And saint Paule & Silas, beinge in pryson, prayed to God at mydnyght, & then the erthe quaked, & all pryson dores opened, & all the fetters & bondes of prysoners were loosed
Our Lorde Iesu Chryst also prayed, not only in one parte of the nyght, but all the night He woke in prayer as the Gospel telleth... And furthermore some say that for at the Matyns tyme there apperyth a starre in the firmament guiding shipmen wherby shipmen ar ruled in the sea, & brynge themselfes to right haven, & for our mercyfull Lady is that star that sucoureth mankynde in the troubelous sea of this worlde, & bringeth her lovers to the haven of health : therfore it is worthy that she be served, & praysed at matyns tyme.
[From The Myroure of Oure Ladye, 15th century]
AD MATUTINUM
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| Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry De gebroeders van Limburg [Public domain] |
V. O Lord, ✠ open thou my lips.
R. Et os meum annuntiábit laudem tuam.
R. And my mouth shall declare thy praise
V. Deus ☩ (Large sign of the cross) in adjutórium meum inténde.
V. O God, ☩ come to my assistance;
R. Dómine, ad adjuvándum me festína.
R. O Lord, make haste to help me.
V. Glória Patri, et Fílio, * et Spirítui Sancto.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
R. Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper, * et in sæcula sæculórum. Amen. Allelúia.
R. As it was in the beginning, is now, * and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Alleluia.
From Compline of the Saturday before Septuagesima until None of Holy Saturday inclusively, instead of Alleluia, is said:
R. Laus tibi Dómine, Rex aeternae glóriae
R. Praise the thee, O Lord, King of everlasting glory.
The Invitatory
Ave María, grátia plena * Dóminus tecum.Hail, Mary, full of grace. * the Lord is with thee.
Repeat
Ave María, grátia plena * Dóminus tecum.
Hail, Mary, full of grace. * the Lord is with thee.
Psalmus 94
Veníte exultémus. An invitation to adore and serve God, and to hear his voice. Praise of a canticle for David himself.Veníte, exsultémus Dómino, jubilémus Deo, salutári nostro: præoccupémus fáciem ejus in confessióne, et in psalmis jubilémus ei.
Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
Ave María, grátia plena * Dóminus tecum.Quóniam Deus magnus Dóminus, et Rex magnus super omnes deos, quóniam non repéllet Dóminus plebem suam: quia in manu ejus sunt omnes fines terræ, et altitúdines móntium ipse cónspicit.
Hail, Mary, full of grace. * the Lord is with thee.
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. For the Lord will not cast off his people: for in his hand are all the ends of the earth, and the heights of the mountains are his.
Dóminus tecum.Quóniam ipsíus est mare, et ipse fecit illud, et áridam fundavérunt manus ejus (Genuflect) Veníte, adorémus, et procidámus ante Deum: plorémus coram Dómino, qui fecit nos, quia ipse est Dóminus, Deus noster; nos autem pópulus ejus, et oves páscuæ ejus.
The Lord is with thee.
For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. (Genuflect) Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us: For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
Ave María, grátia plena * Dóminus tecum.Hódie, si vocem ejus audiéritis, nolíte obduráre corda vestra, sicut in exacerbatióne secúndum diem tentatiónis in desérto: ubi tentavérunt me patres vestri, probavérunt et vidérunt ópera mea.
Hail, Mary, full of grace. * the Lord is with thee.
Today if you shall 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 proved me, and saw my works.
Dóminus tecum.Quadragínta annis próximus fui generatióni huic, et dixi; Semper hi errant corde, ipsi vero non cognovérunt vias meas: quibus jurávi in ira mea; Si introíbunt in réquiem meam.
The Lord is with thee.
Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart. And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.
Ave María, grátia plena * Dóminus tecum.V. Glória Patri, et Fílio, * et Spirítui Sancto.
Hail, Mary, full of grace. * the Lord is with thee.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
R. Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper, * et in sæcula sæculórum. Amen.
R. As it was in the beginning, is now, * and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Dóminus tecum.
The Lord is with thee.
Ave María, grátia plena * Dóminus tecum.
Hail, Mary, full of grace. * the Lord is with thee.
Hymnus
Quem terra, pontus, aéthera
Colunt, adórant, prædicant,
Trinam regéntem máchinam,
Claustrum Maríæ bájulat.
The God whom earth, and sea, and skyCui luna, sol, et ómnia
Adore, and laud, and magnify,
Who o’er their threefold fabric reigns,
The Virgin’s spotless womb contains.
Desérviunt per témpora,
Perfúsa cæli grátia,
Gestant puéllæ víscera.
The God, whose will by moon and sunBeáta Mater múnere,
And all things in due course is done,
Is borne upon a maiden’s breast,
By fullest heavenly grace possest.
Cujus supérnus Artifex
Mundum pugíllo cóntinens,
Ventris sub arca clausus est.
How blest that mother, in whose shrineBeáta cæli núntio,
The great artificer divine,
Whose hand contains the earth and sky,
Vouchsafed, as in his ark, to lie.
Fœcúnda sancto Spíritu,
Desiderátus géntibus,
Cujus per alvum fusus est.
Blest, in the message Gabriel brought;Glória tibi, Dómine,
Blest, by the work the Spirit wrought;
From whom the great desire of earth
Took human flesh and human birth.
Qui natus es de Vírgine,
Cum Patre, et almo Spíritu
In sempitérna sæcula.
Amen.
All honour, laud, and glory be,
O Jesu, Virgin-born to thee;
All glory, as is ever meet,
To Father and to Paraclete. Amen.
This hymn is followed by three Psalms which change depending on the day of the week.
For Sunday, Monday & Thursday, go to the First Nocturn.
For Tuesday & Friday, go to the Second Nocturn.
For Wednesday and Saturday, go to the Third Nocturn.
Notes on Psalm 94
[1] Veníte, exsultémus Dómino, jubilémus Deo, salutári nostro:[2] præoccupémus fáciem ejus in confessióne, et in psalmis jubilémus ei.
Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
An invitation and an exhortation to praise God. The word “come” contains an exhortation, exciting them to join heart and lips in praising God; just as the word is used in Genesis, where the people, exciting and encouraging each other, say, “Come, let as make bricks;” and “Come, let us make a city and a tower;” and, in the same chapter, the Lord says, “Come, let us go down, and there confound their tongue.” “Let us praise the Lord with joy.” He invites them first to exult in the spirit, and then to compress their joy in song; for song is of little value unless the mind be previously raised up to God in interior joy and admiration. Hence, it is written of the Lord himself, that “he rejoiced in the Holy Ghost, and said, I give thanks to thee, O Father;” and the Mother of the Lord said, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced.” The prophet, then, says, “Come, let us praise the Lord with joy.” Let us all unite in praising the Lord, giving full expression to our joy, and chanting hymns of praise to him who is our hope and salvation.
[2] This verse may be understood in two ways— (1) making the prophet summon us to rise early in the morning to praise God, as if he said, Before others rise let us be first before God; and in such spirit does the Church put this Psalm in the beginning of matins. (2) the prophet tells us to unite an avowal of our own misery with God’s mercy, making us come before him by acknowledging our sins, previous to his sitting in judgment on them, and punishing us for them; “and make a joyful noise with psalms,” in praising the great mercy so extended to us.
[3] Quóniam Deus magnus Dóminus, et Rex magnus super omnes deos, quóniam non repéllet Dóminus plebem suam: [4] quia in manu ejus sunt omnes fines terræ, et altitúdines móntium ipse cónspicit.
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. For the Lord will not cast off his people: for in his hand are all the ends of the earth, and the heights of the mountains are his.
He assigns five reasons why God should be praised by us. (1) our Lord is a great God, far above all other gods; and he is a great King, far higher than all other kings, who are sometimes called gods.
[4] (2) God’s power is supreme throughout the entire world, whether as to its length, or breadth, or height; and, therefore, all who inhabit the earth are subject to him, and owe him the sacrifice of praise. “For in his hand,” in his power, “are all the ends of the earth;” the whole world to its extreme boundaries; “and the heights of the mountains are his;” not only does the whole length and breadth of the land belong to him, but even up to the top of the highest mountains are subject to him. In a very old manuscript, after these words is read a verse from the preceding Psalm, “For the Lord will not cast off his people;” which verse is daily read in the divine office, but it is not in the Hebrew, the Greek, nor in the Vulgate. In the same copy, instead of the words, “the heights of the mountains are his,” the version is, “he sees the heights of the mountains;” indicating God’s elevation and power.
[5] Quóniam ipsíus est mare, et ipse fecit illud, et áridam fundavérunt manus ejus [6] (Genuflect) Veníte, adorémus, et procidámus ante Deum: plorémus coram Dómino, qui fecit nos, [7] quia ipse est Dóminus, Deus noster; nos autem pópulus ejus, et oves páscuæ[manus] ejus.
For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. (Genuflect) Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us: For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
[5] (3) our God is Lord, not only of the land but of the sea; for it is he who made it, and surrounded it with its sands that confine it as if in a bowl. It is, therefore, most meet that mankind, who derive so many benefits from the sea, should thank and praise him who gave it to them.
[6] (4) the same Lord that created the earth and the sea created us men, too, though we are daily offending our Creator by our sins. Come let us adore and fall down and weep, deploring our ingratitude and our sins, “before the Lord that made us;” and, therefore, our Lord by every title, to whom we owe implicit obedience.
[7] (5) the Lord not only made us, but he governs us by a special providence, as a shepherd would the flock that belonged to himself. St. Augustine notices an elegant transposition of words here, for instead of saying we are the people of his hand, and the sheep of his pasture, he connects people with pasture, and sheep with hand; to give us to understand that the people, in respect of God, are like sheep that need a shepherd; yet, still, that they are not sheep devoid of reason, that need to be driven with a staff; and they are called the sheep of his hand, either because he made them, or because he guides them with his hand; for though God’s people have shepherds and teachers to feed and to direct them, still God has a peculiar care for them, and does not let them suffer from the negligence or the ignorance, or even the malice of the pastors. Whence we infer that God’s people should put great confidence in God, their supreme Pastor, and have recourse to him, through prayer, when they fall in with an unworthy pastor, for God himself says, “I will feed my sheep,” Ezec. 34.
[8] Hódie, si vocem ejus audiéritis, nolíte obduráre corda vestra, [9] sicut in exacerbatióne secúndum diem tentatiónis in desérto: ubi tentavérunt me patres vestri, probavérunt et vidérunt ópera mea.
Today if you shall 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 proved me, and saw my works.
This is the second part of the Psalm, in which the prophet exhorts God’s people to praise God, not only by word of mouth, but also by their works. Now, the most agreeable sacrifice we can offer to God is the observance of his commandments, according to 1 Kings 15, “Doth the Lord desire holocausts and victims, and not rather that the voice of the Lord should be obeyed?” He introduces God speaking here, in order to give greater effect to his exhortation; for the use of the pronoun “his” would lead one to suppose it was other than God was speaking; still, in the Scripture, it is not unusual for God so to speak of himself as in the passage last quoted, “Doth the Lord desire holocausts?” for it is God himself who puts the question; so also the Holy Ghost in this passage says, “Today if you shall hear his voice,” if you will hear my voice, who am your Lord, “harden not your hearts.” The word “today” means, at present; and, as the Apostle, Heb. 3, explains, holds good or stands “whilst today is named;” that is, during the whole time of this life, for after this life time will be no longer, it will be eternity. The word “if” seems to mean, that God does not speak to us every moment, but that he advises in fitting time and place, either through his preachers, or through the reading of the Scriptures, or in some other mode to make his will known to us. The expression, “harden not your hearts,” signifies that the hearing of the voice of the Lord is of very little value, unless it penetrate the very inmost recesses of our hearts. The hardening of the heart is sometimes ascribed to God, sometimes to man, for the Lord says, Exod. 7, “I will harden Pharao’s heart;” and yet, in 1 Kings 6, it is said, “Why do you harden your hearts, as Egypt and Pharao hardened their hearts?” Now, God hardens the heart, not by the infusion of malice, but by withholding his mercy; for as St. Augustine says, God hardens, by deserting, by not helping; a thing he can do in his secret dispensations, but not by way of injustice. God is said to harden the heart justly, when he does not, by his grace, soften the reprobate; and man hardens his own heart when he resists the voice and the inspirations of God, according to Acts 7, “You always resist the Holy Ghost;” and by the passing pleasure of sin, which the Apostle calls “the deceitfulness of sin,” when he says, “Lest any of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin,” which induces man to resist God, and to close the ears of his conscience against him.
[9] He gives an example of the obduracy. For the fathers of old, who were led out of Egypt by Moses, while they were on the way, and were passing through the desert, hardened their hearts, and refused to believe in God’s promises or to obey him, more than once; and, therefore, they tempted him and got a proof of, and saw, his wonderful works; such as the manna that rained from heaven, and the water that spouted from the rock. He then says, “As in the provocation,” when they provoked God to anger; “according to the day of temptation in the wilderness,” at the time they were in the habit of tempting him, for it is not necessary to point out any one specific day, because they frequently rebelled against, and tempted, him; and the day, therefore, comprehends the whole term of their journey through the desert. “Where your fathers tempted me;” when they wanted to find out if I were truly God, and whether I could procure bread and water for them in the desert, of which the place seemed totally void. “They proved me, and saw my works,” where they had a proof of my omnipotence, seeing the things done by me could be done only by one truly divine, truly omnipotent.
[10] Quadragínta annis próximus fui generatióni huic, et dixi; Semper hi errant corde, [11] ipsi vero non cognovérunt vias meas: quibus jurávi in ira mea; Si introíbunt in réquiem meam.
Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart. And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.
He tells the length of time during which he was provoked and tempted. “Forty years long,” during the whole time that he was conducting them through the desert to the land of promise; “and I said, These always err in heart;” are carried away by various desires, and, therefore, wander and stray from the right path of salvation.
[11] He explains why they should have erred in their heart, “because they have not known my ways,” my laws which are the straight path, and anyone walking therein cannot possibly go astray; and when he says they have not known his laws, he means knowing them so as to observe them. The meaning, then, is, They who always err in heart have not known my ways, that lead to rest, and, therefore, have not come into rest. “So I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into it.” The rest, in a historical sense, was the land of promise, which very few of those who left Egypt saw at all, as the Lord swore, Num. 14, “As I live, saith the Lord; according as you have spoken in my hearing, so will I do to you. In the wilderness shall your carcasses lie.” In a higher sense, the rest means, that heavenly country, where alone is perfect rest and peace.
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