Sunday Prime

This is the day that the Lord has made!

I should have mentioned two or three things in the blog on the Divine Office that I posted on May 1.
First, the book that I use is an abbreviated form for use of the laity. There are more psalms and prayers in the unabridged breviary used by priests and religious.
Second, there are different psalms and prayers for different times of the liturgical year. For instance there will be different ones in Advent, Lent, the Paschal Season, and for days of the week.
Third, the Latin texts are taken from the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible.

Today, I will be brief(er)  and for that, the reader may be grateful, I guess. I will still only use Sunday's Office, since these explanations are only for the general tone and purpose of the Hours.

Prime, or the Morning Office, when the sun has risen, is to prepare us for the day's battle. It will often hold the principal thought of the day's Office. As my book explains, that will be the Holy Eucharist on Thursday, the Passion on Friday, for example. Both the Holy Eucharist and the Passion are found in Sunday's Prime which focuses on the Resurrection.

After the usual opening: Deus, in adjutorium meum intende. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
                                    O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.
And the Doxology of the Trinity, the hymn, Jam lucis follows. It petitions God's help.                                    
                                   
                                     "Now that the sun has risen, let us as suppliants ask of God that in today's
                                     acts He preserve us from all that may hurt us.
                                     May He check and restrain our tongue so that it be not an instrument of
                                     discord and strife. May He screen and protect our eyes so that they do
                                     not drink in vanities.
                                     May our inmost soul be pure and the folly of impurity find in us no place;
                                     may moderation in food and drink wear down the body's pride.
                                     So that when day has gone, and night, as God planned, has returned, we
                                     may be found free from sin through our self-restraint and thus sing praise to Him.
                                     To God the Father be glory, and to His only Son, with the Spirit, the Paraclete,
                                     now and forever.     Amen."

The Alleluia always follows, before the first Psalm is sung or recited.

Psalm 117 is a liturgical hymn, again, used in the ancient synagogue. It was also a thanksgiving hymn on the Feast of Tabernacles. We use it to express our Easter joy for the Resurrection of Christ and our own resurrection in Him.

      "Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus:  Give praise to the Lord, for he is good: quoniam in saeculum misericordia ejus. for His mercy endureth forever."  Lines in this psalm include: "I shall not die, but live, and shall declare the works of the Lord...............I will give glory to thee, because thou hast heard me: and art become my salvation...........This is the day which the Lord hath made: let us be glad and rejoice therein...............I will praise thee because thou hast heard me: and art become my salvation."

Psalm 53 follows. We pray this psalm with confidence that we will overcome the day's temptations as Satan attacks our souls.

      "Deus, in nomine tuo salvum me fac: Save me, O God, by they name:  et in virtute tua judica me. and judge me in thy strength."  It is short and continues: "O God, hear my prayer: give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers have risen up against me, and the mighty have sought after my soul: and they have not set God before their eyes. For behold God is my helper: and the Lord is the protector of my soul. Turn back the evils upon my enemies, and cut them off ein thy truth. I will freely sacrifice to thee, and will give praise, O God, to thy name: because it is good. For thou hast delivered me out of all trouble: and my eye hath looked down upon my enemies."

Psalm 118, I, II, with much repetition, is next. It extols the blessings of the Law. It begins (I):

      "Beati immaculati in via: Blessed are the undefiled in the way: qui ambulant in lege Domin. who walk in the law of the Lord."  These lines are included: "With my whole heart have I sought after thee: let me not stray from they commandments........Blessed ar thou, O Lord:teach me thy justifications.......I will thin of thy justifications: I will not forget thy words."

In (II), we ask:

      "Open thou my eyes: and I will consider the wondrous things of thy law.........Thou hast rebuked the proud: they are cursed who decline from thy commandments........"

After each Psalm the Doxology of the Trinity is said and again, after the last one, the Alleluia. A prayer that is said again petitions God: "O Lord, God Almighty who hast brought us to the beginning of this day: let Thy power so defend us therein, that this day we fall into no sin, but that all our thoughts, words, and works may always tend to what is just in Thy sight. Through our Lord. Amen."

One of the short "lessons" used, this one for Eastertide, is St. Paul to the Colossians: "If you be risen with Christ, seek the things that are above; where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Mind the things that are above, not the things that are upon earth. But do thou."

Each of the Hours has something important to say and for us to take comfort from and confidence in the Word of God for our redemption.

Tomorrow I'll cover Sext, the noon prayer, in the heat of the day's battle for our souls.