Sext (Midday Prayer)
O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.
O God of truth, O Lord of might!
You order time and change aright.
You send the early morning ray
And light the glow of perfect day.
Extinguish now each sinful fire
And banish every ill desire;
And while you keep the body whole,
Shine forth your peace upon our soul.
Almighty Father hear our cry
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord most high,
Who, with the Spirit and with thee
Doth live and reign eternally.
Psalm 122 (123)
The Lord guards his people |
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Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.
To you I lift up my eyes,
to you who dwell in the heavens.
Like the eyes of a servant watching his master,
like the eyes of a maid on her mistress’s hands,
so we keep our eyes on the Lord our God,
as we wait for his kindness.
Take pity on us, Lord, take pity:
we have had our fill of contempt.
Our souls have had their fill
of the laughter of the rich,
of the contempt of the proud.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.
Psalm 123 (124)
Our help is in the name of the Lord |
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Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.
If the Lord had not been with us
(so let Israel sing),
If the Lord had not been with us
when men rose up against us,
they might have skinned us alive,
such was their anger.
The waters could have drowned us,
the torrent poured over us,
the foaming waters poured over us.
Blessed be the Lord, who saved us
from being torn to pieces by their teeth.
We have escaped, like a bird
from the snare of the fowler.
The snare was broken,
and we escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.
Psalm 124 (125)
The Lord guards his people |
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Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.
Those who trust in the Lord are like the mountain of Zion:
it cannot be shaken, it will stand firm for ever.
Jerusalem – the mountains stand guard over it,
and the Lord stands guard over his people,
both now and for ever.
The sceptre of the wicked shall not rest
upon the inheritance of the just;
lest the just themselves stretch out their hands
and turn to wickedness.
Be good, O Lord, to the good
and the upright of heart.
As for those who turn away to crooked paths,
the Lord shall treat them like the doers of evil.
Peace be on Israel!
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.
| Short reading | Zechariah 9:9 © |
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Rejoice heart and soul, daughter of Zion! Shout with gladness, daughter of Jerusalem! See now, your king comes to you; he is victorious, he is triumphant.
Blessed is the body of the Virgin Mary, alleluia,
– which bore the Son of the eternal Father. Alleluia.
Let us pray.
Lord, place deep in our hearts the love of Mary, our help.
May we fight vigorously for the faith on earth
and praise your victories in heaven.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
– Thanks be to God.
The psalms and canticles here are our own translation. The Grail translation of the psalms, which is used liturgically in most of the English-speaking world, cannot be displayed on the Web for copyright reasons. The Universalis downloads do contain the Grail translation of the psalms.
