Lord, open my lips.
 - And my mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Psalm 95 is the traditional Invitatory Psalm. Psalm 24, 67, or 100 may be substituted.

Antiphon: Come let us worship the Lord, the King who is to come.

Psalm 95

Psalm 24

Psalm 67

Psalm 100

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

When morning fills the sky,
Our hearts awaking cry:
May Jesus Christ be praised.
In all our works and prayer
His sacrifice we share:
May Jesus Christ be praised.
The night becomes as day,
When from our hearts we say:
May Jesus Christ be praised.
The powers of darkness fear
When this glad song they hear:
May Jesus Christ be praised.
In heav'n our joy will be
To sing eternally:
May Jesus Christ be praised.
Let earth and sea and sky
From depth to height reply:
May Jesus Christ be praised.
let all the earth now sing
To our eternal King:
May Jesus Christ be praised.
By this the eternal song.
Through ages all along:
May Jesus Christ be praised.
Words: E. Caswall; Melody: O Seigneur 667.667.D, Louis Bourgeois 1561


PSALMODY

Antiphon 1: Glorious things are said of you, O city of God.

On the holy mountain is his city
cherished by the Lord.
The Lord prefers the gates of Zion
to all Jacob's dwellings.
Of you are told glorious things,
O city of God!

Babylon and Egypt I will count
among those who know me;
Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia,
these will be her children
and Zion shall be called Mother
for all shall be her children."

It is he, the Lord Most High,
who gives each his place.
In his register of peoples he writes:
These are her children,
and while they dance they will sing:
In you all find their home. Glory...

Antiphon 1 Glorious things are said of you, O city of God.


Antiphon 2 The Lord, the mighty conqueror will come; he will bring with him the prize of victory.

Here comes with power
the Lord God,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.

Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.

Who has cupped in his hand the waters of the sea,
and marked off the heavens with a span?
Who has held in a measure the dust of the earth,
weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?

Who has directed the spirit of the Lord,
 or has instructed him as his counselor?
Whom did he consult to gain knowledge?
Who taught him the path of judgment,
or showed him the way of understanding?

Behold, the nations count as a drop of the bucket,
as dust on the scales;
the coastlands weigh no more than powder.

Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor its animals be enough for holocausts.
Before him all the nations are as nought,
as nothing and void he accounts them.  Glory...

Antiphon 2 The Lord, the mighty conqueror will come; he will bring with him the prize of victory.


Antiphon 3 Give praise to the Lord our God, bow down before his holy mountain.

The Lord is king; the peoples tremble.
He is throned on the cherubim; the earth quakes.
The Lord is great in Zion.

He is supreme over all the peoples.
Let them praise his name, so terrible and great,
he is holy, full of power.

You are a king who loves what is right;
you have established equity, justice and right;
you have established them in Jacob.

Exalt the Lord our God;
bow down before Zion, his footstool.
He the Lord is holy.

Among his priests were Aaron and Moses,
among those who invoked his name was Samuel.
They invoked the Lord and he answered.

To them he spoke in the pillar of cloud.
They did his will; they kept the law,
which he, the Lord, had given.

O Lord our God, you answered them.
For them you were a God who forgives;
yet you punished their offenses.

Exalt the Lord our God;
bow down before his holy mountain
for the Lord our God is holy. Glory...

Antiphon 3 Give praise to the Lord our God, bow down before his holy mountain.


READING     Isaiah 45:5-8
I am the Lord and there is no other,
  there is no God besides me.
It is I who arm you, though you know me not,
  so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun
  they may know that there is none besides me.
I am the Lord, there is no other;
  I form the light, and create the darkness,
I make well-being and create woe;
  I, the Lord, do all these things.
Let justice descend, O heavens, like dew from above,
  like gentle rain let the skies drop it down.
Let the earth open and salvation bud forth;
  let justice also spring up!
  I, the Lord, have created this.

RESPONSORY
Your light will come Jerusalem; the Lord will dawn on you in radiant beauty.
- Your light will come Jerusalem; the Lord will dawn on you in radiant beauty.
You will see his glory within you;
 - the Lord will dawn on you in radiant beauty.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
 - Your light will come Jerusalem; the Lord will dawn on you in radiant beauty.


BENEDICTUS (Canticle of Zechariah)
Antiphon: I shall wait for my Lord and Savior and point him out when he is near, Alleluia.


INTERCESSIONS
Christ is the wisdom and power of God, and his delight is to be with the children of men.  With confidence let us pray:
 
                 Draw near to us, Lord.

Lord Jesus Christ, you have called us to your glorious kingdom,
 - make us walk worthily, pleasing God in all we do.

You who stand unknown among us,
 - reveal yourself to men and women.

You are nearer to us than we to ourselves,
 - strengthen our faith and our hope of salvation.

You are the source of holiness,
 - keep us holy and without sin now and until the day of your coming.


Our Father...


COLLECT
Unworthy servants that we are, O Lord,
grieved by the guilt of our deeds,
we pray that you may gladden us
by the saving advent of your Only Begotten Son.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.


May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.