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

Office of Readings

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Ribbon Placement:

Liturgy of the Hours Vol. I:
Ordinary: 649
Proper of Seasons: 368
Psalter: Saturday, Week III, 1030

Christian Prayer:

Does not contain Office of Readings.

Office of Readings for December 23, Saturday in the Season of Advent

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

Ave Maria, gratia plena

Dominus tecum
Benedicta tu in mulieribus
Et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei

Ora pro nobis peccatoribus
Nunc et in hora mortis nostrae

Amen.

English Translation:

Hail Mary, full of grace

The Lord is with thee
Blessed are thou among women
Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus

Holy Mary, Mother of God

Pray for us sinners
Now, and at the hour of our death

Amen.

𝄞"Ave Maria" by Gretchen Harris • Musical Score • Title: Ave Maria (Chant); Album: Sing of Mary; Music; Plainsong mode I; vocal: Gretchen Harris; Used with permission; Visit and thank Gretch at http://www.gretchen-harris.com;

PSALMODY

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

Psalm 107

Thanksgiving for deliverance
This is God’s message to the sons of Israel; the good news of peace proclaimed through Jesus Christ (Acts 10:36).

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

Ant. 2 Men 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,

raising up the waves of the sea.
Tossed up to heaven, then into the deep;
their soul 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 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. Men have seen the works of God, the marvels he has done.

Ant. 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 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

You fill the hungry with good things, Lord God, and break the sinner’s chains. Hear your people who call to you in their need and lead your Church from the shadows of death. Gather us from sunrise to sunset that we may grow together in faith and love and give lasting thanks for your kindness.

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

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.

Let your compassion come upon me, Lord

— Your salvation, true to your promise.

READINGS

First reading

From the book of the prophet Isaiah
51:1-11
The salvation promised to the children of Abraham

Listen to me, you who pursue justice,

who seek the Lord;
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
to the pit from which you were quarried;
Look to Abraham, your father,
and to Sarah, who gave you birth;
When he was but one I called him,
I blessed him and made him many.

Yes, the Lord shall comfort Zion

and have pity on all her ruins;
Her deserts he shall make like Eden,
her wasteland like the garden of the Lord;
Joy and gladness shall be found in her,
thanksgiving and the sound of song.

Be attentive to me, my people;

my folk, give ear to me.
For law shall go forth from my presence,
and my judgment, as the light of the peoples.
I will make my justice come speedily;
my salvation shall go forth
and my arm shall judge the nations;
In me shall the coastlands hope,
and my arm they shall await.

Raise your eyes to the heavens,

and look at the earth below;
Though the heavens grow thin like smoke,
the earth wears out like a garment
and its inhabitants die like flies,
My salvation shall remain forever
and my justice shall never be dismayed.

Hear me, you who know justice,

you people who have my teaching at heart:
Fear not the reproach of men,
be not dismayed at their revilings.
They shall be like a garment eaten by moths,
like wool consumed by grubs;
But my justice shall remain forever
and my salvation, for all generations.

Awake, awake, put on strength,

O arm of the Lord!
Awake as in the days of old,
in ages long ago!
Was it not you who crushed Rahab,
you who pierced the dragon?
Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
Who made the depths of the sea into a way
for the redeemed to pass over?

Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return

and enter Zion singing,
crowned with everlasting joy;
They will meet with joy and gladness,
sorrow and mourning will flee.

RESPONSORY See Isaiah 51:4, 5; 35:10

My people, listen to me;

hear me, all you who belong to my race;
— close at hand is my Just One, my Savior draws near.

Now those redeemed by the Lord will come back and enter Zion with songs of praise.

— Close at hand is my Just One, my Savior draws near.

Second reading

From a treatise against the heresy of Noetus by Saint Hippolytus, priest
The manifestation of the hidden mystery

There is only one God, brethren, and we learn about him only from sacred Scripture. It is therefore our duty to become acquainted with what Scripture proclaims and to investigate its teachings thoroughly. We should believe them in the sense that the Father wills, thinking of the Son in the way the Father wills, and accepting the teaching he wills to give us with regard to the Holy Spirit. Sacred Scripture is God’s gift to us and it should be understood in the way that he intends: we should not do violence to it by interpreting it according to our own preconceived ideas.

God was all alone and nothing existed but himself when he determined to create the world. He thought of it, willed it, spoke the word and so made it. It came into being instantaneously, exactly as he had willed. It is enough then for us to be aware of a single fact: nothing is coeternal with God. Apart from God there was simply nothing else. Yet although he was alone, he was manifold because he lacked neither reason, wisdom, power, nor counsel. All things were in him and he himself was all. At a moment of his own choosing and in a manner determined by himself, God manifested his Word, and through him he made the whole universe.

When the Word was hidden within God himself he was invisible to the created world, but God made him visible. First God gave utterance to his voice, engendering light from light, and then he sent his own mind into the world as its Lord. Visible before to God alone and not to the world, God made him visible so that the world could be saved by seeing him. This mind that entered our world was made known as the Son of God. All things came into being through him; but he alone is begotten by the Father.

The Son gave us the law and the prophets, and he filled the prophets with the Holy Spirit to compel them to speak out. Inspired by the Father’s power, they were to proclaim the Father’s purpose and his will.

So the Word was made manifest, as Saint John declares when, summing up all the sayings of the prophets, he announces that this is the Word through whom the whole universe was made. He says: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Through him all things came into being; not one thing was created without him. And further on he adds: The world was made through him, and yet the world did not know him. He entered his own creation, and his own did not receive him.

RESPONSORY Isaiah 9:6; John 1:4

A little child is born to us,

and he shall be called the mighty God.
— He himself will sit upon the throne of David his father to rule; the authority of David rests on his shoulders.

In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

— He himself will sit upon the throne of David his father to rule; the authority of David rests on his shoulders.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Almighty ever-living God,

as we see how the Nativity of your Son
according to the flesh draws near,
we pray that to us, your unworthy servants,
mercy may flow from your Word,
who chose to become flesh of the Virgin Mary
and establish among us his dwelling,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
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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