Praying the Lauds - Your Daily Christian Morning Prayer

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 11, 2022 | Memorial of St. Clare of Assisi, virgin

"How beautiful you are, O virgin of Christ, who were worthy to receive the Lord’s crown, the crown of perpetual virginity." - Entrance antiphon

St. Clare of Assisi was the first woman to practice the life of entire poverty as taught by St. Francis. Placed by him at the head of a few companions in the small convent of San Damiano, she governed her community for forty-two years thus founding at the gates of Assisi the Order of Poor Clares. Their Rule included austerities hitherto unknown in monasteries of women. They went barefoot, slept on the ground, kept perpetual abstinence and made poverty the basis of their lives. St. Clare died on August 11, 1253, and was canonized two years after her death. (CatholicCulture.org)

St. Clare of Assisi, pray for us!

Start your day with the universal prayer of the Church through the ancient tradition of Lauds. Full-text to Thursday's Morning Prayer is available at ibreviary.com

Brought to you by the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission on Social Communication. Available on Anchor, Spotify and Google.

*Music: Deeper Melodies by WTB Records

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 10, 2022 | Feast of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr

"This is the blessed Lawrence, who gave himself up for the treasure of the Church: for this he earned the suffering of martyrdom to ascend with joy to the Lord Jesus Christ." - Entrance antiphon

Saint Lawrence was chief among the seven deacons who served the Roman Church during the mid-third century. The young cleric held a position of great trust, caring for the goods of the Church and distributing its alms among the poor. He was arrested under the Emperor Valerian in 258, laid upon a gridiron and slowly roasted to death. Lawrence rejoiced in his gruesome martyrdom and died praying for the conversion of the city of Rome, in the hope that from it the faith of Christ might spread throughout the world. From that time idolatry began to decline in Rome. (CatholicCulture.org)

St. Lawrence, pray for us!

Start your day with the universal prayer of the Church through the ancient tradition of Lauds. Full-text to Wednesday's Morning Prayer is available at ibreviary.com

Brought to you by the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission on Social Communication. Available on Anchor, Spotify and Google.

*Music: Deeper Melodies by WTB Records

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 9, 2022 | Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, virgin and martyr

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart." - Mt. 11:29

Edith Stein was born of Jewish parents in 1891, becoming an influential philosopher following her extensive studies at major German universities. After her conversion to Catholicism, she became a major force in German intellectual life, entering the Discalced Carmelites in 1933, and taking the name Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She was arrested by the Nazi regime in 1942, along with all Catholics of Jewish extraction and transported by cattle train to the death camp of Auschwitz. She died in the gas chambers at Auschwitz that same year.

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, pray for us!

Start your day with the universal prayer of the Church through the ancient tradition of Lauds. Full-text to Tuesday's Morning Prayer is available at ibreviary.com

Brought to you by the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission on Social Communication. Available on Anchor, Spotify and Google.

*Music: Deeper Melodies by WTB Records

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 8, 2022 | Memorial of St. Dominic, priest

"This is the steward, faithful and prudent, who the Lord set over his household to give them their allowance of food at the proper time." - Luke 12:42

At the end of the twelfth century, the Church in France was ravaged by the Albigensian heresy, a doctrine which was not only entirely unchristian but which, in addition, constituted a social evil. Effective measures were required to be taken to combat it. Where others had failed, a Spanish canon, St. Dominic Guzman, succeeded. He was notable for his learning and love of poverty. The Order of Preachers (Dominicans), which he founded about the year 1215, was endowed by him with these two characteristics; instead of manual labor, as practiced by the Cistercian monks, he required his friars to work with their minds by preaching and teaching. He died at Bologna on August 6, 1221. His friend, Gregory IX, canonized him three years later.

Start your day with the universal prayer of the Church through the ancient tradition of Lauds. Full-text to Monday's Morning Prayer is available at ibreviary.com

Brought to you by the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission on Social Communication. Available on Anchor, Spotify and Google.

*Music: Deeper Melodies by WTB Records

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 7, 2022 | Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

"For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, 'Abba! Father!'"

By the gift of the Holy Spirit, we dare to call God our Father. May He bring to perfection in our hearts the spirit of adoption as His sons and daughters that we may merit to enter into the inheritance which He has promised.

Start your day with the universal prayer of the Church through the ancient tradition of Lauds. Full-text to Sunday's Morning Prayer is available at ibreviary.com

Brought to you by the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission on Social Communication. Available on Anchor, Spotify and Google.

*Music: Deeper Melodies by WTB Records

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 6, 2022 | Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord

"In a resplendent cloud the Holy Spirit appeared. The Father’s voice was heard: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him." - Mt 17:5

This Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord was originally celebrated in Syrian, Byzantine, and Coptics rites. It was introduced in Rome in 1457 in commemoration of the victory of Christians against Muslim invaders in Belgrade in 1456. The feast prefigures the glory of the resurrection of Jesus and assures us that one day we shall share his glory.

Start your day with the universal prayer of the Church through the ancient tradition of Lauds. Full-text to Saturday's Morning Prayer is available at ibreviary.com

Brought to you by the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission on Social Communication. Available on Anchor, Spotify and Google.

*Music: Deeper Melodies by WTB Records

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 5, 2022 | Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major

"Pardon the faults of your servants, we pray, O Lord, that we, who cannot please you by our own deeds, may be saved through the intercession of the Mother of your Son and our Lord. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever." - Collect Prayer

We celebrate today the dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, one of the four most illustrious churches of Rome. While each diocese and parish keeps its own dedication anniversary, the universal Church commemorates the consecration of the four great Roman basilicas, the mother churches, we may call them, of Christendom, viz., St. John Lateran, St. Peter, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and St. Mary Major. By means of these feasts the Church seeks to link all Christians with the Holy See. (CatholicCulture.org)

Start your day with the universal prayer of the Church through the ancient tradition of Lauds. Full-text to Friday's Morning Prayer is available at ibreviary.com. 

Brought to you by the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission on Social Communication. Available on Anchor, Spotify and Google.

*Music: Deeper Melodies by WTB Records

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 4, 2022 | Memorial of St. John Mary Vianney, priest

"You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it." - Mt. 16:18

St. John Baptist Mary Vianney (1786-1859) was born in Dardilly and died in Ars, France. Although his talents were limited and his education meager, he was ordained a priest in 1815. After three years at Ecully, he was appointed parish priest of Ars. Here he spent almost forty-two years of his life, devoting himself to prayer, mortification, and pastoral works. His success in directing souls made him known throughout the Christian world. Men of all ranks and conditions of life sought his guidance and advice. He was beatified by Pope St. Pius X, himself once a parish priest, and canonized by Pope Pius XI. (CatholicCulture.org)

Start your day with the universal prayer of the Church through the ancient tradition of Lauds. Full-text to Thursday's Morning Prayer is available at ibreviary.com. 

Brought to you by the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission on Social Communication. Available on  Anchor, Spotify and Google.

*Music: Deeper Melodies by WTB Records

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 3, 2022 | Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

"With age-old love I have loved you; so I have kept my mercy toward you." - Jer. 31:3

What extravagant love! It is only when we acknowledge our own sinfulness and allow God's mercy to heal us that we can experience God's unconditional love. He promises to restore what we have lost with our sins through His grace and mercy. So let us "rise up, let us go to Zion, to the Lord, our God."

Start your day with the universal prayer of the Church through the ancient tradition of Lauds. Full-text to Wednesday's Morning Prayer is available at ibreviary.com

This daily podcast is brought to you by the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission on Social Communication. Available on  Anchor, Spotify and Google.

*Music: Deeper Melodies by WTB Records

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 2, 2022 | Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

"Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid." - Mt. 14:27

We may fear a lot of things that could hinder us from giving ourselves in love. But Jesus' words invite us to boldly take that step in faith. Let us listen more attentively to His voice in prayer and silence and it will resound louder than the darkest storms in our lives.

Start your day with the universal prayer of the Church through the ancient tradition of Lauds. Full-text to Tuesday's Morning Prayer is available at ibreviary.com

This daily podcast is brought to you by the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission on Social Communication. Available on  Anchor, Spotify and Google.

*Music: Deeper Melodies by WTB Records