Adapted from Everyday Catholic Prayer: A Little Office Book, by Angela Tilby.
The Invocation: 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
Cloud of Witnesses Meditation
Now let’s call to mind and heart, the ancestors—loved and admired ones who have gone before us and surround us, we are told, in the cloud of witnesses. Over the next minute simply remember and name those who have gone before you and whose presence in remembered loved, surrounds you now. Over the next minute, go ahead.
Refrain for the Psalm
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
Psalm 126
When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
Refrain for the Psalm
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
Song of the Servant
Isaiah 53: 2–5 (Robert Alter)
He grew up like a shoot before Him
and like a root from parched land.
He had no features nor decent appearance–
we saw nothing in his looks that we might desire
Despised and shunned by people,
a man of sorrows and visited by illness,
And like one from whom the gaze is averted,
despised, and we reckoned him naught.
Indeed he has borne our illness,
and our sorrows he has carried.
But we had reckoned him plagued,
God-stricken and tormented.
Yet he was wounded with our crimes,
crushed for with transgressions.
The chastisement that restored our well-being he bore,
and through his bruising we were healed.
The Wisdom of Jesus
John 12: 23–26
Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for the life of the Age. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also.”
Response to the Reading
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our [father/mother/creator] in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy good realm come,
Thy will be done,
On earth as in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our sins,
As we forgive those who sin against us.
And lead us not into the time of trial,
But deliver us from evil.
Amen
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.
Prayer to Face the Frustrations of the Day
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.
A Pause for Gratitude
Take about 30 seconds to focus on one or two things that you are grateful for.
Celtic Journey Blessing
Bless to me O God, the earth beneath my feet.
Bless to me O God, the path whereon I go.
Bless to me O God, the thing of my desire.
Thou Evermore of evermore,
Bless Thou to me my rest.
Benediction
Go in peace, wash your hands, love your neighbors—you are not alone.