2nd Week of Lent
Friday Morning Prayer
God, come to my assistance. Glory to the Father.
As it was in the beginning.
Alleluia.
HYMN
The glory of these forty days
We celebrate with songs and praise
For Christ, by whom all things are made,
Himself has fasted and has prayed.
Alone with fasting Moses saw
The loving God who gave the law;
And to Elijah, fasting, came
The seeds and chariots of flame.
So Daniel trained his mystic sight,
Deliver’d from the lions’ might;
And John, the Bridegroom’s friend, became
The herald of Messiah’s name.
The grant us, Lord, like them to do
Such things as bring great praise to you;
Our spirits strengthen with your grace
And give us joy to see your face.
O Father, Son, and Spirit blest,
To you the every prayer addressed
And by all mankind be adored,
From age to age, the only Lord.
Ant 1 – A humble, contrite heart, O God, you will no spurn.
PSALM 51
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offense.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
My offenses truly I know them;
my sin is always before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
what is evil in your sight I have done.
That you may be justified when you give sentence
and be without reproach when you judge.
O see, in guilt I was born,
a sinner was I conceived.
Indeed you love truth in the heart;
then in secret of my heart teach me wisdom.
O purify me, then I shall be clean;
O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me hear rejoicing and gladness,
that the bones you have crushed may revive.
From my sins turn away from your face
and blot out all my guilt.
A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.
Give me again the joy f your help;
with a spirit of fervor sustain me,
that I may teach transgressors your ways
and sinners may return to you.
O rescue me, God, my helper,
and my tongue shall ring out your goodness.
O Lord, open my lips
and my mouth shall declare your praise
For in sacrifice you take no delight,
burnt offering from me you would refuse,
my sacrifice, a contrite spirit.
A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.
In your goodness, show favor to Zion:
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice,
holocausts offered on your altar.
Ant. 1 – A humble, contrite heart, O God, you will no spurn.
Ant. 2 – Even in your anger, Lord, you will remember compassion.
CANTICLE HABAKKUK 3
O Lord, I have heard from renown,
and feared, O Lord, your work.
In the course of the years revive it,
in the course of the years make it known;
in the wrath remember compassion!
God comes from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.
Covered are the heavens with his glory,
and with his praise the earth is filled.
His splendor spreads like the light;
rays shine forth from beside him,
where his power is concealed.
You come forth to save your people,
to save your anointed one.
You treat the sea with your steeds
amid the churning of the deep waters.
I hear, and my body trembles;
at the sound, my lips quiver.
Decay invades my bones,
my legs tremble beneath me.
I await the day of distress
that will come upon the people who attack us.
For though the fig tree blossom not
nor fruit the yield of olive fail
and the terraces produce no nourishment,
though the flocks disappear from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet will I rejoice in the Lord
and exult in my saving God.
God, my Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet swift as those of hinds
and enables me to go upon the heights.
Ant. 2 – Even in your anger, Lord, you will remember compassion.
Ant. 3 – O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
PSALM 147
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
Zion, praise your God!
He has strengthened the bars of your gates,
he has blessed the children within you.
He established peace on your borders,
he feeds you with finest wheat.
He sends out his word to the earth
and swiftly runs his command.
He showers down snow white as wool,
he scatters hoar-frost like ashes.
He hurls down hailstones like crumbs.
The waters are frozen at this touch;
he sends forth his word and it melts them;
at the breath of his mouth the waters flow.
He makes his word known to Jacob,
to Israel his laws and decrees.
He has not dealt thus with others nations;
he has not taught them his decrees.
Ant. 3 – Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
READING
Isaiah 53: 11b-12
Through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear.
Therefore I will give him his portion among the great, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty,
because he surrendered himself to death and was counted among the wicked;
and he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses.
RESPONSORY
God himself will set me free, from the hunter’s snare.
— God himself will set me free, from the hunter’s snare.
From those who would trap me with lying words
— and from the hunter’s snare.
Glory to the Father . . .
— God himself will . . .
CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
Ant. — He will bring those evil men to an evil end and entrust his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the harvest at the proper season.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham;
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of sins.
In tender compassion of our God
the dawn on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
INTERCESSIONS
Let us pray to Christ our Savior, who redeemed us by his death and resurrection:
— Lord, have mercy on us.
You went up to Jerusalem to suffer and so enter into your Glory,
— bring your Church to the Passover feast of heaven.
You were lifted high on the cross and pierced by the soldier’s lance,
— heal our wounds.
You made the cross the tree of life,
— give its fruit to those reborn in baptism.
On the cross your forgave the repentant thief,
— forgive us our sins.
Our Father . . .
PRAYER
Merciful Father,
may our acts of penance bring us your forgiveness,
open our hearts to your love,
and prepare us for the coming feast of the resurrection.
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.
