PRAYER FOR THIS MORNING (FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6)
First Friday of the Month
Prayer for the Morning
Be strong, let your heart take courage,/
all who hope in the Lord. (Ps 31:25)
Glory to the Father…. Alleluia!
HYMN
Lead, kindly Light, amidst th’encircling gloom,
Lead thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home;
Lead thou me on!
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.
I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou
Shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now
Lead thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will: remember not past years!
So long thy power hath blessed me, sure it still
Will lead me on.
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!
PSALM 16
If we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. (Rom 14:8)
The Church spends the month of November making additional offerings for the souls in purgatory, and so we pray for all those who have died with hearts open to God’s love. As we pray for their souls to be purified and led to heaven, we ourselves follow the path Jesus has laid out for us, in hope of reaching the same happy end.
Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you.
I say to the Lord: “You are my God.
My happiness lies in you alone.”
He has put into my heart a marvelous love
for the faithful ones who dwell in his land.
Those who choose other gods increase their sorrows.
Never will I offer their offerings of blood.
Never will I take their name upon my lips.
O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup;
it is you yourself who are my prize.
The lot marked out for me is my delight:
welcome indeed the heritage that falls to me!
I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel,
who even at night directs my heart.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight:
since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.
And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad;
even my body shall rest in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead,
nor let your beloved know decay.
You will show me the path of life,
the fullness of joy in your presence,
at your right hand happiness for ever.
Glory to the Father….
Word of God (Romans 8:35, 37-39)
What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This saying is trustworthy:/ If we have died with him/ we shall also live with him. (2 Tm 2:11)
CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
God did not make death,/ nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living./ For he fashioned all things that they might have being. (Wis 1:13-14)
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
We entrust the souls of our loved ones, and indeed all the faithful departed, to the hands of our heavenly Father, as we pray:
R/Lead your people home!
Remember your Son’s Paschal sacrifice for their sake:
– and look upon them with mercy. R/
Forgive the sins they have committed through human weakness:
– and may the angels bring them to your side. R/
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
– and may perpetual light shine upon them. R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
Loving Father, who pour out your love abundantly upon all who seek you, draw unto yourself the souls of all the faithful departed, that they who strove to live by the light of your law while here on earth may, by our prayers, be rushed to their heavenly reward. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
