← Prayer Book
Office of Readings
Sunday, December 6, 2026 • 1st Sunday of Advent
Opening
O 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 forever. Amen.
Invitatory
Ant. Come, let us adore the Lord who is to come.
Come, let us exult in the Lord; let us shout with joy to God our salvation.
Let us come before his face with praise and exult in him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods.
For the Lord does not cast off his people; for in his hand are all the ends of the earth.
And the heights of the mountains belong to him.
For the sea is his, and he made it; and his hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us adore and fall down before God; let us weep before the Lord who made us.
For he is the Lord our God; and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness,
where your fathers tempted me; they tried me and saw my works.
For forty years I was close to this generation, and I said: "They always err in heart."
And these people have not known my ways, so I swore in my wrath that they will not enter into my rest.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Ant. Come, let us adore the Lord who is to come.
Hymn
The King Shall Come
The King shall come when morning dawns
and light triumphant breaks,
when beauty gilds the eastern hills
and life to joy awakes.
and light triumphant breaks,
when beauty gilds the eastern hills
and life to joy awakes.
Psalmody
Psalm 1The Way of the Just
Ant. The Spirit and the Bride say: Come, Lord Jesus, come.
Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and has not stood in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the chair of pestilence.
But his will is in the law of the Lord, and he will meditate on his law day and night.
And he will be like a tree that is planted near the flowing streams of water, which will yield its fruit in its time, and its leaf will not fall away, and all things whatsoever that he does will prosper.
But the ungodly are not so; they are like the dust that the wind blows away from the face of the earth.
Therefore the ungodly will not rise up again in judgment, nor sinners in the council of the just.
For the Lord knows the way of the just, and the way of the ungodly will perish.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Ant. The Spirit and the Bride say: Come, Lord Jesus, come.
Psalm 2The Reign of the Lord's Anointed
Ant. The Spirit and the Bride say: Come, Lord Jesus, come.
Why have the Gentiles raged, and why have the peoples been meditating on vain things?
The kings of the earth have stood up, and the leaders have joined together as one, against the Lord and against his Christ.
"Let us break their bonds apart," and let us cast their yoke away from us."
He who dwells in the heavens will mock them, and the Lord will laugh at them.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and he will trouble them in his fury.
But I have been appointed king by him over Zion, his holy mountain, proclaiming his precept.
The Lord said to me: "You are my son; this day I have begotten you."
"Ask of me, and I will give you the Gentiles as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession."
"You will rule them with an iron rod, and you will break them like a potter's vessel."
And now, O kings, understand; accept instruction, you who judge the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice in him with trembling.
Accept discipline, lest the Lord become angry and you perish from the just way.
When his anger burns in a short time, blessed are all who trust in him.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Ant. The Spirit and the Bride say: Come, Lord Jesus, come.
Psalm 3Morning Prayer for Help
Ant. The Spirit and the Bride say: Come, Lord Jesus, come.
O Lord, why have those who afflict me increased? Many are rising up against me.
Many say to my soul, "There is no salvation for him in his God."
But you, O Lord, are my defender; you are my glory and the one who lifts up my head.
I have cried out to the Lord with my voice, and he has heard me from his holy mountain.
I have slept and been at rest, and I have risen up, because the Lord has taken me up.
I will not fear the thousands of people surrounding me; arise, O Lord; save me, my God.
For you have struck all who are hostile to me without cause; you have shattered the teeth of sinners.
Salvation is of the Lord, and your blessing is upon your people.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Ant. The Spirit and the Bride say: Come, Lord Jesus, come.
First Reading: Scripture
Luke 1:26-28
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."
Second Reading: Patristic or Hagiographic
Waiting for Christ
Christ is already in that place of peace, which is all in all. He is on the right hand of God. He is hidden in the brightness of the radiance which issues from the everlasting throne. He is in the very abyss of peace, where there is no voice of tumult or distress, but a deep stillness — stillness, that greatest and most awful of all goods which we can fancy — that most perfect of joys, the utter profound, ineffable tranquility of the divine essence. He has entered into his rest. That is our home; here we are on a pilgrimage, and Christ is calling us home. He calls us to meet him. We know that he is there, and we know that we have to follow him — that all are to go one way or another. Let us try to make a beginning now of what will one day be our perfect work. Every moment of our life we are coming closer to him. Let each Advent find us further on the road than the one before.
Responsory
V. Come, Lord Jesus, do not delay.
R. Come, Lord Jesus, do not delay.
V. Give new courage to your people,
R. who trust in your word.
Te Deum (Sundays and Solemnities)
1
Concluding Prayer
Lord, grant us through this Office of Readings a heart like Mary's, open to receive your word and ready to act upon it; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Dismissal
Let us praise the Lord.
And give him thanks.