Order of Prayers 3
1:00-6:00 a.m.
Opening Prayer
This short introductory prayer is traditional in our Society. It helps us to set the tone, spirit, and purpose of our recitation.
ALL KNEEL
Leader: (as all bless themselves with the Sign of the Cross)
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine.All: All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine.
Leader: Blessed be the holy and Immaculate Conception.
All: Of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.
THE INVITATION TO PRAYER
ALL STAND and make the Sign of the Cross on their lips as the Leader says:
Leader: O Lord, open my lips
All: and I will proclaim your praise.
Leader: Come, let us adore Christ, the Lord, the bread of life.
All: Come, let us adore Christ, the Lord, the bread of life.
PSALM 95
Leader: O come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the
rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!All: Come, let us adore Christ, the Lord, the bread of life.
Leader: For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods,
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The Sea is his, for he made it,
and the dry land, which his hands have formed.All: Come, let us adore Christ, the Lord, the bread of life.
Leader: O Come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our god, and the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
O that today, you would listen to his voice!All: Come, let us adore Christ, the Lord, the bread of life.
Leader: Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof,
though they had seen my work.All: Come, let us adore Christ, the Lord, the bread of life.
Leader: For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they do not regard my ways."
Therefore in my anger I swore "They shall not enter my rest."All: Come, let us adore Christ, the Lord, the bread of life.
Left Reader: Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Come, let us adore Christ, the Lord, the bread of life.Leader: I will take up the cup of salvation.
All: And I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
PSALM 24
The Psalmist sings the glory of the Lord's temple, and the greatness of God's presence in it--a presence that calls for purity of heart in all who come before it. Praying this Psalm, we praise the wonder of Christ's presence in our churches.
Leader: The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it,*
All SIT
Right Side: the world, and those who live in it;
L: for he has founded it on the seas,
and established it on the rivers.R: Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand
in his holy place?L: Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not
swear deceitfully.R: They will receive blessing from the Lord,
and vindication from the God of their salvation.L: Such is the company of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.R: Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory
may come in.L: Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle.R: lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory
may come in.L: Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory.All: Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.All: I will take up the cup of salvation, and I will offer a
sacrifice of praise.Right Reader STANDS
Left Reader: You are the way,
All: The truth and the life of the world, O Lord.
PSALM 66 - IILeft Reader: I will come into your house with burnt offerings;*
Left Reader SITS
L: I will pay you my vows,
R: those that my lips uttered and my mouth promised
when I was in trouble.L: I will offer to you burnt offerings of fatlings,
with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams; I will make an
offering of bulls and goats.R: Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for me.L: I cried aloud to him, and he was extolled with my tongue.
R: If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would
not have listened.L: But truly God has listened;
he has given heed to the words of my prayer.R: Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me.All: Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.All: You are the way, the truth and the life of the world,
O Lord.Leader STANDS
Leader: You gave them bread from heaven to be their food.
All: And this bread contained all goodness.
Leader: A reading from St. Paul's first letter to the Christians living in the City of Corinth (1 Cor. 11:17-33).
To understand the message St. Paul had for his people, we should know the circumstances that led him to write it. In the early days of the Church, with the memory of the Last Supper still vivid in the minds of many, the celebration of the Eucharist was linked to a brotherly meal. Now it seems that this meal too often degenerated into anything but a meal taken in brotherhood. The rich cared very little for the poor. They ate their fancy foods which they refused to share with others; they overdrank and formed divisive cliques. This, of course, was far from the spirit of the Last Supper and not at all conducive to a worthy celebration of the Eucharistic. It was to correct such abuses that St. Paul wrote the advice we are about to hear. (Pause a few moments here.)
In the following instructions I do not praise you; for your meetings actually do more harm than good. In the first place, I have been told that there are opposing groups in your meetings; and this, I believe, is partly true...When you meet together as a group, you do not come to eat the Lord's Supper. For as you eat, each one goes ahead with his own meal, so that some go hungry while others get drunk. Don't you have your own homes in which to eat and drink? Or would you rather despise the Church of God, and put to shame the people who are in need? What do you expect me to say about this? Should I praise you? of course, I do not praise you!
For from the Lord I received the teaching that I passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took the bread, gave thanks to God, broke it, and said: "This is my body, which is for you. Do this in memory of me." In the same way, he took the cup after the supper and said: "This is God's new covenant, sealed with my blood. Whenever you drink it, do it in memory of me." For until the Lord comes, you proclaim his death whenever you eat this bread and drink from this cup.
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves...so then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.
Leader SITS for at least two minutes to give the adorers time to think on the words just read to them.
Leader STANDS
Leader: I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate manna in the desert, and they died.
All: This is the bread that comes down from heaven; anyone who eats this bread will live forever.
Leader: I am the living bread come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever.
All: This is the bread that comes down from heaven; anyone who eats this bread will never die.
Leader SITS
Reader (Optional, Left or Right) STANDS
Reader: A reading from the instructions to the newly baptized converts at Jerusalem.
Without a doubt, Christ's teaching on the Holy Eucharist was not only of the greatest importance, but also most liable to be questioned and contradicted. In fact, the first time Jesus mentioned it, his hearers grumbled and thought the whole thing too hard to take. Fully aware of this problem, the leaders of the early Church saw to it that new Christians were carefully instructed on the Eucharistic Mystery. There could be no quibbling, no compromise about the Holy Eucharist. What might seem to be ordinary bread and wine was not what it appeared to be, but truly the Body of Christ. The following reading is an example of how this truth was explained to the early Christians of Jerusalem. (Pause a few moments.)
Our Lord Jesus Christ on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and handed it to his disciples saying: 'Take and eat; this is my body.' And taking the cup, and giving thanks, he said: 'Take and drink; this is my blood.'" Since, then, Christ himself clearly described the bread to us in the words, "This is my body," who would dare hence forward to dispute it? And since hews emphatically said, "This is my blood," who will waiver in the slightest and say it is not his blood?
So let us partake with the fullest confidence that it is the body and blood of Christ. For his body has been bestowed on you under the figure of bread, and his blood under the figure of wine, so that by partaking of Christ's body and blood you may become one body and blood with him. This is how we become bearers of Christ, since his body and blood spreads throughout our limbs; this is how, in the words of Saint Peter, "we become partakers of the divine nature."
Christ once said in conversation with the Jews: "Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you." They were scandalized because they did not interpret his words spiritually; they retreated from his presence, thinking he was exhorting them to cannibalism.
Even in the Old Testament there were "Loaves of the Presence," but since they belonged to the old dispensation they have come to an end. But in the New Testament the bread is of heaven and the chalice brings salvation, and they sanctify the soul and the body; for as the bread relates to the body, so the Word harmonizes with the soul.
Do not then regard the bread and wine as nothing but bread and wine, for they are the body and blood of Christ as the Master himself had proclaimed. Though your senses suggest otherwise, let faith reassure you.
You have been taught and fully instructed that what seems to be bread is not bread, though it appears to be such to the sense of taste, but the body of Christ; that what seems to be wine is not wine, though the taste would have it so, but the blood of Christ; that David was speaking of this long ago when he sang, "Bread strengthens the heart of man, that he may make his face glad with oil." So strengthen your heart by partaking of that spiritual bread, and gladden the face of your soul.
May you unveil it with conscience undefiled, and reflect the glory of the Lord, and pass from glory to glory of the Lord, and pass from glory to glory in Christ Jesus our Lord. To him be honor, power and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Reader SITS and pauses for at least two minutes to give the adorers time to think over the words just read to them.
Same Reader STANDS
Reader: Jesus took some bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying: This is my body which is given for you. Do this as a memorial of me.
All: I am the living bread which has come down from heaven; if anyone eats this bread he shall live forever.
Reader: I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate manna in the desert, and they died.
All: I am speaking of the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and never die.
All STAND
Leader: Let us pray,
Lord, Jesus Christ, we worship you living among us in the sacrament of your Body and Blood. May we offer to our Father in heaven a solemn pledge of undivided love. May we offer to all a life truly dedicated to the service of that kingdom where you live with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.All: Amen.
Antiphon in Honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Leader: Hail Holy Queen,
All: Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To you do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn, then, most gracious advocate, your eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
All SIT - Here the Leader announces a period of silent meditative prayer. (5-7 minutes)
MORNING PRAYER
All STAND
Leader: O God, come to my assistance.
All: Lord, make haste to help me.
All: Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
The following hymn may be recited or sung -- preferably sung, whenever possible. See No. 280 of the General Instruction on the Liturgy of the Hours. Any other better known hymn to the Blessed Sacrament may be substituted for this one, if so desired.
Leader: Hail our Savior's glorious Body,
Right Side:
Which his Virgin Mother bore;
Hail the blood which, shed for sinners
Did a broken world restore.
Hail the sacraments most holy,
Flesh and Blood of Christ adore!Left Side:
To the Virgin, for man's healing,
His own Son the Father sends;
From the Father's love proceeding
Sower, seed and Word descends;
Wondrous life of Word incarnate
With his greatest wonder ends!Right Side:
On that paschal evening see him
With the chosen twelve recline,
To the old law still obedient
In its feast of love divine;
Love divine, the new law giving,
Gives himself as Bread and Wine!Left Side:
By his word the Word almighty
Makes of bread his flesh indeed;
Wine becomes his very life-blood:
Faith God's living Word must heed!
Where the senses cannot lead!Right Side:
Come, adore this wondrous presence;
Bow to Christ, the source of grace!
Here is kept the ancient promise
Of God's earthly dwelling place!
Sight is blind before God's glory,
Faith alone may see his face!Left Side:
Glory be to God the Father,
Praise to his co-equal Son,
Adoration to the Spirit,
Bond of love, in Godhead one!
Blest be God by all creation
Joyously while ages run!Leader: You fed your people with the bread of angels;
All: You gave them bread from heaven.
PSALM 63 (2 -9)
(Leader) David wrote this Psalm when he was in the desert, and longed to see God in His sanctuary. All night long he thought of God. All night long we use his words to express our desire to love and serve God.
Leader: O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you;
Left Side: my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.R: So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
L: Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
R: So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on your name.
L: My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
R: when I think of you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
L: for you have been my help, and in the shadow of you wings I sing for joy.
R: My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
All: Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
All: You fed your people with the food of angels; you gave them bread from heaven.
Right Reader STANDS
Right Reader: Holy Priests
All: Will offer incense and bread to God.
CANTICLE (Daniel 3:57-88, 56)
(Right Reader) Three young men thrown into a raging furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar for refusing to worship a golden statue of himself, were miraculously preserved from death. In their gratitude, with the fire raging around them, they sang the praises of God in the following words. Their inspired words well express our own feelings in the presence of God.
Right Reader: All things the Lord has made, bless the Lord:
Right Reader
Right Side: Give glory and eternal praise to Him!
Left Side: Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord! Heavens, bless the Lord!
Waters above the heavens, bless the Lord! Powers of the Lord, bless the Lord!R: Sun and moon bless the Lord! Stars of heaven, bless the Lord!
Showers and dew, bless the Lord! Winds, bless the Lord!All: Give glory and eternal praise to him!
L: Fire and heat, bless the Lord! Cold and heat, bless the Lord!
Dews and sleets, bless the Lord!R: Frost and cold, bless the Lord! Ice and snow, bless the Lord!
Nights and days, bless the Lord! Light and darkness, bless the Lord!All: Give glory and eternal praise to him!
L: Lightning and clouds, bless the Lord! Let all the earth bless the Lord!
Mountains and hills, bless the Lord!
Everything that grows on earth, bless the Lord!R: Springs of water, bless the Lord! Seas and rivers, bless the Lord!
Sea beasts and everything that lives in the water, bless the Lord!All: Give glory and eternal praise to him!
L: Birds of heaven, bless the Lord! Animals wild and tame, bless the Lord!
Sons of men, bless the Lord! Israel, bless the Lord!R: Priests, bless the Lord! Servants of the Lord, bless the Lord!
Spirits and souls of the just, bless the Lord!All: Give glory and eternal praise to him!
L: Devout and humble-hearted, bless the Lord!
Ananiah, Azariah, and Mishael, bless the Lord!R: Bless the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!
Blessed are you, Lord, in the vault of heaven!All: Give glory and eternal praise to him!
All: Holy priests will offer incense and bread to God.
Left Reader STANDS
Left Reader: I will give to the victorious
All: The hidden bread and a new name.
PSALM 149
(Left Reader) We have here an exuberant song. It expresses the joy of God's people. It also sings our joy that Christ was good enough to give us the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.
Left Reader: Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song,
Left Reader SITS
Left Side: His praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Right Side: Let Israel be glad in its Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.
L: Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.
R: For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with victory.
L: Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their couches.
R: Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands,
L: to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples,
R: to bind their kings with fetters and their nobles with chains of iron,
L: to execute on them the judgment decreed. This is the glory for all his faithful ones. Praise the Lord!
All: Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
All: I will give to the victorious the hidden bread and a new name.
Leader STANDS
Leader: A short reading from the Book of Malachi (1:11)
For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in very place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.
The Leader SITS and pauses for a couple of minutes to allow the adorers to think on what has been read.
All STAND
Leader: You bring forth bread from the earth,
All: You bring forth bread from the earth,
Leader: And wine which warms our hearts.
All: You bring forth bread from the earth.
Leader: Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All: You bring forth bread from the earth.
Leader: I am the living bread come down from heaven;
All: Anyone who eats this bread will live forever.
GOSPEL CANTICLE (Luke, 1:68-79)
Right Reader, as all sing themselves with the Sign of the Cross:
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;
Right Side: for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.
L: He has raised up a might savior for us, in the house of his servant David,
R: as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets form of old, that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
L: Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant,
R: the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,
L: might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
R: And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
L: to give knowledge of salvation to his people, by the forgiveness of their sins.
R: By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us,
L: to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
All: Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
All: I am the living bread come down from heaven; anyone who eats this bread will live forever.
INTERCESSIONS
Leader: Let us pray to Jesus Christ, the bread of life, as we joyfully say:
All: Happy are those who are called to your heavenly banquet.
Leader: Priest of the new and eternal covenant, you offered the perfect sacrifice to the Father on the altar of the Cross,
All: Teach us to offer ourselves with you.
Right Reader: King of justice and peace, you consecrated bread and wine as the sign of your offering,
All: Unite us as victims with you.
Right Reader: True worshiper of the Father, your perfect offering is celebrated by the Church from the rising to the setting of the sun,
All: Unite in your body all those who partake of the one bread.
Left Reader: Manna from heaven, you nourish the Church with your Body and Blood,
All: Grant that we may walk strengthened by this food.
Left Reader: You promised you would stay with us until the end of time,
All: Help us to see the realization of that promise in your abiding presence in the Eucharist.
Leader: Christ, our Savior, whom we honor by our presence here,
All: Prosper our Society, and draw all its members closer to you, and in you closer to each other.
Leader: Christ, our Lord and Savior, you commanded that the Eucharistic Mystery be celebrated as a proclamation of your death,
All: Let all Nocturnalists who die in you partake in your Resurrection.
Leader: We pause a few moments to formulate our personal intentions.
Here adorers are encouraged to make know and share their intentions. They should be brief and direct. When all have spoken...
Leader: Lord, we have made known and shared with each other our needs,
All: In your goodness hear our confident prayers.
Leader: And now let us make our prayer and praise complete by offering the Lord's prayer:
All: Our Father....
Leader: Let us pray (pause a moment)
Leader: Lord Jesus Christ, we worship you living among us in the sacrament of your Body and Blood. May we offer to our Father in heaven a solemn pledge of undivided love. May we offer to all a life truly dedicated to the service of that kingdom where you live with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
All: Amen.
Leader: May the Lord bless us all, protect us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.
All: Amen.
All KNEEL
Leader: Prayer to our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament.
All: O Virgin Immaculate, Mother of Jesus and our own Mother, our Lady of the most Blessed Sacrament, we honor you. It was from you that our Savior, present and living in the Holy Eucharist, took his flesh and blood, -- the same flesh and blood which he offered in sacrifice to the Father, and with which he feeds us in Holy Communion. Give us a deeper appreciation of the Eucharistic Mystery, an unwavering loyalty to the words of your Son: "This is my body...this is my blood," a practical faith in what the Holy Eucharist means to the Church whose living presence we honor by our presence here. May we be blessed through your intercession, for, in the divine plan, it was you who made it possible for us to receive the source of life, our Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns in the Holy Eucharist for love of us. Amen.
The Leader announces a period of silent prayer stating how many minutes it will last (usually 5-7 minutes).
When that time is over the Leader announces one of the prayers in Part III ( ) Prayer of Adoration, or Thanksgiving, or Reparation, or Petition.
N.B. The idea is to offer variety by using different sections every month. If there is time two sections may be used - for example adoration and reparation, one month; thanksgiving and petition, another month; adoration and thanksgiving, etc., etc. in any combination, different each month. The Moderator will determine what practice to follow.
Five minutes before the end of the hour the Leader says:
Prayers for the Deceased, page
The Leader finishes the Hour with
Prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father, to gain the Plenary Indulgence granted for the Hour.
Our Father (once).
Hail Mary (once).
Office of the Blessed Sacrament