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Week 24 of Ordinary Time

Morning Prayer

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Prayer Reading Mode: Prayer Space

Hours Depth: Medium

About today

Cornelius, pope, and Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, died as martyrs in the third century. They shepherded a Church divided over those who had lapsed under persecution, seeking both truth and mercy. Their joint memorial on 16 September honors pastors who paid for unity with their lives and would not treat the lapsed as disposable. East and West remember them together. Ask today for a charity that does not deny the faith, and for a faith that does not refuse the fallen who return.

Original – Prayer on Fire.

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Blessed be God who has not rejected my prayer or withdrawn his mercy.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 72 (71)

Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)

Psalm

Give your judgment, O God, to the king, and your justice to the king’s son, to judge your people with justice and your poor with judgment. Let the mountains take up peace for the people, and the hills, justice. He will judge the poor of the people, and he will bring salvation to the sons of the poor. And he will humble the false accuser. And he will remain, with the sun and before the moon, from generation to generation. He will descend like rain upon fleece, and like showers showering upon the earth. In his days, justice will rise like the sun, with abundance of peace, until the moon is taken away. And he will rule from sea to sea and from the river to the limits of the whole world. In his sight, the Ethiopians will fall prostrate, and his enemies will lick the ground. The kings of Tarshish and the islands will offer gifts. The kings of Arabia and of Seba will bring gifts. And all the kings of the earth shall adore him. All nations will serve him. For he will free the poor from the powerful, and the poor one who has no helper. He will spare the poor and the indigent, and he will bring salvation to the souls of the poor. He will redeem their souls from usuries and from iniquity, and their names shall be honorable in his sight. And he will live, and to him will be given from the gold of Arabia, and by him they will always adore. They will bless him all day long. And there will be a firmament on earth, at the summits of mountains: its fruits will be extolled above Lebanon, and those of the city will flourish like the grass of the earth. May his name be blessed forever; may his name remain before the sun. And all the tribes of the earth will be blessed in him. All nations will magnify him. Blessed is the Lord, God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. And blessed is the name of his majesty in eternity. And all the earth will be filled with his majesty. Amen. Amen. The praises of David, the son of Jesse, have reached an end.

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 98 (97)

Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)

Psalm

Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has performed wonders. His right hand has accomplished salvation for him, with his holy arm. The Lord has made known his salvation. He has revealed his justice in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Sing joyfully to God, all the earth. Sing and exult, and sing psalms. Sing psalms to the Lord with stringed instruments, with strings and the voice of a psalmist, with subtle wind instruments and the voice of woodwinds. Make a joyful noise before the Lord our king. Let the sea be moved and all its fullness, the whole world and all who dwell in it. The rivers will clap their hands, the mountains will exult together, before the presence of the Lord. For he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the whole world with justice, and the peoples with fairness.

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

Let the last verse rest in you.

Reading

Deuteronomy 4:39–40

Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)

Therefore, know on this day and consider in your heart, that the Lord himself is God in heaven above, and on earth below, and there is no other. Keep his precepts and commandments, which I am teaching to you, so that it may be well with you, and with your sons after you, and so that you may remain for a long time upon the land, which the Lord your God will give to you.”

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

Raise up your salvation in us, and we will serve you without fear.

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

Raise up your salvation in us, and we will serve you without fear.

Intercessions

For shepherds and the faithful, that the Church may be a gentle light.

R. Lord, hear our prayer.

For nations and those who govern, that justice may be patient and true.

R. Lord, hear our prayer.

For the poor, the forgotten, and all who hunger for mercy.

R. Lord, hear our prayer.

For friends, strangers, and enemies — teach us to love as we are loved.

R. Lord, hear our prayer.

For this new beginning, that praise may be our first word.

R. Lord, hear our prayer.

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

Holy Spirit, keep a quiet flame in us when the noise starts. Teach us to work without abandoning prayer. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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An original Prayer on Fire offering for the hours of the day