LITTLE OFFICE
of
THE PASSION
MATINS
Priest. O Lord, thou wilt open my lips.
Faithful. And my mouth shall declare thy praise.
P. Incline unto mine aid, O God.
F. O Lord, make haste to help me.
P. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.
F. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be world without end. Amen. Praise be to thee, O Lord, King of eternal glory.
INVITATORY
P. Christ is captured and put to scorn, scourged and crucified. * Oh, come, let us adore him.
F. Christ is captured and put to scorn, scourged and crucified. * Oh, come, let us adore him.
Psalm XCIV
P. Come let us praise the Lord with joy; let us joyfully sing to God our Savior. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
F. Christ is captured and put to scorn, scourged and crucified. * Oh, come, let us adore him.
P. For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods. For in his hand are all the ends of the earth; and the heights of the mountains are his.
F. Oh, come, let us adore him.
P. For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. 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.
F. Christ is captured and put to scorn, scourged and crucified. * Oh, come, let us adore him.
P. 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.
F. Oh, come, let us adore him.
P. 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.
F. Christ is captured and put to scorn, scourged and crucified. * Oh, come, let us adore him.
P. 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.
F. Oh, come, let us adore him.
P. Christ is captured and put to scorn, scourged and crucified.
F. Oh, come, let us adore him.
Hymn
O may the Passion of the Lord,
Whereby salvation is restored,
The mind with love for him inspire,
Our solace and our hearts' desire.
In memory let us ever hold
Christ's thorny crown, his pains untold,
The bitter cross whereon he died,
The nails, the lance that pierced his side.
And may we constantly recall
The reed, the vinegar, the gall,
The anguish of that last dread hour,
Those sacred wounds whence graces shower.
O may these thoughts our souls imbue
With sweetness of celestial dew,
Till fostered by his tender care
The glorious fruits of grace they bear.
O Crucified, we worship thee,
And beg with all our hearts that we
May be united through thy love
With all the saints in heaven above.
To Christ, the Lord of Majesty,
Betrayed and sold to set us free,
Who suffered on the cruel tree,
Be praise and honor endlessly. Amen.
THE NOCTURN
Antiphon
P. Men without mercy rose up against me, and they spared not my life.
Psalm II
Why have the Gentiles raged, * and the people devised vain things?
The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together, * against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Let us break their bonds asunder, * and let us cast away their yoke from us.
He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them: * and the Lord shall deride them.
Then shall he speak to them in his anger, * and trouble them in his rage.
But I am appointed king by him over Sion, his holy mountain, * preaching his commandment.
The Lord hath said to me: * Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.
Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance, * and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, * and shall break them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
And now, O ye kings, understand: * receive instruction, you that judge the earth.
Serve ye the Lord with fear: * and rejoice unto him with trembling.
Embrace discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry, * and you perish from the just way.
When his wrath shall be kindled in a short time, * blessed are all they that trust in him.
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.
Antiphon
P. Men without mercy rose up against me, and they spared not my life.
P. I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance.
F. I have given my dear soul into the hands of sinners.
Our Father, etc.
Absolution
P. May the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ bring us to the joys of paradise.
F. Amen. Pray, Father, a blessing.
Blessing
P. Through his holy Passion may our Lord grant us his benediction.
F. Amen.
First Lesson
(St. John XIX, 1-3)
P. Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. And the soldiers platting a crown of thorns, put it upon his head: and they put on him a purple garment. And they came to him and said: Hail, King of the Jews. And they gave him blows, and spitting upon him, they took the reed and struck his head.—But thou, O Lord, have mercy on us.
F. Thanks be to God.
P. The ancients consulted together that by subtlety they might apprehend Jesus and put him to death. * They went out, as it were to a robber, with swords and clubs.
F. The chief priests and the Pharisees consulted together that by subtlety they might apprehend Jesus and put him to death.
P. They went out, as it were to a robber, with swords and clubs.
F. Pray, Father, a blessing.
Blessing
P. Through the might of his holy cross, may our Lord bring us to the joys of light and truth.
F. Amen.
P. But the soldiers took Jesus and led him forth, and bearing his own cross, he went forth to that place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew Golgotha, where they crucified him and with him two others, one on each side, and Jesus in the midst. And Jesus said: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.—But thou, 0 Lord, have mercy on us.
F. Thanks be to God.
P. You are come out, as it were to a robber, with swords and clubs to apprehend me. * I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you laid not hands on me, and lo! you scourge me and lead me to be crucified.
F. And when they had laid hands on Jesus and taken him, he said to them:
P. I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you laid not hands on me, and lo! you scourge me and lead me to be crucified.
F. Pray, Father, a blessing.
Blessing
P. May the sprinkling of Christ's Blood be our everlasting health and protection.
F. Amen.
Third Lesson
(St. John XIX. 28-30)
P. Afterwards, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said: I thirst. Now there was a vessel set there full of vinegar. And they, putting a sponge full of vinegar about hyssop, put it to his mouth. Jesus, therefore, when he had taken the vinegar, said: It is consummated. And bowing his head, he gave up the ghost.—But thou, O Lord, have mercy on us.
F. Thanks be to God.
P. Darkness covered the earth, whilst the Jews crucified Jesus. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me! * And bowing down his head, he gave up the ghost.
F. Jesus crying out with a loud voice, said: Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.
P. And bowing down his head, he gave up the ghost.
F. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.
P. And bowing down his head, he gave up the ghost.