PRAYER FOR THIS MORNING (TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24)
Saint Andrew Dũng-Lac and Companions
Prayer for the Morning
Jesus Christ is the glory of all martyrs:
on this feast of the Vietnamese martyrs,
let us adore him!
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
Sing praise for all the martyrs
who carried Jesus’ cross.
They followed in his footsteps;
they counted gain as loss.
Our heroines and heroes,
their blood the Church’s seed,
Whose witness to the Gospel
led to their dying deed.
We praise you for the strength’ning
of Andrew at the last,
Who bravely bore his torments
and to the truth held fast.
Lord, grant our Church for ever
the grace to turn to you,
To follow in your footsteps
with courage ever new.
All praise to God the Father,
who made the martyrs be,
And praise the Holy Spirit,
their fount of charity.
All praises to Christ Jesus,
let crowns before him fall,
Exemplar of the martyrs:
their Joy, their Love, their All.
CANTICLE (Wisdom 3:1-6)
In God’s hand is the soul of every living thing,/ and the life breath of all mankind. (cf. Jb 12:10)
The martyrs bear witness to the core of Christ’s sacrifice: they surrender their lives into God’s hands to do with as he wills. To them, the present cost of their offering counts as nothing in comparison to life with the Lord who awaits them.
The souls of the just are in the hand of God,
and no torment shall touch them.
They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;
and their passing away was thought an affliction
and their going forth from us, utter destruction.
But they are in peace.
For if before men, indeed, they be punished,
yet is their hope full of immortality;
Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,
because God tried them
and found them worthy of himself.
As gold in the furnace, he proved them,
and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.
Glory to the Father….
Word of God (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
We are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal.
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,
and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking
in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body,
which is the church. (Col 1:24)
CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
The crucible for silver, and the furnace for gold,/ but the tester of hearts is the Lord. (Prv 17:3)
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 martyrs bear witness to the cost and the reward of living according to the Gospel. Through their intercession, let us pray:
R/Make your people steadfast in faith, O Lord.
For the Church throughout the world:
– that we may live the Gospel faith for which the martyrs died. R/
For those who suffer persecution for the Gospel’s sake:
– that they may find strength in the example of the martyrs. R/
For the Vietnamese Catholic communities who have remained faithful in the midst of war, exile, and hardship:
– that their lives may be a light to their neighbors. R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
O God of all glory, the genuineness of the martyrs’ faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, proved to be for the praise, glory, and honor of Jesus Christ. Through their intercession, grant to all your Church the fortitude of faith, the joy of love, and the determination born of hope through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
