Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. I:
Ordinary: 658
Complementary Psalter: 1091
Proper of Saints: 1233 (reading)
*Psalm 126 replaced with Psalm 129

Midmorning Prayer for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, using the Complementary Psalmody

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.

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 Praise the Lord of life, for he has lavished his mercy upon me.

Psalm 120
Longing for peace
Be patient in suffering, be constant in prayer (Romans 12:12)

To the Lord in the hour of my distress
I call and he answers me.
“O Lord, save my soul from lying lips,
from the tongue of the deceitful.”

What shall he pay you in return,
O treacherous tongue?
The warrior’s arrows sharpened
and coals, red-hot, blazing.

Alas, that I abide a stranger in Meshech,
dwell among the tents of Kedar!

Long enough have I been dwelling
with those who hate peace.
I am for peace, but when I speak,
they are for fighting.

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 121
Guardian of his people
Never again will they hunger and thirst, never again know scorching heat (Revelation 7:16)

I lift up my eyes to the mountains;
from where shall come my help?
My help shall come from the Lord
who made heaven and earth.

May he never allow you to stumble!
Let him sleep not, your guard.
No, he sleeps not nor slumbers,
Israel’s guard.

The Lord is your guard and your shade;
at your right side he stands.
By day the sun shall not smite you
nor the moon in the night.

The Lord will guard you from evil,
he will guard your soul.
The Lord will guard your going and coming
both now and for ever.

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 129
God’s people reaffirm their trust in time of affliction
The voice of the Church lamenting its suffering is heard in this psalm (Saint Augustine).

“They have pressed me hard from my youth,”
this is Israel’s song.
“They have pressed me hard from my youth
but could never destroy me.

They ploughed my back like ploughmen,
drawing long furrows.
But the Lord, who is just, has destroyed
the yoke of the wicked.”

Let them be shamed and routed,
those who hate Zion!
Let them be like grass on the roof
that withers before it flowers.

With that no reaper fills his arms,
no binder makes his sheaves
and those passing by will not say:
“On you the Lord’s blessing!”

“We bless you in the name of 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.

Ant. Praise the Lord of life, for he has lavished his mercy upon me.

READING Ephesians 1:4

God chose us in Christ before the world began, to be holy and blameless in his sight, to be full of love.

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.

Today we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
— She has crushed the serpent’s head with her foot.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

O God,
who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin
prepared a worthy dwelling for your Son,
grant, we pray, that, as you preserved her
from every stain by virtue of the Death of your Son,
which you foresaw, so, through her intercession,
we, too, may be cleansed and admitted to your presence.
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 (only added when praying in community)

Let us praise the Lord.
— And give him thanks.