Divine Office – Liturgy of the Hours of the Roman Catholic Church (Breviary)

Divine Office – Liturgy of the Hours of the Roman Catholic Church (Breviary)


Jan 06, Office of Readings for Monday of the 2nd week of Christmas

January 05, 2013

Ribbon Placement:

Liturgy of the Hours Vol. I:

Ordinary: 649

Proper of Seasons: 575

Psalter: Monday, Week II, 816


Christian Prayer:

Does not contain Office of Readings.


Office of Readings for Monday after 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


Wherefore, O Father, we Thy humble servants

Here bring before Thee Christ, Thy well beloved,

All perfect offering, sacrifice immortal,

Spotless oblation.


See now Thy children, making intercession

Through Him our Savior, Son of God incarnate,

For all Thy people, living and departed,

Pleading before Thee.


Wherefore, O Father by Choir of Christ’s College; Words: William Jervois, 1906. Music: Rouen church melody.


PSALMODY


Ant. 1 Bow down and hear me, Lord; come to my rescue.


Psalm 31:1-17, 20-25

A troubled person’s confident appeal to God

Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit (Luke 23:46).


I


In you, O Lord, I take refuge.

Let me never be put to shame.

In your justice, set me free,

hear me and speedily rescue me.


Be a rock of refuge for me,

a mighty stronghold to save me,

for you are my rock, my stronghold.

For your name’s sake, lead me and guide me.


Release me from the snares they have hidden

for you are my refuge, Lord.

Into your hands I commend my spirit.

It is you who will redeem me, Lord.


O God of truth, you detest

those who worship false and empty gods.

As for me, I trust in the Lord:

let me be glad and rejoice in your love.


You have seen my affliction

and taken heed of my soul’s distress,

have not handed me over to the enemy,

but set my feet at large.


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. Bow down and hear me, Lord; come to my rescue.


Ant. 2 Lord, let the light of your countenance shine on your servant.


II


Have mercy on me, O Lord,

for I am in distress.

Tears have wasted my eyes,

my throat and my heart.


For my life is spent with sorrow

and my years with sighs.

Affliction has broken down my strength

and my bones waste away.


In the face of all my foes

I am a reproach,

an object of scorn to my neighbors

and of fear to my friends.


Those who see me in the street

run far away from me.

I am like a dead man, forgotten,

like a thing thrown away.


I have heard the slander of the crowd,

fear is all around me,

as they plot together against me,

as they plan to take my life.


But as for me, I trust in you, Lord,

I say: “You are my God.

My life is in your hands,

deliver me from the hands of those who hate me.


Let your face shine on your servant.

Save me in your love.”


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. Lord, let the light of your countenance shine on your servant.


Ant. 3 Blessed be the Lord, for he has poured out his mercy upon me.


III


How great is the goodness, Lord,

that you keep for those who fear you,

that you show to those who trust you

in the sight of men.


You hide them in the shelter of your presence

from the plotting of men:

you keep them safe within your tent

from disputing tongues.


Blessed be the Lord who has shown me

the wonders of his love

in a fortified city.


“I am far removed from your sight,”

I said in my alarm.

Yet you heard the voice of my plea

when I cried for help.


Love the Lord, all you saints.

He guards his faithful

but the Lord will repay to the full

those who act with pride.


Be strong, let your heart take courage,

all who hope in 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


God of kindness and truth, you saved your Chosen One, Jesus Christ, and you gave your martyrs strength. Watch over your people who come to you here and strengthen the hearts of those who hope in you, that they may proclaim your saving acts of kindness in the eternal city.


Ant. Blessed be the Lord, for he has poured out his mercy upon me.


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 heavens proclaim the justice of God.

– All nations shall see his glory.


READINGS


First reading

From the book of the prophet Isaiah

61:1-11

The Spirit of the Lord is upon his servant


The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has anointed me;

He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly,

to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives

and release to the prisoners,

To announce a year of favor from the Lord

and a day of vindication by our God,

to comfort all who mourn;

To place on those who mourn in Zion

a diadem instead of ashes,

To give them oil of gladness in place of mourning,

a glorious mantle instead of a listless spirit.

They will be called oaks of justice,

planted by the Lord to show his glory.


They shall rebuild the ancient ruins,

the former wastes they shall raise up

And restore the ruined cities,

desolate now for generations.


Strangers shall stand ready to pasture your flocks,

foreigners shall be your farmers and vinedressers.

You yourselves shall be named priests of the Lord,

ministers of our God you shall be called.

You shall eat the wealth of the nations

and boast of riches from them.


Since their shame was double

and disgrace and spittle were their portion,

They shall have a double inheritance in their land,

everlasting joy shall be theirs.


For I, the Lord, love what is right,

I hate robbery and injustice;

I will give them their recompense faithfully,

a lasting covenant I will make with them.


Their descendants shall be renowned among the nations,

and their offspring among the peoples;

All who see them shall acknowledge them

as a race the Lord has blessed.


I rejoice heartily in the Lord,

in my God is the joy of my soul;

For he has clothed me with a robe of salvation,

and wrapped me in a mantle of justice,

Like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem,

like a bride bedecked with her jewels.


As the earth brings forth its plants,

and a garden makes its growth spring up,

So will the Lord God make justice and praise

spring up before all the nations.


RESPONSORY Isaiah 61:1; John 8:42


The Spirit of God rests upon me, for the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the poor,

– to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim that captivity is now ended and prisoners are set free.


I have come forth from God and have come into the world. I have not come of myself; the Father has sent me.

– To heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim that captivity is now ended and prisoners are set free.


Second reading

From a sermon by Saint Peter Chrysologus, bishop

In choosing to be born for us, God chose to be known by us


In the mystery of our Lord’s incarnation there were clear indications of his eternal Godhead. Yet the great events we celebrate today disclose and reveal in different ways the fact that God himself took a human body. Mortal man, enshrouded always in darkness, must not be left in ignorance, and so be deprived of what he can understand and retain only by grace.


In choosing to be born for us, God chose to be known by us. He therefore reveals himself in this way, in order that this great sacrament of his love may not be an occasion for us of great misunderstanding. Today the Magi find, crying in a manger, the one they have followed as he shone in the sky.


Today the Magi see clearly, in swaddling clothes, the one they have long awaited as he lay hidden among the stars.


Today the Magi gaze in deep wonder at what they see: heaven on earth, earth in heaven, man in God, God in man, one whom the whole universe cannot contain now enclosed in a tiny body. As they look, they believe and do not question, as their symbolic gifts bear witness: incense for God, gold for a king, myrrh for one who is to die.


So the Gentiles, who were the last, become the first: the faith of the Magi is the first fruits of the belief of the Gentiles.


Today Christ enters the Jordan to wash away the sin of the world. John himself testifies that this is why he has come: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Today a servant lays his hand on the Lord, a man lays his hand on God, John lays his hand on Christ, not to forgive but to receive forgiveness.


Today, as the psalmist prophesied: The voice of the Lord is heard above the waters. What does the voice say? This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.


Today the Holy Spirit hovers over the waters in the likeness of a dove. A dove announced to Noah that the flood had disappeared from the earth; so now a dove is to reveal that the world’s shipwreck is at an end for ever. The sign is no longer an olive-shoot of the old stock: instead, the Spirit pours out on Christ’s head the full richness of a new anointing by the Father, to fulfill what the psalmist had prophesied: Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.


Today Christ works the first of his signs from heaven by turning water into wine. But water has still to be changed into the sacrament of his blood, so that Christ may offer spiritual drink from the chalice of his body, to fulfill the psalmist’s prophecy: How excellent is my chalice, warming my spirit.


RESPONSORY


The wise men offered three precious gifts to the Lord on that day, and each of these gifts has a divine significance:

– gold signifies the power of a king; frankincense, the office of high priest; and myrrh, the Lord’s burial.


The wise men came to the stable to worship the author of our salvation, and from their treasures they offered these symbolic gifts.

– Gold signifies the power of a king; frankincense, the office of high priest; and myrrh, the Lord’s burial.


CONCLUDING PRAYER


O God,

whose eternal Word adorns the face of the heavens

yet accepted from the Virgin Mary the frailty of our flesh,

grant, we pray, that he who appeared among us

as the splendor of truth

may go forth in the fullness of power

for the redemption of the world.

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

one God, for ever and ever.

– Amen.


ACCLAMATION (only added when praying in community)


Let us praise the Lord.

– And give him thanks.


The English translation of The Liturgy of the Hours (Four Volumes) ©1974, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved. Used with permission by Surgeworks, Inc for the Divine Office Catholic Ministry. DivineOffice.org website, podcast, apps and all related media is © 2006-2011 Surgeworks, Inc. All rights reserved.pffFU5IGuwc