Advent

WEEK III - THURSDAY

Office of Readings



Invitatory
The Invitatory opens the first Office of the day. If Morning Prayer is the first Office of the day, begin below.

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.





Office of Readings

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

On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's Cry

Or:

-
Eternal Father, through your Word
You gave new life to Adam's race,
Transformed them into sons of light,
New creatures by your saving grace.

To you who stooped to sinful man
We render homage and all praise:
To Father, Son and Spirit blest
Whose gift to man is endless days.
Text: Stanbrook Abbey; Melody Erhalt uns, Herr L.M.; Midi: Cyberhymnal.


PSALMODY

Antiphon 1: Look on us, Lord, and see how we are despised (alleluia).


Psalm 89:39-53
Lament for the fall of David's dynasty
He has raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of David his servant. (Luke 1:69)

                      I
And yet you have spurned, rejected,
you are angry with the one you have anointed.
You have broken your covenant with your servant
and dishonored his crown in the dust.

You have broken down all his walls
and reduced his fortresses to ruins.
He is despoiled by all who pass by;
he has become the taunt of his neighbors.

You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
you have made all his enemies rejoice.
You have made his sword give way,
you have not upheld him in battle.

You have brought his glory to an end;
you have hurled his throne to the ground.
You have cut short the years of his youth;
you have heaped disgrace upon him. Glory...

Antiphon 1 Look on us, Lord, and see how we are despised (alleluia).


Antiphon 2 I am the root and stock of David; I am the morning star (alleluia).



                           II
How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself for ever?

How long will your anger burn like a fire?
Remember, Lord, the shortness of my life
and how frail you have made the sons of men.
What man can live and never see death?
Who can save himself from the grasp of the grave?

Where are the mercies of the past, O Lord,
which you have sworn in your faithfulness to David?
Remember, Lord, how your servant is taunted,
how I have to bear all the insults of the peoples.
Thus your enemies taunt me, O Lord,
mocking your anointed at every step.

Blessed be the Lord for ever.
Amen, amen! Glory...

Psalm Prayer: Lord, God of mercy and fidelity, you made a new and lasting pact with men and sealed it in the blood of your Son. Forgive the folly of our disloyalty and make us keep your commandments, so that in our new covenant we may be witnesses and heralds of your faithfulness and love on earth, and sharers of your glory in heaven.

Antiphon 2 I am the root and stock of David; I am the morning star (alleluia).


Antiphon 3 Our years wither away like grass, but you, Lord God, are eternal (alleluia).


Psalm 90
May we live in the radiance of God
There is no time with God; a thousand years, a single day: it is all one. (2 Peter 3:8)

                    
O Lord, you have been our refuge
from one generation to the next.
Before the mountains were born
or the earth or the world brought forth,
you are God, without beginning or end.

You turn men back to dust
and say: Go back, sons of men.
To your eyes a thousand years
are like yesterday, come and gone,
no more than a watch in the night.

You sweep men away like a dream,
like the grass which springs up in the morning.
In the morning it springs up and flowers:
by evening it withers and fades.

So we are destroyed in your anger,
struck with terror in your fury.
Our guilt lies open before you;
our secrets in the light of your face.

All our days pass away in your anger.
Our life is over like a sigh.
Our span is seventy years,
or eighty for those who are strong.

And most of these are emptiness and pain.
They pass swiftly and we are gone.
Who understands the power of your anger
and fears the strength of your fury?

Make us know the shortness of our life
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Lord, relent! Is your anger for ever?
Show pity to your servants.

In the morning, fill us with your love;
we shall exult and rejoice all our days.
Give us joy to balance our affliction
for the years when we knew misfortune.

Show forth your work to your servants;
let your glory shine on their children.
Let the favor of the Lord be upon us:
give success to the work of our hands.
give success to the work of our hands. Glory...

Psalm Prayer: Eternal Father, you give us life despite our guilt and even add days and years to our lives in order to bring us wisdom. Make us love and obey you, that the work of our hands may always display what your hands have done, until the day we gaze upon the beauty of your face.


Antiphon 3 Our years wither away like grass, but you, Lord God, are eternal (alleluia).


Hear the Word of the Lord, all you nations.
- Proclaim it to the ends of the earth.


FIRST READING

From the book of the prophet Isaiah           32:15--33:6

The promise of deliverance. The hope of the faithful.

In those days the spirit from on high
  will be poured out on us.
Then will the desert become an orchard
  and the orchard be regarded as a forest.
Right will dwell in the desert
  and justice abide in the orchard.
Justice will bring about peace;
  right will produce calm and security.

My people will live in peaceful country,
  in secure dwellings and quiet resting places.
Happy are you who sow beside every stream,
  and let the ox and the ass go freely!

Woe, O destroyer never destroyed,
  O traitor never betrayed!
When you finish destroying, you will be destroyed;
  when wearied with betraying, you will be betrayed.

O Lord, have pity on us, for you we wait.
  Be our strength every morning,
  our salvation in time of trouble!
At the roaring sound, peoples flee;
  when you rise in your majesty, nations are scattered.
Men gather spoil as caterpillars are gathered up;
  they rush upon it like the onrush of locusts.

The Lord is exalted, enthroned on high;
  he fills Zion with right and justice.
That which makes her seasons lasting,
  the riches that save her, are wisdom and knowledge;
  the fear of the Lord is her treasure.


RESPONSORY           Isaiah 32:18,17; John 14:27
My people will be enthroned amidst the beauty of peace
and in the tents of security;
- and peace will be the fruit of justice.

My peace I give you;
do not let your hearts be disturbed or terrified.
- And peace will be the fruit of justice.


SECOND READING

From the Dogmatic Constitution of Divine Revelation of the Second Vatican Council
(Dei Verbum nn.3-4)

Christ brings all revelation to perfection

With the intention of opening up the way of salvation from above, he also revealed himself to our first parents from the very beginning.

After their fall, he lifted them up to hope for salvation by the promise of redemption, and watched over mankind with unceasing care, in order that he might give eternal life to all who in persevering in good works seek out salvation.

In his own good time God called Abraham, to make of him a mighty nation. After the patriarchs, he taught this nation through Moses and the prophets to acknowledge himself alone as the living and true God, a provident father and just judge, and to look forward to the promised Savior. So, through the ages, he prepared a way for the Gospel. After speaking at various times and in different ways through the prophets, God has finally spoken to us in these days through the Son.

He sent his Son, the eternal Word who enlightens all men, to dwell among men and make known to them the innermost things of God. Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, sent as a man to men, speaks the words of God, and brings to perfection the saving work that the Father gave him to do.

To see him is to see the Father also. By his whole presence and self-revelation, by words and actions, by signs and miracles, especially by his death and glorious resurrection from the dead, and finally by sending the Spirit of truth, he completes revelation and brings it to perfection, sealing by divine testimony its message that God is with us to free us from the darkness of sin and death, and to raise us up to eternal life.

The Christian dispensation, because it is the new and definitive covenant, will never pass away, and no new public revelation is any longer to be looked for before the manifestation in glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.


RESPONSORY           Isaiah 30:20-21; Deuteronomy 18:15
Your eyes shall look upon your teacher;
- your ears shall hear the admonition:
This is the path, follow it.

The Lord your God will raise up a prophet
from among your tribe and from among your brothers.
- Your ears shall hear the admonition:
This is the path, follow it.


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,
God, for ever and ever.


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


The English translation of Psalm Responses, Alleluia Verses, Gospel Verses from Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL); the English translation of Antiphons, Invitatories, Responsories, Intercessions, Psalm 95, the Canticle of the Lamb, Psalm Prayers, Non-Biblical Readings from The Liturgy of the Hours © 1973, 1974, 1975, ICEL; excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved. Used with permission.



 
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The English translation of Psalm Responses, Alleluia Verses, Gospel Verses from Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL); the English translation of Antiphons, Invitatories, Responsories, Intercessions, Psalm 95, the Canticle of the Lamb, Psalm Prayers, Non-Biblical Readings from The Liturgy of the Hours © 1973, 1974, 1975, ICEL; excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

 
Home

Liturgy Archive

Liturgical Year

Daily Devotionals

Prayers

Bibles & Reference

The
Saints

Other Reading

Links





 

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