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. III:
Ordinary: 651
Proper of Seasons: 293
Psalter: Monday, Week I, 702
Christian Prayer:
Does not contain Office of Readings.
Office of Readings for Monday in Ordinary Time
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
For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flow’r,
Sun and moon, and stars of light,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the joy of ear and eye,
for the heart and mind's delight,
for the mystic harmony,
linking sense to sound and sight;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For each perfect gift of Thine,
to our race so freely given,
graces human and divine,
flowers of earth and buds of heaven.
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
𝄞 | "For The Beauty Of The Earth" by Rebecca Hincke • Available for Purchase • Title: For the Beauty of the Earth; Text: Folliott S. Pierpoint, 1835–1917; Music: Conrad Kocher, 1786–1872; Tune: DIX; Artist: Rebecca Hincke; (c) 2017 Surgeworks, Inc. • Albums that contain this Hymn: Hymns and Chants of Divine Office, Vol. 3 |
PSALMODY
Ant. 1 Show me your mercy, Lord, and keep me safe.
Psalm 6
A suffering man cries to God for mercy
I am filled with dismay… Father, save me from this hour (John 12:27).
Lord, do not reprove me in your anger:
punish me not in your rage.
Have mercy on me, Lord, I have no strength;
Lord, heal me, my body is racked;
my soul is racked with pain.
But you, O Lord… how long?
Return, Lord, rescue my soul.
Save me in your merciful love,
for in death no one remembers you;
from the grave, who can give you praise?
I am exhausted with my groaning;
every night I drench my pillow with tears;
I bedew my bed with weeping.
My eye wastes away with grief;
I have grown old surrounded by my foes.
Leave me, all who do evil;
for the Lord has heard my weeping.
The Lord has heard my plea;
The Lord will accept my prayer.
All my foes will retire in confusion,
foiled and suddenly confounded.
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
Lord God, you love mercy and tenderness; you give life and overcome death. Look upon the many wounds of your Church; restore it to health by your risen Son, so that it may sing a new song in your praise.
Ant. Show me your mercy, Lord, and keep me safe.
Ant. 2 The poor are not alone in their distress; God is here to help them.
Psalm 9A
Thanksgiving for victory
You will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I
I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will recount all your wonders.
I will rejoice in you and be glad,
and sing psalms to your name, O Most High.
See how my enemies turn back,
how they stumble and perish before you.
You upheld the justice of my cause;
you sat enthroned, judging with justice.
You have checked the nations, destroyed the wicked;
you have wiped out their name for ever and ever.
The foe is destroyed, eternally ruined.
You uprooted their cities: their memory has perished.
But the Lord sits enthroned for ever.
He has set up his throne for judgment;
he will judge the world with justice,
he will judge the people with his truth.
For the oppressed let the Lord be a stronghold,
a stronghold in times of distress.
Those who know your name will trust you:
you will never forsake those who seek you.
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. The poor are not alone in their distress; God is here to help them.
Ant. 3 I will be the herald of your praises, Lord, where the people of Zion gather.
II
Sing psalms to the Lord who dwells in Zion.
Proclaim his mighty works among the peoples;
for the Avenger of blood has remembered them,
has not forgotten the cry of the poor.
Have pity on me, Lord, see my sufferings,
you who save me from the gates of death;
that I may recount all your praise
at the gates of the city of Zion
and rejoice in your saving help.
The nations have fallen in the pit which they made,
their feet caught in the snare they laid.
The Lord has revealed himself, and given judgment.
The wicked are snared in the works of their own hands.
Let the wicked go down among the dead,
all the nations forgetful of God.
For the needy shall not always be forgotten
nor the hopes of the poor be in vain.
Arise, Lord, let men not prevail!
Let the nations be judged before you.
Lord, strike them with terror,
let the nations know they are but men.
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
Lord God, when you judge, do not be deaf to the shouts of the poor, bring havoc to the madness of oppressors. Look at our wounds and save us from the gates of death, so that we may always rejoice in your help and speak your praise in the gates of Zion.
Ant. I will be the herald of your praises, Lord, where the people of Zion gather.
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.
Give me insight, Lord, to know your will.
— Then I will cherish it with all my heart.
READINGS
First reading
From the book of Job
29:1-10; 30:1, 9-23
Job bewails his affliction
Job took up his theme anew and said:
Oh, that I were as in the months past!
as in the days when God watched over me,
While he kept his lamp shining above my head,
and by his light I walked through darkness;
As I was in my flourishing days,
when God sheltered my tent;
When the Almighty was yet with me,
and my children were round about me;
When my footsteps were bathed in milk,
and the rock flowed with streams of oil;
When I went forth to the gate of the city
and set up my seat in the square –-
Then the young men saw me and withdrew,
while the elders rose up and stood;
The chief men refrained from speaking
and covered their mouths with their hands;
The voice of the princes was silenced,
and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
But now they hold me in derision
who are younger in years than I;
Whose fathers I should have disdained
to rank with the dogs of my flock.
Yet now they sing of me in mockery;
I am become a byword among them.
They abhor me, they stand aloof from me,
they do not hesitate to spit in my face!
Indeed, they have loosed their bonds; they lord it over me,
and have thrown off restraint in my presence.
To subvert my paths they rise up;
they build their approaches for my ruin.
To destroy me, they attack with none to stay them;
as through a wide breach they advance.
Amid the uproar they come on in waves;
over me rolls the terror.
My dignity is borne off on the wind,
and my welfare vanishes like a cloud.
One with great power lays hold of my clothing;
by the collar of my tunic he seizes me:
He has cast me into the mire;
I am leveled with the dust and ashes.
I cry to you, but you do not answer me;
you stand off and look at me,
Then you turn upon me without mercy
and with your strong hand you buffet me.
You raise me up and drive me before the wind;
I am tossed about by the tempest.
Indeed I know you will turn me back in death
to the destined place of everyone alive.
RESPONSORY Job 30:17, 19:7:16
All night long my bones are racked with pain, a gnawing pain that never sleeps.
— God has cast me into the mire, where I am like dust and ashes.
Spare me, Lord, for my days are but a breath.
— God has cast me into the mire, where I am like dust and ashes.
Second reading
From the teachings of Saint Dorotheus, abbot
The reason for all disturbance is that no one finds fault with himself
Let us examine, my brothers, how it happens that many times a person hears something unpleasant and goes away untroubled, as if he had not heard it; and yet on some occasions he is disturbed and troubled as soon as he hears such words. What is the cause of this inconsistency? Is there one reason for it or many? I recognize a number of them, and one in particular is the source of all the others. As someone has put it: Occasionally this results from the condition in which a person happens to be.
If a person is engaged in prayer or contemplation, he can easily take a rebuke from his brother and be unmoved by it. On other occasions affection toward a brother is a strong reason; love bears all things with the utmost patience. Another reason may be contempt: if a person despises the one who is trying to trouble him, and acts as if he is the vilest of all creatures and considers it beneath his dignity even to look at him, or to answer him, or to mention the affront or insults to anyone else, he will not be moved by his words.
The result of this is, as I have said, that no one is disturbed or troubled if he scorns and disregards what is said. But on the other hand, it is also possible that a person will be disturbed and troubled by his brother’s words, either because he is not in a good frame of mind, or because he hates his brother. There are a great number of other reasons as well. Yet the reason for all disturbance, if we look to its roots, is that no one finds fault with himself.
This is the source of all annoyance and distress.This is why we sometimes have no rest. We must not be surprised when we are rebuked by holy men. We have no other path to peace but this.
We have seen that this is true in many cases, and, in our laziness and desire for rest, we hope or believe that we have entered upon a straight path when we are impatient with everyone, and yet cannot bear to blame ourselves.
This is the way we are. It does not matter how many virtues a man may have, even if they are beyond number and limit. If he has turned from the path of self-accusation he will never find peace. He will always be troubled himself, or else he will be a source of trouble for others and all his labors will be wasted.
RESPONSORY
If we claim to be sinless, we deceive ourselves;
— but if we acknowledge our sins, then God who is faithful and just will forgive us.
Whoever conceals his sins will not prosper.
— But if we acknowledge our sins, then God who is faithful and just will forgive us.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
O God,
whose providence
never fails in its design,
keep from us, we humbly beseech you,
all that might harm us and grant all
that works for our good.
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.