TODAY’S OFFICE OF READINGS 30 December 2014 Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas Lord, + open my lips. – And my mouth will proclaim your praise. INVITATORY (The Invitatory is said when this is the first ‘hour’ of the day.) Ant. Christ is born for us; come, let us adore him. Psalm 24 The Lord’s entry into his temple Christ opened heaven for us in the manhood he assumed (Saint Irenaeus). The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness, * the world and all its peoples. It is he who set it on the seas; * on the waters he made it firm. Ant. Christ is born for us; come, let us adore him. Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord? * Who shall stand in his holy place? The man with clean hands and pure heart, † who desires not worthless things, * who has not sworn so as to deceive his neighbor. Ant. Christ is born for us; come, let us adore him. He shall receive blessings from the Lord * and reward from the God who saves him. Such are the men who seek him, * seek the face of the God of Jacob. Ant. Christ is born for us; come, let us adore him. O gates, lift high your heads; † grow higher, ancient doors. * Let him enter, the king of glory! Ant. Christ is born for us; come, let us adore him. Who is the king of glory? † The Lord, the mighty, the valiant, * the Lord, the valiant in war. Ant. Christ is born for us; come, let us adore him. O gates, lift high your heads; † grow higher, ancient doors. * Let him enter, the king of glory! Ant. Christ is born for us; come, let us adore him. Who is he, the king of glory? † He, the Lord of armies, * he is the king of glory. Ant. Christ is born for us; come, let us adore him. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, * and will be forever. Amen. Ant. Christ is born for us; come, let us adore him. (If the Invitatory is not said, then the following is used: ) God, + come to my assistance. – Lord, make haste to help me. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: – as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Alleluia. HYMN Songs of praise the angels sang, Heav’n with alleluias rang, When creation was begun, When God spoke and it was done. Songs of praise awoke the morn When the Prince of Peace was born; Songs of praise arose when he Captive led captivity. Heav’n and earth must pass away, Songs of praise shall crown that day; God will make new heav’n and earth, Songs of praise, shall hail their birth. And will voice of man be dumb Till that glorious kingdom come? No, the Church delights to raise Psalms and hymns and songs of praise. Saints below, with hearts and voice, Still in songs of praise rejoice, Learning here, by faith and love, Songs of praise to sing above. Borne upon their final breath, Songs of praise shall conquer death; Then, amidst eternal joy, Songs of praise their powers employ. Or: Virgin-born, we bow before you; Blessed was the womb that bore you; Mary, Mother meek and mild, Blessed was she in her child. Blessed was the maid that fed you; Blessed was the hand that led you; Blessed was the parent’s eye That watched your slumbering infancy. Blessed she by all creation, Who brought forth the world’s salvation; And blessed they forever blest, Who love you most and serve you best. Virgin-born, we bow before you: Blessed was the womb that bore you; Mary, Mother meek and mild, Blessed was she in her Child. PSALMODY Ant. 1 Truth has arisen from the earth, and justice has looked down from the heavens. Psalm 85 Our salvation is near God blessed the land when our Savior came to earth (Origen). O Lord, you once favored your land * and revived the fortunes of Jacob, you forgave the guilt of your people * and covered all their sins. You averted all your rage, * you calmed the heat of your anger. Revive us now, God, our helper! * Put an end to your grievance against us. Will you be angry with us forever, * will your anger never cease? Will you not restore again our life * that your people may rejoice in you? Let us see, O Lord, your mercy * and give us your saving help. I will hear what the Lord God has to say, * a voice that speaks of peace, peace for his people and his friends * and those who turn to him in their hearts. His help is near for those who fear him * and his glory will dwell in our land. Mercy and faithfulness have met; * justice and peace have embraced. Faithfulness shall spring from the earth * and justice look down from heaven. The Lord will make us prosper * and our earth shall yield its fruit. Justice shall march before him * and peace shall follow his steps. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, * and will be forever. Amen. Psalm Prayer Show us your mercy, Lord; our misery is known to us. May no evil desires prevail over us, for your glory and love dwell in our hearts. Ant. Truth has arisen from the earth, and justice has looked down from the heavens. Ant. 2 Wherever you are, Lord, there is mercy, there is truth. Psalm 89:2-38 God’s favors to the house of David According to his promise, the Lord has raised up Jesus, a Savior, from the family of David (Acts 13:22, 23). I I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord; * through all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth. Of this I am sure, that your love lasts forever, * that your truth is firmly established as the heavens. “With my chosen one, I have made a covenant; * I have sworn to David my servant: I will establish your dynasty for ever * and set up your throne through all ages.” The heavens proclaim your wonders, O Lord; * the assembly of your holy ones proclaims your truth. For who in the skies can compare with the Lord * or who is like the Lord among the sons of God? A God to be feared in the council of the holy ones, * great and dreadful to all around him. O Lord God of hosts, who is your equal? * You are mighty, O Lord, and truth is your garment. It is you who rule the sea in its pride; * it is you who still the surging of its waves. You crushed the monster Rahab and killed it, * scattering your foes with your mighty arm. The heavens are yours, the world is yours. * It is you who founded the earth and all it holds; it is you who created the North and the South. * Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at your name. Yours is a mighty arm, O Lord; * your hand is strong, your right hand ready. Justice and right are the pillars of your throne, * love and truth walk in your presence. Happy the people who acclaim such a king, * who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face, who find their joy every day in your name, * who make your justice the source of their bliss. For you, O Lord, are the glory of their strength; * by your favor it is that our might is exalted: for our ruler is in the keeping of the Lord; * our king in the keeping of the Holy One of Israel. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, * and will be forever. Amen. Ant. Wherever you are, Lord, there is mercy, there is truth. Ant. 3 He himself will call out to me: You are my Father, alleluia. II Of old you spoke in a vision. * To your friends the prophets you said: “I have set the crown on a warrior, * I have exalted one chosen from the people. I have found David my servant * and with my holy oil anointed him. My hand shall always be with him * and my arm shall make him strong. The enemy shall never outwit him * nor the evil man oppress him. I will beat down his foes before him * and smite those who hate him. My truth and my love shall be with him; * by my name his might shall be exalted. I will stretch out his hand to the Sea * and his right hand as far as the River. He will say to me: ‘You are my father, * my God, the rock who saves me.’ And I will make him my first-born, * the highest of the kings of the earth. I will keep my love for him always; * for him my covenant shall last. I will establish his dynasty forever, * make his throne endure as the heavens.” Glory to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, * and will be forever. Amen. Psalm Prayer God, you anointed your servant Jesus with holy oil and raised him higher than all kings on earth. In this you fulfilled the promise made to David’s descendants, and established a lasting covenant through your first-born Son. Do not forget your holy covenant, so that we, who are signed with the blood of your Son through the new sacraments of faith, may sing of your mercies forever. Ant. He himself will call out to me: You are my Father, alleluia. The Lord has made known, alleluia. – His saving power, alleluia. READINGS FIRST READING From the letter of the apostle Paul to the Colossians 1:15-2:3 Christ, the head of the Church; Paul, the servant of the Church Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and 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 all things he himself might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things for him, making peace by the blood of his cross through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven. And you who once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through his death, to present you holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before him, provided that you persevere in the faith, firmly grounded, stable, and not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, am a minister. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church, of which I am a minister in accordance with God’s stewardship given to me to bring to completion for you the word of God, the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past. But now it has been manifested to his holy ones, to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; it is Christ in you, the hope for glory. It is he whom we proclaim, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. For this I labor and struggle, in accord with the exercise of his power working within me. For I want you to know how great a struggle I am having for you and for those in Laodicea and all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged as they are brought together in love, to have all the richness of fully assured understanding, for the knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. RESPONSORY Colossians 1:18, 17 Christ is the head and the church is his body; he is the firstborn of the dead, – so that in every way the primacy was his. Before anything came into being, he existed: he holds all things in unity. – So that in every way the primacy was his. SECOND READING From a treatise On the Refutation of All Heresies, by Saint Hippolytus, priest and martyr (Cap. 10, 33-34: PG 16, 3452-3453) The Word made flesh makes us divine Our faith is not founded upon empty words; nor are we carried away by mere caprice or beguiled by specious arguments. On the contrary, we put our faith in words spoken by the power of God, spoken by the Word himself at God’s command. God wished to win men back from disobedience, not by using force to reduce him to slavery but by addressing to his free will a call to liberty. The Word spoke first of all through the prophets, but because the message was couched in such obscure language that it could be only dimly apprehended, in the last days the Father sent the Word in person, commanding him to show himself openly so that the world could see him and be saved. We know that by taking a body from the Virgin he re-fashioned our fallen nature. We know that his manhood was of the same clay as our own; if this were not so, he would hardly have been a teacher who could expect to be imitated. If he were of a different substance from me, he would surely not have ordered me to do as he did, when by my very nature I am so weak. Such a demand could not be reconciled with his goodness and justice. No. He wanted us to consider him as no different from ourselves, and so he worked, he was hungry and thirsty, he slept. Without protest he endured his passion, he submitted to death and revealed his resurrection. In all these ways he offered his own manhood as the first fruits of our race to keep us from losing heart when suffering comes our way, and to make us look forward to receiving the same reward as he did, since we know that we possess the same humanity. When we have come to know the true God, both our bodies and our souls will be immortal and incorruptible. We shall enter the kingdom of heaven, because while we lived on earth we acknowledged heaven’s King. Friends of God and co-heirs with Christ, we shall be subject to no evil desires or inclinations, or to any affliction of body or soul, for we shall have become divine. Whatever evil you may have suffered, being man, it is God that sent it to you, precisely because you are man; but equally, when you have been deified, God has promised you a share in every one of his own attributes. The saying “Know yourself” means therefore that we should recognize and acknowledge in ourselves the God who made us in his own image, for if we do this, we in turn will be recognized and acknowledged by our Maker. So let us not be at enmity with ourselves, but change our way of life without delay. For Christ who is God, exalted above all creation, has taken away man’s sin and has re-fashioned our fallen nature. In the beginning God made man in his image and so gave proof of his love for us. If we obey his holy commands and learn to imitate his goodness, we shall be like him and he will honor us. God is not beggarly, and for the sake of his own glory he has given us a share in his divinity. RESPONSORY John 1:14; Baruch 3:38 The Word was made flesh, and lived among us. – We have seen his glory. the glory of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. He was seen on earth and lived among us. – We have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. TE DEUM You are God: we praise you; You are the Lord: we acclaim you; You are the eternal Father: All creation worships you. To you all angels, all the powers of heaven, Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. The glorious company of apostles praise you. The noble fellowship of prophets praise you. The white-robed army of martyrs praise you. Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you: Father, of majesty unbounded, your true and only Son, worthy of all worship, and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide. You, Christ, are the king of glory, the eternal Son of the Father. When you became man to set us free you did not spurn the Virgin’s womb. You overcame the sting of death, and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. You are seated at God’s right hand in glory. We believe that you will come, and be our judge. Come then, Lord, and help your people, bought with the price of your own blood, and bring us with your saints to glory everlasting. V. Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance. R. Govern and uphold them now and always. V. Day by day we bless you. R. We praise your name for ever. V. Keep us today, Lord, from all sin. R. Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy. V. Lord, show us your love and mercy; R. for we put our trust in you. V. In you, Lord, is our hope: R. and we shall never hope in vain. The concluding part of the hymn may be omitted. CONCLUDING PRAYER Let us pray. All-powerful God, may the human birth of your Son free us from our former slavery to sin and bring us to new life. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. – Amen. Or: Grant, we pray, almighty God, that the newness of the Nativity in the flesh of your Only Begotten Son may set us free, for ancient servitude holds us bound beneath the yoke of sin. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. – Amen. ACCLAMATION Let us praise the Lord. – And give him thanks.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 11:30:43 +0000
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