Universalis: Office of Readings (2024)

If you have already recited the Invitatory Psalm today, you should use the alternative opening.

Lord, open our lips.

And we shall praise your name.

Christ the Lord has promised us the Holy Spirit: come, let us adore him, alleluia.

(repeat antiphon*)

O God, take pity on us and bless us,

and let your face shine upon us,

so that your ways may be known across the world,

and all nations learn of your salvation.

(repeat antiphon*)

Let the peoples praise you, O God,

let all the peoples praise you.

Let the nations be glad and rejoice,

for you judge the peoples with fairness

and you guide the nations of the earth.

(repeat antiphon*)

Let the peoples praise you, O God,

let all the peoples praise you.

The earth has produced its harvest:

may God, our God, bless us.

May God bless us,

may the whole world revere him.

(repeat antiphon*)

Glory be to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning,

is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

(repeat antiphon*)

* If you are reciting this on your own, you can choose to say the antiphon once only at the start of the psalm and not repeat it.

Eternal Father, through your Word

You gave new life to Adam’s race,

And call us now to live in light,

New creatures by your saving grace.

To you who stooped to all who sin

We render homage and give praise:

To Father, Son and Spirit blest

Whose loving gift is endless days.

Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal

Psalm 88 (89)
A lament at the ruin of the house of David

Pay heed, Lord, and see how we are taunted.

But you have spurned and rejected him;

you are enraged against your anointed.

You have repudiated the covenant of your servant,

you have trampled his crown in the dust.

You have demolished his walls

and laid his fortifications in ruins.

Anyone who passes can despoil him;

he is a mockery among his neighbours.

You have strengthened the arm of those who oppress him,

you have gladdened the hearts of his enemies.

You have turned back the sharp edge of his sword;

you have deprived him of your help in battle.

You have put an end to his splendour,

and cast his throne to the ground.

You have cut short the days of his youth;

you have covered him from head to foot in shame.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning,

is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Pay heed, Lord, and see how we are taunted.

Psalm 88 (89)

I am the root and stock of David; I am the splendid morning star. Alleluia.

How long, O Lord, will you hide yourself? For ever?

Will your anger always burn like fire?

Remember how short is my time.

Was it truly so pointless, your creation of man?

Who is the man who can live and not die,

who can save his life from the grasp of the underworld?

Where are the kindnesses you showed us of old?

Where is the truth of your oath to David?

Remember, Lord, how your servants are taunted,

the taunts I bear in my bosom, the taunts of the nations–

the insults of your enemies, Lord,

the insults that follow the steps of your anointed!

Blessed be the Lord for ever!

Amen, amen!

Glory be to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning,

is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

I am the root and stock of David; I am the splendid morning star. Alleluia.

Psalm 89 (90)
Let the Lord's glory shine upon us

Our years pass like grass; but you, God, are without beginning or end. Alleluia.

Lord, you have been our refuge

from generation to generation.

Before the mountains were born,

before earth and heaven were conceived,

from all time to all time, you are God.

You turn men into dust,

you say to them “go back, children of men.”

A thousand years in your sight

are like yesterday, that has passed;

like a short watch in the night.

When you take them away, they will be nothing but a dream;

like the grass that sprouts in the morning:

in the morning it grows and flowers,

in the evening it withers and dries.

For we are made weak by your anger,

thrown into confusion by your wrath.

You have gazed upon our transgressions;

the light of your face illuminates our secrets.

All our days vanish in your anger,

we use up our years in a single breath.

Seventy years are what we have,

or eighty for the stronger ones;

and most of that is labour and sadness–

quickly they pass, and we are gone.

Who can comprehend the power of your wrath?

Who can behold the violence of your anger?

Teach us to reckon our days like this,

so that our hearts may be led at last to wisdom.

Turn to us, Lord, how long must we wait?

Let your servants call on you and be answered.

Fill us with your kindness in the morning,

and we shall rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.

Give us joy for as long as you afflicted us,

for all the years when we suffered.

Let your servants see your great works,

and let their children see your glory.

Let the glory of the Lord God be upon us:

make firm the work of your hands.

Make firm the work of your hands.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning,

is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Our years pass like grass; but you, God, are without beginning or end. Alleluia.

℣. God raised our Lord from the dead, alleluia.

℟. He will also raise us by his power, alleluia.

Concerning prayer for sinners

I have written all this to you

so that you who believe in the name of the Son of God

may be sure that you have eternal life.

We are quite confident that if we ask him for anything,

and it is in accordance with his will,

he will hear us;

and, knowing that whatever we may ask, he hears us,

we know that we have already been granted what we asked of him.

If anybody sees his brother commit a sin

that is not a deadly sin,

he has only to pray, and God will give life to the sinner

– not those who commit a deadly sin;

for there is a sin that is death,

and I will not say that you must pray about that.

Every kind of wrong-doing is sin,

but not all sin is deadly.

We know that anyone who has been begotten by God

does not sin,

because the begotten Son of God protects him,

and the Evil One does not touch him.

We know that we belong to God,

but the whole world lies in the power of the Evil One.

We know, too, that the Son of God has come,

and has given us the power

to know the true God.

We are in the true God,

as we are in his Son, Jesus Christ.

This is the true God,

this is eternal life.

Children, be on your guard against false gods.

℟. We know that the Son of God has come,* and he has given us the power to know the true God, alleluia.

℣. No-one has ever seen God: it is God’s only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart, who has made him known,* and he has given us the power to know the true God, alleluia.

If I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you

After Christ had completed his mission on earth, it still remained necessary for us to become sharers in the divine nature of the Word. We had to give up our own life and be so transformed that we would begin to live an entirely new kind of life that would be pleasing to God. This was something we could do only by sharing in the Holy Spirit.

It was most fitting that the sending of the Spirit and his descent upon us should take place after the departure of Christ our Saviour. As long as Christ was with them in the flesh, it must have seemed to believers that they possessed every blessing in him; but when the time came for him to ascend to his heavenly Father, it was necessary for him to be united through his Spirit to those who worshipped him, and to dwell in our hearts through faith. Only by his own presence within us in this way could he give us confidence to cry out, Abba, Father, make it easy for us to grow in holiness and, through our possession of the all-powerful Spirit, fortify us invincibly against the wiles of the devil and the assaults of men.

It can easily be shown from examples both in the Old Testament and the New that the Spirit changes those in whom he comes to dwell; he so transforms them that they begin to live a completely new kind of life. Saul was told by the prophet Samuel: The Spirit of the Lord will take possession of you, and you shall be changed into another man. Saint Paul writes: As we behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, that glory, which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit, transforms us all into his own likeness, from one degree of glory to another.

Does this not show that the Spirit changes those in whom he comes to dwell and alters the whole pattern of their lives? With the Spirit within them it is quite natural for people who had been absorbed by the things of this world to become entirely other-worldly in outlook, and for cowards to become men of great courage. There can be no doubt that this is what happened to the disciples. The strength they received from the Spirit enabled them to hold firmly to the love of Christ, facing the violence of their persecutors unafraid. Very true, then, was our Saviour’s saying that it was to their advantage for him to return to heaven: his return was the time appointed for the descent of the Holy Spirit.

℟. If I do not go, your Advocate will not come, whereas if I go, I will send him to you.* When he comes, he will guide you into all the truth, alleluia.

℣. He will not speak on his own authority, but will tell only what he hears, and he will make known to you things that are to come.* When he comes, he will guide you into all the truth, alleluia.

Let us pray.

Lord God,

let your Spirit come upon us in power

and fill us with his gifts,

to render our minds pleasing to you

and make us docile to your will.

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.

Let us praise the Lord.

– Thanks be to God.

The psalms and canticles here are our own translation from the Latin. The Grail translation of the psalms, which is used liturgically in most of the English-speaking world, cannot be displayed on the Web for copyright reasons. The Universalis apps and programs do contain the Grail translation of the psalms.

You can also view this page in Latin and English.