O Lord, open my lips.
And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Invitatory Psalm
Psalm 23 (24)
We are God’s people, the sheep of his flock:
come, let us worship him, alleluia.
– We are God’s people, the sheep of his flock:
come, let us worship him, alleluia.
The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,
the world and all who live in it.
He himself founded it upon the seas
and set it firm over the waters.
– We are God’s people, the sheep of his flock:
come, let us worship him, alleluia.
Who will climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who will stand in his holy place?
The one who is innocent of wrongdoing and pure of heart,
who has not given himself to vanities or sworn falsely.
He will receive the blessing of the Lord
and be justified by God his saviour.
This is the way of those who seek him,
seek the face of the God of Jacob.
– We are God’s people, the sheep of his flock:
come, let us worship him, alleluia.
Gates, raise your heads. Stand up, eternal doors,
and let the king of glory enter.
Who is the king of glory?
The Lord of might and power.
The Lord, strong in battle.
– We are God’s people, the sheep of his flock:
come, let us worship him, alleluia.
Gates, raise your heads. Stand up, eternal doors,
and let the king of glory enter.
Who is the king of glory?
The Lord of hosts
– he is the king of glory.
– We are God’s people, the sheep of his flock:
come, let us worship him, alleluia.
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.
– We are God’s people, the sheep of his flock:
come, let us worship him, alleluia.
Hymn
Hail, day! whereon the One in Three
First formed the earth by sure decree,
The day its Maker rose again,
And vanquished death, and burst our chain.
Away with sleep and slothful ease!
We raise our hearts and bend our knees,
And early seek the Lord of all,
Obedient to the Prophet’s call:
That he may hearken to our prayer,
Stretch forth his strong right arm to spare,
And, every past offence forgiven,
Restore us to our home in heaven.
Assembled here this holy day,
This holiest hour we raise the lay;
And, O, that he to whom we sing,
May now reward our offering!
Most Holy Father, hear our cry,
Through Jesus Christ our Lord most High
Who, with the Holy Ghost and thee
Doth live and reign eternally.
Psalm 103 (104)
Hymn to God the Creator
Lord God, how great you are, clothed in majesty and glory, wrapped in light as in a robe. Alleluia.
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord, my God, how great you are!
You are robed in majesty and splendour;
you are wrapped in light as in a cloak.
You stretch out the sky like an awning,
you build your palace upon the waters.
You make the clouds your chariot,
you walk upon the wings of the wind.
You make the breezes your messengers,
you make burning fire your minister.
You set the earth upon its foundation:
from age to age it will stand firm.
Deep oceans covered it like a garment,
and the waters stood high above the mountains;
but you rebuked them and they fled;
at the sound of your thunder they fled in terror.
They rise to the mountains or sink to the valleys,
to the places you have decreed for them.
You have given them a boundary they must not cross;
they will never come back to cover the earth.
You make springs arise to feed the streams,
that flow in the midst of the mountains.
All the beasts of the field will drink from them
and the wild asses will quench their thirst.
Above them will nest the birds of the sky,
from among the branches their voices will sound.
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.
Lord God, how great you are, clothed in majesty and glory, wrapped in light as in a robe. Alleluia.
Psalm 103 (104)
The Lord brought forth bread from the earth and wine,
to cheer man’s heart. Alleluia.
From your palace you water the mountains,
and thus you give plenty to the earth.
You bring forth grass for the cattle,
and plants for the service of man.
You bring forth bread from the land,
and wine to make man’s heart rejoice.
Oil, to make the face shine;
and bread to make man’s heart strong.
The trees of the Lord have all that they need,
and the cedars of Lebanon, that he planted.
Small birds will nest there,
and storks at the tops of the trees.
For wild goats there are the high mountains;
the crags are a refuge for the coneys.
He made the moon so that time could be measured;
the sun knows the hour of its setting.
You send shadows, and night falls:
then all the beasts of the woods come out,
lion cubs roaring for their prey,
asking God for their food.
When the sun rises they come back together
to lie in their lairs;
man goes out to his labour,
and works until evening.
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 brought forth bread from the earth and wine,
to cheer man’s heart. Alleluia.
Psalm 103 (104)
God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good. Alleluia.
How many are your works, O Lord!
You have made all things in your wisdom,
and the earth is full of your creatures.
The sea is broad and immense:
sea-creatures swim there, both small and large,
too many to count.
Ships sail across it;
Leviathan lives there, the monster;
you made him to play with.
All of them look to you
to give them their food when they need it.
You give it to them, and they gather;
you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
But turn away, and they are dismayed;
take away their breath, and they die,
once more they will turn into dust.
You will send forth your breath, they will come to life;
you will renew the face of the earth.
Glory be to the Lord, for ever;
let the Lord rejoice in his works.
He turns his gaze to the earth, and it trembles;
he touches the mountains, and they smoke.
I will sing to the Lord all my life;
as long as I exist, I will sing songs to God.
May my praises be pleasing to him;
truly I will delight in the Lord.
Let sinners perish from the earth,
let the wicked vanish from existence.
Bless the Lord, my soul!
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.
God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good. Alleluia.
Happy are your eyes, because they see.
– Happy are your ears, because they hear.
Reading
Ecclesiasticus 46:1-12
Mighty in war was Joshua son of Nun,
successor to Moses in the prophetic office,
who well deserved his name,
and was a great saviour of the Chosen People,
wreaking vengeance on the enemies who opposed him,
and so bringing Israel into its inheritance.
How splendid he was when he raised his arms
to brandish his sword against cities!
Who had ever shown such determination as his?
He himself waged the wars of the Lord.
Was not the sun held back by his hand,
and one day drawn out into two?
He called on God the Most High,
as he pressed the enemy on every side;
and the great Lord answered him
with hard and violent hailstones.
He fell on that enemy nation,
and at the Descent he destroyed all resistance;
that the nations might acknowledge his warlike prowess
and know that their foe was the Lord.
For he was a follower of the Mighty One,
and in the time of Moses he did devoted service,
he and Caleb son of Jephunneh,
by opposing the whole community,
by preventing the people from sinning,
and by silencing the mutters of rebellion.
Hence these two alone were preserved
out of six hundred thousand men on the march,
and brought into their inheritance,
into a land where milk and honey flow.
The Lord gave Caleb the strength –
which he retained right into old age –
to tread the highlands of the country
which his descendants still hold as their inheritance,
for all the sons of Israel to see
that it is good to follow the Lord.
Responsory
He called upon the Most High, the Mighty One, when enemies pressed him on every side, and the Lord answered him with hailstones of mighty power.
Who before him ever stood so firm? Was not the sun held back by his hand? And the Lord answered him with hailstones of mighty power.
Reading
St Ignatius of Antioch's letter to the Romans
I do not try to please men, but God
From Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the Church which has obtained mercy through the majesty of the Most High Father and of Jesus Christ, his only Son; to the Church which is beloved and enlightened by the will of him who wills all things that are, according to the love of Jesus Christ our God; to the Church which has precedence in the lands of the Romans; to the Church which is worthy of God, worthy of honour, worthy of the blessing, worthy of praise, worthy of success, worthy in its holiness, pre-eminent in love, named after Christ, named after the Father. I greet that Church in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father. To those who are united in flesh and spirit to every one of his commandments, filled with the grace of God without wavering and filtered clear from every foreign stain, abundant greeting in Jesus Christ, our God, in blamelessness.
I have prayed to the Lord to see your godly faces and I have persevered in prayer until I have been granted this — for I hope to greet you, as a prisoner in Christ Jesus, if only I am found worthy to reach the end of my journey. Things have begun well and all now depends on my receiving the grace to reach my goal and receive my inheritance unhindered. But I fear your love for me and I fear the harm it can do me: it is so easy for you to do what you want and so hard for me to reach God if you do not spare me your help.
You habitually do what pleases God: do what pleases him now and not what pleases men. I shall never have a better opportunity of reaching God, and you will never have the opportunity of performing a better act than now, by keeping silence. If you remain silent, I shall become the word of God; but if your love of my physical life makes you speak, I shall be nothing but a meaningless cry.
Grant me nothing more than this: that I should be poured out to God, while an altar is still ready for me. Form yourselves into a chorus of love and sing praise to the Father in Christ Jesus for permitting this bishop of Syria to be summoned from the place of the sun’s rising to the sunset lands. Just as the sun sets only to rise again, how good it is to set to this world, to set and then to rise in God.
Responsory
For me, life means Christ, death a prize to be won. God forbid that I should boast of anything, except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through him the world stands crucified to me, and I to the world. God forbid that I should boast of anything, except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hymn
Te Deum
God, we praise you; Lord, we proclaim you!
You, the Father, the eternal –
all the earth venerates you.
All the angels, all the heavens, every power –
The cherubim, the seraphim –
unceasingly, they cry:
“Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts:
heaven and earth are full of the majesty of your glory!”
The glorious choir of Apostles –
The noble ranks of prophets –
The shining army of martyrs –
all praise you.
Throughout the world your holy Church proclaims you.
– Father of immeasurable majesty,
– True Son, only-begotten, worthy of worship,
– Holy Spirit, our Advocate.
You, Christ:
– You are the king of glory.
– You are the Father’s eternal Son.
– You, to free mankind, did not disdain a Virgin’s womb.
– You defeated the sharp spear of Death, and opened the kingdom of heaven to those who believe in you.
– You sit at God’s right hand, in the glory of the Father.
– You will come, so we believe, as our Judge.
And so we ask of you: give help to your servants, whom you set free at the price of your precious blood.
Number them among your chosen ones in eternal glory.
Bring your people to safety, Lord, and bless those who are your inheritance.
Rule them and lift them high for ever.
Day by day we bless you, Lord:
we praise you for ever and for ever.
Of your goodness, Lord, keep us without sin for today.
Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us.
Let your pity, Lord, be upon us, as much as we trust in you.
In you, Lord, I trust: let me never be put to shame.
Let us pray.
Lord God, source of all good,
hear our prayer:
inspire us with good intentions,
and help us to fulfil them.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
– Thanks be to God.
