Psalmody
Psalm 139 (1-12)
Ant. It is true that we are being difficult because we wish everything to go well and we will succeed if you are one of us. (1815 letter to Fr. Tempier)
O LORD, you search me and you know me.
You yourself know my resting and my rising;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You mark when I walk or lie down;
you know all my ways through and through.
Before ever a word is on my tongue,
you know it, O LORD, through and through.
Behind and before, you besiege me,
your hand ever laid upon me.
Too wonderful for me, this knowledge;
too high, beyond my reach.
O where can I go from your spirit,
or where can I flee from your face?
If I climb the heavens, you are there.
If I lie in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn
or dwell at the sea’s furthest end,
even there your hand would lead me;
your right hand would hold me fast.
If I say, “Let the darkness hide me
and the light around me be night,”
even darkness is not dark to you,
but night will be bright as the day,
and darkness the same as the light.
Glory to the Father…
Ant. It is true that we are being difficult because we wish everything to go well and we will succeed if you are one of us.
Psalm 139 (13-18, 23-24)
Ant. The essential thing is that you practice patience interiorly and that your spirit be at rest in God. (1827 letter to Fr. Suzanne)
For it was you who formed my inmost being,
knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I thank you who wonderfully made me;
how wonderful are your works,
which my soul knows well!
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being fashioned in secret
and moulded in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw me yet unformed;
and all days are recorded in your book,
formed before one of them came into being.
To me how precious your thoughts, O God;
how great is the sum of them!
If I count them, they are more than the sand;
at the end I am still at your side.
O search me, God, and know my heart.
O test me, and know my thoughts.
See that my path is not wicked,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Glory to the Father…
Ant. The essential thing is that you practice patience interiorly and that your spirit be at rest in God.
Canticle (Col 1:12-20)
Ant. Put to good advantage the talents that the good God has given you. (1826 letter to Bro. Nicolas Riccardi)
Let us give thanks to God
for having made us worthy
to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
God has delivered us
from the power of darkness
and transferred us
into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, Jesus,
in whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of our sins.
Jesus is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation;
in him all things were created,
in heaven and on earth,
things invisible and visible.
All things were created through him;
all were created for him.
He is before all else that is.
In him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body, the church!
He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
that in everything, he might be above all others.
In him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
and through him, to reconcile all things to himself,
whether on earth or in heaven,
making peace by the blood of his cross.
Glory to the Father…
Ant. Put to good advantage the talents that the good God has given you.
Reading
We can be sure that we know God only by keeping the commandments. Anyone who says, “I know God,” and does not keep the commandments is a liar and refuses to admit the truth. But when anyone does obey God’s word, God’s love comes to perfection in that person.
(1 John 2:3-5)
Responsory
We shall always look on Mary as our mother
-We shall always look on Mary as our mother
in the joys and sorrows of our missionary life
-as our mother
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
-We shall always look on Mary as our mother
Canticle of Mary
Ant. Blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted.
My heart is radiant, overflowing with joy,
for you have loved my lowliness.
You have shown me great favour;
all people will call me blest.
Your mercy extends throughout the ages
toward those who revere your holy name.
You have revealed your strength,
scattering the proud of heart.
You dethrone the powerful
and lift up the lowly.
The famished are filled;
the rich sent empty away.
Your people Israel you have remembered,
true to your loving kindness,
just as you have promised long ago
to Sarah and Abraham.
Glory to the Father…
Ant. Blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted.
Intercessions
Jesus, you remind us that we cannot serve two masters; give us a single heart that seeks what is good for all, receiving everything from God with trust and thankfulness.
Have mercy on the abused spouses and children and on those who abuse them; help us to enable them to begin life anew with healing and peace.
We remember doctors, nurses, care-givers, and all who minister to the sick and the dying: that they will always remember that they are one with Jesus in his healing ministry.
Lord’s Prayer
Concluding Prayer
O God, protector of the poor and defender of the just, in your kingdom the last become first, the gentle are strong, and the lowly exalted. Give us wisdom from above, that we may find in your servant Jesus the pattern of true discipleship and the grace to persevere in following him, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.
Novitiate Liturgy of the Hours 