Saint Thomas Becket
Prayer for the Morning
The Lord comes to us:
come, let us adore him, alleluia!
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
In his Temple now behold him,
See the long-expected Lord;
Ancient prophets had foretold him—
God has now fulfilled his word.
Now to praise him, his redeemèd
Shall break forth with one accord.
In the arms of her who bore him,
Virgin pure, behold him lie,
While his agèd saints adore him
Ere in faith and hope they die.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Lo, th’incarnate God most high.
Jesus, by your presentation,
You, who did for us endure,
Make us see our great salvation,
Seal us with your promise sure.
And present us in your glory
To your Father, cleansed and pure.
PSALM 22:26-32
Suddenly there will come to the temple/ the Lord whom you seek. (Mal 3:1)
The long-awaited Messiah comes. The glory of the Lord fills the Temple, hidden in the person of a child of the poor. The salvation for which we wait can come to us in small, unrecognized ways. That is the way of the Incarnation.
You are my praise in the great assembly.
My vows I will pay before those who fear him.
The poor shall eat and shall have their fill.
They shall praise the Lord, those who seek him.
May their hearts live for ever and ever!
All the earth shall remember and return to the Lord,
all families of the nations worship before him
for the kingdom is the Lord’s; he is ruler of the nations.
They shall worship him, all the mighty of the earth;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust.
And my soul shall live for him, my children serve him.
They shall tell of the Lord to generations yet to come,
declare his faithfulness to peoples yet unborn:
“These things the Lord has done.”
Glory to the Father….
Word of God (Ezekiel 43:2, 3b-5)
I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. I heard a sound like the roaring of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. I fell prone as the glory of the Lord entered the temple by way of the gate which faces the east, but spirit lifted me up and brought me to the inner court. And I saw that the temple was filled with the glory of the Lord.
And we have seen his glory! (cf. Jn 1:14)
CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
The Lord shall be your light forever,/ your God shall be your glory. (Is 60:19)
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
The light has come and has shone upon a world enveloped in darkness; the Dayspring from on high has visited us and given light to those who lived in darkness. Let us pray:
R/Let him enter, the King of glory.
Light from light, give the light of hope to those who seek your face. R/
Light of the world, give the light of faith to those who dwell in unbelief. R/
Light of the nations, give the light of the Gospel to those who live in ignorance. R/
Light no darkness can extinguish, give the light of love to the aged, sick, and dying who await you in patient faith. R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
O God who dwell in unapproachable light, you have come among us to lighten our darkness. Open our eyes to see your glory concealed in the revelations of daily life; open our hearts to receive you with Simeon’s welcoming faith. 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.
