am a fighting man.’
Come quickly,
all you surrounding nations,
assemble there!”
Lord, send down your champions!
‘Let the nations rouse themselves, let them march
to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
for I am going to sit in judgement there
on all the nations round.
Put the sickle in:
the harvest is ripe;
come and tread:
the winepress is full,
the vats are overflowing,
so great is their wickedness!’
Host on host
in the Valley of Decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
in the Valley of Decision!
Sun and moon grow dark,
the stars lose their brilliance.
The Lord roars from Zion,
makes his voice heard from Jerusalem;
heaven and earth tremble.
But the Lord will be a shelter for his people,
a stronghold for the sons of Israel.
‘You will learn then that I am the Lord your God,
dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain.
Jerusalem will be a holy place,
no alien will ever pass through it again.’
When that day comes,
the mountains will run with new wine
and the hills flow with milk,
and all the river beds of Judah
will run with water.
A fountain will spring from the house of the Lord
to water the wadi of Acacias.
Egypt will become a desolation,
Edom a desert waste
on account of the violence done to the sons of Judah
whose innocent blood they shed in their country.
But Judah will be inhabited for ever,
Jerusalem from age to age.
‘I will avenge their blood and let none go unpunished’,
and the Lord shall make his home in Zion.
Responsory
The mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the streams of Judah flow with water; a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord. Let him who is thirsty come, let him who wishes take the water of life without price.
The angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Let him who is thirsty come, let him who wishes take the water of life without price.
Reading
The treatise of St Fulgentius of Ruspe on the forgiveness
Whoever conquers will not be harmed by the second death
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye as the final trumpet sounds, for the trumpet shall indeed sound, the dead shall rise incorruptible and we shall be changed. In saying “we,” Paul is indicating that the gift of that future change will also be given to those who during their time on earth are united to him and his companions by upright lives within the communion of the Church. He hints at the nature of the change when he says: This corruptible body must put on incorruptibility, this mortal body immortality. In order, then, that men may obtain the transformation which is the reward of the just, they must first undergo here on earth a change which is God’s free gift. Those who in this life have been changed from evil to good are promised that future change as a reward.
Through justification and the spiritual resurrection, grace now effects in them an initial change that is God’s gift. Later on, through the bodily resurrection, the transformation of the just will be brought to completion, and they will experience a perfect, abiding, unchangeable glorification. The purpose of this change wrought in them by the gifts of both justification and glorification is that they may abide in an eternal, changeless state of joy.
Here on earth they are changed by the first resurrection, in which they are enlightened and converted, thus passing from death to life, sinfulness to holiness, unbelief to faith, and evil actions to holy life. For this reason the second death has no power over them. It is of such men that the Book of Revelation says: Happy the man who shares in the first resurrection; over such as he the second death has no power. Elsewhere the same book says: He who overcomes shall not be harmed by the second death. As the first resurrection consists of the conversion of the heart, the second death consists of unending torment.
Let everyone, therefore, who does not wish to be condemned to the endless punishment of the second death now hasten to share in the first resurrection. For if any during this life are changed out of fear of God and pass from an evil life to a good one, they pass from death to life and later they shall be transformed from a shameful state to a glorious one.
Responsory
You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your real life is Christ, and when he appears, then you too will appear with him and share his glory.
You are to think of yourselves as dead to sin but alive to God in union with Christ Jesus our Lord. Your real life is Christ, and when he appears, then you too will appear with him and share his glory.
Let us pray.
O Lord our God, grant that we may always find joy in serving you;
for if we constantly serve the one from whom all good things come,
it will give us perfect happiness for ever.
We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
Amen.
