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

Office of Readings

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Liturgy of the Hours Vol. I:
Ordinary: 649
Proper of Seasons: 258/318
Psalter: Sunday, Week III, 924

Christian Prayer:

Does not contain Office of Readings.

Office of Readings for Sunday of the 3rd Week of Advent, December 17

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

Wake, o wake! with tidings thrilling

The watchmen all the air are filling,
Arise, Jerusalem, arise!
Midnight strikes! no more delaying,
"The hour has come!" we hear them saying.
Where are ye all, ye virgins wise?
The Bridegroom comes in sight,
Raise high your torches bright!
Alleluia!
The wedding song
Swells loud and strong:
Go forth and join the festal throng.

Zion hears the watchmen shouting,

Her heart leaps up with joy undoubting,
She stands and waits with eager eyes;
See her Friend from heaven descending,
Adorned with truth and grace unending!
Her light burns clear, her star doth rise.
Now come, thou precious Crown,
Lord Jesus, God's own Son!
Alleluia!
Let us prepare
To follow there,
Where in thy supper we may share.

Every soul in thee rejoices;

From bird and from angelic voices
Be glory given to thee alone!
Now the gates of pearl receive us,
Thy presence never more shall leave us,
We stand with angels round thy throne.
Earth cannot give below
The bliss thou dost bestow.
Alleluia!
Grant us to raise
To length of days,
The triumph-chorus of thy praise.

𝄞"Wake, O Wake! With Tidings Thrilling" by Johanna Montealto • Title: Wake, O Wake! With Tidings Thrilling; Words: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, Philipp Nicolai, 1599; Tr. Francis Crawford Burkitt, 1906; Inspired by the Parable of the Ten Virgins: Matthew 25: 1-13; Artist: Johanna Montealto; Recording copyright 2016 Surgeworks

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 This is our heavenly king; he comes with power and might to save the nations, alleluia.

Psalm 145

Praise of God’s majesty
Lord, you are the Just One, who was and who is (Revelation 16:5).

I

I will give you glory, O God my king,

I will bless your name for ever.

Ant. This is our heavenly king; he comes with power and might to save the nations, alleluia.

I will bless you day after day

and praise your name for ever.
The Lord is great, highly to be praised,
his greatness cannot be measured.

Ant. This is our heavenly king; he comes with power and might to save the nations, alleluia.

Age to age shall proclaim your works,

shall declare your mighty deeds,
shall speak of your splendor and glory,
tell the tale of your wonderful works.

Ant. This is our heavenly king; he comes with power and might to save the nations, alleluia.

They will speak of your terrible deeds,

recount your greatness and might.
They will recall your abundant goodness;
age to age shall ring out your justice.

Ant. This is our heavenly king; he comes with power and might to save the nations, alleluia.

The Lord is kind and full of compassion,

slow to anger, abounding in love.
How good is the Lord to all,
compassionate to all his creatures.

Ant. This is our heavenly king; he comes with power and might to save the nations, alleluia.

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. This is our heavenly king; he comes with power and might to save the nations, alleluia.

Ant. 2 Daughter of Jerusalem, rejoice and be glad; your King will come to you. Zion, do not fear; your Savior hastens on his way.

II

All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord,

and your friends shall repeat their blessing.
They shall speak of the glory of your reign
and declare your might, O God,

to make known to all your mighty deeds

and the glorious splendor of your reign.
Yours is an everlasting kingdom;
your rule lasts from age to age.

Ant. Daughter of Jerusalem, rejoice and be glad; your King will come to you. Zion, do not fear; your Savior hastens on his way.

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. Daughter of Jerusalem, rejoice and be glad; your King will come to you. Zion, do not fear; your Savior hastens on his way.

Ant. 3 Let us cleanse our hearts for the coming of our great King, that we may be ready to welcome him; he is coming and will not delay.

III

The Lord is faithful in all his words

and loving in all his deeds.
The Lord supports all who fall
and raises all who are bowed down.

Ant. Let us cleanse our hearts for the coming of our great King, that we may be ready to welcome him; he is coming and will not delay.

The eyes of all creatures look to you

and you give them their food in due time.
You open wide your hand,
grant the desires of all who live.

Ant. Let us cleanse our hearts for the coming of our great King, that we may be ready to welcome him; he is coming and will not delay.

The Lord is just in all his ways

and loving in all his deeds.
He is close to all who call him,
who call on him from their hearts.

Ant. Let us cleanse our hearts for the coming of our great King, that we may be ready to welcome him; he is coming and will not delay.

He grants the desires of those who fear him,

he hears their cry and he saves them.
The Lord protects all who love him ;
but the wicked he will utterly destroy.

Ant. Let us cleanse our hearts for the coming of our great King, that we may be ready to welcome him; he is coming and will not delay.

Let me speak the praise of the Lord,

let all peoples bless his holy name
for ever, for ages unending.

Ant. Let us cleanse our hearts for the coming of our great King, that we may be ready to welcome him; he is coming and will not delay.

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, be near to all who call upon you in truth and increase the dedication of those who revere you. Hear their prayers and save them that we may always love and praise your holy name.

Ant. Let us cleanse our hearts for the coming of our great King, that we may be ready to welcome him; he is coming and will not delay.

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.

The Lord proclaims his word to Jacob.

— His laws and decrees to Israel.

READINGS

First reading

From the book of the prophet Isaiah
45:1-13
The salvation of Israel through Cyrus

Thus says the Lord to his anointed, Cyrus,

whose right hand I grasp,
Subduing nations before him,
and making kings run in his service,
Opening doors before him
and leaving the gates unbarred:
I will go before you
and level the mountains;
Bronze doors I will shatter,
and iron bars I will snap.
I will give you treasures out of the darkness,
and riches that have been hidden away,
That you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel,
who calls you by your name.

For the sake of Jacob, my servant,

of Israel my chosen one,
I have called you by your name,
giving you a title, though you knew me not.
I am the Lord and there is no other,
there is no God besides me.
It is I who arm you, though you know me not,
so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun
men may know that there is none besides me.
I am the Lord, there is no other;
I form the light, and create the darkness,
I make well-being and create woe;
I, the Lord, do all these things.

Let justice descend, O heavens, like dew from above,

like gentle rain let the skies drop it down.
Let the earth open and salvation bud forth;
let justice also spring up!
I, the Lord, have created this.

Woe to him who contends with his Maker;

a potsherd among potsherds of the earth!
Dare the clay say to its modeler, “What are you doing?”
or, “What you are making has no hands”?
Woe to him who asks a father, “What are you begetting?”
or a woman, “What are you giving birth to?”

Thus says the Lord,

the Holy One of Israel, his maker:
You question me about my children,
or prescribe the work of my hands for me!
It was I who made the earth
and created mankind upon it;
It was my hands that stretched out the heavens;
I gave the order to all their host.
It was I who stirred up one for the triumph of justice;
all his ways I make level.
He shall rebuild my city
and let my exiles go free
Without price or ransom,
says the Lord of hosts.

RESPONSORY Isaiah 45:8; see 16:1

Let the heavens drop down gentle showers,

let the clouds rain down the Just One,
— and let the earth bring forth a Savior.

Lord, send the Lamb, the ruler of the earth, from the

Rock in the desert to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.
— And let the earth bring forth a Savior.

Second reading

From a letter by Saint Leo the Great, pope
The mystery of our reconciliation with God

To speak of our Lord, the son of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as true and perfect man is of no value to us if we do not believe that he is descended from the line of ancestors set out in the Gospel.

Matthew’s gospel begins by setting out the genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham, and then traces his human descent by bringing his ancestral line down to his mother’s husband, Joseph. On the other hand, Luke traces his parentage backward step by step to the actual father of mankind, to show that both the first and the last Adam share the same nature.

No doubt the Son of God in his omnipotence could have taught and sanctified men by appearing to them in a semblance of human form as he did to the patriarchs and prophets, when for instance he engaged in a wrestling contest or entered into conversation with them, or when he accepted their hospitality and even ate the food they set before him. But these appearances were only types, signs that mysteriously foretold the coming of one who would take a true human nature from the stock of the patriarchs who had gone before him. No mere figure, then, fulfilled the mystery of our reconciliation with God, ordained from all eternity. The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon the Virgin nor had the power of the Most High overshadowed her, so that within her spotless womb Wisdom might build itself a house and the Word become flesh. The divine nature and the nature of a servant were to be united in one person so that the Creator of time might be born in time, and he through whom all things were made might be brought forth in their midst.

For unless the new man, by being made in the likeness of sinful humanity, had taken on himself the nature of our first parents, unless he had stooped to be one in substance with his mother while sharing the Father’s substance and, being alone free from sin, united our nature to his, the whole human race would still be held captive under the dominion of Satan. The Conqueror’s victory would have profited us nothing if the battle had been fought outside our human condition. But through this wonderful blending the mystery of new birth shone upon us, so that through the same Spirit by whom Christ was conceived and brought forth we too might be born again in a spiritual birth; and in consequence the evangelist declares the faithful to have been born not of blood, nor of the desire of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

RESPONSORY See Isaiah 11:10; Luke 1:32

Behold the root of Jesse will come down to save the people,

the nations will entreat him;
— and his name will be held in reverence.

The Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father,

and he will rule over the house of Jacob for ever.
— And his name will be held in reverence.

TE DEUM

You are God: we praise you;

You are the Lord: we acclaim you;
You are the eternal Father:
All creation worships you.

To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,

Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.

The glorious company of apostles praise you.

The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.

Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you:

Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy of all worship,
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.

You, Christ, are the King of glory,

the eternal Son of the Father.

When you became man to set us free

you did not spurn the Virgin’s womb.

You overcame the sting of death,

and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.

We believe that you will come, and be our judge.

Come then, Lord, and help your people,

bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints
to glory everlasting.

Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance.

— Govern and uphold them now and always.

Day by day we bless you.

— We praise your name for ever.

Keep us today, Lord, from all sin.

— Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

Lord, show us your love and mercy,

— for we have put our trust in you.

In you, Lord, is our hope:

— And we shall never hope in vain.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

O God, who see how your people

faithfully await the feast of the Lord’s Nativity,
enable us, we pray,
to attain the joys of so great a salvation,
and to celebrate them always
with solemn worship and glad rejoicing.
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.

ACCLAMATION (at least in the communal celebration)

Let us praise the Lord.

—And give him thanks.

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