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Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. I:
Ordinary: 649
Proper of Seasons: 376
Psalter: Sunday, Week IV, 1047

Christian Prayer:
Does not contain Office of Readings.

Office of Readings for the Fourth Sunday, December 24, in the Season of Advent

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 This is our heavenly king; he comes with power and might to save the nations, alleluia.

Psalm 24
The Lord’s entry into his temple
Christ opened heaven for us when he assumed humanity (Irenaeus).

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,
the world and all its peoples.
It is he who set it on the seas;
on the waters he made it firm.

Ant. This is our heavenly king; he comes with power and might to save the nations, alleluia.

Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who shall stand in his holy place?
The man with clean hands and pure heart,
who desires not worthless things,
who has not sworn so as to deceive his neighbor.

Ant. This is our heavenly king; he comes with power and might to save the nations, alleluia.

He shall receive blessings from the Lord
and reward from the God who saves him .
Such are the men who seek him,
seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Ant. This is our heavenly king; he comes with power and might to save the nations, alleluia.

O gates, lift high your heads;
grow higher, ancient doors.
Let him enter, the king of glory!

Ant. This is our heavenly king; he comes with power and might to save the nations, alleluia.

Who is the king of glory?
The Lord, the mighty, the valiant,
the Lord, the valiant in war.

Ant. This is our heavenly king; he comes with power and might to save the nations, alleluia.

O gates, lift high your heads;
grow higher, ancient doors.
Let him enter, the king of glory!

Ant. This is our heavenly king; he comes with power and might to save the nations, alleluia.

Who is he, the king of glory?
He, the Lord of armies,
he is the king of glory.

Ant. This is our heavenly king; he comes with power and might to save the nations, alleluia.

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

When your Son was unjustly condemned, Lord God, and surrounded by the impious, he cried to you, and you set him free. Watch over your people as the treasure of your heart and guide their steps along safe paths that they may see your face.

Ant. This is our heavenly king; he comes with power and might to save the nations, alleluia.

Ant. 2 Daughter of Jerusalem, rejoice and be glad; your King will come to you. Zion do not fear; your Savior is on his way.

Psalm 66
Eucharistic hymn
The Lord is risen and all people have been brought to him by the Father (Hesychius)

I

Cry out with joy to God all the earth,
O sing to the glory of his name.
O render him glorious praise.
Say to God: “How tremendous are your deeds!

Ant. Daughter of Jerusalem, rejoice and be glad; your King will come to you. Zion do not fear; your Savior is on his way.

Because of the greatness of your strength
your enemies cringe before you.
Before you all the earth shall bow,
shall sing to you, sing to your name!”

Ant. Daughter of Jerusalem, rejoice and be glad; your King will come to you. Zion do not fear; your Savior is on his way.

Come and see the works of God,
tremendous his deeds among men.
He turned the sea into dry land,
they passed through the river dry-shod.

Ant. Daughter of Jerusalem, rejoice and be glad; your King will come to you. Zion do not fear; your Savior is on his way.

Let our joy then be in him;
he rules for ever by his might.
His eyes keep watch over the nations:
let rebels not rise against him.

Ant. Daughter of Jerusalem, rejoice and be glad; your King will come to you. Zion do not fear; your Savior is on his way.

O peoples, bless our God;
let the voice of his praise resound,
of the God who gave life to our souls
and kept our feet from stumbling.

Ant. Daughter of Jerusalem, rejoice and be glad; your King will come to you. Zion do not fear; your Savior is on his way.

For you, O God, have tested us,
you have tried us as silver is tried;
you led us, God, into the snare;
you laid a heavy burden on our backs.

Ant. Daughter of Jerusalem, rejoice and be glad; your King will come to you. Zion do not fear; your Savior is on his way.

You let men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water
but then you brought us relief.

Ant. Daughter of Jerusalem, rejoice and be glad; your King will come to you. Zion do not fear; your Savior is on his way.

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. Daughter of Jerusalem, rejoice and be glad; your King will come to you. Zion do not fear; your Savior is on his way.

Ant. 3 Let us cleanse our hearts for the coming of our great King, that we may be ready to welcome him; he is coming and will not delay.

II

Burnt offering I bring to your house;
to you I will pay my vows,
the vows which my lips have uttered,
which my mouth spoke in my distress.

Ant. Let us cleanse our hearts for the coming of our great King, that we may be ready to welcome him; he is coming and will not delay.

I will offer burnt offerings of fatlings
with the smoke of burning rams.
I will offer bullocks and goats.

Ant. Let us cleanse our hearts for the coming of our great King, that we may be ready to welcome him; he is coming and will not delay.

Come and hear, all who fear God,
I will tell what he did for my soul:
to him I cried aloud,
with high praise ready on my tongue.

Ant. Let us cleanse our hearts for the coming of our great King, that we may be ready to welcome him; he is coming and will not delay.

If there had been evil in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
But truly God has listened;
he has heeded the voice of my prayer.

Ant. Let us cleanse our hearts for the coming of our great King, that we may be ready to welcome him; he is coming and will not delay.

Blessed be God who did not reject my prayer
nor withhold his love from me.

Ant. Let us cleanse our hearts for the coming of our great King, that we may be ready to welcome him; he is coming and will not delay.

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 Father, in the death and resurrection of your own Son you brought us through the waters of baptism to the shores of new life. By those waters and the fire of the Holy Spirit you have given each of us consolation. Accept our sacrifice of praise; may our lives be a total offering to you, and may we deserve to enter your house and there with Christ praise your unfailing power.

Ant. Let us cleanse our hearts for the coming of our great King, that we may be ready to welcome him; he is coming and will not delay.

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.

The Lord proclaims his word to Jacob.
— His laws and decrees to Israel.

READINGS

First reading
From the book of the prophet Isaiah
51:17-52:2, 7-10
The good news is brought to Jerusalem

Awake, awake!
Arise, O Jerusalem,
You who drank at the Lord’s hand
the cup of his wrath;
Who drained to the dregs
the bowl of staggering!
She has no one to guide her
of all the sons she bore;
She has no one to grasp her by the hand,
of all the sons she reared!–

Your misfortunes are double;
who is there to condole with you?
Desolation and destruction, famine and sword!
Who is there to comfort you?
Your sons lie helpless
at every street corner
like antelopes in a net.
They are filled with the wrath of the Lord,
the rebuke of your God.

But now, hear this, O afflicted one,
drunk, but not with wine,
Thus says the Lord, your Master,
your God, who defends his people:

See, I am taking from your hand
the cup of staggering;
The bowl of my wrath
you shall no longer drink.
I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,
those who ordered you
to bow down, that they might walk over you,
While you offered your back like the ground,
like the street for them to walk on.

Awake, awake!
Put on your strength, O Zion;
Put on your glorious garments,
O Jerusalem, holy city.
No longer shall the uncircumcised
or the unclean enter you.

Shake off the dust,
ascend to the throne, Jerusalem;
Loose the bonds from your neck,
O captive daughter Zion!

How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings glad tidings,
Announcing peace, bearing good news,
announcing salvation, and saying to Zion,
“Your God is King!”
Hark! Your watchmen raise a cry,
together they shout for joy,
For they see directly,
before their eyes,
the Lord restoring Zion.

Break out together in song,
O ruins of Jerusalem!
For the Lord comforts his people,
he redeems Jerusalem.
The Lord has bared his holy arm
in the sight of all the nations;
All the ends of the earth will behold
the salvation of our God.

RESPONSORY See Ex. 19:10, 11; Dt. 7:15; see Dn, 9:24

Cleanse yourselves, sons of Israel, says the Lord;
for tomorrow your Lord will come down,
— and he will take away from you all weaknesses.

Tomorrow the wickedness of the earth will be destroyed,
and the Savior of the world will rule over us.
— And he will take away from you all weaknesses.

Second reading
From a sermon by Saint Augustine, bishop
Truth has arisen from the earth, and justice looked down from heaven

Awake, mankind! For your sake God has become man. Awake, you who sleep, rise up from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you. I tell you again: for your sake, God became man.

You would have suffered eternal death, had he not been born in time. Never would you have been freed from sinful flesh, had he not taken on himself the likeness of sinful flesh. You would have suffered everlasting unhappiness, had it not been for this mercy. You would never have returned to life, had he not shared your death. You would have been lost if he had not hastened to your aid. You would have perished, had he not come.

Let us then joyfully celebrate the coming of our salvation and redemption. Let us celebrate the festive day on which he who is the great and eternal day came from the great and endless day of eternity into our own short day of time.

He has become our justice, our sanctification, our redemption, so that, as it is written: Let him who glories glory in the Lord.

Truth, then, has arisen from the earth: Christ who said, I am the Truth, was born of a virgin. And justice looked down from heaven: because believing in this new-born child, man is justified not by himself but by God.

Truth has arisen from the earth: because the Word was made flesh. And justice looked down from heaven: because every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.

Truth has arisen from the earth: flesh from Mary. And justice looked down from heaven: for man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.

Justified by faith, let us be at peace with God: for justice and peace have embraced one another. Through our Lord Jesus Christ: for Truth has arisen from the earth. Through whom we have access to that grace in which we stand, and our boast is in our hope of God’s glory. He does not say: “of our glory,” but of God’s glory: for justice has not proceeded from us but has looked down from heaven. Therefore he who glories, let him glory, not in himself, but in the Lord.

For this reason, when our Lord was born of the Virgin, the message of the angelic voices was: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.

For how could there be peace on earth unless Truth has arisen from the earth, that is, unless Christ, were born of our flesh? And he is our peace who made the two into one: that we might be men of good will, sweetly linked by the bond of unity.

Let us then rejoice in this grace, so that our glorying may bear witness to our good conscience by which we glory, not in ourselves, but in the Lord. That is why Scripture says: He is my glory, the one who lifts up my head. For what greater grace could God have made to dawn on us than to make his only Son become the son of man, so that a son of man might in his turn become the son of God?

Ask if this were merited; ask for its reason, for its justification, and see whether you will find any other answer but sheer grace.

RESPONSORY Isaiah 11:1, 5, 2

A shoot shall grow from the root of Jesse,
and there a flower shall blossom.
— Justice will be the girdle around his loins, and faithfulness the belt around his waist.

The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him:
a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and fortitude.
— Justice will be the girdle around his loins, and faithfulness the belt around his waist.

TE DEUM

You are God: we praise you;
You are the Lord: we acclaim you;
You are the eternal Father:
All creation worships you.

To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.

The glorious company of apostles praise you.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.

Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you:
Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy of all worship,
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.

You, Christ, are the King of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.

When you became man to set us free
you did not spurn the Virgin’s womb.

You overcame the sting of death,
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come, and be our judge.

Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints
to glory everlasting.

Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance.
— Govern and uphold them now and always.

Day by day we bless you.
— We praise your name for ever.

Keep us today, Lord, from all sin.
— Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

Lord, show us your love and mercy,
— for we have put our trust in you.

In you, Lord, is our hope:
— And we shall never hope in vain.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Come quickly,
we pray, Lord Jesus, and do not delay,
that those who trust in your compassion
may find solace and relief in your coming.
Who live and reign with God the Father
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.