Opening
Lord, open my lips. And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Hymn
We offer You the morning, Lord, Its noise not yet begun. Receive our work, our waiting too, Before the race is run. If joy should meet us on the road, Or trial mark the hour, Still keep us near Your quiet fire, And under love’s true power.
Original, Prayer on Fire
Psalm I
Antiphon
Blessed be God who has not rejected my prayer or withdrawn his mercy.
Psalm 51 (50)
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
Psalm
Be merciful to me, O God, according to your great mercy. And, according to the plentitude of your compassion, wipe out my iniquity. Wash me once again from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my iniquity, and my sin is ever before me. Against you only have I sinned, and I have done evil before your eyes. And so, you are justified in your words, and you will prevail when you give judgment. For behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sinfulness did my mother conceive me. For behold, you have loved truth. The obscure and hidden things of your wisdom, you have manifested to me. You will sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be cleansed. You will wash me, and I will be made whiter than snow. In my hearing, you will grant gladness and rejoicing. And the bones that have been humbled will exult. Turn your face away from my sins, and erase all my iniquities. Create a clean heart in me, O God. And renew an upright spirit within my inmost being. Do not cast me away from your face; and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and confirm me with an unsurpassed spirit. I will teach the unjust your ways, and the impious will be converted to you. Free me from blood, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will extol your justice. O Lord, you will open my lips, and my mouth will announce your praise. For if you had desired sacrifice, I would certainly have given it, but with holocausts, you will not be delighted. A crushed spirit is a sacrifice to God. A contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not spurn. Act kindly, Lord, in your good will toward Zion, so that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up. Then you will accept the sacrifice of justice, oblations, and holocausts. Then they will lay calves upon your altar.
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Blessed be God who has not rejected my prayer or withdrawn his mercy.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 24 (23)
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
Psalm
The earth and all its fullness belong to the Lord: the whole world and all that dwells in it. For he has founded it upon the seas, and he has prepared it upon the rivers. Who will ascend to the mountain of the Lord? And who will stand in his holy place? The innocent of hands and the clean of heart, who has not received his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbor. He will receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God, his Savior. This is the generation that seeks him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob. 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
In the joy of your morning, I offer you this day.
Silence
A moment of silence
Reading
2 Corinthians 12:7b–10
Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)
And lest the greatness of the revelations should extol me, there was given to me a prodding in my flesh: an angel of Satan, who struck me repeatedly. Because of this, three times I petitioned the Lord that it might be taken away from me. And he said to me: “My grace is sufficient for you. For virtue is perfected in weakness.” And so, willingly shall I glory in my weaknesses, so that the virtue of Christ may live within me. Because of this, I am pleased in my infirmity: in reproaches, in difficulties, in persecutions, in distresses, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am powerful.
Responsory
Let the light of your face shine upon us. And we shall be saved. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Benedictus
Antiphon
He has remembered his holy promise; we remember it with the morning.
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
He has remembered his holy promise; we remember it with the morning.
Intercessions
For the plans we carry — hold them loosely in your will.
R. Speak, Lord, we are listening.
For coworkers and those we serve today.
R. Speak, Lord, we are listening.
For integrity when no one is watching.
R. Speak, Lord, we are listening.
For interruptions that may be your messengers.
R. Speak, Lord, we are listening.
For a day’s work offered, not merely endured.
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
God our Father, you have given us the light of another beginning. Open our lips to praise and our hands to mercy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.