Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. II:
Ordinary: 1054
Proper of Seasons: 235 (Midday)
Psalter: Tuesday, Week III, 1407

Midday Prayer for Tuesday of the 3rd Week of Lent, using the Current Psalmody

God, come to my assistance.
— Lord, make haste to help me.

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.

HYMN

Christ be near at either hand,
Christ behind, before me stand,
Christ with me where e’er I go,
Christ around, above, below.

Christ be in my heart and mind,
Christ within my soul enshrined,
Christ control my wayward heart;
Christ abide and ne’er depart.

Christ my life and only way,
Christ my lantern night and day,
Christ be my unchanging friend,
Guide and shepherd to the end.

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"Christ Be Near At Either Hand" by Rebecca Hincke • Available for Purchase • Musical Score • Title: Christ Be Near At Either Hand; Text: Traditional Irish text (the Lorica of St. Patrick); Artist: Rebecca Hincke; (c) 2017 Surgeworks, Inc. • Albums that contain this Hymn: Hymns and Chants of Divine Office, Vol. 3

PSALMODY

Ant. As I live, says the Lord, I do not wish the sinner to die but to turn back to me and live.

Psalm 119:97-104
XIII (Mem)

Lord, how I love your law!
It is ever in my mind.
Your command makes me wiser than my foes;
for it is mine for ever.

I have more insight than all who teach me
for I ponder your will.
I have more understanding than the old
for I keep your precepts.

I turn my feet from evil paths
to obey your word.
I have not turned away from your decrees;
you yourself have taught me.

Your promise is sweeter to my taste
than honey in the mouth.
I gain understanding from your precepts;
I hate the ways of falsehood.

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.

Psalm-prayer

Make us so love your law, Father, as to ponder it continually in our hearts. May it bear fruit in works acceptable to you.

Psalm 74
Lament for the destruction of the Temple
Do not fear those who can only kill the body (Matthew 10:28).

Why, O God, have you cast us off for ever?
Why blaze with anger against the sheep of your pasture?
Remember your people whom you chose long ago,
the tribe you redeemed to be your own possession,
the mountains of Zion where you made your dwelling.

Turn your steps to these places that are utterly ruined!
The enemy has laid waste to the whole of the sanctuary.
Your foes have made uproar in your house of prayer:
they have set up their emblems, their foreign emblems,
high above the entrance to the sanctuary.

Their axes have battered the wood of its doors.
They have struck together with hatchet and pickaxe.
O God, they have set your sanctuary on fire:
they have razed and profaned the place where you dwell.

They said in their hearts: “Let us utterly crush them:
let us burn every shrine of God in the land.”
There is no sign from God, nor have we a prophet,
we have no one to tell us how long it will last.

How long, O God, is the enemy to scoff?
Is the foe to insult your name for ever?
Why, O Lord, do you hold back your hand?
Why do you keep your right hand hidden?

Yet God is our king from time past,
the giver of help through all the land.

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.

It was you who divided the sea by your might,
who shattered the heads of the monsters in the sea.

It was you who crushed Leviathan’s heads
and gave him as food to the untamed beasts.
It was you who opened springs and torrents;
it was you who dried up ever-flowing rivers.

Yours is the day and yours is the night.
It was you who appointed the light and the sun:
it was you who fixed the bounds of the earth:
you who made both summer and winter.

Remember this, Lord, and see the enemy scoffing;
a senseless people insults your name.
Do not give Israel, your dove, to the hawk
nor forget the life of your poor ones for ever.

Remember your covenant; every cave in the land
is a place where violence makes its home.
Do not let the oppressed return disappointed;
let the poor and the needy bless your name.

Arise, O God, and defend your cause!
Remember how the senseless revile you all the day.
Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
the daily increasing uproar of your foes.

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.

Psalm-prayer

Lord, our faithful God, you permitted the temple of the old covenant to be destroyed and your people to be persecuted by unbelievers. Do not forget the new covenant sealed with the blood of your Son. Make the Church your spiritual house, and make us living stones built upon Christ so that a full and true temple may be founded at last.

Ant. As I live, says the Lord, I do not wish the sinner to die but to turn back to me and live.

READING Jeremiah 3:25b

We have sinned against the Lord, our God,
From our youth to this day, we and our fathers also;
we listened not to the voice of the Lord, our God.

Sacred Silence (indicated by a bell)
A moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church.

Turn your face away from my sins.
— Blot out all my guilt.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

May your grace not forsake us,
O Lord, we pray,
but make us dedicated to your holy service
and at all times obtain for us your help.
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.

ACCLAMATION (only added when praying in community)

Let us praise the Lord.
— And give him thanks.