This is the Liturgy of the Hours for December 31. Your local date is .
Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III:
Ordinary: 654
Psalter: Saturday, Week IV, 1253
Proper of Saints: 1449 (canticle ant)
Common of One Martyr: 1717 (reading, intercessions)
Christian Prayer:
Ordinary: 689
Psalter: Saturday, Week IV, 988
Proper of Saints: 1160 (canticle ant)
Common of One Martyr: 1414 (reading, intercessions)
Morning Prayer for Saturday in Ordinary Time, for the Memorial of Saint Justin, Martyr
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
God's holy martyr, who disdained
And overcame all pains and death,
Your faithful following of Christ
Has led you to the Father's home.
By your incessant prayer for us,
Obtain forgiveness for our sins;
Protect us from the pow'rs of ill,
Relieve us in our daily cares.
For you are free from every bond
That bound you once to things of earth,
By your own ardent love for Christ,
Free us from all that drags us down.
All honor to our Father, God,
Who with the Spirit and the Son
Awarded you a deathless crown
In heaven's court of glory blest. Amen.
𝄞 | "God's Holy Martyr, Who Disdained" by Kathleen Lundquist • Available for Purchase • Musical Score • Title: God's Holy Martyr, Who Disdained; Text: Martyr Dei, qui unicum, 9th c.; Tr. the Benedictines of Saint Cecilia’s Abbey, Ryde, UK; Tune: Chant, Mode VI; Liber Hymnarius; Artist: Kathleen Lundquist; Recording copyright 2016 by Surgeworks, Inc. • Albums that contain this Hymn: Hymns and Chants of Divine Office, Vol. 1 |
PSALMODY
Ant. 1 We do well to sing your name, Most High, and proclaim your mercy at daybreak.
Psalm 92
Praise of God the Creator
Sing in praise of Christ’s redeeming work (Saint Athanasius).
It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to make music to your name, O Most High,
to proclaim your love in the morning
and your truth in the watches of the night,
on the ten-stringed lyre and the lute,
with the murmuring sound of the harp.
Your deeds, O Lord, have made me glad;
for the work of your hands I shout with joy.
O Lord, how great are your works!
How deep are your designs!
The foolish man cannot know this
and the fool cannot understand.
Though the wicked spring up like grass
and all who do evil thrive:
they are doomed to be eternally destroyed.
But you, Lord, are eternally on high.
See how your enemies perish;
all doers of evil are scattered.
To me you give the wild ox’s strength;
you anoint me with the purest oil.
My eyes looked in triumph on my foes;
my ears heard gladly of their fall.
The just will flourish like the palm-tree
and grow like a Lebanon cedar.
Planted in the house of the Lord,
they will flourish in the courts of our God,
still bearing fruit when they are old,
still full of sap, still green,
to proclaim that the Lord is just.
In him, my rock, there is no wrong.
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
Take our shame away from us, Lord, and make us rejoice in your saving works. May all who have been chosen by your Son always abound in works of faith, hope, and love in your service.
Ant. We do well to sing your name, Most High, and proclaim your mercy at daybreak.
Ant.2 I will create a new heart in you, and breathe into you a new spirit.
Canticle – Ezekiel 36:24-28
The Lord will renew his people
They will be his own people, and God himself will be with them, their own God (Revelation 21:3).
I will take you away from among the nations,
gather you from all the foreign lands,
and bring you back to your own land.
I will sprinkle clean water upon you
to cleanse you from all your impurities,
and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
I will give you a new heart
and place a new spirit within you,
taking from your bodies your stony hearts
and giving you natural hearts.
I will put my spirit within you
and make you live by my statutes,
careful to observe my decrees.
You shall live in the land I gave your fathers;
you shall be my people,
and I will be your God.
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. I will create a new heart in you, and breathe into you a new spirit.
Ant. 3 On the lips of children and infants you have found perfect praise.
Psalm 8
The majesty of the Lord and man’s dignity
The Father gave Christ lordship of creation and made him head of the Church (Ephesians 1:22).
How great is your name, O Lord our God,
through all the earth!
Your majesty is praised above the heavens;
on the lips of children and of babes
you have found praise to foil your enemy,
to silence the foe and the rebel.
When I see the heavens, the work of your hands,
the moon and the stars which you arranged,
what is man that you should keep him in mind,
mortal man that you care for him?
Yet you have made him little less than a god;
with glory and honor you crowned him,
gave him power over the works of your hands,
put all things under his feet.
All of them, sheep and cattle,
yes, even the savage beasts,
birds of the air, and fish
that make their way through the waters.
How great is your name, O Lord our God
through all the earth!
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
Almighty Lord, how wonderful is your name. You have made every creature subject to you; make us worthy to give you service.
Ant. On the lips of children and infants you have found perfect praise.
READING 2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Praised be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all consolation! He comforts us in all our afflictions and thus enables us to comfort those who are in trouble, with the same consolation we have received from him. As we have shared much in the sufferings of Christ, so through Christ do we share abundantly in his consolation.
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.
RESPONSORY
The Lord is my strength, and I shall sing his praise.
— The Lord is my strength, and I shall sing his praise.
The Lord is my savior,
— and I shall sing his praise.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
— The Lord is my strength, and I shall sing his praise.
CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
Ant. In every sacrifice let us praise the creator of all things through his Son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit.
Luke 1:68 – 79
The Messiah and his forerunner
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
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. In every sacrifice let us praise the creator of all things through his Son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit.
INTERCESSIONS
Our Savior’s faithfulness is mirrored in the fidelity of his witnesses who shed their blood for the Word of God. Let us praise him in remembrance of them:
You redeemed us by your blood.
Your martyrs freely embraced death in bearing witness for the faith,
— give us the true freedom of the Spirit, O Lord.
You redeemed us by your blood.
Your martyrs professed their faith by shedding their blood,
— give us a faith, O Lord, that is constant and pure.
You redeemed us by your blood.
Your martyrs followed in your footsteps by carrying the cross,
— help us to endure courageously the misfortunes of life.
You redeemed us by your blood.
Your martyrs washed their garments in the blood of the Lamb,
— help us to avoid the weaknesses of the flesh and worldly allurements.
You redeemed us by your blood.
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.
Concluding Prayer
O God,
who through the folly of the Cross
wondrously taught Saint Justin the Martyr
the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ,
grant us, through his intercession, that,
having rejected deception and error,
we may become steadfast in the faith.
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.
DISMISSAL
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life.
— Amen.
The Faith Journey of our Community
Seth Peters on June 1st, 2023 at 14:30
Stages of GriefArlene on June 1st, 2023 at 10:37
Arlene on Morning Prayer for St. Justin, M on June 1st, 2023 at 10:28