Monastic Breviary

3:2 Why, O Lord, are they multiplied that afflict me? * many are they who rise up against me.

3:3 Many say to my soul: * There is no salvation for him in his God.

3:4 But thou, O Lord art my protector, * my glory, and the lifter up of my head.

3:5 I have cried to the Lord with my voice: * and he hath heard me from his holy hill.

3:6 I have slept and taken my rest: * and I have risen up, because the Lord hath protected me.

3:7 I will not fear thousands of the people, surrounding me: * arise, O Lord; save me, O my God.

3:8 For thou hast struck all them who are my adversaries without cause: * thou hast broken the teeth of sinners.

3:9 Salvation is of the Lord: * and thy blessing is upon thy people.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

20:2 The king rejoices in thy strength, O Lord; * ‡ and in thy salvation he shall rejoice exceedingly.

20:3 Thou hast given him his heart’s desire: * and hast not withholden from him the will of his lips.

20:4 For thou hast prevented him with blessings of sweetness: * thou hast set on his head a crown of precious stones.

20:5 He asked life of thee: * and thou hast given him length of days for ever and ever.

20:6 His glory is great in thy salvation: * glory and great beauty shalt thou lay upon him.

20:7 For thou shalt give him to be a blessing for ever and ever: * thou shalt make him joyful in gladness with thy countenance.

20:8 For the king hopeth in the Lord: * and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved.

20:9 Let thy hand be found by all thy enemies: * let thy right hand find out all them that hate thee.

20:10 Thou shalt make them as an oven of fire, * in the time of thy anger: the Lord shall trouble them in his wrath, and fire shall devour them.

20:11 Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth: * and their seed from among the children of men.

20:12 For they have intended evils against thee: * they have devised counsels which they have not been able to establish.

20:13 For thou shalt make them turn their back: * in thy remnants thou shalt prepare their face.

20:14 Be thou exalted, O Lord, in thy own strength: * we will sing and praise thy power.

21:2 O God my God, look upon me: why hast thou forsaken me? * Far from my salvation are the words of my sins.

21:3 O my God, I shall cry by day, and thou wilt not hear: * and by night, and it shall not be reputed as folly in me.

21:4 But thou dwellest in the holy place, * the praise of Israel.

21:5 In thee have our fathers hoped: * they have hoped, and thou hast delivered them.

21:6 They cried to thee, and they were saved: * they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

21:7 But I am a worm, and no man: * the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people.

21:8 All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn: * they have spoken with the lips, and wagged the head.

21:9 He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him: * let him save him, seeing he delighteth in him.

21:10 For thou art he that hast drawn me out of the womb: * my hope from the breasts of my mother. I was cast upon thee from the womb.

21:11 From my mother’s womb thou art my God, * depart not from me.

21:12 For tribulation is very near: * for there is none to help me.

21:13 Many calves have surrounded me: * fat bulls have besieged me.

21:14 They have opened their mouths against me, * as a lion ravening and roaring.

21:15 I am poured out like water; * and all my bones are scattered.

21:15 My heart is become like wax melting * in the midst of my bowels.

21:16 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue hath cleaved to my jaws: * and thou hast brought me down into the dust of death.

21:17 For many dogs have encompassed me: * the council of the malignant hath besieged me.

21:17 They have dug my hands and feet. * They have numbered all my bones.

21:18 And they have looked and stared upon me. * They parted my garments amongst them; and upon my vesture they cast lots.

21:20 But thou, O Lord, remove not thy help to a distance from me; * look towards my defence.

21:21 Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword: * my only one from the hand of the dog.

21:22 Save me from the lion’s mouth; * and my lowness from the horns of the unicorns.

21:23 I will declare thy name to my brethren: * in the midst of the church will I praise thee.

21:24 Ye that fear the Lord, praise him: * all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him.

21:25 Let all the seed of Israel fear him: * because he hath not slighted nor despised the supplication of the poor man.

21:25 Neither hath he turned away his face from me: * and when I cried to him he heard me.

21:26 With thee is my praise in a great church: * I will pay my vows in the sight of them that fear him.

21:27 The poor shall eat and shall be filled: and they shall praise the Lord that seek him: * their hearts shall live for ever and ever.

21:28 All the ends of the earth * shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord:

21:28 And all the kindreds of the Gentiles * shall adore in his sight.

21:29 For the kingdom is the Lord’s; * and he shall have dominion over the nations.

21:30 All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and have adored: * all they that go down to the earth shall fall before him.

21:31 And to him my soul shall live: * and my seed shall serve him.

21:32 There shall be declared to the Lord a generation to come: * and the heavens shall shew forth his justice to a people that shall be born, which the Lord hath made.

22:1 The Lord ruleth me: and I shall want nothing. * He hath set me in a place of pasture.

22:2 ‡ He hath brought me up, on the water of refreshment: * he hath converted my soul.

22:3 He hath led me on the paths of justice, * for his own name’s sake.

22:4 For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, * for thou art with me.

22:4 Thy rod and thy staff, * they have comforted me.

22:5 Thou hast prepared a table before me * against them that afflict me.

22:5 Thou hast anointed my head with oil; * and my chalice which inebriateth me, how goodly is it!

22:6 And thy mercy will follow me * all the days of my life.

22:6 And that I may dwell in the house of the Lord * unto length of days.

23:1 The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof: * the world, and all they that dwell therein.

23:2 For he hath founded it upon the seas; * and hath prepared it upon the rivers.

23:3 Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord: * or who shall stand in his holy place?

23:4 The innocent in hands, and clean of heart, * who hath not taken his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbour.

23:5 He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, * and mercy from God his Saviour.

23:6 This is the generation of them that seek him, * of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob.

23:7 Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: * and the King of Glory shall enter in.

23:8 Who is this King of Glory? * the Lord who is strong and mighty: the Lord mighty in battle.

23:9 Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: * and the King of Glory shall enter in.

23:10 Who is this King of Glory? * the Lord of hosts, he is the King of Glory.

24:1 To thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul: * In thee, O my God, I put my trust; let me not be ashamed.

24:3 Neither let my enemies laugh at me: * for none of them that wait on thee shall be confounded.

24:4 Let all them be confounded that act unjust things * without cause.

24:4 Shew, O Lord, thy ways to me, * and teach me thy paths.

24:5 Direct me in thy truth, and teach me; * for thou art God my Saviour; and on thee have I waited all the day long.

24:6 Remember, O Lord, thy bowels of compassion; * and thy mercies that are from the beginning of the world.

24:7 The sins of my youth * and my ignorances do not remember.

24:7 According to thy mercy remember thou me: * for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.

24:8 The Lord is sweet and righteous: * therefore he will give a law to sinners in the way.

24:9 He will guide the mild in judgment: * he will teach the meek his ways.

24:10 All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth, * to them that seek after his covenant and his testimonies.

24:11 For thy name’s sake, O Lord, thou wilt pardon my sin: * for it is great.

24:12 Who is the man that feareth the Lord? * He hath appointed him a law in the way he hath chosen.

24:13 His soul shall dwell in good things: * and his seed shall inherit the land.

24:14 The Lord is a firmament to them that fear him: * and his covenant shall be made manifest to them.

24:15 My eyes are ever towards the Lord: * for he shall pluck my feet out of the snare.

24:16 Look thou upon me, and have mercy on me; * for I am alone and poor.

24:17 The troubles of my heart are multiplied: * deliver me from my necessities.

24:18 See my abjection and my labour; * and forgive me all my sins.

24:19 Consider my enemies for they are multiplied, * and have hated me with an unjust hatred.

24:20 Keep thou my soul, and deliver me: * I shall not be ashamed, for I have hoped in thee.

24:21 The innocent and the upright have adhered to me: * because I have waited on thee.

24:22 Deliver Israel, O God, * from all his tribulations.

25:1 Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my innocence: * and I have put my trust in the Lord, and shall not be weakened.

25:2 Prove me, O Lord, and try me; * burn my reins and my heart.

25:3 For thy mercy is before my eyes; * and I am well pleased with thy truth.

25:4 I have not sat with the council of vanity: * neither will I go in with the doers of unjust things.

25:5 I have hated the assembly of the malignant; * and with the wicked I will not sit.

25:6 I will wash my hands among the innocent; * and will compass thy altar, O Lord:

25:7 That I may hear the voice of thy praise: * and tell of all thy wondrous works.

25:8 I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of thy house; * and the place where thy glory dwelleth.

25:9 Take not away my soul, O God, with the wicked: * nor my life with bloody men:

25:10 In whose hands are iniquities: * their right hand is filled with gifts.

25:11 But as for me, I have walked in my innocence: * redeem me, and have mercy on me.

25:12 My foot hath stood in the direct way: * in the churches I will bless thee, O Lord.

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.

8 Comméndat caritátem suam Deus in nobis: quóniam cum adhuc peccatóres essémus, secúndum tempus,

9 Christus pro nobis mórtuus est: multo ígitur magis nunc iustificáti in sánguine ipsíus, salvi érimus ab ira per ipsum.

10 Si enim cum inimíci essémus, reconciliáti sumus Deo per mortem Fílii eius: multo magis reconciliáti, salvi érimus in vita ipsíus.

11 Non solum autem: sed et gloriámur in Deo per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum, per quem nunc reconciliatiónem accépimus.

17 Si enim uníus delícto mors regnávit per unum: multo magis abundántiam grátiæ, et donatiónis, et justítiæ accipiéntes, in vita regnábunt per unum Jesum Christum.

1 Quid ergo dicémus? permanébimus in peccáto ut grátia abúndet?

2 Absit. Qui enim mórtui sumus peccáto, quómodo adhuc vivémus in illo?

3 An ignorátis quia quicúmque baptizáti sumus in Christo Jesu, in morte ipsíus baptizáti sumus?

4 Consepúlti enim sumus cum illo per baptísmum in mortem: ut quómodo Christus surréxit a mórtuis per glóriam Patris, ita et nos in novitáte vitæ ambulémus.

5 Si enim complantáti facti sumus similitúdini mortis eius: simul et resurrectiónis érimus.

6 Hoc sciéntes, quia vetus homo noster simul crucifíxus est, ut destruátur corpus peccáti, et ultra non serviámus peccáto.

7 Qui enim mórtuus est, justificátus est a peccáto.

8 Si autem mórtui sumus cum Christo, crédimus quia simul étiam vivémus cum Christo.

In passióne domínica, fratres, tria specialiter convénit intuéri: opus, modum, causam. Nam in ópere quidem patiéntia, in modo humílitas, in causa cáritas commendatur. Patiéntia autem singuláris, quod vidélicet: cum supra dorsum ejus fabricarent peccatóres; cum sic extenderetur in ligno, ut dinumerarentur ómnia ossa ejus; cum fortíssimum illud propugnaculum, quod custódit Israël, lindique foraretur; cum foderéntur manus ejus et pedes, sicut agnus ad occisionem ductus sit et tamquam ovis coram tondénte non apéruit os suum. Non advérsus Patrem

murmurans, a quo missus fúerat; non advérsus humánum genus, pro quo, quæ non rapuit, exsolvebat; non dénique vel contra pópulum ipsum peculiárem sibi, a quo pro tantis benefíciis tanta mala recipiebat.

Modum ipsum, si diligénter attendas, non modo mitem, sed et húmilem corde cognosces. Nempe in humilitáte judícium ejus sublatum est, cum nec ad tantas blasphemias, nec ad falsissima, quæ sibi objiciebantur crímina respónderet. Vídimus, inquit, eum et non erat ei aspectus, nec speciosum forma præ fíliis hóminum, sed oppróbrium hóminum et tamquam leprosum, novissimum virórum, plane virum dolórum a Deo percussum et humiliátum; ita ut nulla esset ei spécies, neque decor. O novissimum et altíssimum! O húmilem et sublimem! Oppróbrium hóminum et glóriam Angelórum! Nemo illo sublimior, neque humilior. Dénique sputis illitus est, oppróbriis saturatus est, morte turpissima condemnátus est, cum sceleratis deputatus est. Nihílque merebitur vel ista humílitas, quæ hunc habet modum; imo quæ tam est ultra modum? Sicut est patiéntia singuláris, sic et humílitas admirábilis; utráque sine exémplo.

Utrámque tamen magnífice causa ipsa comméndat, nimírum cáritas est. Propter nímiam enim caritátem suam, qua diléxit nos Deus, ut servum redímeret, nec Pater Fílio, nec sibi Fílius ipse pepércit. Vere nímiam, quia et hæc mensúram excedit, modum superat, plane supereminens univérsis. Majórem, inquit, caritátem nemo habet, quam ut ánimam suam ponat quis pro amícis suis. Tu majórem habuisti Dómine, ponens eam étiam pro inimícis. Cum enim adhuc inimíci essémus, per mortem tuam et tibi reconciliati sumus et Patri. Quænam ergo ália vidébitur esse, vel fuísse, vel fore huic símilis caritáti? Vix pro justo quis móritur. Tu pro injustis passus es, moriens propter delícta nostra, qui venisti justificare gratis peccatóres, servos fácere fratres, captívos cohæredes, éxsules reges.

26:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation, * whom shall I fear?

26:1 The Lord is the protector of my life: * of whom shall I be afraid?

26:2 Whilst the wicked draw near against me, * to eat my flesh.

26:2 My enemies that trouble me, * have themselves been weakened, and have fallen.

26:3 If armies in camp should stand together against me, * my heart shall not fear.

26:3 If a battle should rise up against me, * in this will I be confident.

26:4 One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after; * that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

26:4 That I may see the delight of the Lord, * and may visit his temple.

26:5 For he hath hidden me in his tabernacle; * in the day of evils, he hath protected me in the secret place of his tabernacle.

26:6 He hath exalted me upon a rock: * and now he hath lifted up my head above my enemies.

26:6 I have gone round, and have offered up in his tabernacle a sacrifice of jubilation: * I will sing, and recite a psalm to the Lord.

26:7 Hear, O Lord, my voice, with which I have cried to thee: * have mercy on me and hear me.

26:8 My heart hath said to thee: My face hath sought thee: * thy face, O Lord, will I still seek.

26:9 Turn not away thy face from me; * decline not in thy wrath from thy servant.

26:9 Be thou my helper, * forsake me not; do not thou despise me, O God my Saviour.

26:10 For my father and my mother have left me: * but the Lord hath taken me up.

26:11 Set me, O Lord, a law in thy way, * and guide me in the right path, because of my enemies.

26:12 Deliver me not over to the will of them that trouble me; * for unjust witnesses have risen up against me; and iniquity hath lied to itself.

26:13 I believe to see the good things of the Lord * in the land of the living.

26:14 Expect the Lord, do manfully, * and let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord.

27:1 Unto thee will I cry, O Lord: my God, be not thou silent to me: * lest if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.

27:2 Hear, O Lord, the voice of my supplication, when I pray to thee; * when I lift up my hands to thy holy temple.

27:3 Draw me not away together with the wicked; * and with the workers of iniquity destroy me not:

27:3 Who speak peace with their neighbour, * but evils are in their hearts.

27:4 Give them according to their works, * and according to the wickedness of their inventions.

27:4 According to the works of their hands give thou to them: * render to them their reward.

27:5 Because they have not understood the works of the Lord, and the operations of his hands: * thou shalt destroy them, and shalt not build them up.

27:6 Blessed be the Lord, * for he hath heard the voice of my supplication.

27:7 The Lord is my helper and my protector: * in him hath my heart confided, and I have been helped.

27:7 And my flesh hath flourished again, * and with my will I will give praise to him.

27:8 The Lord is the strength of his people, * and the protector of the salvation of his anointed.

27:9 Save, O Lord, thy people, and bless thy inheritance: * and rule them and exalt them for ever.

28:1 Bring to the Lord, O ye children of God: * bring to the Lord the offspring of rams.

28:2 Bring to the Lord glory and honour: bring to the Lord glory to his name: * adore ye the Lord in his holy court.

28:3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of majesty hath thundered, * The Lord is upon many waters.

28:4 The voice of the Lord is in power; * the voice of the Lord in magnificence.

28:5 The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars: * yea, the Lord shall break the cedars of Libanus.

28:6 And shall reduce them to pieces, as a calf of Libanus, * and as the beloved son of unicorns.

28:7 The voice of the Lord divideth the flame of fire: * The voice of the Lord shaketh the desert: and the Lord shall shake the desert of Cades.

28:9 The voice of the Lord prepareth the stags: and he will discover the thick woods: * and in his temple all shall speak his glory.

28:10 The Lord maketh the flood to dwell: * and the Lord shall sit king for ever.

28:11 The Lord will give strength to his people: * the Lord will bless his people with peace.

29:2 I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast upheld me: * and hast not made my enemies to rejoice over me.

29:3 O Lord my God, I have cried to thee, * and thou hast healed me.

29:4 Thou hast brought forth, O Lord, my soul from hell: * thou hast saved me from them that go down into the pit.

29:5 Sing to the Lord, O ye his saints: * and give praise to the memory of his holiness.

29:6 For wrath is in his indignation; * and life in his good will.

29:6 In the evening weeping shall have place, * and in the morning gladness.

29:7 And in my abundance I said: * I shall never be moved.

29:8 O Lord, in thy favour, * thou gavest strength to my beauty.

29:8 Thou turnedst away thy face from me, * and I became troubled.

29:9 To thee, O Lord, will I cry: * and I will make supplication to my God.

29:10 What profit is there in my blood, * whilst I go down to corruption?

29:10 Shall dust confess to thee, * or declare thy truth?

29:11 The Lord hath heard, and hath had mercy on me: * the Lord became my helper.

29:12 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into joy: * thou hast cut my sackcloth, and hast compassed me with gladness:

29:13 To the end that my glory may sing to thee, and I may not regret: * O Lord my God, I will give praise to thee for ever.

30:2 In thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded: * deliver me in thy justice.

30:3 Bow down thy ear to me: * make haste to deliver me.

30:3 Be thou unto me a God, a protector, and a house of refuge, * to save me.

30:4 For thou art my strength and my refuge; * and for thy name’s sake thou wilt lead me, and nourish me.

30:5 Thou wilt bring me out of this snare, which they have hidden for me: * for thou art my protector.

30:6 Into thy hands I commend my spirit: * thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth.

30:7 Thou hast hated them that regard vanities, * to no purpose.

30:7 But I have hoped in the Lord: * I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy.

30:8 For thou hast regarded my humility, * thou hast saved my soul out of distresses.

30:9 And thou hast not shut me up in the hands of the enemy: * thou hast set my feet in a spacious place.

30:10 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am afflicted: * my eye is troubled with wrath, my soul, and my belly:

30:11 For my life is wasted with grief: * and my years in sighs.

30:11 My strength is weakened through poverty * and my bones are disturbed.

30:12 I am become a reproach among all my enemies, and very much to my neighbours; * and a fear to my acquaintance.

30:12 They that saw me without fled from me. * I am forgotten as one dead from the heart.

30:13 I am become as a vessel that is destroyed. * For I have heard the blame of many that dwell round about.

30:14 While they assembled together against me, * they consulted to take away my life.

30:15 But I have put my trust in thee, O Lord: * I said: Thou art my God. My lots are in thy hands.

30:16 Deliver me out of the hands of my enemies; * and from them that persecute me.

30:17 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; save me in thy mercy. * Let me not be confounded, O Lord, for I have called upon thee.

30:18 Let the wicked be ashamed, and be brought down to hell. * Let deceitful lips be made dumb.

30:19 Which speak iniquity against the just, * with pride and abuse.

30:20 How great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, * which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee!

30:20 Which thou hast wrought for them that hope in thee, * in the sight of the sons of men.

30:21 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy face, * from the disturbance of men.

30:21 Thou shalt protect them in thy tabernacle * from the contradiction of tongues.

30:22 Blessed be the Lord, * for he hath shewn his wonderful mercy to me in a fortified city.

30:23 But I said in the excess of my mind: * I am cast away from before thy eyes.

30:23 Therefore thou hast heard the voice of my prayer, * when I cried to thee.

30:24 O love the Lord, all ye his saints: * for the Lord will require truth, and will repay them abundantly that act proudly.

30:25 Do ye manfully, and let your heart be strengthened, * all ye that hope in the Lord.

31:1 Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven * and whose sins are covered.

31:2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord hath not imputed sin, * and in whose spirit there is no guile.

31:3 Because I was silent my bones grew old; * whilst I cried out all the day long.

31:4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: * I am turned in my anguish, whilst the thorn is fastened.

31:5 I have acknowledged my sin to thee, * and my injustice I have not concealed.

31:5 I said I will confess against myself my injustice to the Lord: * and thou hast forgiven the wickedness of my sin.

31:6 For this shall every one that is holy pray to thee * in a seasonable time.

31:6 And yet in a flood of many waters, * they shall not come nigh unto him.

31:7 Thou art my refuge from the trouble which hath encompassed me: * my joy, deliver me from them that surround me.

31:8 I will give thee understanding, and I will instruct thee in this way, in which thou shalt go: * I will fix my eyes upon thee.

31:9 Do not become like the horse and the mule, * who have no understanding.

31:9 With bit and bridle bind fast their jaws, * who come not near unto thee.

31:10 Many are the scourges of the sinner, * but mercy shall encompass him that hopeth in the Lord.

31:11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye just, * and glory, all ye right of heart.

Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, do manfully, and be strengthened. Let all your things be done in charity.

Lord have mercy upon us, Christ have mercy upon us, Lord have mercy upon us.

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.

Let us pray.

Dómine Jesu Christe, qui de cœlis ad terram de sinu Patris descendisti, et sánguinem tuum pretiósum in remissiónem peccatórum nostrórum fudisti: te humíliter deprecámur; ut in die judícii, ad déxteram tuam audíre mereámur: Veníte benedícti:

Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.