WEEK 9 - MONDAY
Office of Readings
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: Let us approach the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.
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
Almighty Father, with your Son
and blessed Spirit, hear our prayer.
Teach us to love eternal truth
and seek its freedom everywhere.
Melody: Warrington LM, R. Harrison, 1810; Text: Stanbrook Abbey; Midi:Cyberhymnal
PSALMODY
Antiphon 1:
Show me your mercy, Lord, and keep me safe, alleluia.
Psalm 6
A suffering man cries to God for mercy
I am filled with dismay...Father, save me from this hour. (John 12:27)
Lord, do not reprove me in your anger;
punish me not in your rage.
Have mercy on me, Lord, I have no strength;
Lord, heal me, my body is racked;
my soul is racked with pain.
But you, O Lord...how long?
Return, Lord, rescue my soul.
Save me in your merciful love;
for in death no one remembers you;
from the grave, who can give you praise?
I am exhausted with my groaning;
every night I drench my pillow with tears;
I bedew my bed with weeping.
My eye wastes away with grief;
I have grown old surrounded by my foes.
Leave me, all you who do evil;
for the Lord has heard my weeping.
The Lord has heard my plea;
The Lord will accept my prayer.
All my foes will retire in confusion,
foiled and suddenly confounded. Glory...
Antiphon 1 Show me your mercy, Lord, and keep me safe, alleluia.
Antiphon 2
The poor are not alone in their distress. God is here to help them (alleluia).
Psalm 9
The Messiah, king and conqueror
The rulers of the earth joined forces to overthrow Jesus, your anointed Son (Acts 4:27)
I
I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will recount all your wonders.
I will rejoice in you and be glad,
and sing psalms to your name, O Most High.
See how my enemies turn back,
how they stumble and perish before you.
You upheld the justice of my cause;
you sat enthroned, judging with justice.
You have checked the nations, destroyed the wicked;
you have wiped out their name for ever and ever.
The foe is destroyed, eternally ruined.
You uprooted their cities; their memory has perished.
But the Lord sits enthroned for ever.
He has set up his throne for judgment;
he will judge the world with justice,
he will judge the peoples with his truth.
For the oppressed let the Lord be a stronghold,
a stronghold in times of distress.
Those who know your name will trust you;
you will never forsake those who seek you. Glory...
Antiphon 2
The poor are not alone in their distress. God is here to help them (alleluia).
Antiphon 3
I will be the herald of your praises, Lord, where the people of Zion gather (alleuia).
II
Sing psalms to the Lord who dwells in Zion.
Proclaim his mighty works among the peoples,
for the Avenger of blood has remembered them,
has not forgotten the cry of the poor.
Have pity on me, Lord, see my sufferings,
you who save me from the gates of death;
that I may recount all your praise
at the gates of the city of Zion
and rejoice in your saving help.
The nations have fallen in the pit which they made,
their feet caught in the snare they laid.
The Lord has revealed himself, and given judgment.
The wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.
Let the wicked go down among the dead,
all the nations forgetful of God;
for the needy shall not always be forgotten
nor the hopes of the poor be in vain.
Arise, Lord, let men not prevail!
Let the nations be judged before you.
Lord, strike them with terror,
let the nations know they are but men.
Glory....
Antiphon 3
I will be the herald of your praises, Lord, where the people of Zion gather (alleuia).
Give me insight, Lord, to know your will.
- Then I will cherish it with all my heart.
FIRST READING
From the book of Job 29:1-10; 30:1,9-23
Job bewails his affliction
Job took up his theme anew and said;
Oh, that I were as in the months past!
as in the days when God watched over me,
While he kept his lamp shining above my head,
and by his light I walked through darkness;
As I was in my flourishing days,
when God sheltered my tent;
When the Almighty was yet with me,
and my children were round about me;
When my footsteps were bathed in milk,
and the rock flowed with streams of oil;
When I went forth to the gate of the city
and set up my seat in the square -
Then the young men saw me and withdrew,
while the elders rose up and stood;
The chief men refrained from speaking
and covered their mouths with their hands;
The voice of the princes was silenced,
and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
But now they hold me in derision
who are younger in years than I;
Whose fathers I should have disdained
to rank with the dogs of my flock.
Yet now they sing of me in mockery;
I am become a byword among them.
They abhor me, they stand aloof from me,
they do not hesitate to spit in my face!
Indeed, they have loosed their bonds;
they lord it over me,
and have thrown off restraint in my presence.
To subvert my paths they rise up;
they build their approaches for my ruin.
To destroy me, they attack with none to stay them;
as through a wide breach they advance.
Amid the uproar they come on in waves;
over me rolls the terror.
My dignity is borne off on the wind,
and my welfare vanishes like a cloud.
My frame takes no rest by night;
my inward parts seethe and will not be stilled.
One with great power lays hold of my clothing;
by the collar of my tunic he seizes me:
He has cast me into the mire;
I am leveled with the dust and ashes.
I cry to you, but you do not answer me;
you stand off and look at me,
Then you turn upon me without mercy
and with your strong hand you buffet me.
You raise me up and drive me before the wind;
I am tossed about by the tempest.
Indeed I know you will turn me back in death
to the destined place of everyone alive.
RESPONSORY Job 30:17-19; 7:16
All night long my bones are racked with pain,
a gnawing pain the never sleeps.
- God has cast me into the mire,
where I am like dust and ashes.
Spare me, Lord,
for my daysare but a breath.
- God has cast me into the mire,
where I am like dust and ashes.
SECOND READING
From the teachings of Saint Dorotheus, abbot
The reason for all disturbance is that no one finds fault with himself
Let us examine, my brothers, how it happens that many times a person hears something unpleasant and goes away untroubled, as if he had not heard it; and yet on some occasions he is disturbed and troubled as soon as he hears such words. What is the cause of this inconsistency? Is there one reason for it or many? I recognize a number of them, and one in particular is the source of all the others. As someone has put it: Occasionally this results from the condition in which the person happens to be.
If a person is engaged in prayer or contemplation, he can easily take a rebuke from his brother and be unmoved by it. On other occasions affection toward a brother is a strong reason; love bears all things with the utmost patience. Another reason may be contempt; if a person despises the one who is trying to trouble him and acts as if he is the vilest of all creatures and considers it beneath his dignity even to look at him, or to answer him, or to mention the affront and insults to anyone else, he will not be moved by his words.
The result of this is, as I have said, that no one is disturbed or troubled if he scorns and disregards what is said. But on the other hand, it is also possible that a person will be disturbed and troubled by his brother's words, either because he is not in a good frame of mind, or because he hates his brother. There are a great number of other reasons as well. Yet the reason for all disturbance, if we look to its roots, it that no one finds fault with himself.
This is the source of all annoyance and distress. This is why we sometimes have no rest. We must not be surprised when we are rebuked by holy men. We have no other path to peace but this.
We have seen that this is true in many cases, and, in our laziness and desire for rest, we hope or believe that we have entered upon a straight path when we are impatient with everyone, and yet cannot bear to blame ourselves.
This is the way we are. It does not matter how many virtues a man may have, even if they are beyond number and limit. If he has turned from the path of self-accusation, he will never find peace. He will always be troubled himself, or else he will be a source of trouble for others and all his labors will be wasted.
RESPONSORY 1 John 1:8,9; Proverbs 28:13
If we claim to be sinless, we deceive ourselves;
- but if we acknowledge our sins,
then God who is faithful and just will forgive us.
Whoever conceals his sins will not prosper.
- but if we acknowledge our sins,
then God who is faithful and just will forgive us.
COLLECT
O God, whose providence never fails in its design,
keep from us, we humbly beseech you,
all that might harm us
and grant all that works for our good.
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.
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