Prayers from The Divine Hours, compiled by Phyllis Tickle supplemented with a few other meditations and prayers.
The Call to Prayer
Psalm 55:17
I will call upon God, and the Lord will deliver me. In the evening, in the morning, and at the noonday, I will complain and lament, and God will hear my voice… God, who is enthroned of old, will hear me.
The Request for Presence
Psalm 50: 3
Our God will come and will not keep silence, before him there is a consuming flame, and round about him a raging storm.
The Sarum Prayer
God be in my head—and in my understanding
God be in my eyes—and in my looking
God be in my mouth—and in my speaking
God be in my heart—and in my thinking
God be at my end—and at my departing
Light Meditation
Picture the quality of a clear, yellow sunlight, such as you might notice in the early morning, shining through the leaves of a nearby stand of trees. Then, over the course of a full minute, imagine that same quality of sunlight streaming into your body from just above the head, steadily filling the body with light from the soles of the feet, up through the legs, filling the chest, the arms, shoulders, neck and head with light.
The Greeting
Psalm 25: 10
For your Name’s sake, O Lord, forgive my sin, for it is great.
The Refrain for the Reading
Psalm 109: 25
Help me, O Lord my God; save me for your mercy’s sake.
A Reading
John 5: 26-30
Jesus taught us, saying: ‘For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and because he is the Son of Man, has granted him power to give judgment. Do not be surprised at this, for the hour is coming when the dead will leave their graves at the sound of his voice: those who did good will come forth to life; and those who did evil will come forth to judgement. By myself I can do nothing; I can only judge as I am told to judge, and my judging is just, because I seek not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
The Refrain
Help me, O Lord my God; save me for your mercy’s sake.
The Psalm
Psalm 73: 1–20
Truly God is good …
to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
my steps had nearly slipped.
For I was envious of the arrogant;
I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For they have no pain;
their bodies are sound and sleek.
They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not plagued like other people.
Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them like a garment.
Their eyes swell out with fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
They set their mouths against heaven,
and their tongues range over the earth.
Therefore the people turn and praise them,
and find no fault in them.
And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
Such are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
All in vain I have kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
For all day long I have been plagued,
and am punished every morning.
If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,”
I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.
But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I perceived their end.
Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
They are like a dream when one awakes, O Lord,
when you arise you make their image vanish.
Reflection on the Psalm
The term “the wicked” does not refer to what we might call “ordinary sinners.” It is reserved for rulers and other powerful people who oppress those with less power. Over the next minute ponder the line, “They are like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you arise you make their image vanish.” Consider this in light of any wicked rulers or powerful people who brazenly oppress people you care about. Repeat this line over a few times, pausing in between, with this in mind.
The Serenity Prayer
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
Prayer for Loved Ones
Over the next minute simply name your loved ones, calling each to mind in love, lifting each in the embrace of remembered love, to the God who is the source of all being.
The Prayer Appointed for the Week
O God, you have taught me to keep all your commandments by loving you and my neighbor. Grant me the grace of your Holy Spirit, that I may be devoted to you with my whole heart, and united to others with pure affection, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen
The Concluding Prayer of the Church
Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought me in safety to this new day. Preserve me with your mighty power, that I may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all I do direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Benediction
Go in peace, wash your hands, love your neighbors—you are not alone.