WEEK D
O Lord, open our lips:
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be forever. Amen.
PSALMODY
Antiphon: Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness;*
make your way straight before me.
Opening – (From Psalm 5)
In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;*
early in the morning I make my appeal and watch for you.
Through the greatness of your mercy I will go into your
house;*
I will bow down toward your holy temple in awe of you.
All who take refuge in you will be glad;*
they will sing out their joy for ever.
You will shelter them,*
so that those who love your name may exult in you.
Glory to the Father…
Psalm 145
I will exalt you, O God my King,*
and bless your name for ever and ever.
Every day will I bless you*
and praise your name for ever and ever.
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;*
there is no end to his greatness.
One generation shall praise your works to another*
and shall declare your power.
I will ponder the glorious splendour of your majesty*
and all your marvellous works.
They shall speak of the might of your wondrous acts,*
and I will tell of your greatness.
They shall publish the remembrance of your great goodness;*
they shall sing of your righteous deeds.
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,*
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The Lord is loving to everyone*
and his compassion is over all his works.
All your works praise you, O Lord,*
and your faithful servants bless you.
They make known the glory of your kingdom*
and speak of your power;
That the peoples may know of your power*
and the glorious splendour of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;*
your dominion endures throughout all ages.
The Lord is faithful in all his words*
and merciful in all his deeds.
The Lord upholds all those who fall;*
he lifts up those who are bowed down.
The eyes of all wait upon you, O Lord,*
and you give them their food in due season.
You open wide your hand*
and satisfy the needs of every living creature.
The Lord is righteous in all his ways*
and loving in all his works.
The Lord is near to those who call upon him,*
to all who call upon him faithfully.
He fulfils the desire of those who fear him,*
he hears their cry and helps them.
The Lord preserves all those who love him,*
but he destroys all the wicked.
My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord;*
let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.
Glory be to the Father . . .
Almighty God, give us grace to know you more and more, that knowing we may love and loving we may praise, that the whole world may hear your name and worship you, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Conclusion (from Isaiah 66)
Rejoice with Jerusalem and exult in her,*
all you who love her.
Share her joy with all your heart,*
all you who mourn over her.
Then you may suck and be fed from her breasts,*
delighting in her plentiful milk.
For thus says the Lord, I will send peace flowing over her like
a river,*
and the wealth of nations like a stream in flood;
you shall be carried in her arms,*
and rocked upon her knees.
As a mother comforts her child,*
so will I myself comfort you, and you shall find strength
in Jerusalem.
This you shall see and be glad at heart;*
your limbs shall be as the fresh grass in spring.*
Then I myself will gather all nations;*
and they shall come and behold my glory.
Glory to the Father…
Antiphon: Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness;*
make your way straight before me.
READINGS
Daniel 2: 1-11, 25-48
In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed such dreams that his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him. So the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. When they came in and stood before the king, he said to them, ‘I have had such a dream that my spirit is troubled by the desire to understand it.’ The Chaldeans said to the king (in Aramaic), ‘O king, live for ever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will reveal the interpretation.’ The king answered the Chaldeans, ‘This is a public decree: if you do not tell me both the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins. But if you do tell me the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honour. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation.’ They answered a second time, ‘Let the king first tell his servants the dream, then we can give its interpretation.’ The king answered, ‘I know with certainty that you are trying to gain time, because you see I have firmly decreed: if you do not tell me the dream, there is but one verdict for you. You have agreed to speak lying and misleading words to me until things take a turn. Therefore, tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation.’ The Chaldeans answered the king, ‘There is no one on earth who can reveal what the king demands! In fact no king, however great and powerful, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. The thing that the king is asking is too difficult, and no one can reveal it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.’
Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king and said to him: ‘I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who can tell the king the interpretation.’ The king said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, ‘Are you able to tell me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?’ Daniel answered the king, ‘No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or diviners can show to the king the mystery that the king is asking, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has disclosed to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen at the end of days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed were these: To you, O king, as you lay in bed, came thoughts of what would be hereafter, and the revealer of mysteries disclosed to you what is to be.But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me because of any wisdom that I have more than any other living being, but in order that the interpretation may be known to the king and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.
‘You were looking, O king, and lo! there was a great statue. This statue was huge, its brilliance extraordinary; it was standing before you, and its appearance was frightening. The head of that statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. As you looked on, a stone was cut out, not by human hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, were all broken in pieces and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
‘This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. You, O king, the king of kings—to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the might, and the glory, into whose hand he has given human beings, wherever they live, the wild animals of the field, and the birds of the air, and whom he has established as ruler over them all—you are the head of gold. After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over the whole earth. And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron; just as iron crushes and smashes everything, it shall crush and shatter all these. As you saw the feet and toes partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but some of the strength of iron shall be in it, as you saw the iron mixed with the clay. As the toes of the feet were part iron and part clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. As you saw the iron mixed with clay, so will they mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall this kingdom be left to another people. It shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever; just as you saw that a stone was cut from the mountain not by hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The great God has informed the king what shall be hereafter. The dream is certain, and its interpretation trustworthy.’
Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, worshipped Daniel, and commanded that a grain-offering and incense be offered to him. The king said to Daniel, ‘Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery!’ Then the king promoted Daniel, gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.
Ephesians 1: 11-23
In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Silence
Response (Ps. 63:4)
V. The eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him.
R. The eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him.
V. On those who wait upon his love.
R. On those who fear him.
V. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
R. The eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him.
BENEDICTUS
Benedictus Antiphon: God has raised up for us* a mighty saviour.
Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,*
for he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty saviour,*
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 that hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our forebears,*
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 all 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 be to the Father.
Benedictus Antiphon: God has raised up for us* a mighty saviour.
PRAYERS
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Do not bring us to the time of trial,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.
Collects
Almighty God, whose chosen servant Abraham obeyed your call, rejoicing in your promise that in him the family of the earth is blessed, give us faith like his, that in us your promises may be fulfilled; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
God most holy, we give you thanks for bringing us out of the shadow of night into the light of morning; and we ask you for the joy of spending this day in your service, so that when evening comes, we may once more give you thanks, through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.
Let us bless the Lord:
Thanks be to God!
The Lord bless us and preserve us from all evil;
and bring us to life eternal. Amen.
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