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Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. I:
Ordinary: 649
Psalter: Wednesday, Week III, 975
Common of Pastors: 1431 (verse)
Proper of Seasons: 285 (first reading)
Proper of Saints: 1246 (second reading, responsory, concluding prayer)

Christian Prayer:
Does not contain Office of Readings

Office of Readings for Wednesday in Advent, the Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor

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 Wherever you are, Lord, there is mercy, there is truth.

Psalm 89:2-38
God’s favors to the house of David
According to his promise, the Lord has raised up Jesus, a Savior, from the family of David (Acts 13:22, 23).

I

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord;
through all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth.
Of this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever,
that your truth is firmly established in the heavens.

“With my chosen one, I have made a covenant;
I have sworn to David my servant:
I will establish your dynasty for ever
and set up your throne through all ages.”

The heavens proclaim your wonders, O Lord;
the assembly of your holy ones proclaims your truth.
For who in the skies can compare with the Lord
or who is like the Lord among the sons of God?

A God to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
great and dreadful to all around him.
O Lord God of hosts, who is your equal?
You are mighty, O Lord, and truth is your garment.

It is you who rule the sea in its pride;
it is you who still the surging of its waves.
You crushed the monster Rahab and killed it,
scattering your foes with your mighty arm.

The heavens are yours, the world is yours.
It is you who founded the earth and all it holds;
it is you who created the North and the South.
Tabor and Hermon shout with joy at your name.

Yours is a mighty arm, O Lord;
your hand is strong, your right hand ready.
Justice and right are the pillars of your throne,
love and truth walk in your presence.

Happy the people who acclaim such a king,
who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,
who find their joy every day in your name,
who make your justice the source of their bliss.

For you, O Lord, are the glory of their strength;
by your favor it is that our might is exalted:
for our ruler is in the keeping of the Lord;
our king in the keeping of the Holy One of Israel.

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. Wherever you are, Lord, there is mercy, there is truth.

Ant. 2 When the Son of God came into this world, he was born of David’s line.

II

Of old you spoke in a vision.
To your friends the prophets you said:
“I have set the crown on a warrior,
I have exalted one chosen from the people.

I have found David my servant
and with my holy oil anointed him.
My hand shall always be with him
and my arm shall make him strong.

The enemy shall never outwit him
nor the evil man oppress him.
I will beat down his foes before him
and smite those who hate him.

My truth and my love shall be with him;
by my name his might shall be exalted.
I will stretch out his hand to the Sea
and his right hand as far as the River.

He will say to me: “You are my father,
my God, the rock who saves me.’
And I will make him my first-born,
the highest of the kings of the earth.

I will keep my love for him always;
for him my covenant shall last.
I will establish his dynasty for ever,
make his throne endure as the heavens.”

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. When the Son of God came into this world, he was born of David’s line.

Ant. 3 Once for all I swore to my servant David: his dynasty shall never fail.

III

“If his sons forsake my law
and refuse to walk as I decree
and if ever they violate my statutes,
refusing to keep my commands;

then I will punish their offenses with the rod,
then I will scourge them on account of their guilt.
But I will never take back my love:
my truth will never fail.

I will never violate my covenant
nor go back on the word I have spoken.
Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness.
“I will never lie to David.

His dynasty shall last for ever.
In my sight his throne is like the sun;
like the moon, it shall endure for ever,
a faithful witness in the skies.”

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, you anointed your servant Jesus with holy oil and raised him higher than all kings on earth. In this you fulfilled the promise made to David’s descendants and established a lasting covenant through your first-born Son. Do not forget your holy covenant, so that we who are signed with the blood of your Son through the new sacraments of faith may sing of your mercies for ever.

Ant. Once for all I swore to my servant David: his dynasty shall never fail.

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.

You will hear the word from my mouth.
— You will tell others what I have said.

READINGS

First reading
From the book of the prophet Isaiah
31:1-3; 32:1-8
The reign of perfect justice

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who depend upon horses;
Who put their trust in chariots because of their number, and in horsemen because of their combined power,
But look not to the Holy One of Israel nor seek the Lord!
Yet he too is wise and will bring disaster; he will not turn from what he has threatened to do.

He will rise up against the house of the wicked and against those who help evildoers.
The Egyptians are men, not God, their horses are flesh, not spirit;
When the Lord stretches forth his hand, the helper shall stumble, the one helped shall fall, and both of them shall perish together.

See, a king will reign justly and princes will rule rightly.
Each of them will be a shelter from the wind, a retreat from the rain.
They will be like streams of water in a dry country, like the shade of a great rock in a parched land.
The eyes of those who see will not be closed; the ears of those who hear will be attentive,
The flighty will become wise and capable, and the stutterers will speak fluently and clearly.

No more will the fool be called noble, nor the trickster be considered honorable.
For the fool speaks foolishly, planning evil in his heart:
How to do wickedness, to speak perversely against the Lord,
To let the hungry go empty and the thirsty be without drink.
And the trickster uses wicked trickery, planning crimes:
How to ruin the poor with lies, and the needy when they plead their case.
But the noble man plans noble things, and by noble things he stands.

RESPONSORY Isaiah 32:3, 4; Jeremiah 23:5

The eyes of those who see shall not be clouded, and the ears of those who hear shall listen attentively;
— the heart of the foolish shall be open to knowledge.

I will raise up to David a righteous branch, as king he shall rule and be wise.
— The heart of the foolish shall be open to knowledge.

Second reading
From a spiritual Canticle by Saint John of the Cross, priest
The knowledge of the mystery hidden in Jesus Christ

Though holy doctors have uncovered many mysteries and wonders, and devout souls have understood them in this earthly condition of ours, yet the greater part still remains to be unfolded by them, and even to be understood by them.

We must then dig deeply in Christ. He is like a rich mine with many pockets containing treasures: however deep we dig we will never find their end or their limit. Indeed, in every pocket new seams of fresh riches are discovered on all sides.

For this reason the apostle Paul said of Christ: In him are hidden all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God. The soul cannot enter into these treasures, nor attain them, unless it first crosses into and enters the thicket of suffering, enduring interior and exterior labors, and unless it first receives from God very many blessings in the intellect and in the senses, and has undergone long spiritual training.

All these are lesser things, disposing the soul for the lofty sanctuary of the knowledge of the mysteries of Christ: this is the highest wisdom attainable in this life.

Would that men might come at last to see that it is quite impossible to reach the thicket of the riches and wisdom of God except by first entering the thicket of much suffering, in such a way that the soul finds there its consolation and desire. The soul that longs for divine wisdom chooses first, and in truth, to enter the thicket of the cross.

Saint Paul therefore urges the Ephesians not to grow weary in the midst of tribulations, but to be rooted and grounded in love, so that they may know with all the saints the breadth, the length, the height and the depth—to know what is beyond knowledge, the love of Christ, so as to be filled with all the fullness of God. The gate that gives entry into these riches of his wisdom is the cross; because it is a narrow gate, while many seek the joys that can be gained through it, it is given to few to desire to pass through it.

RESPONSORY 1 Corinthians 2:9-10

No eye can see, no ear can hear, no heart can imagine
— the marvels that God has prepared for those who love him.

Yet God has revealed them to us through his Spirit.
— The marvels that God has prepared for those who love him.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

O God,
who gave the Priest Saint John
an outstanding dedication
to perfect self-denial and love of the Cross,
grant that, by imitating him closely at all times,
we may come to contemplate eternally your glory.
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.