Morning Prayer for Wednesday in Ordinary Time, for the Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop 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. HYMN Rise up O men of God, Have done with lesser things. Give heart and soul and mind and strength, To serve the King of Kings. Rise up, O men of God! The church for you doth wait, Her strength unequal to her task; Rise up and make her great! Lift high the Cross of Christ, Tread where His feet have trod, As brothers of the Son of Man, Rise up O men of God. PSALMODY Ant. 1 O Lord, in your light we see light itself. Psalm 36 The malice of sinners and God’s goodness No follower of mine wanders in the dark; he shall have the light of life ( John 8:12). Sin speaks to the sinner in the depths of his heart. There is no fear of God before his eyes. He so flatters himself in his mind that he knows not his guilt. In his mouth are mischief and deceit. All wisdom is gone. He plots the defeat of goodness as he lies on his bed. He has set his foot on evil ways, he clings to what is evil. Your love, Lord, reaches to heaven; your truth to the skies. Your justice is like God’s mountain, your judgments like the deep. To both man and beast you give protection. O Lord, how precious is your love. My God, the sons of men find refuge in the shelter of your wings. They feast on the riches of your house; they drink from the stream of your delight. In you is the source of life and in your light we see light. Keep on loving those who know you, doing justice for upright hearts. Let the foot of the proud not crush me nor the hand of the wicked cast me out. See how the evil-doers fall! Flung down, they shall never rise. 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, you are the source of unfailing light. Give us true knowledge of your mercy so that we may renounce our pride and be filled with the riches of your house. Ant. O Lord, in your light we see light itself. Ant. 2 O God, you are great and glorious; we marvel at your power. Canticle — Judith 16:2-3a, 13-15 God who created the world takes care of his people They were singing a new song (Revelation 5:9). Strike up the instruments, a song to my God with timbrels, chant to the Lord with cymbals. Sing to him a new song, exalt and acclaim his name. A new hymn I will sing to my God. O Lord, great are you and glorious, wonderful in power and unsurpassable. Let your every creature serve you; for you spoke, and they were made, you sent forth your spirit, and they were created; no one can resist your word. The mountains to their bases, and the seas are shaken; the rocks, like wax, melt before your glance. But to those who fear you, you are very merciful. 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. O God, you are great and glorious; we marvel at your power. Ant. 3 Exult in God’s presence with hymns of praise. Psalm 47 The Lord Jesus is King of all He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and his kingdom will have no end. All peoples, clap your hands, cry to God with shouts of joy! For the Lord, the Most High, we must fear, great king over all the earth. He subdues peoples under us and nations under our feet. Our inheritance, our glory, is from him, given to Jacob out of love. God goes up with shouts of joy; the Lord goes up with trumpet blast. Sing praise for God, sing praise, sing praise to our king, sing praise. God is king of all the earth. Sing praise with all your skill. God is king over the nations; God reigns on his holy throne. The princes of the peoples are assembled with the people of Abraham’s God. The rulers of the earth belong to God, to God who reigns over all. 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, King of all peoples and all ages, it is your victory we celebrate as we sing with all the skill at our command. Help us always to overcome evil by good, that we may rejoice in your triumph for ever. Ant. Exult in God’s presence with hymns of praise. READING Wisdom 7:13-14 Simply I learned about Wisdom, and ungrudgingly do I share - her riches I do not hide away; For to men she is an unfailing treasure; those who gain this treasure win the friendship of God, to whom the gifts they have from discipline commend them. 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 Let the peoples proclaim the wisdom of the saints. – Let the peoples proclaim the wisdom of the saints. With joyful praise let the Church tell forth – the wisdom of the saints. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, – Let the peoples proclaim the wisdom of the saints. CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH Ant. You inspire us, O Lord, to delight in praising you, because you made us for yourself; our hearts are restless until they rest in you. 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. You inspire us, O Lord, to delight in praising you, because you made us for yourself; our hearts are restless until they rest in you. INTERCESSIONS Christ is the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep. Let us praise and thank him as we pray: Nourish your people, Lord. Christ, you decided to show your merciful love through your holy shepherds, – let your mercy always reach us through them. Nourish your people, Lord. Through your vicars you continue to perform the ministry of shepherd of souls, – direct us always through our leaders. Nourish your people, Lord. Through your holy ones, the leaders of your people, you served as physician of our bodies and our spirits, – continue to fulfill your ministry of life and holiness in us. Nourish your people, Lord. You taught your flock through the prudence and love of your saints, – grant us continual growth in holiness under the direction of our pastors. Nourish your people, Lord. 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 Renew in your Church, we pray, O Lord, that spirit with which you endowed your Bishop Saint Augustine that, filled with the same spirit, we may thirst for you, the sole fount of true wisdom, and seek you, the author of heavenly love. 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.
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 09:44:13 +0000