Prayer for the Morning
The Lord accepts our prayer: come, let us adore!
Glory to the Father…. Alleluia!
Hymn
O only hope of all below
Who dost the full reward bestow:
Regard thy servants one and all
Who unto thee devoutly call.
Our troubled conscience tells that we
Have bitterly offended thee;
We pray thee, cleanse us by thy grace
And every stain of sin efface.
If thou wilt not, who shall condone?
Send pardon, for ’tis thine alone;
And grant that we may pray aright
From hearts all blameless in thy sight.
Psalm 6
The Lord God will wipe away/ the tears from all faces. (Is 25:8)
The poet of this first of the seven penitential psalms pleads with God for deliverance from the dreadful misery of sin. Our foes are really our own distorted thoughts and selfish habits, which wreak more damage than we often imagine.
Lord, do not reprove me in your anger;
punish me not, in your rage.
Have mercy on me, Lord, I have no strength;
Lord, heal me, my body is racked;
my soul is racked with pain.
But you, O Lord…how long?
Return, Lord, rescue my soul.
Save me in your merciful love;
for in death no one remembers you;
from the grave, who can give you praise?
I am exhausted with my groaning;
every night I drench my pillow with tears;
I bedew my bed with weeping.
My eye wastes away with grief;
I have grown old surrounded by my foes.
Leave me, all you who do evil;
for the Lord has heard my weeping.
The Lord has heard my plea;
the Lord will accept my prayer.
All my foes will retire in confusion,
foiled and suddenly confounded.
Glory to the Father….
Word of God. Daniel 9:4-5, 9
I prayed to the Lord, my God, and confessed, “Ah, Lord, great and awesome God, you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you and observe your commandments! We have sinned, been wicked and done evil; we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws. But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness!”
Gracious and merciful is God! (cf. Jl 2:13)
Canticle of Zechariah
Blessed are they who mourn/ for they will be comforted. (Mt 5:4)
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 their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
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…
Intercessions
God wipes away our tears of repentance with the hand of mercy. Let us pray for ourselves and for all sinners:
R/O Lord, hear! O Lord, pardon! (Dn 9:19)
Forgive us our pride: R/
Forgive us our stubbornness of heart: R/
Forgive us our anger against one another: R/
Forgive us our greed in all its forms: R/
Forgive us our mercilessness: R/
Forgive us the harm we have done: R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
God of mercy and compassion, you hold out to us the hand of your mercy to raise us up from the misery our selfish sinfulness has brought upon us and upon those whose lives we touch. Teach us to weep where we have caused weeping, to mourn where we have caused mourning, and to lift up what we have brought low. In hope and trust, we turn to you for healing, through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
