HYMN

Psalms of the Day

Reading
Isaiah 53:2-3

He grew up like a sapling before him,
  like a shoot from the parched earth;
There was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him,
  nor appearance that would attract us to him.
He was spurned and avoided by men,
  a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity,
One of those from whom men hide their faces,
  spurned, and we held him in no esteem.

Antiphon:From noon until three o'clock, there was darkness over the whole world. I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Psalms of the Day

Reading
Isaiah 53:4-5

Yet it was our infirmities that he bore,
  our sufferings that he endured,
While we thought of him as stricken,
  as one smitten by God and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our offenses,
  crushed for our sins,
Upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole,
  by his stripes we were healed.

Antiphon: At three o'clock, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Psalms of the Day

Reading
Isaiah 53:6-7

We had all gone astray like sheep,
  each following his own way;
But the Lord laid upon him
  the guilt of us all.
Though he was harshly treated, he submitted
  and opened not his mouth;
Like a lamb led to the slaughter
  or a sheep before the shearers,
  he was silent and opened not his mouth.

Responsory
He has plunged me into darkness
  -  like the dead, long forgotten.


COLLECT
Father,
look with love upon your people,
the love which the Lord Jesus Christ showed us
when he delivered himself to evil men
and suffered the agony of the cross,
for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.


At one of the hours, the psalms are said as below. At the other hours, the complementary psalms are used.

PSALMODY

I waited, I waited for the Lord
and he stooped down to me;
he heard my cry.

He drew me from the deadly pit,
from the miry clay.
He set my feet upon a rock
and made my footsteps firm.

He put a new song into my mouth,
praise of our God.
Many shall see and fear
and shall trust in the Lord.

Happy the man who has placed
his trust in the Lord
and has not gone over to the rebels
who follow false gods.

How many, O Lord my God,
are the wonders and designs
that you have worked for us;
you have no equal.
Should I proclaim and speak of them,
they are more than I can tell!

You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings,
but an open ear.
You do not ask for holocaust and victim.
Instead, here am I.

In the scroll of the book it stands written
that I should do your will.
My God, I delight in your law
in the depth of my heart.

Your justice I have proclaimed
in the great assembly.
My lips I have not sealed;
you know it, O Lord.

I have not hidden your justice in my heart
but declared your faithful help.
I have not hidden your love and your truth
from the great assembly.

O Lord, you will not withhold
your compassion from me.
Your merciful love and your truth
will always guard me.

For I am beset with evils
too many to be counted.
My sins have fallen upon me
and my sight fails me.
They are more than the hairs of my head
and my heart sinks.

O let there be rejoicing and gladness
for all who seek you.
Let them ever say: The Lord is great,
who love your saving help.

As for me, wretched and poor,
the Lord thinks of me.
You are my rescuer, my help,
O God, do not delay. Glory...

Psalm Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, you were made obedient unto death, and your name was exalted above all others. Teach us always to do the Father’s will, so that, made holy by obedience which unites us to the sacrifice of your body, we can expect your great love in times of sorrow and sing a new song to our God.

O God, save me by your name;
by your power, uphold my cause.
O God, hear my prayer;
listen to the words of my mouth.

For proud men have risen against me,
ruthless men seek my life.
They have no regard for God.
But I have God for my help.
The Lord upholds my life.

I will sacrifice to you with willing heart
and praise your name for it is good:
for you have rescued me from all distress
and my eyes have seen the downfall of my foes. Glory...

Psalm Prayer: We humbly ask you, Father, to save us from every evil and trial on earth, that we may seek with our hearts and deeds our Lord and helper, Jesus Christ, whom we look to in the heavens.

For my soul is filled with evils;
my life is on the brink of the grave.
I am reckoned as one in the tomb;
I have reached the end of my strength,

Like one alone among the dead,
like the slain lying in their graves,
like those you remember no more,
cut off, as they are, from your hand.

You have laid me in the depths of the tomb,
in places that are dark, in the depths.
Your anger weighs down upon me;
I am drowned beneath your waves.

I call to you, Lord, all the day long;
to you I stretch out my hands.
Will you work your wonders for the dead?
Will the shades stand and praise you?

Will your love be told in the grave
or your faithfulness among the dead?
Will your wonders be known in the dark
or your justice in the land of oblivion?

As for me, Lord, I call to you for help;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
Lord, why do you reject me?
Why do you hide your face?

Wretched, close to death from my youth,
I have borne your trials; I am numb.
Your fury has swept down upon me;
your terrors have utterly destroyed me.

They surround me all the day like a flood,
they assail me all together.
Friend and neighbor you have taken away:
my one companion is darkness.   Glory....

Psalm Prayer: Lord Jesus, redeemer of all and author of our salvation, for us you went down to the realm of death and became free of death. Hear the prayers of our family and lift us from our slavery to evil, that we may be redeemed by you and see your Father’s glory.


Let us praise the Lord.
- And give him thanks.