The Church begins it day with?

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Year of Mercy Weekly Reflection
"What a beautiful thing that the Church begins her daily prayer with the words, ‘O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me’.

The above quote is from Pope Francis. Is there a liturgy of the day that begins with the above words? If not, how does the Church begins its day with the above words? Or is that a recommended prayer of the day for the whole Church?
 
I’m guessing this is Morning Prayer, since it looks similar to the version I use “Lord make haste to save me, O Lord make haste to help me”.
 
It’s the opening of almost every ‘Hour’ recited in the Liturgy of the Hours.
 
georgemiller said:
Year of Mercy Weekly Reflection
"What a beautiful thing that the Church begins her daily prayer with the words, ‘O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me’.

The above quote is from Pope Francis. Is there a liturgy of the day that begins with the above words? If not, how does the Church begins its day with the above words? Or is that a recommended prayer of the day for the whole Church?
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All the hours of the Liturgy of the Hours (Latin Church version) start with the verse Psalm 69/70 verse 2: “God come to my assistance, Lord make haste to help me”.
  • Office of Readings (it was Matins)
  • Morning prayer (Lauds)
  • 3 Mid-Morning Prayer (Terce)
  • 6 Midday Prayer (Sext)
  • 9 Mid-Afternoon Prayer (None)
  • Evening Prayer (Vespers)
  • Night Prayer (Compline)
 
Vico said:
All the hours of the Liturgy of the Hours (Latin Church version) start with the verse Psalm 69/70 verse 2: “God come to my assistance, Lord make haste to help me”.
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Except for the first hour of the day, which begins with the Invitatory and should be prefaced with “Lord, open my lips/And my mouth will proclaim your praise.”
 
Actually, the day begins with the Office of the Readings, i.e. Vigils and begins with;

"Lord open my lips to praise your holy name. Cleanse my heart of any evil or distracting thoughts. Lord let my prayer be heard in your presence, for it is offered through Jesus Christ Our Lord. "

Jim
 
JimR-OCDS said:
Actually, the day begins with the Office of the Readings, i.e. Vigils and begins with;

"Lord open my lips to praise your holy name. Cleanse my heart of any evil or distracting thoughts. Lord let my prayer be heard in your presence, for it is offered through Jesus Christ Our Lord. "

Jim
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Hi, Jim,

According to my Breviary, the Liturgical Day may begin with either the Office of Readings or Morning Prayer.

The information I have about that particular prayer is that it can be used in private recitation of any of the Hours, the implication being that it’s not for public recitation of the Hours. It is not found in the Breviary, at least not in mine. It is in the supplemental materials provided with my Liturgy of the Hours-i.e., the ‘cheat sheets.’
 
georgemiller said:
Year of Mercy Weekly Reflection
"What a beautiful thing that the Church begins her daily prayer with the words, ‘O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me’.

The above quote is from Pope Francis. Is there a liturgy of the day that begins with the above words? If not, how does the Church begins its day with the above words? Or is that a recommended prayer of the day for the whole Church?
Click to expand...
Well, technically speaking, it’s “Lord, open my lips.”
 
Mary_Ellen said:
Hi, Jim,

According to my Breviary, the Liturgical Day may begin with either the Office of Readings or Morning Prayer.

The information I have about that particular prayer is that it can be used in private recitation of any of the Hours, the implication being that it’s not for public recitation of the Hours. It is not found in the Breviary, at least not in mine. It is in the supplemental materials provided with my Liturgy of the Hours-i.e., the ‘cheat sheets.’
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Yes, and if either Morning Prayer or the Office of Readings comes first, then the Invitatory precedes, which begins with:

V. Lord, open my lips.
R. And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

And the normal introduction (“God, come to my assistance”) is omitted.

So technically, the very first words of the Church’s day are, “Lord, open my lips. And my mouth will proclaim your praise.”

But we’re being technical. “God, come to my assistance” opens all the prayers of the Liturgy of the Hours (except for the very first, as mentioned). I think this is what the Pope meant (his bull states the Church begins her daily prayer, not necessarily begins her day with the words), so in a general sense (since all the Hours are said on a daily basis), the Pope is correct.
 
Mary_Ellen said:
Except for the first hour of the day, which begins with the Invitatory and should be prefaced with “Lord, open my lips/And my mouth will proclaim your praise.”
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Except that beginning with Lauds, Psalm 69/70 may start:
  1. 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 rites begins the day. The invitatory psalm with its antiphon may be omitted, however, when the invitatory is the prelude to morning prayer.
ewtn.com/library/curia/cdwgilh.htm#Ch

**Morning prayer (Lauds) **- Optionally prefaced with invitatory (when this starts the day).

Daytime prayers:
3 Mid-Morning Prayer (Terce)
6 Midday Prayer (Sext)
9 Mid-Afternoon Prayer (None)
Evening Prayer (Vespers)

Nighttime prayers:
Night Prayer (Compline)
Office of Readings (it was Matins) - Prefaced with invitatory (when this starts the day).
 
Of course one could say that First Vespers (Saturday evening) begins each Sunday in a liturgical sense- and certainly in that case the first words of the liturgical day are indeed “God come to my assistance…”
 
twf said:
Of course one could say that First Vespers (Saturday evening) begins each Sunday in a liturgical sense- and certainly in that case the first words of the liturgical day are indeed “God come to my assistance…”
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The terminology goes counter to the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Congregation for Divine Worship (1971) quoted before and:
  1. When evening approaches and the day is already far spent, evening prayer is celebrated in order that “we may give thanks for what has been given us, or what we have done well, during the day.”
  2. Solemnities have an evening prayer I on the preceding day.
The Byzantine has a different practice. From Metropolitan Cantor Institute:

In the Eastern tradition, the Church’s day begins at evening, and its services run from sunset to sunset: Thus evening came, and morning followed - the first day. (Genesis 1:5, NAB).
mci.archpitt.org/legacy/liturgy/DailyCycle.html
 
In the conferences of St John Caesian, Abba Isaac taught them to use the prayer, “God come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.”

Abba Isaac told John and his friend to repeat these words and make them dwell within their being and to allow their thoughts to fade as they come into the presence of God, dwelling within. Whenever they become aware that they’ve begun to think of something other than God’s presence, go back to repeating the prayer.

For many, its the beginning of contemplative prayer as well as the opening prayer in the various ours of the LOTHs. 🙂

Jim
 
Vico said:
The terminology goes counter to the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Congregation for Divine Worship (1971) quoted before and:
  1. When evening approaches and the day is already far spent, evening prayer is celebrated in order that “we may give thanks for what has been given us, or what we have done well, during the day.”
  2. Solemnities have an evening prayer I on the preceding day.
The Byzantine has a different practice. From Metropolitan Cantor Institute:

In the Eastern tradition, the Church’s day begins at evening, and its services run from sunset to sunset: Thus evening came, and morning followed - the first day. (Genesis 1:5, NAB).
mci.archpitt.org/legacy/liturgy/DailyCycle.html
Click to expand...
As FYI for people reading this chain and do not know - Sundays have the rank of solemnities, that is why TWF said
Of course one could say that First Vespers (Saturday evening) begins each Sunday in a liturgical sense- and certainly in that case the first words of the liturgical day are indeed “God come to my assistance…”
Click to expand...
God Bless
 
JimR-OCDS said:
In the conferences of St John Caesian, Abba Isaac taught them to use the prayer, “God come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.”

Abba Isaac told John and his friend to repeat these words and make them dwell within their being and to allow their thoughts to fade as they come into the presence of God, dwelling within. Whenever they become aware that they’ve begun to think of something other than God’s presence, go back to repeating the prayer.

For many, its the beginning of contemplative prayer as well as the opening prayer in the various ours of the LOTHs. 🙂

Jim
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Beautiful.
 
phil19034 said:
As FYI for people reading this chain and do not know - Sundays have the rank of solemnities, that is why TWF said

God Bless
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Um, Sundays have the rank of Sunday, and each Sunday has a higher or lower rank depending on the season. Solemnities are a different rank, and depending on the Sunday, can either override the Sunday (Ordinary Time), or be dislodged by it (Advent, Lent, Easter).
 
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