Little Office of
Divine Wrath

Lauds

Through the Year (Pentecost Monday, Matins—Wednesday of Holy Week, Compline)

Introduction

The Our Father and Hail Mary are prayed silently.

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation: But deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace; The Lord is with thee; Blessed art thou amongst women, And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Psalmody

Ant. Hearken * to the voice of my prayer, O my King and my God.

Psalm 5

Give ear, O Lord, to my words * understand my cry.
Hearken to the voice of my prayer, * O my King and my God.
For to thee will I pray: * O Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear my voice.
In the morning I will stand before thee, and will see: * because thou art not a God that willest iniquity.
Neither shall the wicked dwell near thee: * nor shall the unjust abide before thy eyes.
Thou hatest all the workers of iniquity: * thou wilt destroy all that speak a lie.
The bloody and the deceitful man the Lord will abhor. * But as for me in the multitude of thy mercy,
I will come into thy house; * I will worship towards thy holy temple, in thy fear.
Conduct me, O Lord, in thy justice: * because of my enemies, direct my way in thy sight.
For there is no truth in their mouth: * their heart is vain.
Their throat is an open sepulchre: they dealt deceitfully with their tongues: * judge them, O God.
Let them fall from their devices: according to the multitude of their wickednesses cast them out: * for they have provoked thee, O Lord.
But let all them be glad that hope in thee: * they shall rejoice for ever, and thou shalt dwell in them.
And all they that love thy name shall glory in thee: * For thou wilt bless the just.
O Lord, thou hast crowned us, * as with a shield of thy good will.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. Hearken to the voice of my prayer, O my King and my God.

Ant. Deliver me * from my enemies, O Lord, to thee have I fled.

Psalm 142

Hear, O Lord, my prayer: give ear to my supplication in thy truth: * hear me in thy justice.
And enter not into judgment with thy servant: * for in thy sight no man living shall be justified.
For the enemy hath persecuted my soul: * he hath brought down my life to the earth.
He hath made me to dwell in darkness as those that have been dead of old: * and my spirit is in anguish within me: my heart within me is troubled.
I remembered the days of old, I meditated on all thy works: * I meditated upon the works of thy hands.
I stretched forth my hands to thee: * my soul is as earth without water unto thee.
Hear me speedily, O Lord: * my spirit hath fainted away.
Turn not away thy face from me, * lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.
Cause me to hear thy mercy in the morning; * for in thee have I hoped.
Make the way known to me, wherein I should walk: * for I have lifted up my soul to thee.
Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord, to thee have I fled: * teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God.
Thy good spirit shall lead me into the right land: * for thy name’s sake, O Lord, thou wilt quicken me in thy justice.
Thou wilt bring my soul out of trouble: * and in thy mercy thou wilt destroy my enemies.
And thou wilt cut off all them that afflict my soul: * for I am thy servant.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord, to thee have I fled.

Ant. My God * hath been my help.

Psalm 62

O God, my God, * to thee do I watch at break of day.
For thee my soul hath thirsted; * for thee my flesh, O how many ways!
In a desert land, and where there is no way, and no water: * so in the sanctuary have I come before thee, to see thy power and thy glory.
For thy mercy is better than lives: * thee my lips shall praise.
Thus will I bless thee all my life long: * and in thy name I will lift up my hands.
Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness: * and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.
If I have remembered thee upon my bed, I will meditate on thee in the morning: * because thou hast been my helper.
And I will rejoice under the covert of thy wings: my soul hath stuck close to thee: * thy right hand hath received me.
But they have sought my soul in vain, they shall go into the lower parts of the earth: * they shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall be the portions of foxes.
But the king shall rejoice in God, all they shall be praised that swear by him: * because the mouth is stopped of them that speak wicked things.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. My God hath been my help.

Ant. O Lord, great art thou * and glorious in thy power.

Canticle of Judith (Jdt 16:15–22)

Let us sing a hymn to the Lord, * let us sing a new hymn to our God.
O Adonai, Lord, great art thou, and glorious in thy power, * and no one can overcome thee.
Let all thy creatures serve thee: * because thou hast spoken, and they were made:
Thou didst send forth thy spirit, and they were created, * and there is no one that can resist thy voice.
The mountains shall be moved from the foundations with the waters: * the rocks shall melt as wax before thy face.
But they that fear thee, * shall be great with thee in all things.
Woe be to the nation that riseth up against my people: for the Lord almighty will take revenge on them, * in the day of judgment he will visit them.
For he will give fire, and worms into their flesh, * that they may burn, and may feel for ever.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. O Lord, great art thou and glorious in thy power.

Ant. In God I have put my trust: * I will not fear what flesh can do against me.

Psalm 55

Have mercy on me, O God, for man hath trodden me under foot; * all the day long he hath afflicted me fighting against me.
My enemies have trodden on me all the day long; * for they are many that make war against me.
From the height of the day I shall fear: * but I will trust in thee.
In God I will praise my words, in God I have put my trust: * I will not fear what flesh can do against me.
All the day long they detested my words: * all their thoughts were against me unto evil.
They will dwell and hide themselves: * they will watch my heel.
As they have waited for my soul, for nothing shalt thou save them: * in thy anger thou shalt break the people in pieces.
O God, I have declared to thee my life: * thou hast set my tears in thy sight,
As also in thy promise. * Then shall my enemies be turned back.
In what day soever I shall call upon thee, * behold I know thou art my God.
In God will I praise the word, in the Lord will I praise his speech. * In God have I hoped, I will not fear what man can do to me.
In me, O God, are vows to thee, * which I will pay, praises to thee:
Because thou hast delivered my soul from death, my feet from falling: * that I may please in the sight of God, in the light of the living.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. In God I have put my trust: I will not fear what flesh can do against me.

Benedíctus

Ant. When ye shall see * the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, stand in the Holy Place, (whoso readeth, let him understand.)

Canticle of Zacharias (Luke 1:68–79)

Blessed be the Lord ✠ God of Israel; * because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people:
And hath raised up an horn of salvation to us, * in the house of David his servant:
As he spoke by the mouth of his holy Prophets, * who are from the beginning:
Salvation from our enemies, * and from the hand of all that hate us:
To perform mercy to our fathers, * and to remember his holy testament,
The oath, which he swore to Abraham our father, * that he would grant to us,
That being delivered from the hand of our enemies, * we may serve him without fear,
In holiness and justice before him, * all our days.
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: * for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways:
To give knowledge of salvation to his people, * unto the remission of their sins:
Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, * in which the Orient from on high hath visited us:
To enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death: * to direct our feet into the way of peace.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. When ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, stand in the Holy Place, (whoso readeth, let him understand.)

Antiphon

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider, and hear me, O Lord my God.

The Our Father is prayed silently.

Psalm 12

The psalm is prayed in a lower voice.

How long, O Lord, wilt thou forget me unto the end? * how long dost thou turn away thy face from me?
How long shall I take counsels in my soul, * sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? * Consider, and hear me, O Lord my God.
Enlighten my eyes that I never sleep in death: * lest at any time my enemy say: I have prevailed against him.
They that trouble me will rejoice when I am moved: * but I have trusted in thy mercy.
My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation: I will sing to the Lord, who giveth me good things: * yea, I will sing to the name of the Lord the most High.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Prayer

Look down, we beseech thee, O Lord, on this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ did not hesitate to be delivered up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer the torment of the Cross.

The conclusion is prayed silently.

Who with thee liveth and reigneth, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

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Little Office of Divine Wrath