Opening
God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me.
Hymn
Peace in the center of the day — Christ, be my stillness now. The morning’s fire has cooled a little; Teach me the faithful how. Not heroic, only present. Not shining, only true. I offer you this middle stretch Until the work is through.
Original – Prayer on Fire
Psalm I
Antiphon
Keep my feet from stumbling and my heart from hardness.
Psalm 127 (126):1
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
Psalm
Unless the Lord has built the house, those who build it have labored in vain. Unless the Lord has guarded the city, he who guards it watches in vain.
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
Keep my feet from stumbling and my heart from hardness.
Psalm II
Antiphon
Between tasks, return me to presence and charity.
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
Between tasks, return me to presence and charity.
Silence
Hold the psalm a little longer.
Reading
Romans 12:1–2
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
And so, I beg you, brothers, by the mercy of God, that you offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, with the subservience of your mind. And do not choose to be conformed to this age, but instead choose to be reformed in the newness of your mind, so that you may demonstrate what is the will of God: what is good, and what is well-pleasing, and what is perfect.
Responsory
Hold us fast in the work of this hour. And keep our hearts near the Cross. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Intercessions
Where we are weary, give strength; where we are hurried, give presence; where we have failed in love, give us a way to begin again.
R. Lord, have mercy.
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
Stay with us in the middle of the day. Do not let hurry be our god. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.