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Office of Readings
Friday, December 25, 2026 • The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)
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 on this great solemnity.
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 on this great solemnity.
Hymn
What Child Is This
What child is this, who, laid to rest,
on Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
while shepherds watch are keeping?
on Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
while shepherds watch are keeping?
Psalmody
Psalm 58Rescue from Enemies
Ant. Today Christ is born for us; glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will.
Rescue me from my enemies, O my God, and protect me from those who rise up against me.
Rescue me from those who work iniquity, and save me from men of blood.
For behold they have caught my soul; the strong have rushed in upon me.
Neither is it my iniquity nor my sin, O Lord; without iniquity I have run and directed.
Rise up to meet me and see; and you, Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel.
Attend so as to visit all the Gentiles; do not spare any who work iniquity.
They will return in the evening and they will suffer hunger like dogs and will circle the city.
Behold, they will speak in their mouth, and a sword is on their lips.
"For who has heard us?"
But you, O Lord, will laugh at them; you will bring all the Gentiles to nothing.
I will keep my strength to you, for you, O God, are my support.
My God, his mercy will precede me.
God will let me see over my enemies; do not slay them, lest at some time my people forget.
Scatter them by your power and bring them down, O Lord, my shield.
The sin of their mouth, the word of their lips, and let them be caught in their pride.
And because of their cursing and lying, they will be proclaimed in consummation, in the wrath of consummation, and they will be no more.
And they will know that God will rule Jacob and all the ends of the earth.
They will return in the evening and will suffer hunger like dogs and will circle the city.
They will be dispersed to eat; but if they are not satisfied, they will murmur.
But I will sing your strength, and in the morning I will exult in your mercy.
For you have been my supporter and my refuge in the day of my tribulation.
You, my helper, I will sing to you; for you, O God, are my support, my God, my mercy.
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. Today Christ is born for us; glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will.
Psalm 59Prayer After Defeat
Ant. Today Christ is born for us; glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will.
O God, you have rejected us and have destroyed us; you have been angry and you have shown mercy to us.
You have moved the earth and troubled it; heal its wounds, for it has been moved.
You have shown your people harsh things; you have given us wine of sorrow to drink.
You have given a sign to those who fear you, so that they may flee from before the bow, so that your beloved may be rescued.
Save with your right hand and hear me, so that those whom you love may be rescued.
God has spoken in his holy place; I will rejoice, and I will divide Shechem, and I will measure out the valley of tents.
Gilead is mine and Manasseh is mine; and Ephraim is the strength of my head.
Judah is my king; Moab, the pot of my hope.
Into Edom I will extend my shoe; the foreigners have been made subject to me.
Who will lead me into the reinforced city? Who will lead me even into Edom?
Will it not be you, O God, who have rejected us and will you not, O God, go out in our armies?
Give us help from tribulation; for the salvation of man is useless.
Through God we will be strengthened; and he will bring our enemies to nothing.
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. Today Christ is born for us; glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will.
Psalm 60Confidence in God's Protection
Ant. Today Christ is born for us; glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will.
Hear, O God, my supplication; attend to my prayer.
I cried out to you from the ends of the earth, when my heart was in anguish; you have exalted me on a rock.
You have led me, for you have been my hope: a tower of strength against the face of the enemy.
I will dwell in your tabernacle forever; I will be covered under the cover of your wings.
For you, my God, have heard my prayer; you have given an inheritance to those who fear your name.
You will add days to the days of the king; his years will be even to the day of every generation.
He endures forever in the sight of God; who will seek the mercy and truth of him?
So I will sing a psalm to your name forever and ever, so that I may repay my vows from day to day.
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. Today Christ is born for us; glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will.
First Reading: Scripture
Galatians 4:4-5
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.
Second Reading: Patristic or Hagiographic
The Word Made Flesh
The mystery of the Incarnation is holy and sacred, holy and divine. It is holy because it was conceived by the Holy Spirit; divine because God himself took the initiative. And consider the marvel of it. A virgin conceives, yet remains a virgin; she gives birth, yet her integrity is untouched; a human being is born, yet God is not diminished. The Word becomes flesh, yet the Word does not cease to be. Earth acquires a heavenly citizen, yet heaven does not lose one. Power is clothed in weakness, yet the omnipotent is not diminished. The Eternal enters time, yet eternity remains unbroken. The Immense enters what is small, yet what is small does not contain the Immense. All this is a mystery. What is impossible by nature is possible for God. Believe what you cannot understand; worship what you cannot comprehend. Approach with wonder. The one born today is the one who made all things; the one who cried in the manger is the one who spoke the universe into being.
Responsory
V. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
R. and we have seen his glory.
V. Full of grace and truth,
R. we have seen his glory.
Te Deum (Sundays and Solemnities)
1
Concluding Prayer
Lord, as we pray the Office of Readings during this holy season, draw us deeper into the mystery of your love made visible in Jesus Christ; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Dismissal
Let us praise the Lord.
And give him thanks.