This is the Liturgy of the Hours for December 31. Your local date is .
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Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. II:
Ordinary: 1045
Proper of Seasons: 642
Psalter: Monday, Week II, 1235
Office of Readings for Monday in Week 2 of Easter
God, come to my assistance.
— Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.
HYMN
Most ancient of all mysteries,
before your throne we lie;
have mercy now, most merciful,
most Holy Trinity.
When heaven and earth were still unmade,
when time was yet unknown,
you in your radiant majesty
did live and love alone.
You were not born; there was no source
from which your being flowed;
there is no end which you can reach:
for you are simply God.
How wonderful creation is,
the work which you did bless!
what then must you be like dear God,
eternal Loveliness!
Most ancient of all mysteries,
before your throne we lie;
have mercy now and ever more,
most Holy Trinity.
| 𝄞 | "Most Ancient of all Mysteries" by Rebecca Hincke • Words: Frederick William Faber, 1849; Music: St. Flavian; Artist: Rebecca Hincke; Copyright 2016 Surgeworks • Albums that contain this Hymn: Divine Office |
PSALMODY
Ant. 1 Bow down and hear me, Lord; come to my rescue, alleluia.
Psalm 31:1-17, 20-25
A troubled person’s confident appeal to God
Father, into your hands, I commend my sprit (Luke 23:46).
I
In you, O Lord, I take refuge.
Let me never be put to shame.
In your justice, set me free,
hear me and speedily rescue me.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a mighty stronghold to save me,
for you are my rock, my stronghold.
For your name’s sake, lead me and guide me.
Release me from the snares they have hidden
for you are my refuge, Lord.
Into your hands I commend my spirit.
It is you who will redeem me, Lord.
O God of truth, you detest
those who worship false and empty gods.
As for me, I trust in the Lord:
let me be glad and rejoice in your love.
You who have seen my affliction
and taken heed of my soul’s distress,
have not handed me over to the enemy,
but set my feet at large.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. Bow down and hear me, Lord; come to my rescue, alleluia.
Ant. 2 Lord, let the light of your countenance shine on your servant, alleluia.
II
Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for I am in distress.
Tears have wasted my eyes,
my throat and my heart.
For my life is spent with sorrow
and my years with sighs.
Affliction has broken down my strength
and my bones waste away.
In the face of all my foes
I am a reproach,
an object of scorn to my neighbors
and of fear to my friends.
Those who see me in the street
run far away from me.
I am like a dead man, forgotten,
like a thing thrown away.
I have heard the slander of the crowd,
fear is all around me,
as they plot together against me,
as they plan to take my life.
But as for me, I trust in you, Lord;
I say: “You are my God.
My life is in your hands, deliver me
from the hands of those who hate me.
Let your face shine on your servant.
Save me in your love.”
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. Lord, let the light of your countenance shine on your servant, alleluia.
Ant. 3 Blessed be the Lord, for he has poured out his mercy upon me, alleluia.
III
How great is the goodness, Lord,
that you keep for those who fear you,
that you show to those who trust you
in the sight of men.
You hide them in the shelter of your presence
from the plotting of men;
you keep them safe within your tent
from disputing tongues.
Blessed be the Lord who has shown me
the wonders of his love
in a fortified city.
“I am far removed from your sight”
I said in my alarm.
Yet you heard the voice of my plea
when I cried for help.
Love the Lord, all you saints.
He guards his faithful
but the Lord will repay to the full
those who act with pride.
Be strong, let your heart take courage,
all who hope in the Lord.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Psalm-prayer
God of kindness and truth, you saved your Chosen One, Jesus Christ, and you gave your martyrs strength. Watch over your people who come to you here and strengthen the hearts of those who hope in you, that they may proclaim your saving acts of kindness in the eternal city.
Ant. Blessed be the Lord, for he has poured out his mercy upon me, alleluia.
Sacred Silence (indicated by a bell) A moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church.
My heart and my flesh, alleluia.
— Rejoice in the living God, alleluia.
READINGS
First reading
From the beginning of the book of Revelation
1:1-20
John’s vision of the Son of Man
This is the revelation God gave to Jesus Christ, that he might show his servants what must happen very soon. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who in reporting all he saw bears witness to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Happy is the man who reads this prophetic message, and happy are those who hear it and heed what is written in it, for the appointed time is near!
To the seven churches in the province of Asia: John wishes you grace and peace — from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first-born from the dead and ruler of the kings of earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his own blood, who has made us a royal nation of priests in the service of his God and Father — to him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.
See, he comes amid the clouds!
Every eye shall see him,
even of those who pierced him.
All the peoples of the earth
shall lament him bitterly.
So it is to be! Amen!
The Lord God says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the One who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty!”
I, John, your brother, who share with you the distress and the kingly reign and the endurance we have in Jesus, found myself on the island called Patmos because I proclaimed God’s word and bore witness to Jesus. On the Lord’s day I was caught up in ecstasy, and I heard behind me a piercing voice like the sound of a trumpet, which said, “Write on a scroll what you now see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
I turned around to see whose voice it was that spoke to me. When I did so I saw seven lampstands of gold, and among the lampstands One like a Son of Man wearing an ankle-length robe, with a sash of gold about his breast. The hair of his head was as white as snow-white wool and his eyes blazed like fire. His feet gleamed like polished brass refined in a furnace, and his voice sounded like the roar of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars. A sharp, two-edged sword came out of his mouth, and his face shone like the sun at its brightest.
When I caught sight of him I fell down at his feet as though dead. He touched me with his right hand and said: “There is nothing to fear. I am the First and the Last and the One who lives. Once I was dead but now I live—forever and ever. I hold the keys of death and the nether world. Write down, therefore, whatever you see in visions—what you see now and will see in time to come. This is the secret meaning of the seven stars you saw in my right hand, and of the seven lampstands of gold: the seven stars are the presiding spirits of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
RESPONSORY Revelation 1:5, 6; Colossians 1:18
Christ loved us, and poured out his blood to free us from our sins.
— To him be glory and dominion for ever, alleluia.
He is the beginning of all things, and the firstborn of the dead.
— To him be glory and dominion for ever, alleluia.
Second reading
From an ancient Easter homily by Pseudo-Chrysostom
The spiritual Passover
The Passover we celebrate brings salvation to the whole human race beginning with the first man, who together with all the others is saved and given life.
In an imperfect and transitory way, the types and images of the past prefigured the perfect and eternal reality which has now been revealed. The presence of what is represented makes the symbol obsolete: when the king appears in person no one pays reverence to his statue.
How far the symbol falls short of the reality is seen from the fact that the symbolic Passover celebrated the brief life of the firstborn of the Jews, whereas the real Passover celebrates the eternal life of all mankind. It is a small gain to escape death for a short time, only to die soon afterward; it is a very different thing to escape death altogether as we do through the sacrifice of Christ, our Passover.
Correctly understood, its very name shows why this is our greatest feast. It is called the Passover because, when he was striking down the firstborn, the destroying angel passed over the houses of the Hebrews, but it is even more true to say that he passes over us, for he does so once and for all when we are raised up by Christ to eternal life.
If we think only of the true Passover and ask why it is that the time of the Passover and the salvation of the firstborn is taken to be the beginning of the year, the answer must surely be that the sacrifice of the true Passover is for us the beginning of eternal life. Because it revolves in cycles and never comes to an end, the year is a symbol of eternity.
Christ, the sacrifice that was offered up for us, is the father of the world to come. He puts an end to our former life, and through the regenerating waters of baptism in which we imitate his death and resurrection, he gives us the beginning of a new life. The knowledge that Christ is the Passover lamb who was sacrificed for us should make us regard the moment of his immolation as the beginning of our own lives. As far as we are concerned, Christ’s immolation on our behalf takes place when we become aware of this grace and understand the life conferred on us by this sacrifice. Having once understood it, we should enter upon this new life with all eagerness and never return to the old one, which is now at an end. As Scripture says: We have died to sin — how then can we continue to live in it?
RESPONSORY 1 Corinthians 5:7-8; Romans 4:25
Purge out the old leaven of corruption, then you will be bread of a new baking; Christ has become our paschal sacrifice;
— let us then keep festival with joy in the Lord, alleluia.
He was put to death for our sins and raised to life for our justification.
— Let us then keep festival with joy in the Lord, alleluia.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Grant,
we pray, almighty God, that we,
who have been renewed by paschal remedies,
transcending the likeness of our earthly parentage,
may be transformed in the image of our heavenly maker.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
— Amen.
ACCLAMATION (at least in the communal celebration)
Let us praise the Lord.
— And give him thanks.