First Light

Lord, open my lips. And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Word of the Father, first and last, Meet us before we speak. Kindle a lamp for hidden paths And give the strength we seek. Not many words, but one that stays When lesser lights are gone: Teach us to love what you have said, And walk it until dawn.

Original – Prayer on Fire

Sirach 44:1–15

Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)

Let us praise the men of glory, and our ancestors in their generation. The Lord has wrought great glory, by his own magnificence, from ancient times. There are those who rule with their authority, men of great virtue, who are gifted with prudence. There are those who announce among the prophets, with the dignity of prophets. And there are those who rule over the present generation, by the virtue of prudence, with very holy words for the people. There are those who, by their skill, compose musical themes, so as to set the verses of Scripture to music. There are men rich in virtue, who make a study of beauty, who live in peacefulness in their houses. All these obtained glory in their generations, and they had praise in their days. They left behind a name for those who were born of them, so that their praises might be described. But for some of them, there is no memorial. They have passed away as if they had never existed; and they have become as if they had never been born, and their sons along with them. But these were men of mercy, whose pious deeds have not failed. Good things continue with their offspring. Their descendants are a holy inheritance, and their offspring stand firm in the covenants. And because of them, their sons remain even unto eternity. Their offspring and their glory will not be forsaken. Their bodies were buried in peace, and their name lives on, from generation to generation. Let the people declare their wisdom, and let the Church announce their praise.

The Lord’s love is steadfast in the morning. His faithfulness is new with the light. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

From On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius

public domain

The Word perceived that corruption could not be got rid of otherwise than through death; yet He Himself, as the Word, being immortal and the Father’s Son, was such as could not die. For this reason, therefore, He assumed a body capable of death, in order that it, through belonging to the Word Who is above all, might become in dying a sufficient exchange for all, and, itself remaining incorruptible through His indwelling, might thereafter put an end to corruption for all others as well, by the grace of the resurrection. It was by surrendering to death the body which He had taken, as an offering and sacrifice free from every stain, that He forthwith abolished death for His human brethren by the offering of the equivalent. For naturally, since the Word of God was above all, when He offered His own temple and bodily instrument as a substitute for the life of all, He fulfilled in death all that was required. Naturally also, through this union of the immortal Son of God with our human nature, all men were clothed with incorruption in the promise of the resurrection. For the solidarity of mankind is such that, by virtue of the Word’s indwelling in a single human body, the corruption which goes with death has lost its power over all.

Lord Jesus, go with us toward the people we will meet. Let no one leave our presence unblessed. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.