Opening
Lord, open my lips. And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Hymn
Not bread alone, but every word That comes from you, O living God. Feed the hunger we cannot name In this still hour before the work. Then send us, nourished, into day — Not full of ourselves, but of you. Let what we heard become our food When thinner comforts fail.
Original – Prayer on Fire
Psalm I
Antiphon
Speak, Lord — your servant is listening in the quiet.
Psalm 63 (62):2–5
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
Psalm
O God, my God: to you, I keep vigil until first light. For you, my soul has thirsted, to you my body, in so many ways. By a deserted land, both inaccessible and waterless, so I have appeared in the sanctuary before you, in order to behold your virtue and your glory. For your mercy is better than life itself. It is you my lips will praise. So will I bless you in my life, and I will lift up my hands in your name.
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
Speak, Lord — your servant is listening in the quiet.
Psalm II
Antiphon
Let your truth steady me before the day grows loud.
Psalm 90 (89):1–2, 14
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
Psalm
O Lord, you have been our refuge from generation to generation. Before the mountains became, or the land was formed along with the world: from ages past, even to all ages, you are God. We were filled in the morning with your mercy, and we exulted and delighted all our days.
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
Let your truth steady me before the day grows loud.
Silence
Let the last verse rest in you.
First Reading
Daniel 2:20–23
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
and speaking aloud, he said, “May the name of the Lord be blessed by the present generation and forever; for wisdom and fortitude are his. And he alters the times and the ages. He takes away kingdoms and he establishes them. He gives wisdom to those who are wise and teaching skills to those who understand. He reveals deep and hidden things, and he knows what has been established in darkness. And the light is with him. To you, God of our fathers, I confess, and you, I praise. For you have given wisdom and fortitude to me, and now you have revealed to me what we asked of you, for you have uncovered for us the king’s thoughts.”
Responsory
Send forth your light and your truth. Let them lead me. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Second Reading
On Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus
Original – Prayer on Fire
She wanted to be a saint and discovered that she could not climb. So she took the elevator of love: small things done with a great heart, hidden offerings, a childlike trust that God is Father even when he seems silent. The little way is not cute. It is severe in its honesty. It leaves you no place to hide in grand plans. Thérèse does not ask you to feel like a mystic. She asks you to love the person who annoys you, to bear a dryness without drama, to let Jesus be your holiness when you have none to show. If your life is narrow — a room, a duty, a body that will not do what it used to — you are not far from her. Carmel was small. Heaven was not. She believed that love could reach the missions from a cloister, and the Church has judged her right. Do one hidden kindness today without needing it to be seen. Offer one frustration without a speech. That is her school. Remain little enough to be carried. The Child she loved is not too weak to hold you.
Intercessions
Teach us to keep the Word we have heard.
R. Lord, hear our prayer.
For the Church, that she may ponder before she publishes.
R. Lord, hear our prayer.
For the unborn, the elderly, and all whose lives are hidden.
R. Lord, hear our prayer.
For our lips, that they may bless and not hurry.
R. Lord, hear our prayer.
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
Lord Jesus, we offer you the morning — its work, its waiting, and its hidden fears. Keep our first steps near your quiet fire. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.