Opening
Lord, open my lips. And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Hymn
Your word is a lamp for the path I cannot see. I do not ask for the whole road — Only light enough for this next step, And a heart willing to take it. If I am slow, wait with me. If I am proud, make me small and true. Speak, and I will follow as I can Until the day is full.
Original – Prayer on Fire
Psalm I
Antiphon
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Psalm 72 (71):1–2, 12–13
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
Psalm
Give your judgment, O God, to the king, and your justice to the king’s son, to judge your people with justice and your poor with judgment. For he will free the poor from the powerful, and the poor one who has no helper. He will spare the poor and the indigent, and he will bring salvation to the souls of the poor.
Glory Be
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.
Antiphon
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Psalm II
Antiphon
I wait for your voice more than watchmen for the dawn.
Psalm 98 (97):1–3
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
Psalm
Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has performed wonders. His right hand and his holy arm have accomplished salvation. The Lord has made known his salvation. He has revealed his justice in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Glory Be
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.
Antiphon
I wait for your voice more than watchmen for the dawn.
Silence
A moment of silence
First Reading
Sirach 15:1–10
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
Whoever fears God will do good. And whoever holds to justice will obtain it. And like an honorable mother, she will meet him, and like a virgin bride, she will receive him. She will feed him with the bread of life and understanding. And she will give him to drink from the water of salvific wisdom. And she will be confirmed in him, and he will not waver. And she will hold to him, and he will not be confounded. And she will exalt him, along with those closest to him. And in the midst of the Church, she will open his mouth, and she will fill him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and she will clothe him with a robe of glory. She will store up in him a treasure of rejoicing and exultation, and she will cause him to inherit an everlasting name. But foolish men will not take hold of her. And though understanding men will meet her, foolish men will not catch sight of her. For she is far from arrogance and deceit. Lying men will be wary of her. But men who speak the truth will be found with her, and they will have success, even when examined by God. Praise is not beautiful in the mouth of a sinner. For wisdom was sent from God. And praise will stand before the wisdom of God, and praise will abound in the mouths of the faithful, and the sovereign Lord will give praise to wisdom.
Responsory
Your word is a lamp for my feet. And a light for my path. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Second Reading
From On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius
public domain
For this purpose, then, the incorporeal and incorruptible and immaterial Word of God entered our world. In one sense, indeed, He was not far from it before, for no part of creation had ever been without Him Who, while ever abiding in union with the Father, yet fills all things that are. But now He entered the world in a new way, stooping to our level in His love and Self-revealing to us. He saw the reasonable race, the race of men that, like Himself, expressed the Father’s Mind, wasting out of existence, and death reigning over all in corruption. He saw, too, how the surpassing wickedness of men was mounting up against them. He saw how all men were under penalty of death. Then He took pity on our race, and had mercy on our infirmity, and condescended to our corruption, and, unable to bear that death should have the mastery, lest the creature should perish, and His Father’s handiwork in men be spent for nought, He took to Himself a body, a human body even as our own. Nor did He will merely to become embodied, or merely to appear. He took our body, and not only so, but He took it from a spotless, stainless virgin, without the agency of human father — a pure body, untainted by intercourse with man.
Intercessions
Bless this ordinary morning as a place of encounter.
R. Speak, Lord, we are listening.
For workers already on the road, and parents already awake.
R. Speak, Lord, we are listening.
For the sick who will not leave their rooms today.
R. Speak, Lord, we are listening.
For a heart that can hear you in unremarkable hours.
R. Speak, Lord, we are listening.
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.
Closing prayer
God our Father, you have given us the light of another beginning. Open our lips to praise and our hands to mercy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.