Office of Readings
PREPARATION
O Lord open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Glory to God, Source of all being, Eternal Word and Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.
INVITATORY PSALM 95
Come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before God’s presence with thanksgiving
and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.
Come, let us sing to the Lord.
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the caverns of the earth,
and the heights of the hills are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands have moulded the dry land.
Come, let us sing to God, the creator of all.
Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee,
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
Come, let us worship and bow down.
O, that today you would hearken to his voice!
Harden not your hearts, as your forebears did in the wilderness,
at Meribah, and on that day at Massah, when they tempted me.
They put me to the test, though they had seen my works.
Come, let us listen to his voice.
Forty years long I detested that generation and said, ‘This people
are wayward in their hearts; they do not know my ways.’
So I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter into my rest.’
Come, let us kneel before our God.
Glory to God, Source of all being, Eternal Word and Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.
HYMN
PSALM 22
Antiphon: Be not far from me, for trouble is near at hand [to be said at the beginning and end of the psalm]
PSALM 69
Antiphon: Give your strength to your servant, O Lord.
READING: Exodus 10
RESPONSORY
V. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God
R. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God
V. In this is love, not that we love God, but that God loves us.
R. For Love is of God.
V. Glory to God, Source of all being, Eternal Word and Holy Spirit
R. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God.
PSALM 3
Antiphon: You, Lord, are a shield about me.
PSALM 43
Antiphon: I will go to the altar of God, to God who is my joy and my gladness.
READING FROM THE PHILOKALIA
“Evil is not an actual substance, but the absence of Good; just as darkness is nothing but the absence of light” – Evagrius of Pontus
COLLECT
Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ delivered and saved the world: grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross we may triumph in the power of his victory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
BLESSING
May God bless us, and preserve us from all evil, and keep us in eternal life. Amen.
CONCLUSION
V. Let us praise the Lord
R. Thanks be to God
V. May the divine help remain with us always
R. And with our absent brothers and sisters. Amen.
Lauds
ANGELUS
PREPARATION
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.
HYMN
PSALM 129
Antiphon: Greatly have they oppressed me, since the days of my youth [to be said at the beginning and end of the psalm]
PSALM 142
Antiphon: You are my portion, O Lord, in the land of the living
CANTICLE
Antiphon: The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
And as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account,
Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities.
Upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way.
And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
PSALM 147
Antiphon: How good it is to sing praises to the Lord our God
READING
‘The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life, a ransom for many’ – Mark 10:45
RESPONSORY
V. Forsake me not, O Lord; be not far from me, O my God.
R. Forsake me not, O Lord; be not far from me, O my God.
V. Make haste to help me, O Lord of my salvation.
R. Be not far from me, O my God.
V. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
R. Forsake me not, O Lord; be not far from me, O my God.
GOSPEL CANTICLE: BENEDICTUS
Antiphon: I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with mighty acts of judgement
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
who has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets God promised of old
to save us from our enemies, from the hands of all that hate us,
To show mercy to our forebears,
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath God 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.
And 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 all 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.
LITANY
V. Let us offer our prayers to the one true God
R. Lord have mercy
For all who have suffered or are still suffering abuse of any kind, Lord have mercy
For those helping people to address issues of anger, violence, and abuse, Lord have mercy
For those who mourn, and all who will die today, Lord have mercy
COLLECT
Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ delivered and saved the world: grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross we may triumph in the power of his victory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
BLESSING
V. May God be gracious to us and bless us
R. May he lift up the light of his countenance upon us and give us his peace
CONCLUSION
V. Let us praise the Lord
R. Thanks be to God
V. May the divine help remain with us always
R. And with our absent brothers and sisters. Amen.
Terce
PREPARATION
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.
HMYN
PSALM 119: 129-152
Antiphon: Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God [to be said at the beginning and end of the psalm]
READING
‘How happy is the one whom God reproves; therefore do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he binds up; he strikes, but his hands heal’ – Job 5:17-18
RESPONSORY
V. With you O Lord is forgiveness
R. Therefore shall you be feared
PRAYERS
V. Kyrie eleison
R. Christe eleison
V. Kyrie eleison
COLLECT
Gracious Father, you gave up your Son out of love for the world: lead us to ponder the mysteries of his passion, that we may know eternal peace through the shedding of the blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ our Lord.
CONCLUSION
V. O Lord, hear our prayer
R. And let our cry come to you
V. Let us praise the Lord
R. Thanks be to God.
V. May the divine help remain with us always
R. And with our absent brothers and sisters. Amen.
None
PREPARATION
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.
HMYN
PSALM 11
Antiphon: Bring not your servant into judgement O Lord; for in your sight can no one living be justified [to be said at the beginning of the psalm]
PSALM 12
Without antiphon
PSALM 13
Ended with the antiphon given above.
READING
‘The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’ – 1 Timothy 1:15
RESPONSORY
V. The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit
R. A broken and contrite heart, O God you will not despise
PRAYERS
V. Kyrie eleison
R. Christe eleison
V. Kyrie eleison
COLLECT
Gracious Father, you gave up your Son out of love for the world: lead us to ponder the mysteries of his passion, that we may know eternal peace through the shedding of the blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ our Lord.
CONCLUSION
V. O Lord, hear our prayer
R. And let our cry come to you
V. Let us praise the Lord
R. Thanks be to God.
V. May the divine help remain with us always
R. And with our absent brothers and sisters. Amen.
Vespers
ANGELUS
PREPARATION
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.
HMYN
PSALM 35
Antiphon: Awake, arise, O Lord, and be swift to defend my cause [to be said at the beginning and end of the psalm]
PSALM 38
Antiphon: O Lord God, come quickly to my assistance: you, Lord, are the stronghold of my salvation
CANTICLE
Antiphon: Sparing not his only son, God delivered him up for us all
Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example;
that we should follow in his steps;
He committed no sin, no deceit was found on his lips;
when he was abused, he did not return abuse.
When he suffered, he did not threaten,
but he trusted himself to God who judges justly.
He himself bore our sins in his body upon the tree,
that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
By his wounds we have been healed, for we were straying like sheep,
but have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of our souls.
READING: John 20:20-36a
RESPONSORY
V. Forsake me not, O Lord; be not far from me, O my God.
R. Forsake me not, O Lord; be not far from me, O my God.
V. Make haste to help me, O Lord of my salvation.
R. Be not far from me, O my God.
V. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
R. Forsake me not, O Lord; be not far from me, O my God.
GOSPEL CANTICLE: MAGNIFICAT
Antiphon: As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.
For he has looked with favour on his lowly servant;
from his day all generations will call me blessed.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm;
He has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our forebears,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
LITANY
V. In the power of the Spirit and in union with Christ, let us pray to the Lord:
R. Lord have mercy
That God will increase our capacity to love and to serve, and use us as instruments of peace and reconciliation, Lord have mercy
That God’s love may consume in us all that hinders us from the perfect service of his kingdom, Lord have mercy
That we may be given discernment to recognise the needs of those around us, and grace to respond with love and sensitivity, Lord have mercy
COLLECT
Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ delivered and saved the world: grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross we may triumph in the power of his victory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
BLESSING
V. May God be gracious to us and bless us
R. May he lift up the light of his countenance upon us and give us his peace
CONCLUSION
V. Let us praise the Lord
R. Thanks be to God
V. May the divine help remain with us always
R. And with our absent brothers and sisters. Amen.
Compline
The Lord Almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end. Amen.
Our help is in the name of the Lord;
Who made heaven and earth.
I confess to Almighty God, in the sight of the whole company of heaven, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault; in my thoughts and in my words; in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do. And I ask Blessed Mary, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.
May the almighty and merciful Lord grant us pardon and remission of all our sins, time for amendment of life, and the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
PREPARATION
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.
HMYN
PSALM 4
Without antiphon
PSALM 91
Without antiphon
PSALM 134
Without antiphon
READING
‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour’ – Isaiah 43:2,3a
RESPONSORY
V. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit
V. For you have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth
R. I commend my spirit
V. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
R. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit
GOSPEL CANTICLE: NUNC DIMITTIS
Antiphon: When you see the needy, be compassionate, and find in them your own true fast; then the wound of your heart shall be healed: you will call and the Lord God will answer.
Now, Lord, let your servant go in peace
your word has been fulfilled.
My own eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared in the sight of every people;
A light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.
PRAYERS
V. Kyrie eleison
R. Christe eleison
V. Kyrie eleison
COLLECT
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, who at this evening hour rested in the sepulchre, and sanctified the grave to be a bed of hope to your people: give us such sorrow for our sins which were the cause of your passion, that when our bodies lie in the dust, our souls may live with you; for with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
CONCLUSION
Keep us, O Lord, as the apple of your eye
Hide us under the shadow of your wings
In peace we will lie down and sleep
For you alone, Lord, make us dwell in safety.
Let us praise the Lord
Thanks be to God.
May all who have died rest in the mercy of God
Amen.
MARIAN ANTIPHON