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Office of Readings

If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, you should precede it with the Invitatory Psalm.

INTRODUCTION

Deus, in adiutórium meum inténde.

Dómine, ad adiuvándum me festína.

Glória Patri et Fílio*

et Spirítui Sancto.

Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*

et in sǽcula sæculórum.

Amen. Allelúia.

INTRODUCTION

O God, come to our aid.

O Lord, make haste to help us.

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.

Hymnus

Galli cantu mediánte

noctis iam calíginem

et profúndæ noctis atram

levánte formídinem,

Deus alme, te rogámus

supplicésque póscimus.

Vigil, potens, lux venísti

atque custos hóminum,

dum tenérent simul cuncta

médium siléntium,

rédderent necnon mortálem

mórtui effígiem,

Excitáres quo nos, Christe,

de somno malítiæ,

atque gratis liberáres

noctúrno de cárcere,

redderésque nobis lucem

vitæ semper cómitem.

Honor Patri sit ac tibi,

Sancto sit Spirítui,

Deo trino sed et uni,

paci, vitæ, lúmini,

nómini præ cunctis dulci

divinóque númini. Amen.

Hymn

God has spoken by his prophets,

Spoken his unchanging word,

Each from age to age proclaiming

God the One, the righteous Lord.

Mid the world’s despair and turmoil,

one firm anchor holdeth fast:

God is King, his throne eternal,

God the first and God the last.

God has spoken by Christ Jesus,

Christ, the everlasting Son,

Brightness of the Father’s glory,

With the Father ever one;

Spoken by the Word incarnate,

God of God, ere time began,

Light of Light, to earth descending,

Man, revealing God to man.

Ps 37:2-5
Obsecratio peccatoris in extremo periculo constituti

“Stabant omnes noti eius a longe” (Lc 23, 49).

Ne in ira tua corrípias me, Dómine.

2Dómine, ne in furóre tuo árguas me,*

neque in ira tua corrípias me,

3quóniam sagíttæ tuæ infíxæ sunt mihi,*

et descéndit super me manus tua.

4Non est sánitas in carne mea a fácie indignatiónis tuæ,*

non est pax óssibus meis a fácie peccatórum meórum.

5Quóniam iniquitátes meæ supergréssæ sunt caput meum*

et sicut onus grave gravant me nimis.

Glória Patri et Fílio*

et Spirítui Sancto.

Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*

et in sǽcula sæculórum.

Amen.

Ne in ira tua corrípias me, Dómine.

Psalm 37 (38)
The plea of a sinner in great peril

Do not punish me, Lord, in your rage.

Lord, do not rebuke me in your wrath,

do not ruin me in your anger:

for I am pierced by your arrows

and crushed beneath your hand.

In the face of your anger

there is no health in my body.

There is no peace for my bones,

no rest from my sins.

My transgressions rise higher than my head:

a heavy burden, they weigh me down.

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.

Do not punish me, Lord, in your rage.

How to listen

Ps 37:6-13

Dómine, ante te omne desidérium meum.

6Putruérunt et corrúpti sunt livóres mei*

a fácie insipiéntiæ meæ.

7Inclinátus sum et incurvátus nimis;*

tota die contristátus ingrediébar.

8Quóniam lumbi mei impléti sunt ardóribus,*

et non est sánitas in carne mea.

9Afflíctus sum et humiliátus sum nimis,*

rugiébam a gémitu cordis mei.

10Dómine, ante te omne desidérium meum,*

et gémitus meus a te non est abscónditus.

11Palpitávit cor meum, derelíquit me virtus mea,*

et lumen oculórum meórum, et ipsum non est mecum.

12Amíci mei et próximi mei procul a plaga mea stetérunt,*

et propínqui mei de longe stetérunt.

13Et láqueos posuérunt, qui quærébant ánimam meam,†

et, qui requirébant mala mihi, locúti sunt insídias*

et dolos tota die meditabántur.

Glória Patri et Fílio*

et Spirítui Sancto.

Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*

et in sǽcula sæculórum.

Amen.

Dómine, ante te omne desidérium meum.

Psalm 37 (38)

O Lord, you know all my longing.

My wounds are corruption and decay

because of my foolishness.

I am bowed down and bent,

bent under grief all day long.

For a fire burns up my loins,

and there is no health in my body.

I am afflicted, utterly cast down,

I cry out from the sadness of my heart.

Lord, all that I desire is known to you;

my sighs are not hidden from you.

My heart grows weak, my strength leaves me,

and the light of my eyes – even that has gone.

My friends and my neighbours

keep far from my wounds.

Those closest to me keep far away,

while those who would kill me set traps,

those who would harm me make their plots:

they plan mischief all through the day.

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.

O Lord, you know all my longing.

Ps 37:14-23

Iniquitátem meam annuntiábo tibi; ne derelínquas me, Dómine, salus mea.

14Ego autem tamquam surdus non audiébam*

et sicut mutus non apériens os suum;

15et factus sum sicut homo non áudiens*

et non habens in ore suo redargutiónes.

16Quóniam in te, Dómine, sperávi,*

tu exáudies, Dómine Deus meus.

17Quia dixi: «Nequándo supergáudeant mihi;*

dum commovéntur pedes mei, magnificántur super me».

18Quóniam ego in lapsum parátus sum,*

et dolor meus in conspéctu meo semper.

19Quóniam iniquitátem meam annuntiábo*

et sollícitus sum de peccáto meo.

20Inimíci autem mei vivunt et confirmáti sunt,*

et multiplicáti sunt, qui odérunt me iníque.

21Retribuéntes mala pro bonis detrahébant mihi*

pro eo quod sequébar bonitátem.

22Ne derelínquas me, Dómine;*

Deus meus, ne discésseris a me.

23Festína in adiutórium meum,*

Dómine, salus mea.

Glória Patri et Fílio*

et Spirítui Sancto.

Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*

et in sǽcula sæculórum.

Amen.

Iniquitátem meam annuntiábo tibi; ne derelínquas me, Dómine, salus mea.

Psalm 37 (38)

I confess my guilt to you, Lord; do not forsake me, my saviour.

But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;

like one who is dumb, I do not open my mouth.

I am like someone who cannot hear,

in whose mouth there is no reply.

For in you, Lord, I put my trust:

you will listen to me, Lord, my God.

For I have said, “Let them never triumph over me:

if my feet stumble, they will gloat.”

For I am ready to fall:

my suffering is before me always.

For I shall proclaim my wrongdoing:

I am anxious because of my sins.

All the time my enemies live and grow stronger;

they are so many, those who hate me without cause.

Returning evil for good they dragged me down,

because I followed the way of goodness.

Do not abandon me, Lord:

my God, do not leave me.

Hurry to my aid,

O Lord, my saviour.

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.

I confess my guilt to you, Lord; do not forsake me, my saviour.

℣. Oculi mei defecérunt in desidério salutáris tui.

℟. Et elóquii iustítiæ tuæ.

℣. My eyes yearn for your saving help.

℟. I await the promise of your justice.

Lectio prior
De libro Osée prophétæ 2, 4. 8-26

Sponsæ Domini castigatio et futura restitutio

Hæc dicit Dóminus:

4«Conténdite advérsum matrem vestram;

conténdite, quóniam ipsa non uxor mea,

et ego non vir eius;

áuferat fornicatiónes suas a fácie sua.

8Propter hoc ecce ego

sǽpiam viam tuam spinis

et sǽpiam eam macéria,

et sémitas suas non invéniet;

9et sequétur amatóres suos

et non apprehéndet eos;

et quæret eos et non invéniet

et dicet: “Vadam et revértar

ad virum meum priórem,

quia bene mihi erat tunc magis quam nunc”.

10Et hæc nescívit quia ego

dedi ei fruméntum et vinum et óleum

et argéntum multiplicávi ei

et aurum, quæ fecérunt Baal.

11Idcírco convértar et sumam

fruméntum meum in témpore suo

et vinum meum in témpore suo;

et áuferam lanam meam et linum meum,

quæ operiébant pudénda eius,

12et nunc revelábo ignomíniam eius

in óculis amatórum eius,

et nullus est qui éruat eam de manu mea.

13Et cessáre fáciam omne gáudium eius,

sollemnitátem eius, neoméniam eius,

sábbatum eius et ómnia festa témpora eius;

14et corrúmpam víneam eius et ficum eius,

de quibus dixit: “Mercédes hæ meæ sunt,

quas dedérunt mihi amatóres mei”.

Et ponam ea in saltum,

et cómedet illas béstia agri.

15Et visitábo super eam dies Báalim,

quibus accendébat incénsum

et ornabátur ináure sua et moníli suo,

et ibat post amatóres suos,

sed mei obliviscebátur,

dicit Dóminus.

16Propter hoc ecce ego lactábo eam

et ducam eam in solitúdinem

et loquar ad cor eius;

17et dabo ei víneas eius ex eódem loco

et vallem Achor, portam spei,

et respondébit ibi

iuxta dies iuventútis suæ

et iuxta dies ascensiónis suæ de terra Ægýpti.

18Et erit: in die illa,

ait Dóminus,

vocábis me: “Vir meus”,

et non vocábis me ultra: “Baal meus”.

19Et áuferam nómina Báalim de ore eius,

et non recordábitur ultra nóminis eórum.

20Et percútiam eis fœdus in die illa

cum béstia agri et cum vólucre cæli et cum réptili terræ;

et arcum et gládium et bellum

cónteram de terra

et cubáre eos fáciam confidénter.

21Et sponsábo te mihi in sempitérnum;

et sponsábo te mihi in iustítia et iudício

et in misericórdia et miseratiónibus.

22Et sponsábo te mihi in fide,

et cognósces Dóminum.

23Et erit: in illa die exáudiam,

dicit Dóminus,

exáudiam cælos,

et illi exáudient terram;

24et terra exáudiet

tríticum et vinum et óleum,

et hæc exáudient Iézrahel.

25Et seminábo eam mihi in terram

et miserébor eius, quæ fuit ‘Absque misericórdia’;

26et dicam ‘Non pópulo meo’: ‘Pópulus meus tu’;

et ipse dicet: “Deus meus es tu”».

First Reading	Hosea 2:4,8-26

The punishment and future restoration of the Lord’s spouse

Denounce your mother, denounce her,

for she is not my wife nor am I her husband.

Let her rid her face of her whoring.

That is why I am going to block her way with thorns,

and wall her in so that she cannot find her way;

she will chase after her lovers and never catch up with them,

she will search for them and never find them.

Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband,

I was happier then than I am today.’

She would not acknowledge, not she,

that I was the one who was giving her

the corn, the wine, the oil,

and who freely gave her that silver and gold

of which they have made Baals.

That is why, when the time comes, I mean to withdraw my corn,

and my wine, when the season for it comes.

I will retrieve my wool, my flax,

that were intended to cover her nakedness;

so will I display her shame before her lovers’ eyes

and no one shall rescue her from my power.

I will put an end to all her rejoicing,

her feasts, her New Moons, her sabbaths

and all her solemn festivals.

I will lay her vines and fig trees waste,

those of which she used to say,

‘These are the pay my lovers gave me’;

I am going to make them into thickets

for the wild beasts to ravage.

I mean to make her pay for all the days

when she burnt offerings to the Baals

and decked herself with rings and necklaces

to court her lovers,

forgetting me.

It is the Lord who is speaking.

That is why I am going to lure her

and lead her out into the wilderness

and speak to her heart.

I am going to give her back her vineyards,

and make the Valley of Achor a gateway of hope.

There she will respond to me as she did when she was young,

as she did when she came out of the land of Egypt.

When that day comes – it is the Lord who speaks –

she will call me, ‘My husband’,

no longer will she call me, ‘My Baal.’

I will take the names of the Baals off her lips,

their names shall never be uttered again.

When that day comes I will make a treaty on her behalf

with the wild animals,

with the birds of heaven and the creeping things of the earth;

I will break bow, sword and battle in the country,

and make her sleep secure.

I will betroth you to myself for ever,

betroth you with integrity and justice,

with tenderness and love;

I will betroth you to myself with faithfulness,

and you will come to know the Lord.

When that day comes – it is the Lord who speaks –

the heavens will have their answer from me,

the earth its answer from them,

the grain, the wine, the oil, their answer from the earth,

and Jezreel his answer from them.

I will sow him in the country,

I will love Unloved;

I will say to No-People-of-Mine, ‘You are my people’,

and he will answer, ‘You are my God.’

Responsorium
Ap 19, 7 b. 9 a; Os 2, 22

℟. Venérunt núptiæ Agni et uxor eius præparávit se:* Beáti qui ad cenam nuptiárum Agni vocáti sunt.

℣. Sponsábo te mihi in fide et cognósces Dóminum.* Beáti.

Responsory
Rv 19:7-9; Ho 2:20

℟. This is the time for the marriage of the Lamb, and his bride is ready.* Happy are those who are invited to the wedding-feast of the Lamb.

℣. I will betroth you to myself with faithfulness, and you will come to know the Lord.* Happy are those who are invited to the wedding-feast of the Lamb.

Lectio altera
Ex Cántico spiritáli sancti Ioánnis a Cruce presbýteri (Red. A, str. 38)

Sponsabo te mihi in sempiternum

Anima uníta et in Deum transformáta spirat in Deo ad Deum altíssimam quandam aspiratiónem divínæ símilem, quam Deus in illa manens spirat in semetípso tamquam ipsíus exémplar. Quod quantum cápio, significáre vóluit sanctus Paulus cum dixit: Quóniam autem estis fílii, misit Deus Spíritum Fílii sui in corda vestra clamántem: Abba, Pater. Quod in viris perféctis áccidit.

Nec mirum est quod rem ádeo sublímem ánima præstáre possit: cum Deus hoc illi cónferat benefícium ut ad deifórmem uniónem in Sanctíssima Trinitáte pervéniat, cur, quæso, incredíbile sit ipsam effícere opus suum intellegéntiæ, notítiæ et amóris in Trinitáte, una cum ipsa Trinitáte, idque máxima cum similitúdine ad ipsam, per participatiónem tamen, idípsum Deo in ipsa operánte?

Quómodo autem hoc fiat, nulla ália poténtia nec sapiéntia éxprimi potest quam demonstrándo quemádmodum Dei Fílius hunc nobis sublímem statum et locum impetráverit atque promerúerit ut fílii Dei simus, et ita pétiit a Patre: Pater, quos dedísti mihi, volo, ut ubi sum ego, et illi sint mecum, efficiéndo nimírum idem opus quod ego fácio, per participatiónem. Ait prætérea: Non pro eis autem rogo tantum, sed et pro eis qui creditúri sunt per verbum eórum in me: ut omnes unum sint, sicut tu, Pater, in me, et ego in te, ut et ipsi in nobis unum sint; ut credat mundus, quia tu me misísti. Et ego claritátem quam dedísti mihi, dedi eis, ut sint unum, sicut et nos unum sumus. Ego in eis, et tu in me, ut sint consummáti in unum: et cognóscat mundus quia tu me misísti, et dilexísti eos, sicut et me dilexísti.

Quod fit communicándo cum illis eúndem amórem, quem commúnicat cum Fílio, non tamen naturáliter sicut Fílio, sed per unitátem et transformatiónem amóris, sicut nec étiam hic intellégitur quod Fílius dicat Patri ut sancti sint unum essentiáliter et naturáliter, sicut Pater et Fílius unum sunt, sed solum signíficat quod sint unum per uniónem amóris, quemádmodum Pater et Fílius unum in unitáte Amóris. Unde ánimæ éadem bona póssident per participatiónem, quæ illi póssident per natúram: quaprópter revéra dii sunt per participatiónem, símiles atque consórtes eiúsdem Dei.

Hinc Petrus dixit: Grátia vobis et pax adimpleátur in cognitióne Dei et Christi Iesu Dómini nostri. Quómodo ómnia nobis divínæ virtútis suæ, quæ ad vitam et pietátem donáta sunt, per cognitiónem eius qui vocávit nos própria glória et virtúte, per quem máxima et pretiósa nobis promíssa donávit, ut per hæc efficiámini divínæ consórtes natúræ. Quod ita áccidit ánimam esse in ópere partícipem Trinitátis in hac prædícta unióne, quod licet perfécte adimpleátur in futúra vita, nihilóminus tamen étiam in hac vita non medíocre eius vestígium ac prælibátio acquíritur.

O ánimæ ad fruéndum exímiis hisce munéribus creátæ; quid ágitis? circa quæ versántur stúdia vestra? O miserándam filiórum Adæ cæcitátem, si quidem tanto circumfúsi lúmine cæcútiunt, et ad voces tam ingéntes obsurdéscunt!

Second Reading
From a Spiritual Canticle of St John of the Cross

I give myself as your spouse for ever

The soul united to God and transformed in him draws from within God a divine breath, much like the most high God himself. And God, abiding in the soul, breathes forth the life of the soul as its exemplar. This I take to be what Paul meant when he said: Because you are children of God, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba, Father”; this is what takes place in those who have achieved perfection.

One should not wonder that the soul is capable of so sublime an activity. For if God so favours her that she is made God-like by union with the most Holy Trinity, I ask you then, why it should seem so incredible that the soul, at one with the Trinity and in the greatest possible likeness to it, should share the understanding, knowledge and love which God achieves in himself.

How this is possible no other power or wisdom can express, save by explaining how the Son of God obtained this sublime state for us and won for us the power to be the children of God, as he asked of the Father: Father, I desire that where I am those you have given me may also be with me, that they may see the glory you have given me, that is, that they may share with certainty the very task I perform.

And then he said: Not for them alone do I ask but also for those who will come to believe in me through their teaching, that all may be one as you, Father, are one in me and I in you, that they may be one in us; that the world may believe that you have sent me. And the glory you have given me I have given them that they may be one as we are. I in them, you in me, that they may be made perfect, and the world will know that you sent me and as you have loved me, so I have loved them.

The Father thus gives them the same love he shares with the Son, though not by nature as with the Son, but through unity and transformation of love. One should not think that the Son is asking the Father to make the saints one with him in essence and nature as the Son is with the Father, but rather that they be united with him in love, just as the Father and Son are one in the essential unity of love. Accordingly, souls possess the same goods by participation that the Son possesses by nature. As a result, they are truly divine by participation, equals and companions of God.

Thus Peter said: May grace and peace be perfected in you in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord. For all things of his divine power, which are given to us for our life and goodness, are given through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and power, by which he has given us great and precious promises, that by these we may be made partakers of the divine nature. So the soul, in this union which God has ordained, joins in the work of the Trinity, not yet fully as in the life to come, but nonetheless even now in a real and perceptible way.

O my soul, created to enjoy such exquisite gifts, what are you doing, where is your life going? How wretched is the blindness of Adam’s children, if indeed we are blind to such a brilliant light and deaf to so insistent a voice.

Responsorium	1 Io 3, 1. 2 b

℟. Vidéte qualem caritátem dedit nobis Deus Pater,* Ut fílii Dei nominémur et sumus.

℣. Scimus quóniam, cum apparúerit, símiles ei érimus, quóniam vidébimus eum sícuti est.* Ut fílii.

Responsory

℟. Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us.* Not only shall we be called children of God, but we shall truly be his children.

℣. We know that when our future is revealed we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is.* Not only shall we be called children of God, but we shall truly be his children.

Oremus.

Adésto, Dómine, fámulis tuis et perpétuam benignitátem largíre poscéntibus, ut his, qui te auctórem et gubernatórem gloriántur habére, et grata restáures et restauráta consérves.

Per Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum, Fílium tuum,

qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus,

per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum.

Amen.

Let us pray.

We recognize with joy

that you, Lord, created us,

and that you guide us by your providence.

In your unfailing kindness, support us in our prayer:

renew your life within us,

guard it and make it bear fruit for eternity.

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.

Benedicámus Dómino.

– Deo grátias.

Let us praise the Lord.

– Thanks be to God.

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Copyright © 1996-2026 Universalis Publishing Limited: see universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Hodder & Stoughton and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers.	This web site © Copyright 1996-2026 Universalis Publishing Ltd · Contact us · Cookies/privacy
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Office of Readings

Ps 37:2-5Obsecratio peccatoris in extremo periculo constituti

Psalm 37 (38)The plea of a sinner in great peril

Ps 37:6-13

Psalm 37 (38)

Ps 37:14-23

Psalm 37 (38)

Sponsæ Domini castigatio et futura restitutio

The punishment and future restoration of the Lord’s spouse

Sponsabo te mihi in sempiternum

I give myself as your spouse for ever

Dates

Today

Thu 6 August

Fri 7 August

Sat 8 August

Sun 9 August

Mon 10 August

Tue 11 August

Wed 12 August

Thu 13 August

Fri 14 August

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Ps 37:2-5
Obsecratio peccatoris in extremo periculo constituti

Psalm 37 (38)
The plea of a sinner in great peril