Matins for the Dead (Dirige)
Invitatory
Venite Psalm 95:1-7
The King, by whom and in whom all things live and move and have their being: O come, let us adore him.
Come, let us sing to the Lord; *
let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving *
and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.
The King, by whom and in whom all things live and move and have their being: O come, let us adore him.
For the Lord is a great God, *
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the caverns of the earth, *
and the heights of the hills are his also.
The King, by whom and in whom all things live and move and have their being: O come, let us adore him.
The sea is his, for he made it, *
and his hands have molded the dry land.
Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *
Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!
The King, by whom and in whom all things live and move and have their being: O come, let us adore him.
First Nocturn (Sunday/Monday/Thursday)
Psalter
Make, O LORD, your way straight before me.
Psalm 5 Verba mea auribus
1 Give ear to my words, O LORD; *consider my meditation.
2 Hearken to my cry for help, my King and my God, *
for I make my prayer to you.
3 In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; *
early in the morning I make my appeal and watch for you.
4 For you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, *
and evil cannot dwell with you.
5 Braggarts cannot stand in your sight; *
you hate all those who work wickedness.
6 You destroy those who speak lies; *
the bloodthirsty and deceitful, O LORD, you abhor.
7 But as for me, through the greatness of your mercy I will go into your house; *
I will bow down toward your holy temple in awe of you.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness, because of those who lie in wait for me; *
make your way straight before me.
9 For there is no truth in their mouth; *
there is destruction in their heart;
10 Their throat is an open grave; *
they flatter with their tongue.
11 Declare them guilty, O God; *
let them fall, because of their schemes.
12 Because of their many transgressions cast them out, *
for they have rebelled against you.
13 But all who take refuge in you will be glad; *
they will sing out their joy for ever.
14 You will shelter them, *
so that those who love your Name may exult in you.
15 For you, O LORD, will bless the righteous; *
you will defend them with your favor as with a shield.
Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord
And let light perpetual shine upon them.
Make, O LORD, your way straight before me.
Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; For in death no one remembers you.
Psalm 6 Domine, ne in furore
1 LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger; *do not punish me in your wrath.
2 Have pity on me, LORD, for I am weak; *
heal me, LORD, for my bones are racked.
3 My spirit shakes with terror; *
how long, O LORD, how long?
4 Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; *
save me for your mercy's sake.
5 For in death no one remembers you; *
and who will give you thanks in the grave?
6 I grow weary because of my groaning; *
every night I drench my bed and flood my couch with tears.
7 My eyes are wasted with grief *
and worn away because of all my enemies.
8 Depart from me, all evildoers, *
for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The LORD has heard my supplication; *
the LORD accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be confounded and quake with fear; *
they shall turn back and suddenly be put to shame.
Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord
And let light perpetual shine upon them.
Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; For in death no one remembers you.
Lest like a lion they tear me in pieces and snatch me away with none to deliver me.
Psalm 7 Domine, Deus meus
1 O LORD my God, I take refuge in you; *save and deliver me from all who pursue me;
2 Lest like a lion they tear me in pieces *
and snatch me away with none to deliver me.
3 O LORD my God, if I have done these things: *
if there is any wickedness in my hands,
4 If I have repaid my friend with evil, *
or plundered him who without cause is my enemy;
5 Then let my enemy pursue and overtake me, *
trample my life into the ground, and lay my honor in the dust.
6 Stand up, O LORD, in your wrath; *
rise up against the fury of my enemies.
7 Awake, O my God, decree justice; *
let the assembly of the peoples gather round you.
8 Be seated on your lofty throne, O Most High; *
O LORD, judge the nations.
9 Give judgment for me according to my righteousness, O LORD, *
and according to my innocence, O Most High.
10 Let the malice of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; *
for you test the mind and heart, O righteous God.
11 God is my shield and defense; *
he is the savior of the true in heart.
12 God is a righteous judge; *
God sits in judgment every day.
13 If they will not repent, God will whet his sword; *
he will bend his bow and make it ready.
14 He has prepared his weapons of death; *
he makes his arrows shafts of fire.
15 Look at those who are in labor with wickedness, *
who conceive evil, and give birth to a lie.
16 They dig a pit and make it deep *
and fall into the hole that they have made.
17 Their malice turns back upon their own head; *
their violence falls on their own scalp.
18 I will bear witness that the LORD is righteous; *
I will praise the Name of the LORD Most High.
Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord
And let light perpetual shine upon them.
Lest like a lion they tear me in pieces and snatch me away with none to deliver me.
V. From the gate of hell.
R. Deliver their souls, O Lord
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen.
First Lesson
(Job 7:16-21)
Let me alone, for my days are a breath. What are human beings, that you make so much of them, that you set your mind on them, visit them every morning, test them every moment? Will you not look away from me for a while, let me alone until I swallow my spittle? If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of humanity? Why have you made me your target? Why have I become a burden to you? Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth; you will seek me, but I shall not be.
First Respond
V: For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth;
R: And after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God
V. Whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
R: And after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God.
Second Lesson
(Job 10:1-7)
I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me. Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked? Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as humans see? Are your days like the days of mortals, or your years like human years, that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin, although you know that I am not guilty, and there is no one to deliver out of your hand?
Second Respond
V: You who raised Lazarus, already corrupting, from the grave;
R: O Lord, grant them them rest and a place of pardon.
V. You that shall come to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire.
R: O Lord, grant them them rest and a place of pardon.
Third Lesson
(Job 10:8-13)
Your hands fashioned and made me; and now you turn and destroy me. Remember that you fashioned me like clay; and will you turn me to dust again? Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit. Yet these things you hid in your heart
Third Respond
V: O Lord, when you come to judge the earth, where shall I hide from the presence of your wrath?
R: For I have sinned in my life.
V. I begin to fear my misdeeds and blush before you: when you come to judge, condemn me not.
R: For I have sinned in my life.
V: Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord; And let light perpetual shine upon them.
R: For I have sinned in my life.
[Lauds continues if only one nocturn is being said]
Second Nocturn (Tuesday/Friday)
Psalter
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
Psalm 23 Dominus regit me
1 The LORD is my shepherd; *I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures *
and leads me beside still waters.
3 He revives my soul *
and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake.
4 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil; *
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; *
you have anointed my head with oil, and my cup is running over.
6 Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, *
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord
And let light perpetual shine upon them.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions
Psalm 25 Ad te, Domine, levavi
1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; my God, I put my trust in you; *let me not be humiliated, nor let my enemies triumph over me.
2 Let none who look to you be put to shame; *
let the treacherous be disappointed in their schemes.
3 Show me your ways, O LORD, *
and teach me your paths.
4 Lead me in your truth and teach me, *
for you are the God of my salvation; in you have I trusted all the day long.
5 Remember, O LORD, your compassion and love, *
for they are from everlasting.
6 Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions; *
remember me according to your love and for the sake of your goodness, O LORD.
7 Gracious and upright is the LORD; *
therefore he teaches sinners in his way.
8 He guides the humble in doing right *
and teaches his way to the lowly.
9 All the paths of the LORD are love and faithfulness *
to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
10 For your Name's sake, O LORD, *
forgive my sin, for it is great.
11 Who are they who fear the LORD? *
he will teach them the way that they should choose.
12 They shall dwell in prosperity, *
and their offspring shall inherit the land.
13 The LORD is a friend to those who fear him *
and will show them his covenant.
14 My eyes are ever looking to the LORD, *
for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.
15 Turn to me and have pity on me, *
for I am left alone and in misery.
16 The sorrows of my heart have increased; *
bring me out of my troubles.
17 Look upon my adversity and misery *
and forgive me all my sin.
18 Look upon my enemies, for they are many, *
and they bear a violent hatred against me.
19 Protect my life and deliver me; *
let me not be put to shame, for I have trusted in you.
20 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, *
for my hope has been in you.
21 Deliver Israel, O God, *
out of all his troubles.
Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord
And let light perpetual shine upon them.
Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions
I should see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
Psalm 27 Dominus illuminatio
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear? *the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?
2 When evildoers came upon me to eat up my flesh, *
it was they, my foes and my adversaries, who stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army should encamp against me, *
yet my heart shall not be afraid;
4 And though war should rise up against me, *
yet will I put my trust in him.
5 One thing have I asked of the LORD; one thing I seek; *
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life;
6 To behold the fair beauty of the LORD *
and to seek him in his temple.
7 For in the day of trouble he shall keep me safe in his shelter; *
he shall hide me in the secrecy of his dwelling and set me high upon a rock.
8 Even now he lifts up my head *
above my enemies round about me.
9 Therefore I will offer in his dwelling an oblation with sounds of great gladness; *
I will sing and make music to the LORD.
10 Hearken to my voice, O LORD, when I call; *
have mercy on me and answer me.
11 You speak in my heart and say, "Seek my face." *
Your face, LORD, will I seek.
12 Hide not your face from me, *
nor turn away your servant in displeasure.
13 You have been my helper; cast me not away; *
do not forsake me, O God of my salvation.
14 Though my father and my mother forsake me, *
the LORD will sustain me.
15 Show me your way, O LORD; *
lead me on a level path, because of my enemies.
16 Deliver me not into the hand of my adversaries, *
for false witnesses have risen up against me, and also those who speak malice.
17 What if I had not believed that I should see the goodness of the LORD *
in the land of the living!
18 O tarry and await the LORD'S pleasure; be strong, and he shall comfort your heart; *
wait patiently for the LORD.
Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord
And let light perpetual shine upon them.
I should see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
V. The righteous will be kept in everlasting remembrance.
R. They will not be afraid of any evil tidings.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen.
First Lesson
(Job 13:22b-28)
Reply to me. How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin. Why do you hide your face, and count me as your enemy? Will you frighten a windblown leaf and pursue dry chaff? For you write bitter things against me, and make me reap the iniquities of my youth. You put my feet in the stocks, and watch all my paths; you set a bound to the soles of my feet. One wastes away like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.
First Respond
V: Woe is me, O Lord, for I have sinned all the days of my life. Where shall I flee, but to you?
R: O my God, have mercy on me when you come at the last day.
V. My heart is greatly troubled; but, Lord, be my helper.
R: O my God, have mercy on me when you come at the last day.
Second Lesson
(Job 14:1-6)
A mortal, born of woman, few of days and full of trouble, comes up like a flower and withers, flees like a shadow and does not last. Do you fix your eyes on such a one? Do you bring me into judgment with you? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one can. Since their days are determined, and the number of their months is known to you, and you have appointed the bounds that they cannot pass, look away from them, and desist, that they may enjoy, like laborers, their days.
Second Respond
V: Remember not my sins, O Lord,
R: When you come to judge the world by fire.
V. Make your way straight before me, O Lord my God.
R: When you come to judge the world by fire.
Third Lesson
(Job 14:13-16)
Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me! If mortals die, will they live again? All the days of my service I would wait until my release should come. You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands. For then you would not number my steps, you would not keep watch over my sin.
Third Respond
V: Judge me not, O Lord, according to my deeds; for I have done nothing worthy in your sight.
R: In your great compassion, O God, blot out my offenses.
V. Wash me through and through from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin; against you only have I sinned.
R: In your great compassion, O God, blot out my offenses.
V: Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord; And let light perpetual shine upon them.
R: In your great compassion, O God, blot out my offenses.
[Lauds continues if only one nocturn is being said]
Third Nocturn (Wednesday/Saturday)
Psalter
Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; O LORD, make haste to help me.
Psalm 40 Expectans, expectavi
1 I waited patiently upon the LORD; *he stooped to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the mire and clay; *
he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; *
many shall see, and stand in awe, and put their trust in the LORD.
4 Happy are they who trust in the LORD! *
they do not resort to evil spirits or turn to false gods.
5 Great things are they that you have done, O LORD my God! how great your wonders and your plans for us! *
there is none who can be compared with you.
6 Oh, that I could make them known and tell them! *
but they are more than I can count.
7 In sacrifice and offering you take no pleasure *
(you have given me ears to hear you);
8 Burnt-offering and sin-offering you have not required, *
and so I said, "Behold, I come.
9 In the roll of the book it is written concerning me: *
'I love to do your will, O my God; your law is deep in my heart.'"
10 I proclaimed righteousness in the great congregation; *
behold, I did not restrain my lips; and that, O LORD, you know.
11 Your righteousness have I not hidden in my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your deliverance; *
I have not concealed your love and faithfulness from the great congregation.
12 You are the LORD; do not withhold your compassion from me; *
let your love and your faithfulness keep me safe for ever,
13 For innumerable troubles have crowded upon me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see; *
they are more in number than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me.
14 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; *
O LORD, make haste to help me.
15 Let them be ashamed and altogether dismayed who seek after my life to destroy it; *
let them draw back and be disgraced who take pleasure in my misfortune.
16 Let those who say "Aha!" and gloat over me be confounded, *
because they are ashamed.
17 Let all who seek you rejoice in you and be glad; *
let those who love your salvation continually say, "Great is the LORD!"
18 Though I am poor and afflicted, *
the Lord will have regard for me.
19 You are my helper and my deliverer; *
do not tarry, O my God.
Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord
And let light perpetual shine upon them.
Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; O LORD, make haste to help me.
Heal me, LORD, for I have sinned against you.
Psalm 41 Beatus qui intelligit
1 Happy are they who consider the poor and needy! *the LORD will deliver them in the time of trouble.
2 The LORD preserves them and keeps them alive, so that they may be happy in the land; *
he does not hand them over to the will of their enemies.
3 The LORD sustains them on their sickbed *
and ministers to them in their illness.
4 I said, "LORD, be merciful to me; *
heal me, for I have sinned against you."
5 My enemies are saying wicked things about me: *
"When will he die, and his name perish?"
6 Even if they come to see me, they speak empty words; *
their heart collects false rumors; they go outside and spread them.
7 All my enemies whisper together about me *
and devise evil against me.
8 A deadly thing, they say, has fastened on him; *
he has taken to his bed and will never get up again.
9 Even my best friend, whom I trusted, who broke bread with me, *
has lifted up his heel and turned against me.
10 But you, O LORD, be merciful to me and raise me up, *
and I shall repay them.
11 By this I know you are pleased with me, *
that my enemy does not triumph over me.
12 In my integrity you hold me fast, *
and shall set me before your face for ever.
13 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, *
from age to age. Amen. Amen.
Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord
And let light perpetual shine upon them.
Heal me, LORD, for I have sinned against you.
My soul is athirst for the living God; when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?
Psalm 42 Quemadmodum
1 As the deer longs for the water-brooks, *so longs my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God; *
when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night, *
while all day long they say to me, "Where now is your God?"
4 I pour out my soul when I think on these things; *
how I went with the multitude and led them into the house of God,
5 With the voice of praise and thanksgiving, *
among those who keep holy-day.
6 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? *
and why are you so disquieted within me?
7 Put your trust in God; *
for I will yet give thanks to him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
8 My soul is heavy within me; *
therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan, and from the peak of Mizar among the heights of Hermon.
9 One deep calls to another in the noise of your cataracts; *
all your rapids and floods have gone over me.
10 The LORD grants his loving-kindness in the daytime; *
in the night season his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
11 I will say to the God of my strength, "Why have you forgotten me? *
and why do I go so heavily while the enemy oppresses me?"
12 While my bones are being broken, *
my enemies mock me to my face;
13 All day long they mock me *
and say to me, "Where now is your God?"
14 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? *
and why are you so disquieted within me?
15 Put your trust in God; *
for I will yet give thanks to him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord
And let light perpetual shine upon them.
My soul is athirst for the living God; when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?
V. Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord
R. And let light perpetual shine upon them.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen.
First Lesson
(Job 17:1-3, 11-15)
My spirit is broken, my days are extinct, the grave is ready for me. Surely there are mockers around me, and my eye dwells on their provocation. Lay down a pledge for me with yourself; who is there that will give surety for me? My days are past, my plans are broken off, the desires of my heart. They make night into day; "The light," they say, "is near to the darkness." If I look for Sheol as my house, if I spread my couch in darkness, if I say to the Pit, "You are my father," and to the worm, "My mother," or "My sister," where then is my hope? Who will see my hope? You, O Lord, are my God.
First Respond
V: While I sin daily and have no repentance, the fear of death appals me.
R: Because in hell there is no redemption; have mercy on me, O God, and save me.
V. Save me, O God, for your name's sake; O Lord, deliver me in your strength.
R: Because in hell there is no redemption; have mercy on me, O God, and save me.
Second Lesson
(Job 19:20-27)
My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. 21 Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me! 22 Why do you, like God, pursue me, never satisfied with my flesh? 23 "O that my words were written down! O that they were inscribed in a book! 24 O that with an iron pen and with lead they were engraved on a rock forever! 25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; 26 and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, 27 whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!
Second Respond
V: Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord
R: And let light perpetual shine upon them.
V. You that raised Lazarus, already corrupting, from the grave, grant them rest, O Lord
R: And let light perpetual shine upon them.
Third Lesson
(Job 10:18-22)
Why did you bring me forth from the womb? Would that I had died before any eye had seen me, and were as though I had not been, carried from the womb to the grave. Are not the days of my life few? Let me alone, that I may find a little comfort before I go, never to return, to the land of gloom and deep darkness, the land of gloom and chaos, where light is like darkness.
Third Respond
V: Deliver me, O Lord, from death eternal in that day of trembling.
R: When heaven and earth shall be shaken, when you come to judge the world by fire.
V. Ah, that day, that day of anger, of calamity and misery: Ah, that great and exceedingly bitter day.
R: When heaven and earth shall be shaken.
V: What, then, will I a wretched sinner say, or what shall I do, who can take no good before so great a judge?
R. When you come to judge the world by fire.
V: Now, O Christ, we pray you, we beg you to have mercy; since you came to save the lost, do not damn those whom you have redeemed.
R. When you come to judge the world by fire.
V: Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord; And let light perpetual shine upon them.
R: When you come to judge the world by fire.
[Lauds normally follws after Matins; else:]
V: The Lord be with you.
R: And also with you.
Eternal Lord God, you hold all souls in life: Give to your whole Church in paradise and on earth your light and your peace; and grant that we, following the good examples of those who have served you here and are now at rest, may at the last enter with them into your unending joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
V:Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord
R:
And let light perpetual shine upon them.
V: May they rest in peace.
R: Amen.