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 God who holds the world and its wonders in his creating hand.

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

Lord Jesus, once you spoke to men
Upon the mountain, in the plain;
O help us listen now as then,
And wonder at your words again.

We all have secret fears to face,
Our minds and motives to amend;
We seek your truth, we need your grace.
Our living Lord and present Friend.

The Gospel speaks, and we receive
Your light, your love, your own command.
O help us live what we believe
In daily work of heart and hand.
Text: H.C.A. Gaunt; Melody: Winchester


PSALMODY

Antiphon 1: Let us praise the Lord for his mercy and for the wonderful things he has done for us.

                    I
"O give thanks to the Lord for he is good;
for his love endures for ever."

Let them say this, the Lord's redeemed,
whom he redeemed from the hand of the foe
and gathered from far-off lands,
from east and west, north and south.

Some wandered in the desert, in the wilderness,
finding no way to a city they could dwell in.
Hungry they were and thirsty;
their soul was fainting within them.

Then they cried to the Lord in their need
and he rescued them from their distress
and he led them along the right way,
to reach a city they could dwell in.

Let them thank the Lord for his love,
for the wonders he does for men:
for he satisfies the thirsty soul;
he fills the hungry with good things.

Some lay in darkness and in gloom,
prisoners in misery and chains,
having defied the words of God
and spurned the counsels of the Most High.
He crushed their spirit with toil;
they stumbled; there was no one to help.

Then they cried to the Lord in their need
and he rescued them from their distress.
He led them forth from darkness and gloom
and broke their chains to pieces.

Let them thank the Lord for his goodness,
for the wonders he does for men:
for he bursts the gates of bronze
and shatters the iron bars. Glory...

Antiphon 1 Let us praise the Lord for his mercy and for the wonderful things he has done for us.


Antiphon 2 We have seen the works of God, the marvels he has done.

                     II
Some were sick on account of their sins
and afflicted on account of their guilt.
They had a loathing for every food;
they came close to the gates of death.

Then they cried to the Lord in their need
and he rescued them from their distress.
He sent forth his word to heal them
and saved their life from the grave.

Let them thank the Lord for his love,
for the wonders he does for men.
Let them offer a sacrifice of thanks
and tell of his deeds with rejoicing.

Some sailed to the sea in ships
to trade on the mighty waters.
These men have seen the Lord's deeds,
the wonders he does in the deep.

For he spoke; he summoned the gale,
tossing the waves of the sea
up to heaven and back into the deep;
their souls melted away in their distress.

They staggered, reeled like drunken men,
for all their skill was gone.
Then they cried to the Lord in their need
and he rescued them from their distress.

He stilled the storm to a whisper:
all the waves of the sea were hushed.
They rejoiced because of the calm
and he led them to the haven they desired.

Let them thank the Lord for his love,
for the wonders he does for men.
Let them exalt him in the gathering of the people
and praise him in the meeting of the elders. Glory...

Antiphon 2 We have seen the works of God, the marvels he has done.


Antiphon 3 Those who love the Lord will see and rejoice; they will understand his loving kindness.

                    III
He changes streams into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
fruitful land into a salty waste,
for the wickedness of those who live there.

But he changes desert into streams,
thirsty ground into springs of water.
There he settles the hungry
and they build a city to dwell in.

They sow fields and plant their vines;
these yield crops for the harvest.
He blesses them; they grow in numbers.
He does not let their herds decrease.

He pours contempt upon princes,
makes them wander in trackless wastes.
They diminish, are reduced to nothing
by oppression, evil and sorrow.

But he raises the needy from distress;
makes families numerous as a flock.
The upright see it and rejoice
but all who do wrong are silenced.

Whoever is wise, let him heed these things.
And consider the love of the Lord. Glory...

Antiphon 3 Those who love the Lord will see and rejoice; they will understand his loving kindness.


Your truth, O God, is high as the clouds.
- Lord, your goodness is deep as the oceans.


FIRST READING

From the book of Lamentations           5:1-22

A plea for the redemption of the people

Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us,
  look, and see our disgrace:
Our inherited lands have been turned over to strangers,
  our homes to foreigners.
We have become orphans, fatherless;
  widowed are our mothers.

The water we drink we must buy,
  for our own wood we must pay.
On our necks is the yoke of those who drive us;
  we are worn out, but allowed no rest.
To Egypt we submitted,
  and to Assyria, to fill our need of bread.

Our fathers, who sinned, are no more;
  but we bear their guilt.
Slaves rule over us;
  there is no one to rescue us from their hands.
At the peril of our lives we bring in our sustenance,
  in the face of the desert heat;
Our skin is shriveled up, as though by a furnace,
  with the searing blasts of famine.

The wives in Zion were ravished by the enemy,
  the maidens in the cities of Judah;
Princes were gibbeted by them,
  elders shown no respect.
The youths carry the millstones,
  boys stagger under their loads of wood;
The old men have abandoned the gate,
  the young men their music.

The joy of our hearts has ceased,
  our dance has turned into mourning;
The garlands have fallen from our heads:
  woe to us, for we have sinned!
Over this our hearts are sick,
  at this our eyes grow dim:
That Mount Zion should be desolate,
  with jackals roaming there!

You, O Lord, are enthroned forever;
  your throne stands from age to age.
Why, then, should you forget us,
  abandon us so long a time?
Lead us back to you, O Lord, that we may be restored:
  give us anew such days as we had of old.
For now you have indeed rejected us,
  and in full measure turned your wrath against us.


RESPONSORY          Lam. 5:19,20-21; Mt. 8:25
You are enthroned for ever, O Lord;
why, then, should you forget us for ever?
- Lead us back to you,
and we shall be renewed.

Save us, Lord, or we shall perish.
- Lead us back to you,
and we shall be renewed.


SECOND READING

From a sermon by Saint Athanasius, bishop
(Oratio de incarnatione Verbi, 10: PG 25, 111-114)

You gave us life in the beginning; give us new life

God, the Word of the all-good Father, did not disregard the human race, his own creation, when it was sinking back into corruption, but rather by the offering of his own body he destroyed the death men had incurred, and by his teaching he corrected their negligence. So he restored by his power all that belongs to man's estate.

Anyone can find confirmation of this from the Savior's own disciples who spoke of him, for in their writings one reads: The charity of Christ constrains us as we judge that if one died on behalf of all, then all died; and he died for all in order that we may live no longer for ourselves but for him who died for us and rose from the dead, our Lord Jesus Christ. And again: We see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, that by God's grace he might taste death for everyone. Then the writer goes on to show why it had to be God the Word and no other who became man: Indeed it was fitting that in bringing many sons to glory, God, for whom and through whom all things exist, should make perfect the one who leads them to salvation. By this he means that the task of bringing men back from the corruption into which they had fallen belonged to no other save God the Word who had made them in the beginning. Further, Scripture shows that the Word assumed a body for the purpose of offering it in sacrifice on behalf of other bodies like his own, for the writer continues: Since the children have blood and flesh in common, he likewise shared in them himself so that by his own death he might destroy the one who had power over death, that is, the devil, and might deliver those who all their life long were enslaved by fear of death.

For by the sacrifice of his own body he both put an end to the law that stood against us and made a new beginning of life for us by giving us the hope of resurrection. Hence Paul, the Christ-bearer, declares: As through a man came death, so through a man has come the resurrection of the dead. For as all died in Adam, so also in Christ all shall be made to live.

No longer, then, do we die as men condemned, but as men being raised even now, we await the general resurrection of all, which God, whose work and gift it is, will reveal at the appointed time.


RESPONSORY          Romans 3:23-25; 1 Corinthians 15:22
Everyone has sinned
and is deprived of God's glory.
We are justified through the free gift of his grace
and through the redemption in Christ Jesus.
- God made Christ's sacrficial death
the means of expiating the sins of all believers.

Just as in Adam all men die,
so in Christ all men will be brought to life.
- God made Christ's sacrficial death
the means of expiating the sins of all believers.


COLLECT
O God, by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption,
look graciously upon your beloved sons and daughters,
that those who believe in Christ
may receive true freedom
and an everlasting inheritance.
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.


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



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.