Dec 18, Morning Prayer for Thursday of the 3rd week of Advent

Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. I:
Ordinary: 653
Proper of Seasons: 330
Psalter: Thursday, Week III, 998

Christian Prayer:
Ordinary: 689
Proper of Seasons: 119
Psalter: Thursday, Week III, 897

Morning Prayer for December 18, Thursday in the 3rd week 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.

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; come and rescue me, for you are my refuge and my strength.

Psalm 87
Jerusalem is mother of us all
The heavenly Jerusalem is a free woman; she is our mother (Galatians 4:26).

On the holy mountain is his city
cherished by the Lord.
The Lord prefers the gates of Zion
to all Jacob’s dwellings.
Of you are told glorious things,
O city of God!

Babylon and Egypt I will count
among those who know me;
Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia,
these will be her children
and Zion shall be called Mother
for all shall be her children.”

It is he, the Lord Most High,
who gives each his place.
In his register of peoples he writes:
These are her children,
and while they dance they will sing:
In you all find their home.

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, your only Son wept over ancient Jerusalem, soon to be destroyed for its lack of faith. He established the new Jerusalem firmly upon the rock and made it the mother of the faithful. Make us rejoice in your Church, and grant that all people may be reborn into the freedom of your Spirit.

Ant. To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; come and rescue me, for you are my refuge and my strength.

Ant.2 Bless those, O Lord, who have waited for your coming; let your prophets prove to be true.

Canticle – Isaiah 40:10-17
The Good Shepherd: God most high and most wise
See, I come quickly; I have my reward in hand (Revelation 22:12).

Here comes with power
the Lord God,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.

Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.

Who has cupped in his hand the waters of the sea,
and marked off the heavens with a span?
Who has held in a measure the dust of the earth,
weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?

Who has directed the spirit of the Lord,
or has instructed him as his counselor?
Whom did he consult to gain knowledge?
Who taught him the path of judgment,
or showed him the way of understanding?

Behold, the nations count as a drop of the bucket,
as dust on the scales;
the coastlands weigh no more than powder.

Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor its animals be enough for holocausts.
Before him all the nations are as nought,
as nothing and void he accounts them.

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. Bless those, O Lord, who have waited for your coming; let your prophets prove to be true.

Ant. 3 Turn to us, O Lord, make haste to help your people.

Psalm 99
Holy is the Lord our God
Christ, higher than the Cherubim, when you took our lowly nature you transformed our sinful world (Saint Athanasius).

The Lord is king; the peoples tremble.
He is throned on the cherubim; the earth quakes.
The Lord is great in Zion.

He is supreme over all the peoples.
Let them praise his name, so terrible and great,
he is holy, full of power.

You are a king who loves what is right;
you have established equity, justice and right;
you have established them in Jacob.

Exalt the Lord our God;
bow down before Zion, his footstool.
He the Lord is holy.

Among his priests were Aaron and Moses,
among those who invoked his name was Samuel.
They invoked the Lord and he answered.

To them he spoke in the pillar of cloud.
They did his will; they kept the law,
which he, the Lord, had given.

O Lord our God, you answered them.
For them you were a God who forgives;
yet you punished their offenses.

Exalt the Lord our God;
bow down before his holy mountain
for the Lord our God is holy.

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

God, you are the source of all holiness. Though no one can see you and live, you give life most generously, and in an even greater way restore it. Sanctify your priests through your life-giving Word, and consecrate your people in his blood until our eyes see your face.

Ant. Turn to us, O Lord, make haste to help your people.

READING Romans 13:11-12

It is now the hour for you to wake from sleep, for our salvation is closer than when we first accepted the faith. The night is far spent; the day draws near. Let us cast off deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

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

Your light will come Jerusalem; the Lord will dawn on you in radiant beauty.
— Your light will come Jerusalem; the Lord will dawn on you in radiant beauty.

You will see his glory within you;
— the Lord will dawn on you in radiant beauty.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
— Your light will come Jerusalem; the Lord will dawn on you in radiant beauty.

CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH

Ant. Let everything within you watch and wait for the Lord our God draws near.

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. Let everything within you watch and wait for the Lord our God draws near.

INTERCESSIONS

To the Lord Jesus Christ, judge of the living and the dead, let us pray:
Come, Lord Jesus!

Lord Jesus, you came to save sinners,
— protect us in times of temptation.
Come, Lord Jesus!

You will come in glory to be our judge,
— show in us your power to save.
Come, Lord Jesus!

Help us to keep the precepts of your law with the strength of the Spirit,
— and to look forward in love to your coming.
Come, Lord Jesus!

You are praised throughout the ages; in your mercy help us to live devoutly and temperately in this life,
— as we wait in joyful hope for the revelation of your glory.
Come, Lord Jesus!

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

Grant,
we pray, almighty God,
that we, who are weighed down from of old
by slavery beneath the yoke of sin,
may be set free by the newness
of the long-awaited Nativity
of your Only Begotten 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.