Opening
God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me.
Hymn
Midway through the labor, Lord, We pause beneath Your gaze. The morning zeal has thinned a little; Steady us for the remaining ways. Christ who bore the heat of noonday, Stay beside the tasks we hold. Make our hands a quiet service, And our words both true and bold.
Original, Prayer on Fire
Psalm I
Antiphon
Unless you build the house, my labor is empty — stay with me.
Psalm 122 (121):1–2, 6–7
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
Psalm
I rejoiced in the things that were said to me: “We shall go into the house of the Lord.” Our feet were standing in your courts, O Jerusalem. Petition for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem, and for abundance for those who love you. Let peace be in your virtue, and abundance in your towers.
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.
Psalm II
Antiphon
Keep my feet from stumbling and my heart from hardness.
Psalm 123 (122):1–2
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
Psalm
I have lifted up my eyes to you, who dwell in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of the servants are on the hands of their masters, as the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress, so our eyes are upon the Lord our God, until he may be merciful to us.
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.
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
Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall walk and not faint. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Intercessions
Where we have already failed this day, give a way to begin again before evening, without a speech.
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
God of strength, the morning zeal has thinned. Steady our will, cool our impatience, and keep us kind until the work is done. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.