THE TWELFTH HOUR


In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit , one God. Amen.

Kyrie eleison, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord bless us. Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Make us, O Lord, worthy to say with all thanksgiving:

Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, through Christ Jesus our Lord. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

THE PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

Let us give thanks unto the Beneficent and Merciful God, the Father of our Lord, God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. For He has shielded us, rescued us, kept us, accepted us unto Him, had compassion on us, supported us, and brought us unto this hour. Let us ask Him also, to keep us this holy day and all the days of our life in all peace, the Almighty Lord our God. O Master, Lord, God Almighty, Father of our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ; we thank Thee upon every condition, for any condition, and in whatever condition. For Thou hast shielded us, rescued us, kept us, accepted us unto Thee, had compassion on us, supported us and brought us unto this hour. Therefore we ask and entreat Thy goodness, O Lover-of-man, grant us to complete this holy day, and all the days of our life in all peace with Thy fear. All envy, all temptation, all the influence of Satan, the intrigue of wicked people, the rising up of enemies, hidden and manifest, take away from us, and from all Thy people, and from this, Thy holy place. But as for those things which are good and useful provide us with them. For Thou art the One who gave us the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and every power of the enemy. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, through the grace, compassion and love of man, of Thine only begotten Son, our Lord, God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Through whom glory, honor, dominion, and worship befit Thee with Him and the Holy Spirit, the lifegiver who is of one essence with Thee, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

PSALM 50

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy; and according to the multitude of Thy compassion blot out my transgression. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know mine iniquity, and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee only have I sinned and done this evil before Thee, that Thou mightiest be justified in Thy words, and prevail when Thou art judged. For behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins did my mother bear me. For behold, Thou hast loved truth; the hidden and secret things of Thy wisdom hast Thou made manifest unto me. Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be made clean; Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. Thou shalt make me to hear joy and gladness; the bones that be humbled, they shall rejoice. Turn Thy face away from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and with Thy governing Spirit establish me. I shall teach transgressors Thy ways, and the ungodly shall turn back unto Thee. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation; my tongue shall rejoice in Thy righteousness. O Lord, Thou shalt open my lips, and my mouth shall declare Thy praise. For if Thou hadst desired sacrifice, I had given it; with whole-burnt offerings Thou shalt not be pleased. A sacrifice unto God is a broken spirit; a heart that is broken and humbled God will not despise. Do good, O Lord, in Thy good pleasure unto Sion, and let the walls of Jerusalem be built. Then shalt Thou be pleased with a sacrifice of righteousness, with oblation and whole-burnt offerings. Then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine altar. Alleluia.

The prayer of the Twelfth Hour of the blessed day, I offer to Christ my King and my God, beseeching Him to forgive my sins.

Psalm 129

Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord; O Lord, hear my voice. Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication. If Thou should mark iniquities, O Lord; O Lord, who shall stand? For with Thee there is forgiveness. For Thy name's sake have I patiently waited for Thee, O Lord; my soul has waited patiently for Thy word, my soul has hoped in the Lord. From the morning watch until night,, from the morning watch let Israel hope in the Lord. For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption; and He shall redeem Israel out of all his iniquities. Alleluia.

Psalm 130

O Lord, my heart is not exalted, nor are my eyes become lofty. Nor have I walked in things too great or too marvelous for me. If I were not humble-minded but exalted my soul, as one weaned from his mother, so would Thou requite my soul. Let Israel hope in the Lord, from henceforth and forever more. Alleluia.

Psalm 131

Remember, O Lord, David and all his meekness. How he made an oath to the Lord, and vowed to the God of Jacob: I shall not go into the dwelling of my house, I shall not ascend upon the bed of my couch. I shall not give sleep to my eyes, nor slumber to my eyelids, nor rest to my temples. Until I find a place for the Lord, a habitation for the God of Jacob. Lo, we have heard of it in Ephratha, we have found it in the plains of the wood. Let us go forth into His tabernacles, let us worship at the place where His feet have stood. Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest, Thou and the ark of Thy holiness. Thy priests shall be clothed with righteousness, and Thy righteous shall rejoice. For the sake of David Thy servant, turn not Thy face away from Thine anointed one. The Lord has sworn in truth unto David, and He will not annul it: of the fruit of thy loins will I set upon thy throne. If thy sons keep My covenant and these testimonies which I will teach them, their sons also shall sit forever on thy throne. For the Lord has elected Sion, He has chosen her to be a habitation for Himself. This is My rest forever and ever, here will I dwell, for I have chosen her. Blessing, I will bless her pursuits; her beggars will I satisfy with bread. Her priests will I clothe with salvation, and her saints with rejoicing shall rejoice. There will I make to spring forth a horn for David. I have prepared a lamp for My Christ. His enemies will I clothe with shame, but upon Him shall My sanctification flourish. Alleluia.

Psalm 132

Behold now, what is so good or so joyous as for brethren to dwell together in unity? It is like the oil of myrrh upon the head, which runs down upon the beard, upon the beard of Aaron, which runs down to the fringe of his raiment. It is like the dew of Hermon, which comes down upon the mountains of Sion. For there the Lord commanded the blessings, life for evermore. Alleluia.

Psalm 133

Behold now, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord. Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God, in the nights lift up your hands unto the holies, and bless the Lord. The Lord bless you out of Sion, He that made heaven and the earth. Alleluia.

Psalm 136

By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and we wept when we remembered Sion. Upon the willows in the midst thereof did we hang our instruments. For there, they that had taken us captive asked us for words of song. And they that had led us away asked us for a hymn, saying: Sing us one of the songs of Sion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten. Let my tongue cleave to my throat, if I remember thee not, if I set not Jerusalem above all other, as a the head of my joy. Remember, O Lord, the sons of Edom, in the day of Jerusalem. Who said: Lay waste, lay waste to her, even to the foundations thereof. O daughter of Babylon, you wretched one, blessed shall he be who shall reward you wherewith you have rewarded us. Blessed shall he be who shall seize and dash your infants against the rock. Alleluia.

Psalm 137

I will confess Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; and before angels will I chant unto Thee, for Thou hast heard all the words of my mouth. I will worship towards Thy holy temple and confess Thy name, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth; for Thou hast magnified Thy holy name above all that is. In whatsoever day I call upon Thee, quickly hear me; Thou shalt abundantly endow my soul with Thy strength. Let all the kings of the earth, O Lord, confess Thee, for they have heard all the words of Thy mouth. And let them sing in the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. For the Lord is exalted, yet on lowly things He looks; and things haughty He knows from afar. Though I should walk in the midst of affliction, Thou shalt quicken me; against the wrath of my enemies hast Thou stretched forth Thy hands, and Thy right hand has saved me. The Lord shall give recompense in my behalf. O Lord, Thy mercy endures forever; disdain not the work of Thy hands. Alleluia.

Psalm 140

Lord, I have cried unto Thee, hear me; attend to the voice of my supplication when I cry unto Thee. Let my prayer be set forth as incense before Thee, the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice. Set, O Lord, a watch before my mouth, and a door of enclosure round about my lips. Incline not my heart unto words of evil, to make excuse with excuses in sins, with men that work iniquity; and I will not join with their chosen. The righteous man will chasten me with mercy and reprove me; as for the oil of the sinner, let it not anoint my head. For yet more is my prayer in the presence of their pleasures; swallowed up near by the rock have their judges been. They shall hear my words, for they be sweetened; as a clod of earth is broken upon the earth, so have their bones been scattered nigh unto Hades. For unto Thee, O Lord, O Lord, are our eyes, in Thee have I hoped; take not my soul away. Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me, and from the stumbling-blocks of them that work iniquity. The sinners shall fall into their own net; I am alone until I pass by. Alleluia.

Psalm 141

With my voice unto the Lord have I cried, with my voice unto the Lord have I made supplication. I will pour our before Him my supplication, my affliction before Him will I declare. When my spirit was fainting within me, then Thou knew my paths. In this way wherein I have walked they hid for me a snare. I looked upon my right hand, and beheld, and there was none that did know me. Flight has failed me, and there is none that watches out for my soul. I have cried unto Thee, O Lord: I said: Thou art my hope, my portion art Thou in the land of the living. Attend unto my supplication, for I am brought very low. Deliver me from them that persecute me, for they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison that I may confess Thy name. The righteous shall wait patiently for me until Thou shalt reward me. Alleluia.

Psalm 145

Praise the Lord, O my soul, I will praise the Lord in my life, I will chant unto my God for as long as I have my being. Trust not in princes, in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return unto his earth. In that day all his thoughts shall perish. Blessed is he of whom the God of Jacob is his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, Who has made heaven and the earth, the sea and all that in therein, Who keeps truth to eternity, Who executes judgment for the wronged, Who give food to the hungry. The Lord looses the fettered; the Lord makes wise the blind; the Lord sets aright the fallen; the Lord loves the righteous; the Lord preserves the proselytes. He shall adopt for His own the orphan and widow, and the way of sinners shall He destroy. The Lord shall be King to eternity; your God, O Sion, from generation to generation. Alleluia.

Psalm 146

Praise the Lord, for a psalm is a good thing; let praise be sweet unto our God. The Lord builds up Jerusalem, He shall gather together the dispersed of Israel. He heals the broken in heart and binds their fractures together. He numbers the multitude of the stars and calls them all by name. Great is our Lord, and great is His strength, and of His understanding there is no measure. The Lord lifts up the meek, but humbles sinners to the earth. Begin your song to the Lord with thanksgiving, chant unto God with the harp. To Him that covers heaven with clouds, Who prepares rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains, and green herb for the service of man, Who gives to the beasts their food, and to the younglings of the
ravens which call upon Him. He shall not delight in the strength of a horse, nor in the legs of man is He well pleased. The Lord is well pleased in them that fear Him, and in them that hope in His mercy. Alleluia.

Psalm 147

Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Sion. For He has strengthened the bars of your gates, He has blessed your sons within thee. He brings peace upon your borders, and with the fatness of the wheat He fills you. He sends His saying to the earth; right swiftly runs His word. He gives His snow like wool; the mist He sprinkles like ashes. He hurls His ice like morsels. Who shall stand before His cold? He shall send forth His word and melt them; His wind shall blow and the waters shall flow. He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and judgments to Israel. He has not dealt so with every nation, nor has He shown His judgments to them, Alleluia.

Glory be to God, Holy, Holy, Holy. A passage from the Gospel according to Saint Luke. May his blessings be upon us all Amen.

LK.2:25-32

And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him after the custom of the law, then took he Him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: for my eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

Glory be to God forever. Amen.

May Thy saying be concluded in peace. We worship Thee O Christ together w


 Home

Liturgy Archive

Liturgical Year

Daily Devotionals

Prayers

Bibles & Reference

The
Saints

Other Reading

 

shopify site analytics