Morning Prayers – LAUDS

Invitatory Prayers here

Be merciful to me, oh God, be merciful to me,

For in you my soul takes refuge;

In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, until the destroying Storms pass by.

I cry to God Most High,

To God who fulfills his purpose for me.

He will send from heaven and save me,

He will put to shame those who trample on me.

God will send forth his steadfast love and faithfulness.

I lie down among lions

That greedily devour human prey;

Their teeth are spears and arrows,

Their tongues sharp swords.

Be exalted, oh God,

Above the heavens.

Let your glory be over all the earth.

They set a net for my steps;

My soul was bowed down.

They dug a pit in my path,

But they have fallen into it themselves.

My heart is steadfast, oh God,

Steadfast is my heart.

I will sing and make melody.

Awake, my soul! Awake, oh harp and lyre!

I will awake the dawn.

I will give thanks to you, oh Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing praises to you among the nations.

For your steadfast love is as high as the heavens;

Your faithfulness extends to the clouds.

Be exalted, oh God, above the heavens.

Let your glory be over all the earth.

Hear the word of the Lord,

Oh nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away;

Say, "He who scattered Israel will gather him,

And will keep him as a shepherd a flock."

For the Lord has ransomed Jacob,

And has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.

They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,

And they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,

Over the grain, the wine, and the oil,

And over the young of the flock and the herd;

Their life shall become like a watered garden,

And they shall never languish again.

"Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,

And the young men and the old shall be merry.

I will turn their mourning into joy,

I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.

I will give the priests their fill of fatness,

And my people shall be satisfied with my bounty".

Mighty is the Lord and greatly to be praised

In the city of our God.

His holy mountain is beautiful in elevation,

It is the joy of all the earth:

Mount Zion, in the far north,

Is the city of the great King.

Within its citadels God has shown

Himself a sure defender.

Then the kings assembled,

They came on together.

As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;

They were in panic, they took to flight;

There trembling took hold of them,

Pains as of a woman in travail,

As when an east wind shatters

The ships of Tarshish.

As we have heard, so have we seen in the city

Of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God,

Which God establishes forever.

We ponder your steadfast love, oh God,

In the midst of your temple.

Your name, oh God, like your praise,

Reaches to the ends of the earth.

Your right hand is filled with victory.

Let Mount Zion be glad,

Let the towns of Judah rejoice

Because of your judgments.

Walk about Zion, go all around it, count its towers,

Consider well its ramparts, go through its citadels,

That you may tell the next generation

That this is God, our God forever and ever,

Who will be our guide forever.

Isaiah 66, 1-2

Thus says the Lord: Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is my resting place? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things are mine, says the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look, to the humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at my word.

End Prayers here

Liturgy of the Hours - Lessons - Home