Monday after Third Sunday of Advent
John of the Cross, Priest, Teacher of the Faith, 1591
O Lord, open our lips:
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever.
Amen.
PSALMODY
Antiphon: The Lord is King, let the earth rejoice:*
let the multitude of the isles be glad. (Ps. 97.1)
Opening
VENITE
1 O come let us sing out to the Lord,*
let us shout in triumph to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his face with thanksgiving*
and cry out to him joyfully in psalms.
3 For the Lord is a great God,*
and a great king above all gods.
4 In his hands are the depths of the earth,*
and the peaks of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his and he made it;*
his hands moulded dry land.
6 Come let us worship and bow down,*
and kneel before the Lord our maker.
7 For he himself is our God;*
we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
8 Today if only you would hear his voice:*
‘Do not harden your hearts as Israel did in the wilderness;
9 when your fathers tested me;*
put me to proof though they had seen my works.
10 Of whom I swore in my wrath:*
“They shall not enter my rest.”’
Glory to the Father… (may be said by all)
or (from Psalm 97)
1 You are the Lord, most high over all the earth;*
you are exalted far above all gods.
2 The Lord loves those who hate evil;*
he preserves the lives of his saints
and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
3 Light has sprung up for the righteous,*
and joyful gladness for those who are truehearted.
4 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous.*
and give thanks to his holy name.
Glory to the Father…
or a suitable hymn
Psalm 50
1 The Lord, the God of gods, has spoken;*
he has called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty,*
God reveals himself in glory.
3 Our God will come and will not keep silence;*
before him there is a consuming flame,
and round about him a raging storm.
4 He calls the heavens and the earth from above*
to witness the judgement of his people.
5 ‘Gather before me my loyal followers,*
those who have made a covenant with me
and sealed it with sacrifice.’
6 Let the heavens declare the rightness of his cause;*
for God himself is judge.
7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak:
‘O Israel, I will bear witness against you;*
for I am God, your God.
8 I do not accuse you because of your sacrifices;*
your offerings are always before me.
9 I will take no bull-calf from your stalls,*
nor he-goats out of your pens;
10 For the beasts of the forest are mine,*
the herds in their thousands upon the hills.
11 I know every bird in the sky,*
and the creatures of the fields are in my sight.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,*
for the whole world is mine and all that is in it.
13 Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls,*
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving*
and make good your vows to the Most High.
15 Call upon me in the day of trouble;*
I will deliver you, and you shall honour me.’
16 But to the wicked God says:*
‘Why do you recite my statutes,
and take my covenant upon your lips;
17 Since you refuse discipline,*
and toss my words behind your back?
18 When you see a thief, you make him your friend,*
and you cast in your lot with adulterers.
19 You have loosed your lips for evil,*
and harnessed your tongue to a lie.
20 You are always speaking evil of your brother*
and slandering your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done, and I kept still,*
and you thought that I am like you.’
22 ‘I have made my accusation;*
I have put my case in order before your eyes.
23 Consider this well, you who forget God,*
lest I rend you and there be none to deliver you.
24 Whoever offers me the sacrifice of thanksgiving honours me;*
but to those who keep in my way will I show
the salvation of God.’
Blessed are you, God of glory; you call us to give up all our vain attempts to reach you, and to come before you in thanksgiving for your great salvation, shown to us in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Conclusion (Te Deum)
a We praise you, O God;
we acclaim you as Lord.
b All creation worships you,
the Father everlasting.
a To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
the cherubim and seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might:
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
a The glorious company of apostles praise you,
the noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
b 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 praise:
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.
a You, Christ, are the king of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
b When you took our flesh to set us free
you humbly chose the Virgin’s womb.
a You overcame the sting of death
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
b You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come to 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.
Antiphon: The Lord is King, let the earth rejoice,
let the multitude of the isles be glad.
READING(S)
Isaiah 8:16 – 9:1
Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples. I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. See, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. Now if people say to you, ‘Consult the ghosts and the familiar spirits that chirp and mutter; should not a people consult their gods, the dead on behalf of the living, for teaching and for instruction?’ surely, those who speak like this will have no dawn! They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry; when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will curse their king and their gods. They will turn their faces upwards, or they will look to the earth, but will see only distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be thrust into thick darkness.
But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
2 Peter 1:1-11
Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have received a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ:
May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants in the divine nature. For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For anyone who lacks these things is short-sighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins. Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.
Silence
Response (Ps. 89.1)
Lord I will sing of your loving kindnesses throughout all generations.
Lord I will sing of your loving kindnesses throughout all generations.
My mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.
Throughout all generations.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Lord I will sing of your loving kindnesses throughout all generations.
BENEDICTUS
Benedictus Antiphons: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,*
because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted. (Isaiah 61.1)
1 Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,*
for he has come to his people and set them free.
2 He has raised up for us a mighty saviour,*
born of the house of his servant David.
3 Through his holy prophets he promised of old*
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all that hate us.
4 He promised to show mercy to our forebears,*
and to remember his holy covenant.
5 This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:*
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
6 free to worship him without fear,*
holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
7 You my child shall be called the prophet of the Most High,*
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
8 to give his people knowledge of salvation*
by the forgiveness of all their sins.
9 In the tender compassion of our God*
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
10 to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,*
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory to the Father… (may be said by all)
Benedictus Antiphons: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,*
because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted. (Isaiah 61.1)
PRAYERS
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Do not bring us to to the time of trial,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever.
Amen.
Collect of the Day
God of power and mercy, you call us once again to celebrate the coming of your Son. Remove those things which hinder love of you, that when he comes he may find us waiting in awe and wonder for him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Let us bless the Lord:
Thanks be to God!
The Lord bless us and preserve us from all evil;
and bring us to life eternal.
Amen.
