THE DIVINE HOURS

The Call to Prayer

Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you;* let those who love your salvation say for ever, "Great is the LORD!"

Psalm 70:4

The Request for Presence

But as for me, I am poor and needy;* come to me speedily, O God.

Psalm 70:5

The Greeting

O LORD, I am your servant;* I am your servant and the child of your handmaid; you have freed me from my bonds.

Psalm 116:14

The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Our days are like the grass;* we flourish like a flower of the field.

Psalm 103:15

A Reading

He called the people to him again and said, 'Listen to me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that goes into someone from outside can make that person unclean; it is the things that come out of someone that make that person unclean. . . . For it is from within, from the heart, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean.'

Mark 7:14-15, 21-23

The Refrain

Our days are like the grass;* we flourish like a flower of the field.

The Morning Psalm

Teach Us to Number Our Days

Our iniquities you have set before you,* and our secret sins in the light of your countenance. When you are angry, all our days are gone;* we bring our years to an end like a sigh. The span of our life is seventy years, perhaps in strength even eighty;* yet the sum of them is but labor and sorrow, for they pass away quickly and we are gone. Who regards the power of your wrath?* who rightly fears your indignation? So teach us to number our days* that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.

Psalm 90:8-12

The Refrain

Our days are like the grass;* we flourish like a flower of the field.

The Cry of the Church

O Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world, have mercy upon me. O Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world, have mercy upon me. O Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world, grant me your peace.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your Name. May your kingdom come, and 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. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for yours are the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

The Prayer Appointed for the Week

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon all your faithful people your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Concluding Prayer of the Church

Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought me in safety to this new day: Preserve me with your mighty power, that I may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all I do direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

The Divine Hours are reprinted here with permission of Doubleday and Phyllis Tickle. Not for distribution without permission from the author.
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