Using calendar: England - Southwark. You can change this.

Pages

About Today · Readings at Mass · Office of Readings · Morning Prayer · Terce · Sext · None · Evening Prayer · Night Prayer · Yearly calendar

Links

· Spoken Word · Donate · Tweet · Show QR code

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 One Priest.

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

Who are these like stars appearing,

these, before God’s throne who stand?

Each a golden crown is wearing;

who are all this glorious band?

Alleluia! Hark, they sing,

praising loud their heavenly King.

Who are these of dazzling brightness,

clothed in God’s own righteousness?

These, whose robes of purest whiteness,

shall their lustre still possess,

still untouched by time’s rude hand?

Whence came all this glorious band?

These are they who have contended

for their Saviour’s honour long,

wrestling on till life was ended,

following not the sinful throng;

these who well the fight sustained,

triumph through the Lamb have gained.

These are they whose hearts were riven,

sore with woe and anguish tried,

who in prayer full oft have striven

with the God they glorified;

now, their painful conflict o’er,

God has bid them weep no more.

These, the Almighty contemplating,

did as priests before him stand,

soul and body always waiting

day and night at his command:

now in God’s most holy place

blest they stand before his face.

Psalm 91 (92)
Praise of God, the Creator

You have made me glad, O Lord; for the works of your hands I shout with joy, alleluia.

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.

You have made me glad, O Lord; for the works of your hands I shout with joy, alleluia.

How to listen

Canticle	Deuteronomy 32

The things God has done for his people

It is I who give death and life; it is I who strike and also heal. Alleluia.

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.

It is I who give death and life; it is I who strike and also heal. Alleluia.

Psalm 8
The greatness of God, the dignity of man

With glory and honour you crowned your Anointed One, alleluia.

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.

With glory and honour you crowned your Anointed One, alleluia.

Scripture Reading	Hebrews 13:7-9

Remember your leaders, who preached the word of God to you, and as you reflect on the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same today as he was yesterday and as he will be for ever. Do not let yourselves be led astray by all sorts of strange doctrines.

Short Responsory

I placed watchmen on your towers, Jerusalem. Alleluia, alleluia.

– I placed watchmen on your towers, Jerusalem. Alleluia, alleluia.

They will never cease to tell of the name of the Lord, by day and by night.

– I placed watchmen on your towers, Jerusalem. Alleluia, alleluia.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

– I placed watchmen on your towers, Jerusalem. Alleluia, alleluia.

Canticle	Benedictus

The Messiah and his forerunner

The Lord is all that I have; the Lord is good to the soul that seeks him. Alleluia.

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.

The Lord is all that I have; the Lord is good to the soul that seeks him. Alleluia.

Prayers and intercessions

Christ, the good shepherd, laid down his life for his sheep. Let us praise him with grateful hearts, as we pray: