Ribbon Placement:

Liturgy of the Hours Vol. I:

Ordinary: 653

Proper of Seasons: 529

Psalter: Thursday, Week I, 752

Christian Prayer:

Ordinary: 689

Proper of Seasons: tbd

Psalter: Thursday, Week I, 748

Morning Prayer for Thursday before Epiphany

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

Creator of the stars of night,

Your people’s everlasting light,

O Christ, Redeemer of us all,

We pray you hear us when we call.

In sorrow that the ancient curse

Should doom to death a universe,

You came, O Saviour, to set free

Your own in glorious liberty.

When this old world drew on toward night,

You came; but not in splendour bright,

Not as a monarch, but the child

Of Mary, Virgin mother mild.

At your great Name, O Jesus, now

All knees must bend, all hearts must bow:

All things on earth with one accord,

Like those in heav’n, shall call you Lord.

To God the Father, God the Son,

And God the Spirit, Three in One,

Praise, honour, might, and glory be

From age to age eternally.

Amen.

Creator of the Stars of Night by The Cathedral Singers, Richard Proulx (conductor) Words: Unknown author, 7th Century (Conditor alme siderum); translated from Latin to English by John M. Neale in the Hymnal Noted, 1852; Music: Conditor, Proper Sarum melody

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 Awake, lyre and harp, with praise let us awake the dawn.

Psalm 57

Morning prayer in affliction

This psalm tells of our Lord’s passion (Saint Augustine).

Have mercy on me, God, have mercy

for in you my soul has taken refuge.

In the shadow of your wings I take refuge

till the storms of destruction pass by.

I call to God the Most High,

to God who has always been my help.

May he send from heaven and save me

and shame those who assail me.

May God send his truth and his love.

My soul lies down among lions,

who would devour the sons of men.

Their teeth are spears and arrows,

their tongue a sharpened sword.

O God, arise above the heavens;

may your glory shine on earth!

They laid a snare for my steps

my soul was bowed down.

They dug a pit in my path

but fell in it themselves.

My heart is ready, O God,

my heart is ready.

I will sing, I will sing your praise.

Awake, my soul;

awake, lyre and harp,

I will awake the dawn.

I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples,

among the nations I will praise you

for your love reaches to the heavens

and your truth to the skies.

O God, arise above the heavens;

may your glory shine on 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

Lord, send your mercy and your truth to rescue us from the snares of the devil, and we will praise you among the peoples and proclaim you to the nations, happy to be known as companions of your Son.

Ant. Awake, lyre and harp, with praise let us awake the dawn.

Ant.2 My people, says the Lord, will be filled with my blessings.

Canticle – Jeremiah 31:10-14

The happiness of a people who have been redeemed

Jesus was to die … to gather God’s scattered children into one fold (John 11:51, 52).

Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,

proclaim it on distant coasts, and say:

He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,

he guards them as a shepherd his flock.

The Lord shall ransom Jacob,

he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror.

Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,

they shall come streaming to the Lord’s blessings:

The grain, the wine, and the oil,

the sheep and the oxen;

They themselves shall be like watered gardens,

never again shall they languish.

Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,

and young men and old as well.

I will turn their mourning into joy,

I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.

I will lavish choice portions upon the priests,

and my people shall be filled with my blessings,

says 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. My people, says the Lord, will be filled with my blessings.

Ant. 3 The Lord is great and worthy to be praised in the city of our God.

Psalm 48

Thanksgiving for the people’s deliverance

He took me up a high mountain and showed me Jerusalem, God’s holy city (Revelation 21:10).

The Lord is great and worthy to be praised

in the city of our God.

His holy mountain rises in beauty,

the joy of all the earth.

Mount Zion, true pole of the earth,

the Great King’s city!

God, in the midst of its citadels,

has shown himself its stronghold.

For the kings assembled together,

together they advanced.

They saw; at once they were astounded;

dismayed, they fled in fear.

A trembling seized them there,

like the pangs of birth.

By the east wind you have destroyed

the ships of Tarshish.

As we have heard, so we have seen

in the city of our God,

in the city of the Lord of hosts

which God upholds for ever.

O God, we ponder your love

within your temple.

Your praise, O God, like your name

reaches to the ends of the earth.

With justice your right hand is filled.

Mount Zion rejoices;

the people of Judah rejoice

at the sight of your judgments.

Walk through Zion, walk all round it;

count the number of its towers.

Review all its ramparts,

examine its castles,

that you may tell the next generation

that such is our God,

our God for ever and always.

It is he who leads us.

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

Father, the body of your risen Son is the temple not made by human hands and the defending wall of the new Jerusalem. May this holy city, built of living stones, shine with spiritual radiance and witness to your greatness in the sight of all nations.

Ant. The Lord is great and worthy to be praised in the city of our God.

READING Wisdom 7:26-27

Wisdom is the refulgence of eternal light,

the spotless mirror of the power of God,

the image of his goodness.

And she, who is one, can do all things,

and renews everything while herself perduring;

And passing into holy souls from age to age,

she produces friends of God and prophets.

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 has made known, alleluia, alleluia.

– The Lord has made known, alleluia, alleluia.

His saving power.

– Alleluia, alleluia.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,

– The Lord has made known, alleluia, alleluia.

CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH

Ant. The Lord God has come to his people and set them free.

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. The Lord God has come to his people and set them free.

INTERCESSIONS

Christ embodied the wisdom of God, his justice, his holiness and his saving power. Let us praise him and call upon him confidently:

– Lord, save us by your birth.

King of the world, the shepherd found you wrapped in swaddling clothes,

make us willing participants in your poverty and simplicity.

– Lord, save us by your birth.

Lord of heaven, from your royal throne you came down to the world,

teach us to respect our less fortunate brothers and sisters.

– Lord, save us by your birth.

Christ, light eternal, when you assumed our nature your did not take on its stain,

help your faithful people to use the good things of the earth for your honor and glory.

– Lord, save us by your birth.

You are the divine spouse of your Church; you stand in its midst as an impregnable tower,

help the faithful to persevere in your Church toward salvation.

– Lord, save us by your birth.

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 by the Nativity of your Only Begotten Son

wondrously began for your people the work of redemption,

grant, we pray, to your servants such firmness of faith,

that by his guidance they may attain the glorious prize you have promised.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

– Amen.

DISMISSAL

May the Lord bless us,

protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life.

– Amen.