Psalmody
Psalm 92
Ant. I praise God for the success of the mission with which I have entrusted you. (1856 letter to Fr. L’Hermite)
It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to make music to your name, O Most High,
to proclaim your faithful love in the morning,
and your truth in the watches of the night,
on the ten-stringed lute and the harp,
with the sound of song on the lyre.
You have gladdened me, O LORD, by your deeds;
for the work of your hands I shout with joy.
O LORD, how great are your works!
How deep are your designs!
The senseless cannot know this,
and the fool cannot understand.
Though the wicked spring up like grass,
and all who do evil thrive,
they are doomed to be eternally destroyed.
But you, O LORD, are eternally on high.
See, your enemies, O LORD,
see, your enemies will perish;
all who do evil will be scattered.
You give me the strength of a wild ox;
you have poured out on me purest oil.
My eyes looked in triumph on my foes;
my ears have heard of their fall.
The righteous will flourish like the palm tree,
and grow like a Lebanon cedar.
Planted in the house of the LORD,
they will flourish in the courts of our God,
still bearing fruit when they are old,
still full of sap, still green,
to proclaim that the LORD is upright.
In God, my rock, there is no wrong.
Glory to the Father…
Ant. I praise God for the success of the mission with which I have entrusted you.
Canticle (Ezek 36:24-28)
Ant. You can count on some excellent companions who will be your consolation and who will help you…accept this burden with confidence and simplicity. (1851 letter to Bishop Allard)
I will take you from the nations,
And gather you from foreign countries,
And bring you back to your own land.
I will sprinkle clean water upon you
To cleanse you from all your impurities,
And from all your idols I will cleanse you.
A new heart I will give you,
And a new spirit I will put within you;
And I will take out of your body
The heart of stone
And give you a heart of flesh.
I will put my spirit within you,
And make you live by my statutes,
Careful to observe my decrees.
You shall dwell in the land
Which I gave to your ancestors;
You shall be my people,
And I will be your God.
Glory to the Father…
Ant. You can count on some excellent companions who will be your consolation and who will help you…accept this burden with confidence and simplicity.
Psalm 8
Ant. My duties towards God consist principally in love, adoration, prayer, dependence on his holy will, and fidelity in keeping his commandments. (1812 notes from rules drawn up during his retreat)
O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic
is your name through all the earth!
Your majesty is set above the heavens.
From the mouths of children and of babes
you fashioned praise to foil your enemy,
to silence the foe and the rebel.
When I see the heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars which you arranged,
what are human beings that you keep them in mind,
mortal creatures that you care for them?
Yet you have made them little lower than the angels;
with glory and honour you crowned them,
gave them power over the works of your hands:
you put all things under their feet,
All of them, sheep and oxen,
yes, even the cattle of the fields,
birds of the air, and fish of the sea
that make their way through the seas.
O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic
is your name through all the earth!
Glory to the Father…
Ant. My duties towards God consist principally in love, adoration, prayer, dependence on his holy will, and fidelity in keeping his commandments.
Reading
May this fraternal experience of prayer, exchange and discernment as a community be an impulse for new missionary zeal, a starting point for new horizons, for meeting new poor, to take them with you to encounter Christ the Redeemer. It is necessary to seek adequate responses, evangelical and courageous, to the questions posed by men and women in our time. For this, you need to look to the past with gratitude, live the present with passion and embrace the future with hope, without letting ourselves be discouraged by the difficulties you encounter in the mission, but strengthened by fidelity to your religious and missionary vocation.
(Pope Francis to the capitulars of the 36th General Chapter, 2016)
Responsory
Like the Apostle, we preach Jesus Christ
-Like the Apostle, we preach Jesus Christ
and him crucified
-Jesus Christ
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
-Like the Apostle, we preach Jesus Christ
Canticle of Zachariah
Ant. Fill our days with peace that we may sing your praise.
O God, you have come and freed your people;
from David’s house you have sent a Saviour.
Through ages the prophets have told us
that we would be saved from hatred.
You have shown to us your great mercy
by the promise to Sarah and Abraham
that we should be freed from all fear
to serve you in justice and holiness.
And you, John, are called prophet of God,
for you will prepare the way
to lead people to salvation
through the awareness and knowledge of God.
Praise to you, God of Israel.
The bright dawn will break upon us.
You give light to those in darkness.
You guide us to ways of peace.
Glory to the Father…
Ant. Fill our days with peace that we may sing your praise.
Intercessions
That those who hunger in body or spirit for life’s necessities may be fed by the hand of Jesus and by the ministry of Jesus’ disciples.
You have poured faith, hope and love upon us, keep them firmly rooted in our hearts.
For our political and civil leaders, that they work to create the kind of society in which people can live in freedom and dignity.
Lord’s Prayer
Concluding Prayer
Compassionate God, in a universe that seems so immense it is easy to feel insignificant as we stand here today. Yet we know that we are precious in your sight – unique individuals loved and blessed in so many ways. We stand in awe of the one who has created all things and dedicate this time and all our days to your service. Accept this offering we pray, our sacrifice of ourselves, and make us instruments of your peace. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Novitiate Liturgy of the Hours 