← Prayer Book
Office of Readings
Wednesday, December 9, 2026 • Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin
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 coming to bring salvation to his people.
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 coming to bring salvation to his people.
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 10Trust in the Lord
Ant. Let justice surge like water, and goodness like an unfailing stream.
In the Lord I have trusted; how do you say to my soul: "Flee to the mountain like a sparrow!"
For behold, sinners have bent their bow; they have prepared their arrows in the quiver, to shoot in the dark the upright of heart.
For they have destroyed the things that you have accomplished; but what has the just man done?
The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven.
His eyes look upon the poor; his eyelids examine the sons of men.
The Lord examines the just and the impious; but he who loves iniquity hates his own soul.
He will rain down snares upon sinners; fire and brimstone and the spirit of tempests will be the portion of their cup.
For the Lord is just and has loved justices; his face has seen uprightness.
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. Let justice surge like water, and goodness like an unfailing stream.
Psalm 11Prayer Against the Faithless
Ant. Let justice surge like water, and goodness like an unfailing stream.
Save me, O Lord, for the holy man has failed, for truths have decreased from among the sons of men.
They have spoken vain things, each one to his neighbor; deceitful lips are in their heart, and in their heart they have spoken evils.
May the Lord destroy all deceitful lips and the tongue that speaks proud things.
Those who say: "We will magnify our tongue; our lips are our own; who is our Lord?"
"Because of the misery of the needy and the groaning of the poor, I will now arise," says the Lord.
"I will place him in salvation; I will deal confidently with him."
The words of the Lord are pure words: silver tried by fire, purged from the earth, refined sevenfold.
You, O Lord, will keep us and preserve us from this generation forever.
The impious walk around; according to your greatness you have multiplied the sons of men.
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. Let justice surge like water, and goodness like an unfailing stream.
Psalm 12Trusting in God's Salvation
Ant. Let justice surge like water, and goodness like an unfailing stream.
How long, O Lord, will you forget me to the end? How long do you turn your face away from me?
How long will I take counsel in my soul, sorrow in my heart through the day?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
Look upon me and hear me, O Lord my God.
Enlighten my eyes, lest I ever sleep in death, lest at any time my enemy say: "I have prevailed against him."
Those who trouble me will rejoice when I am moved; but I have trusted in your mercy.
My heart will rejoice in your salvation; I will sing to the Lord, who gives good things to me, and I will sing to the name of the Lord Most High.
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. Let justice surge like water, and goodness like an unfailing stream.
First Reading: Scripture
Isaiah 61:1
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners.
Second Reading: Patristic or Hagiographic
The Humility of the Incarnation
He who gives richly to all, who is not impoverished by giving, who is the source of light, the principle of wisdom, the treasury of grace and the giver of good things; he who is the Word before words, the intellect before intellects, the reason in all reasoning — this same Word, this reason, took flesh and became man, and was called Jesus Christ and was crucified. He endured the contradiction of sinners against himself, and submitted to such dishonor, so that he might save man from dishonor and raise us to his own dignity. He who is pure became impure; he who is without sin became sin; he who is without weakness took on our weakness, in order to save man and make us his own. By his first coming in poverty he proved that he is the lover of humanity; by his promised second coming in glory he will prove that he is the judge of all. Let us then prepare ourselves for both his comings, reverencing the one which has already taken place and longing with holy desire for the one which is still to come.
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.
Concluding Prayer
Father, the church has passed down the faith through the writings of the saints. May their words enlighten our Advent pilgrimage; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Dismissal
Let us praise the Lord.
And give him thanks.