Opening
God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me.
Hymn
Spirit of the middle hour, Breathe on tired wills again. Where impatience rises quickly, Pour Your peace like cooling rain. Hold us in the present duty; Lift our eyes from restless haste. Teach us still to love the neighbor In this stretch of time and place.
Original, Prayer on Fire
Psalm I
Antiphon
Hold my attention, Lord, when the day pulls me thin.
Psalm 131 (130):1–2
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
Psalm
O Lord, my heart has not been exalted, and my eyes have not been raised up. Neither have I walked in greatness, nor in wonders beyond me. When I was not humble in thought, then I lifted up my soul. Like a weaned child with his mother, so is the reward in my soul.
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
Hold my attention, Lord, when the day pulls me thin.
Psalm II
Antiphon
Unless you build the house, my labor is empty — stay with me.
Psalm 24 (23):7–10
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
Psalm
Lift up your gates, you princes, and be lifted up, eternal gates. And the King of Glory shall enter. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord who is strong and powerful; the Lord powerful in battle. Lift up your gates, you princes, and be lifted up, eternal gates. And the King of Glory shall enter. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of virtue. He himself is the King of Glory.
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
Unless you build the house, my labor is empty — stay with me.
Silence
A moment of silence
Reading
Romans 3:21–22
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
But now, without the law, the justice of God, to which the law and the prophets have testified, has been made manifest. And the justice of God, through the faith of Jesus Christ, is in all those and over all those who believe in him. For there is no distinction.
Responsory
The Lord is near to all who call upon him. To all who call upon him in truth. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Intercessions
In the middle of the day, keep us faithful to the Cross in ordinary work, and kind to the person before us.
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
Christ of the noonday Cross, hold us faithful in the heat of ordinary work. Let this hour become an altar. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.