PRAYER FOR THIS MORNING (THURSDAY, AUGUST 27)
Saint Monica
Prayer for the Morning
May the name of the Lord be blessed
both now and for evermore!
Glory to the Father…. Alleluia!
HYMN
For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
PSALM 113
Her children rise up and praise her;/ her husband, too, extols her. (Prv 31:28)
When Augustine left his mother in search of truth among philosophies far from her devout Christian faith, she never ceased to weep and to pray until her son gladdened her heart with his conversion to ardent faith and became one of the princes among the Church’s theologians.
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!
May the name of the Lord be blessed
both now and for evermore!
From the rising of the sun to its setting
praised be the name of the Lord!
High above all nations is the Lord,
above the heavens his glory.
Who is like the Lord, our God,
who has risen on high to his throne
yet stoops from the heights to look down,
to look down upon heaven and earth?
From the dust he lifts up the lowly,
from his misery he raises the poor
to set him in the company of princes,
yes, with the princes of his people.
To the childless wife he gives a home
and gladdens her heart with children.
Glory to the Father….
Word of God (Ezekiel 19:2-3a)
What a lioness was your mother,/ a lion of lions!/ Among young lions she couched/ to rear her whelps./ One whelp she raised up,/ a young lion he became.
Give her a reward of her labors,/ and let her works praise her at the city gates. (Prv 31:31)
CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
Can a mother forget her infant,/ be without tenderness for the child of her womb?/ Even should she forget,/ I will never forget you. (Is 49:15)
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
Saint Monica’s holiness shines as a light among women. Through her intercession, let us pray in faith:
R/Lift up the lowly, O Lord.
For all Christians married to nonbelievers, as Saint Monica was:
– keep them firm in faith and make them strong in holiness. R/
For all parents who seek to raise their children in the faith of Jesus Christ:
– grant that their love may bear fruit. R/
For all who devote themselves to a life of prayer and good works:
– sustain them in zeal and contentment. R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
O God of all kindness, strength of those who weep, you gathered up with love Saint Monica’s tears for the conversion of her son Augustine; through the power of their prayer, grant to us all the grace to know how to weep for our sins, to seek out those who stray with our prayers, and to come before you as one in the Kingdom won for us by your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
