Universalis
Saturday 11 July 2026    (other days)
Saint Benedict, Abbot 
 on Saturday after the Fifth Sunday after Trinity

Using calendar: Australia - Ordinariate. You can change this.

Morning Prayer (Lauds)

If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, you should precede it with the Invitatory Psalm.
Based on the liturgy for the Common of Abbots.

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.

Hymn
The dayspring in the golden east
Brings back our solemn yearly feast
When Benedict ascended high
To heavenly mansions in the sky.
How much among the loftiest
He gained, who in the lowliest
Resplendent shone! whose deeds sublime
Illumined earth’s remotest clime.
Thee, gracious father, we beseech
With lowly mind and humble speech
That unto heaven we may rise,
Who, taught of thee, the earth despise.
All laud to God the Father be;
All praise, eternal Son, to thee;
All glory, as is ever meet,
To God the Holy Paraclete.

Psalm 91 (92)
Praise of God, the Creator

Lord, we proclaim your love in the morning and your truth in the watches of the night.
It is good to praise the Lord,
  and to sing psalms to your name, O Most High,
to proclaim your mercy in the morning
  and your faithfulness by night;
on the ten-stringed lyre and the harp,
  with songs upon the lyre.
For you give me joy, Lord, in your creation:
  I rejoice in the work of your hands.
How great are your works, O Lord,
  how immeasurably deep your thoughts.
The fool does not hear,
  the slow-witted do not understand.
When the wicked sprout up like grass,
  and the doers of evil are in full bloom,
it will come to nothing, for they will perish for ever and ever;
  but you, Lord, are the Highest eternally.
For behold, Lord, your enemies, how your enemies will perish,
  how wrongdoers will be scattered.
You will give me strength as the wild oxen have;
  I have been anointed with the purest oil.
I will look down upon my enemies,
  and hear the plans of those who plot evil against me.
The just will flourish like the palm tree,
  grow tall like the cedar of Lebanon.
They will be planted in the house of the Lord;
  in the courts of our God they will flourish.
They will bear fruit even when old,
  fresh and luxuriant through all their days.
They will proclaim how just is the Lord, my refuge,
  for in him there is no unrighteousness.
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.
Lord, we proclaim your love in the morning and your truth in the watches of the night.

CanticleDeuteronomy 32

The things God has done for his people

Proclaim the greatness of our God.
Listen, heavens to what I say;
  earth, hear the words of my mouth!
Let my teaching fall like the rain,
  my speech descend like the dew,
  like a shower on the grass,
  like rain on the wheat.
For I shall call on the name of the Lord:
  give praise to the greatness of our God!
His works are like a rock: they are perfect,
  for all his ways are just.
God is faithful, he can do no wrong:
  he is just and upright.
They have sinned against him, they are no children of his –
  this filthy generation, wicked and perverse.
Is this how you repay the Lord,
  you foolish and witless people?
Is he not your father, who took charge of you,
  created you and made you exist?
Remember the days of old: think upon each generation.
Ask your father and he will tell you;
  ask your ancestors, and they will let you know.
When the Most High divided the peoples,
  when he was separating the children of Adam,
he laid down the boundaries of the people
  according to the number of the children of Israel:
the Lord’s own portion was his people,
  Jacob the measure of his inheritance.
He found him in a desert land, in a place of horror,
  in the howling wilderness.
He protected him, looked after him,
  guarded him as the apple of his eye.
Like an eagle teaching its chicks to fly, hovering close above them,
  he spread out his wings and lifted him up,
  carried him on his back.
The Lord alone led Jacob; no foreign god was with him.
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.
Proclaim the greatness of our God.

Psalm 8
The greatness of God, the dignity of man

How great is your name, Lord, through all the earth.
How wonderful is your name over all the earth,
  O Lord, our Lord!
How exalted is your glory
  above the sky!
Out of the mouths of children and infants you have brought praise,
  to confound your enemies, to destroy your vengeful foes.
When I see the heavens, the work of your fingers,
  the moon and stars, which you set in their place –
what is man, that you should take thought for him?
  what is the son of man, that you should look after him?
You have made him but one step lower than the angels;
  you have crowned him with glory and honour;
  you have set him over the works of your hands.
You have put everything beneath his feet,
  cattle and sheep and the beasts of the field,
the birds in the air and the fish in the sea,
  whatever passes along the paths of the waters.
How wonderful is your name above all the earth,
  O Lord, our Lord!
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.
How great is your name, Lord, through all the earth.

Scripture ReadingRomans 12:1-2
Think of God’s mercy, my brothers, and worship him, I beg you, in a way that is worthy of thinking beings, by offering your living bodies as a holy sacrifice, truly pleasing to God. Do not model yourselves on the behaviour of the world around you, but let your behaviour change, modelled by your new mind. This is the only way to discover the will of God and know what is good, what it is that God wants, what is the perfect thing to do.

Short Responsory
The just shall rejoice in the sight of God.
The just shall rejoice in the sight of God.
They shall be filled with gladness.
The just shall rejoice in the sight of God.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
The just shall rejoice in the sight of God.

CanticleBenedictus

The Messiah and his forerunner

He was a man of venerable life; Saint Benedict, ‘blessed’ in name and with the grace of God.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
  for he has come to his people and brought about their redemption.
He has raised up the sign of salvation
  in the house of his servant David,
as he promised through the mouth of the holy ones,
  his prophets through the ages:
to rescue us from our enemies
  and all who hate us,
to take pity on our fathers,
  to remember his holy covenant
and the oath he swore to Abraham our father,
  that he would give himself to us,
that we could serve him without fear
  – freed from the hands of our enemies –
in uprightness and holiness before him,
  for all of our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High:
  for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his path,
to let his people know their salvation,
  so that their sins may be forgiven.
Through the bottomless mercy of our God,
  one born on high will visit us
to give light to those who walk in darkness,
  who live in the shadow of death;
  to lead our feet in the path of peace.
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.
He was a man of venerable life; Saint Benedict, ‘blessed’ in name and with the grace of God.

Prayers and intercessions
Let us praise Christ, the holy God, and ask that we may serve him in justice and holiness all the days of our life.
Lord, you alone are holy.
You were tempted in every way that we are, but you did not sin;
  Lord Jesus, have mercy on us.
Lord, you alone are holy.
You have called us to grow in love until there is no longer fear;
  Lord Jesus, make us holy.
Lord, you alone are holy.
You have told us to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world;
  Lord Jesus, enlighten our minds and hearts.
Lord, you alone are holy.
In a world of human need it was your will to serve and not to be served;
  let us become like you, Lord Jesus, in the humble service of our brothers.
Lord, you alone are holy.
You are the radiant brightness of God’s glory, the perfect likeness of his nature;
  Lord Jesus, let us see the splendour of your face.
Lord, you alone are holy.

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.

Lord God, you appointed Saint Benedict
  to be a wise master in the school of your service.
Give us grace to put your love before all else,
  and so to run with joy in the way of your commandments.
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.

The Lord bless us, and keep us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.
  Amen.

The psalms and canticles here are our own translation from the Latin. 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 apps and programs do contain the Grail translation of the psalms.

Universalis podcast: The week ahead – from 12 to 18 July

Blessed Inácio de Azevedo and his companions: the veneration of places. Saint Thérèse of Saint Augustine and her Companions: the tyranny of liberty, and how to change the course of history. The Second Edition of the U.S. Divine Office. (26 minutes)
Episode notes.

You can also view this page in Latin and English.


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