Opening
Lord, open my lips. And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Hymn
Quiet flame within the morning, Kindle what is cold in me. Teach my hurried heart to listen, Teach my eyes Your light to see. In the work that waits before me, Be my patience, be my peace. Holy Spirit, keep me present As this new day finds increase.
Original, Prayer on Fire
Psalm I
Antiphon
Blessed be God who has not rejected my prayer or withdrawn his mercy.
Psalm 30 (29)
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
Psalm
I will extol you, Lord, for you have sustained me, and you have not allowed my enemies to delight over me. O Lord my God, I have cried out to you, and you have healed me. Lord, you led my soul away from Hell. You have saved me from those who descend into the pit. Sing a psalm to the Lord, you his saints, and confess with remembrance of his holiness. For wrath is in his indignation, and life is in his will. Toward evening, weeping will linger, and toward morning, gladness. But I have said in my abundance: “I will never be disturbed.” O Lord, in your will, you made virtue preferable to beauty for me. You turned your face away from me, and I became disturbed. To you, Lord, I will cry out. And I will make supplication to my God. What use would there be in my blood, if I descend into corruption? Will dust confess to you or announce your truth? The Lord has heard, and he has been merciful to me. The Lord has become my helper. You have turned my mourning into gladness for me. You have cut off my sackcloth, and you have surrounded me with joy. So then, may my glory sing to you, and may I not regret it. O Lord, my God, I will confess to you for eternity.
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
Blessed be God who has not rejected my prayer or withdrawn his mercy.
Psalm II
Antiphon
In the joy of your morning, I offer you this day.
Psalm 5
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
Psalm
O Lord, listen closely to my words. Understand my outcry. Attend to the voice of my prayer, my King and my God. For to you, I will pray. In the morning, Lord, you will hear my voice. In the morning, I will stand before you, and I will see. For you are not a God who wills iniquity. And the malicious will not dwell close to you, nor will the unjust endure before your eyes. You hate all who work iniquity. You will destroy all who speak a lie. The bloody and deceitful man, the Lord will abominate. But I am in the multitude of your mercy. I will enter your house. I will show adoration toward your holy temple, in your fear. Lord, lead me in your justice. Because of my enemies, direct my way in your sight. For there is no truth in their mouth: their heart is vain. Their throat is an open sepulcher. They have acted deceitfully with their tongues. Judge them, O God. Let them fall by their own intentions: according to the multitude of their impiety, expel them. For they have provoked you, O Lord. But let all those who hope in you rejoice. They will exult in eternity, and you will dwell in them. And all those who love your name will glory in you. For you will bless the just. You have crowned us, O Lord, as if with a shield of your good will.
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
In the joy of your morning, I offer you this day.
Silence
Hold the psalm a little longer.
Reading
Job 1:20–21; 2:10
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
Then Job got up and tore his garments, and, having shaved his head, he collapsed on the ground, and worshipped, and he said, “Naked I departed from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Just as it pleased the Lord, so has it been done. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” He said to her, “You have spoken like one of the foolish wives. If we accepted good things from the hand of God, why should we not accept bad things?” In all this, Job did not sin with his lips.
Responsory
Your word is a lamp for my feet. And a light for my path. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Benedictus
Antiphon
Go before the face of the Lord this day, and prepare his way in our work.
Luke 1:68–79
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
Canticle
“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel. For he has visited and has wrought the redemption of his people. And he has raised up a horn of salvation for us, in the house of David his servant, just as he spoke by the mouth of his holy Prophets, who are from ages past: salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all those who hate us, to accomplish mercy with our fathers, and to call to mind his holy testament, the oath, which he swore to Abraham, our father, that he would grant to us, so that, having been freed from the hand of our enemies, we may serve him without fear, in holiness and in justice before him, throughout all our days. And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High. For you will go before the face of the Lord: to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people for the remission of their sins, through the heart of the mercy of our God, by which, descending from on high, he has visited us, to illuminate those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to direct our feet in the way of peace.”
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
Go before the face of the Lord this day, and prepare his way in our work.
Intercessions
For peace in homes that woke in tension.
R. Lord, have mercy.
For nations at war — convert hearts, protect the innocent.
R. Lord, have mercy.
For peacemakers who will not be famous.
R. Lord, have mercy.
For our own tongue, that it may not kindle a fire.
R. Lord, have mercy.
For the courage to bless those who oppose us.
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
Father, send us into the work of this day. Keep our hands honest and our speech kind. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.