TUESDAY Prime

God, come to my assistance
Lord, make haste to help me
Your help, propitious Mother, lend us
And from the dreadful foe defend us.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.

Byzantine Kontakion
She who once was barren gives birth today to the Forerunner of Christ, who will fulfill every prophecy. In the Jordan he placed his hand upon the One Whom the prophets foretold, and thus was shown to be the prophet, the herald, and the Forerunner of the Word of God.

Hail, Virginal wisdom; hail, mansion of God,
Where sevenfold pillars befit his abode.
All stately without and all perfect within,
He chose Him a dwelling undarkened by sin;
For even before your miraculous birth
you were free from the stain that has sullied the earth.
Mother of all saints Living and dead,
New star that shone Over Israel's head
Sovereign of angels, Terror of hell,
Be you our refuge, Who love you so well.

In His Holy Spirit He created Her and exalted Her above all His works.

Psalm 51
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy.
And according to the multitude of your tender mercies blot out my iniquity.

Wash me yet more from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my iniquity,
and my sin is always before me.

To you only have I sinned,
and have done evil before you:

that you may be justified in your words,
and may overcome when you are judged.

For behold I was conceived in iniquities;
and in sins did my mother conceive me.

For behold you have loved truth:
the uncertain and hidden things of your wisdom you have made manifest to me.

You shall sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed:
you shall wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.

To my hearing you shall give joy and gladness:
and the bones that have been humbled shall rejoice.

Turn away your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.

Create a clean heart in me, O God:
and renew a right spirit within my bowels.

Cast me not away from your face;
and take not your holy spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of your salvation,
and strengthen me with a perfect spirit.

I will teach the unjust your ways:
and the wicked shall be converted to you.

Deliver me from blood, O God,
God of my salvation:
and my tongue shall extol your justice.

O Lord, you will open my lips:
and my mouth shall declare your praise.

For if you had desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it:
with burnt offerings you will not be delighted.

A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit:
a contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not despise.

Deal favorably, O Lord, in your good will with Zion;
that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.

Then shall you accept the sacrifice of justice,
oblations and whole burnt offerings:
then shall they lay calves upon your altar.

The Trisagion
Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us.
Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us.
Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.

Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us.
Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us.

It is truly right to bless you, O God-bearing One, as the ever-blessed and immaculate Mother of our God. More honorable than the cherubim and by far more glorious than the seraphim; ever a virgin, you gave birth to God the Word, O true Mother of God, we magnify you.

Angel's prayer at Fatima
O my God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love Thee. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love Thee.

St. Cyril of Alexandria
Behold then the joy of the whole universe. Let the union of God and man in the Son of the Virgin Mary fill us with awe and adoration. Let us fear and worship the undivided Trinity as we sing the praise of the ever-virgin Mary, the holy temple of God, and of God himself, her Son and spotless Bridegroom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Antiphon: The angel Gabriel was sent to the Virgin Mary, who was engaged to be married to Joseph.

Psalm 101
Mercy and judgment I will sing
to you, O Lord: I will sing,

and I will understand in the unspotted way,
when you shall come to me.

I walked in the innocence of my heart,
in the midst of my house.

I did not set before my eyes any unjust thing:
I hated the workers of iniquities.

The perverse heart did not cleave to me:
and the malignant, that turned aside from me, I would not know.

The man that in private detracted his neighbor, him did I persecute.
With him that had a proud eye, and an unsatiable heart, I would not eat.

My eyes were upon the faithful of the earth, to sit with me:
the man that walked in the perfect way, he served me.

He that works pride shall not dwell in the midst of my house:
he that speaks unjust things did not prosper before my eyes.

In the morning I put to death all the wicked of the land:
that I might cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the Lord.

You are the mother of your Maker, yet you remain a virgin for ever.

Daniel 3

Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
and your name is worthy of praise, and glorious for ever:

For you are just in all that you have done to us,
and all your works are true, and your ways right, and all your judgments true.

For we have sinned, and committed iniquity, departing from you:
and we have trespassed in all things.

Deliver us not up for ever, we beseech you, for your name's sake,
and abolish not your covenant.

And take not away your mercy from us for the sake of Abraham your beloved,
and Isaac your servant, and Israel your holy one:

To whom you have spoken, promising that you would multiply their seed as the stars of heaven,
and as the
sand that is on the sea shore.

For we, O Lord, are diminished more than any nation,
and are brought low in all the earth this day for our sins.

Neither is there at this time prince, or leader, or prophet, or holocaust,
or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense, or place of firstfruits before you,
That we may find your mercy:

nevertheless in a contrite heart and humble spirit
let us be accepted.

As in holocausts of rams, and bullocks, and as in thousands of fat lambs:
so let our sacrifice be made in your sight this day, that it may please you:
for there is no confusion to them that trust in you.

And now we follow you with all our heart,
and we fear you, and seek your face.

Antiphon: Trusting in the Lord's promise, the Virgin Mary conceived a child, and remaining a virgin, she gave birth to the Savior.

Psalm 135
Praise the name of the Lord:
O you his servants, praise the Lord:

You that stand in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God.

Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good:
sing to his name, for it is sweet.

For the Lord has chosen Jacob unto himself:
Israel for his own possession.

For I have known that the Lord is great,
and our God is above all gods.

Whatsoever the Lord pleased he has done,
in heaven, in earth, in the sea, and in all the deeps.

He brings up clouds from the end of the earth:
he has made lightnings for the rain.

He brings forth winds out of his stores:
He slew the firstborn of Egypt from the man even unto beast.

He set forth signs and wonders in the midst of you, O Egypt:
upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants.

He smote many nations, and slew mighty kings:
Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan.

And gave their land for an inheritance,
for an inheritance to his people Israel.


Sirach 24
Wisdom shall praise her own self, and shall be honored in God, and shall glory in the midst of her people, And shall open her mouth in the churches of the most High, and shall glorify herself in the sight of his power, And in the midst of her own people she shall be exalted, and shall be admired in the holy assembly. And in the multitude of the elect she shall have praise, and among the blessed she shall be blessed, saying:

I came out of the mouth of the most High, the firstborn before all creatures: I made that in the heavens there should rise light that never fails, and as a cloud I covered all the earth: I dwelt in the highest places, and my throne is in a pillar of cloud. I alone have compassed the circuit of heaven, and have penetrated into the bottom of the deep, and have walked in the waves of the sea, And have stood in all the earth: and in every people, And in every nation I have had the chief rule: And by my power I have trodden under my feet the hearts of all the high and low: and in all these I sought rest, and I shall abide in the inheritance of the Lord. Then the creator of all things commanded, and said to me: and he that made me, rested in my tabernacle, And he said to me: Let your dwelling be in Jacob, and your inheritance in Israel, and take root in my elect. From the beginning, and before the world, was I created, and unto the world to come I shall not cease to be, and in the holy dwelling place I have ministered before him. And so was I established in Zion, and in the holy city likewise I rested, and my power was in Jerusalem. And I took root in an honorable people, and in the portion of my God his inheritance, and my abode is in the full assembly of saints.

St. Leo the Great
A royal virgin of the house of David is chosen. She is to bear a holy child, one who is both God and man. She is to conceive him in her soul before she conceives him in her body. In the face of so unheard of an event she is to know no fear through ignorance of the divine plan; the angel tells her what is to be accomplished in her by the Holy Spirit. She believes that there will be no loss of virginity, she who is soon to be the mother of God.

Why should she lose heart at this new form of conceiving when she has been promised that it will be effected through the power of the Most High? She believes, and her faith is confirmed by the witness of a previous wonder: against all expectation Elizabeth is made fruitful. God has enabled a barren woman to be with child; he must be believed when he makes the same promise to a virgin.

After the birth of your son, you remained a virgin
Mother of God, intercede for us; you remained a virgin.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever.
After the birth of your son, you remained a virgin.

Tridentine Introit
Bless the Lord, all you His Angels: you that are mighty in strength, and execute His
word, hearkening to the voice of His orders. Bless the Lord, O my soul: and let all that
is within me bless His holy Name.

The Song of Zechariah
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;
because he has visited and wrought the redemption of his people:
And has 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 you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Highest:
for you shall 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 has visited us:
To enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death:
to direct our feet into the way of peace.

In his great love for us, God sent his Son in the likeness of our sinful nature.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.

God our Father, your Word became man and was born of the Virgin Mary. May we become more like Jesus Christ, whom we acknowledge as our redeemer, God and man. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.