Divine Office – Liturgy of the Hours of the Roman Catholic Church (Breviary)

Mar 20, Morning Prayer for Thursday of the 2nd week of Lent

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Liturgy of the Hours Vol. II:
Ordinary: 1049
Proper of Seasons: 188
Psalter: Thursday, Week II, 1305

Christian Prayer:

Ordinary: 689
Proper of Seasons: 306
Psalter: Thursday, Week II, 824

Morning Prayer for Thursday of the 2nd Week of Lent

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

O saving Victim, op'ning wide

The gate of heav'n to us below,
Our foes press on from every side;
Thine aid supply, thy strength bestow.

All praise and thanks to thee ascend

Forevermore, blest One in Three;
O grant us life that shall not end
In our true native land with thee. Amen.

𝄞"O Saving Victim" by Rebecca Hincke • Title: O Saving Victim; Author: Thomas Aquinas; Translator: Edward Caswall; Artist: Rebecca Hincke; Recording copyright 2025 by Surgeworks, Inc

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 Stir up your mighty power, Lord; come to our aid.

Psalm 80

Lord, come, take care of your vineyard
Come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20).

O shepherd of Israel, hear us,

you who lead Joseph’s flock,
shine forth from your cherubim throne
upon Ephraim, Benjamin, Manasseh.
O Lord, rouse up your might,
O Lord, come to our help.

God of hosts bring us back;

let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

Lord God of hosts, how long

will you frown on your people’s plea?
You have fed them with tears for their bread,
an abundance of tears for their drink.
You have made us the taunt of our neighbors,
our enemies laugh us to scorn.

God of hosts, bring us back;

let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

You brought a vine out of Egypt;

to plant it you drove out the nations.
Before it you cleared the ground;
it took root and spread through the land.

The mountains were covered with its shadow,

the cedars of God with its boughs.
It stretched out its branches to the sea,
to the Great River it stretched out its shoots.

Then why have you broken down its walls?

It is plucked by all who pass by.
It is ravaged by the boar of the forest,
devoured by the beasts of the field.

God of hosts, turn again, we implore,

look down from heaven and see.
Visit the vine and protect it,
the vine your right hand has planted.
Men have burnt it with fire and destroyed it.
May they perish at the frown of your face.

May your hand be on the man you have chosen,

the man you have given your strength.
And we shall never forsake you again;
give us life that we may call upon your name.

God of hosts, bring us back;

let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

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.

Psalm-prayer

Lord God, eternal shepherd, you so tend the vineyard you planted that now it extends its branches even to the farthest coast. Look down on your Church and come to us. Help us remain in your Son as branches on the vine, that, planted firmly in your love, we may testify before the whole world to your great power working everywhere.

Ant. Stir up your mighty power, Lord; come to our aid.

Ant. 2 The Lord has worked marvels for us; make it known to the ends of the world.

Canticle – Isaiah 12:1-6

Joy of God’s ransomed people
If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink (John 7:37).

I give you thanks, O Lord;

though you have been angry with me,
your anger has abated, and you have consoled me.

God indeed is my savior;

I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the Lord,
and he has been my savior.

With joy you will draw water

at the fountain of salvation, and say on that day:
Give thanks to the Lord, acclaim his name;
among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name.

Sing praise to the Lord for his glorious achievement;

let this be known throughout all the earth.

Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,

for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel!

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.

Ant. The Lord has worked marvels for us; make it known to the ends of the world.

Ant. 3 Ring out your joy to God our strength.

Psalm 81

Solemn renewal of the Covenant
See that no one among you has a faithless heart (Hebrews 3:12).

Ring out your joy to God our strength,

shout in triumph to the God of Jacob.

Raise a song and sound the timbrel,

the sweet-sounding harp and the lute;
blow the trumpet at the new moon,
when the moon is full, on our feast.

For this is Israel’s law,

a command of the God of Jacob.
He imposed it as a rule on Joseph,
when he went out against the land of Egypt.

A voice I did not know said to me:

“I freed your shoulder from the burden;
your hands were freed from the load.
You called in distress and I saved you.

I answered, concealed in the storm cloud;

at the waters of Meribah I tested you.
Listen, my people, to my warning.
O Israel, if only you would heed!

Let there be no foreign god among you.

no worship of an alien god.
I am the Lord your God,
who brought you from the land of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

But my people did not heed my voice

and Israel would not obey,
so I left them in their stubbornness of heart
to follow their own designs.

O that my people would heed me,

that Israel would walk in my ways!
At once I would subdue their foes,
turn my hand against their enemies.

The Lord’s enemies would cringe at their feet

and their subjection would last for ever.
But Israel I would feed with finest wheat
and fill them with honey from the rock.”

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.

Psalm-prayer

Lord God, open our mouths to proclaim your glory. Help us to leave sin behind and to rejoice in professing your name.

Ant. Ring out your joy to God our strength.

READING See 1 Kings 8:51-53a

We are your people, O Lord, and your inheritance. Thus may your eyes be open to the petition of your servant and to the petition of your people Israel. Hear us whenever we call upon you, because you have set us apart among all the peoples of the earth for your inheritance.

Sacred Silence(indicated by a bell) – a moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church.

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.

CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH

Ant. Son, remember the good things you received in your lifetime and the bad things Lazarus received in his.

Luke 1:68 – 79

The Messiah and his forerunner

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;

he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old

that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:

to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High;

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God

the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

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.

Ant. Son, remember the good things you received in your lifetime and the bad things Lazarus received in his.

INTERCESSIONS

God has revealed himself in Christ. Let us praise his goodness, and ask him from our hearts:

Remember us, Lord, for we are your children.

Teach us to enter more deeply into the mystery of the Church,

— that it may be more effective for ourselves and for the world as the sacrament of salvation.
Remember us, Lord, for we are your children.

Lover of mankind, inspire us to work for human progress,

— seeking to spread your kingdom in all we do.
Remember us, Lord, for we are your children.

May our hearts thirst for Christ,

— the fountain of living water.
Remember us, Lord, for we are your children.

Forgive us our sins,

— and direct our steps into the ways of justice and sincerity.
Remember us, Lord, for we are your children.

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 evil.

Concluding Prayer

O God,

who delight in innocence and restore it,
direct the hearts of your servants to yourself,
that, caught up in the fire of your Spirit,
we may be found steadfast in faith
and effective in works.
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.
— Amen.

DISMISSAL

May the Lord bless us,

protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life.
— Amen.

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Divine Office – Liturgy of the Hours of the Roman Catholic Church (Breviary)By Divine Office (DivineOffice.org)