INVITATORY
DAILY BEGINNING THE LITURGY OF THE HOURS
General Instruction to the Liturgy of the Hours: Chapter II, Section I
O Lord open my lips
34. The whole Office regularly begins with a invitatory. This consists in the verse
" Lord, open my lips. And my mouth will proclaim your praise" and Psalm 95.
This psalm invites the faithful each day to sing God’s praise and to listen to his voice and draws them to hope for “the Lord’s rest.”[1]
In place of psalm 95, psalm 100, psalm 67 or psalm 24 may be used.
35. The invitatory is placed at the beginning of the whole sequence of the day’s prayer, that is, it precedes either Morning Prayer or the Office of Readings, whichever of these liturgical actions begins the day.
The psalm with its antiphon may, however, be omitted when it should precede Morning Prayer.
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Pray an Invitatory Psalm each day even if one does not pray a whole Hour as symbol of our discernment of and/or commitment to praying the Hours:
1) as a deepening of our intimate friendship with Christ especially as present in scripture and the Liturgy of the Hours.
2) as deepening our communion with all those throughout history who have filled their lives with the Gospels, the Psalms, and the Hours.
3) as a deepening of our communion with the many who today pray the Hours
4) as an expression of our commitment to evangelization, especially bring Christ's presence in the Hours into our daily lives and those around us.
Let us pray that we and others may have gift of the time to celebrate Morning and Evening Prayer.
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DAILY DISCERNMENT
Where am I finding God in my life?
When, where and with whom, and for whom
might I pray some part of the Hours, however small?
How is my friendship with Christ deepening?
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and my mouth shall proclaim your praise
PSALM 24
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Come, let us sing joyful songs to the Lord
V. The Lord's is the earth and its fullness, the world and all its people.
V. The Lord's is the earth and its fullness, the world and all its people.
R. Who shall climb the mount of the Lord, who shall stand in his Holy Place?
V. O gates lift high your heads!
R. Let him enter the King of Glory!
V. Who is the King of Glory?
R. The Lord of Hosts!
PSALM 95
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Come worship the Lord
for we are the people whom God gently shepherd
V. Come, let us sing to the Lord
and shout with joy to the Rock who saves us
R. Let us approach him with praise and thanksgiving
and sing joyful songs to the Lord
V. The Lord is God the mighty God
the great king over all the Gods
R. Come, then, let us bow down and worship
bending the knee before the Lord, our maker
V. Today, listen to the voice of the Lord
Do not grow stubborn as your father did in the wilderness
R. Forty years I endured that generation
I said "They are a people whose hearts go astray
they do not know my ways
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PSALM 100
Come, let us worship our mighty King and Lord
V. Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth
V. Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth
Serve the Lord with gladness
R. Come before him, singing for joy
V. He made us, we belong to him
R. We are his people, the sheep of his flock.
V. Enter his courts with songs of praise
R. Give thanks to him and bless his name
V. Eternal his merciful love,
R. He is faithful from age to age
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PSALM 67
Come let worship the Lord
the Lord is our God
V. O God be gracious and bless us
and let your face shed its light upon us.
R. So will your ways be known upon the earth
and all nations learn your saving help
V. With fairness you rule the peoples
you guide the nations on earth
R. Let the peoples praise you, O God
Let the peoples praise you.
V. The earth has yielded its fruit
V. The earth has yielded its fruit
for God, our God, has blessed us.
R. May God give us his blessing
til the ends of the earth revere him.
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Conclude with the Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer - ICEL Chant
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