December 13, 2021 Daily Prayer

Every day, we will post a few brief prayers inspired by the Liturgy of the Hours.

O Lord, open my lips. And my mouth shall declare your praise.

Psalm 123

To you have I lifted up my eyes,
you who dwell in the heavens:
my eyes, like the eyes of slaves
on the hand of their lords.

Like the eyes of a servant
on the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes are on the Lord our God
till he show us his mercy.

Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.
We are filled with contempt.
Indeed all too full is our soul
with the scorn of the rich,
with the proud man's disdain.

Reading: From a Discourse On the Contemplation of God by William of Saint Thierry

Truly you alone are the Lord. Your dominion is our salvation, for to serve you is nothing else but to be saved by you! O Lord, salvation is your gift and your blessing is upon your people; what else is your salvation but receiving from you the gift of loving you or being loved by you? That, Lord, is why you willed that the Son at your right hand, the man whom you made strong for yourself, should be called Jesus, that is to say Savior, for he will save his people from their sins, and there is no other in whom there is salvation. He taught us to love him by first loving us, even to death on the cross. By loving us and holding us so dear, he stirred us to love him who had first loved us to the end.

And this is clearly the reason: you first loved us so that we might love you—not because you needed our love, but because we could not be what you created us to be, except by loving you.

The Canticle of Mary

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, 
My spirit rejoices in God, my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.

Intercessions

May your glory fill the earth.
Come, Lord Jesus!
Protect us with your strength.
Come, Lord Jesus!
Show us the radiance of your divine light.
Come, Lord Jesus!
Dear Heavenly Father,
Help us to prepare for the coming of Christ your Son. May he find us waiting in joyful hope. We ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son, who lives with you and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.