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 Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.

or:

Antiphon: Today if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts.

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.


HYMN

PSALMODY

Antiphon 1: Give joy to your servant, Lord, to you I lift up my heart.

Turn your ear, O Lord, and give answer
for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for I am faithful;
save the servant who trusts in you.

You are my God, have mercy on me, Lord,
for I cry to you all the day long.
Give joy to your servant, O Lord,
for to you I lift up my soul.

O Lord, you are good and forgiving,
full of love to all who call.
Give heed, O Lord, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my voice.

In the day of distress I will call
and surely you will reply.
Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord;
nor work to compare with yours.

All the nations shall come to adore you
and glorify your name, O Lord:
for you are great and do marvelous deeds,
you who alone are God.

Show me, Lord, your way
so that I may walk in your truth.
Guide my heart to fear your name.

I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart
and glorify your name for ever;
for your love to me has been great:
you have saved me from the depths of the grave.

The proud have risen against me;
ruthless men seek my life;
to you they pay no heed.

But you, God of mercy and compassion,
slow to anger, O Lord,
abounding in love and truth,
turn and take pity on me.

O give your strength to your servant
and save your handmaid's child.
Show me the sign of your favor
that my foes may see to their shame
that you console me and give me your help. Glory...

Antiphon 1 Give joy to your servant, Lord, to you I lift up my heart.


Antiphon 2 Blessed is the upright man, who speaks the truth.

Hear, you who are far off,
what I have done;
you who are near,
acknowledge my might.

On Zion sinners are in dread,
trembling grips the impious:
"Who of us can live with the consuming fire?
who of us can live with the everlasting flames?"

He who practices virtue and speaks honestly,
who spurns what is gained by oppression,
Brushing his hands free of contact with a bribe,
stopping his ears lest he hear of bloodshed,
closing his eyes lest he look on evil-

He shall dwell on the heights,
his stronghold shall be the rocky fastness,
his food and drink in steady supply. Glory...

Antiphon 2 Blessed is the upright man, who speaks the truth.


Antiphon 3 Let us celebrate with joy in the presence of our Lord and King.

Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand, his holy arm
have brought salvation.

The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.

All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.

Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp
with the sound of music.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
acclaim the King, the Lord.

Let the sea and all within it, thunder;
the world, and all its peoples.
Let the rivers clap their hands
and the hills ring out their joy

at the presence of the Lord: for he comes,
he comes to rule the earth.
He will rule the world with justice
and the peoples with fairness. Glory...

Antiphon 3 Let us celebrate with joy in the presence of our Lord and King.


READING               Deuteronomy 7:6, 8-9
The Lord, your God has chosen you from all the nations on the face of the earth to be a people peculiarly his own. It was because the Lord loved you and because of his fidelity to the oath he had sworn to your fathers, that he brought you out with his strong hand from the place of slavery, and ransomed you from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Understand, then, that the Lord, your God, is God indeed, the faithful God who keeps his merciful covenant down to the thousandth generation toward those who love him and keep his commandments.


RESPONSORY
God himself will set me free, from the hunter's snare.
- God himself will set me free, from the hunter's snare.
From those who would trap me with lying words
- and from the hunter's snare.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
- God himself will set me free, from the hunter's snare.


BENEDICTUS (Canticle of Zechariah)
Antiphon: The Lord said: Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.


INTERCESSIONS
Blessed be God, the giver of salvation, who decreed that mankind should become a new creation in himself, when all would be made new.  With great confidence let us ask him:

                     Lord, renew us in your Spirit.

Lord, you promised a new heaven and a new earth; renew us daily through your Spirit,
 - that we may enjoy your presence for ever in the heavenly Jerusalem.

Help us to work with you to make this world alive with your Spirit,
 - and to build on earth a city of justice, love and peace.

Free us from all negligence and sloth,
 - and give us joy in your gifts of grace.

Deliver us from evil,
 - and from slavery to the senses, which blinds us to goodness


Our Father...


COLLECT
Grant, we pray, O Lord,
that, schooled through Lenten observance
and nourished by your word,
through holy restraint
we may be devoted to you with all our heart
and be ever united in prayer.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your 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.