Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. I:
Ordinary: 661
Proper of Saints: 1277 (Midday)
Psalter: Thursday, Week IV, 1127

Midday Prayer for the Feast of Holy Innocents, Martyrs, using the Current 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. Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.

Psalm 119:153-160
XX (Resh)

See my affliction and save me
for I remember your law.
Uphold my cause and defend me;
by your promise, give me life.

Salvation is far from the wicked
who are heedless of your statutes.
Numberless, Lord, are your mercies;
with your decrees give me life.

Though my foes and oppressors are countless
I have not swerved from your will.
I look at the faithless with disgust;
they ignore your promise.

See how I love your precepts;
in your mercy give me life.
Your word is founded on truth,
your decrees are eternal.

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

Help us always to rejoice in your promise, Father, and to praise the glory of your deeds. Keep us united in the love of your peace; then we shall have little to fear from the threats of the mighty.

Psalm 128
Happiness of family life rooted in God
“May the Lord bless you from Zion,” that is, from the Church (Arnobius)

O blessed are those who fear the Lord
and walk in his ways!

By the labor of your hands you shall eat.
You will be happy and prosper;
your wife like a fruitful vine
in the heart of your house;
Your children like shoots of the olive,
around your table.

Indeed thus shall be blessed
the man who fears the Lord.
May the Lord bless you from Zion
all the days of your life!
May you see your children’s children
in a happy Jerusalem!

On Israel, 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.

Psalm-prayer

Give lasting happiness, Lord, to those who reverence your name, so that our life and work may be such as to deserve your commendation, and bring us, laden with good fruit, to our everlasting home.

Psalm 129
Morning prayer in affliction
The psalm tell of our Lord’s passion (St. 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 plowed my back like plowmen,
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.

Psalm-prayer

Lord Jesus, living in glory as the Son of Man, remember that when our sins had ploughed long furrows on your back, your death broke the bonds of sin and Satan for ever. Bless your Church, wounded in its members, and strengthen it by your invincible power and grace.

Ant. Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.

READING Lamentations 2:11

Worn out from weeping are my eyes,
within me all is in ferment;
As child and infant faint away
in the open spaces of the town.

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 just shall live for ever,
— to live in God is their reward.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

O God,
whom the Holy Innocents confessed
and proclaimed on this day,
not by speaking but by dying,
grant, we pray,
that the faith in you which we confess
with our lips may also speak through our manner of life.
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.