Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. II:
Ordinary: 1045
Proper of Seasons: 896
Psalter: Wednesday, Week II, 1277
Office of Readings for Wednesday in Week 6 of Easter
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 for ever. Amen. Alleluia.
HYMN
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise him, for he is my health and salvation!
Come ye who hear:
brothers and sisters draw near,
praise him in glad adoration!
Praise to the Lord, who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under his wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen
All that his people have been
Granted in what he ordaineth?
Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee!
Surely his goodness and mercy here daily attend thee;
Ponder anew
What the Almighty can do,
He who with love can befriend thee!
Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before him.
Let the Amen
Sound from his people again;
Gladly for aye we adore him.
“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation”; Words: Joachim Neander (Straslund: 1680); translated from German to English by Catherine Winkworth, 1863.
“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation” by Choir Of King’s College, Cambridge is available from Amazon.com
PSALMODY
Ant. 1 We groan in pain as we await the redemption of our bodies, alleluia.
Psalm 39
Urgent prayer of a sick person
Creation is made subject to futility… by him who subjected it, but it is not without hope. (Romans 8:20)
I
I said: “I will be watchful of my ways
for fear I should sin with my tongue.
I will put a curb on my lips
when the wicked man stands before me.”
I was dumb, silent and still.
His prosperity stirred my grief.
My heart was burning within me.
At the thought of it, the fire blazed up
and my tongue burst into speech:
“O Lord, you have shown me my end,
how short is the length of my days.
Now I know how fleeting is my life.
You have given me a short span of days;
my life is as nothing in your sight.
A mere breath, the man who stood so firm,
a mere shadow, the man passing by;
a mere breath the riches he hoards,
not knowing who will have them.”
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. We groan in pain as we await the redemption of our bodies, alleluia.
Ant. 2 Hear and answer my prayer, O Lord; let me not weep in vain, alleluia.
II
And now, Lord, what is there to wait for?
In you rests all my hope.
Set me free from all my sins,
do not make me the taunt of the fool.
I was silent, not opening my lips,
because this was all your doing.
Take away your scourge from me.
I am crushed by the blows of your hand.
You punish man’s sins and correct him;
like the moth you devour all he treasures.
Mortal man is no more than a breath;
O Lord, hear my prayer.
O Lord, turn your ear to my cry.