S. Petri de Alcantara Confessoris

Nocturn 1

Ant. The Lord * has looked down from heaven upon the children of men.

Psalm 13

13:1a The fool has said in his heart, * “There is no God.”
13:1b They were corrupted, and they have become abominable in their studies. * There is no one who does good; there is not even one.
13:2 The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, * to see if there were any who were considering or seeking God.
13:3a They have all gone astray; together they have become useless. * There is no one who does good; there is not even one.
13:3b Their throat is an open sepulcher. † With their tongues, they have been acting deceitfully; * the venom of asps is under their lips.
13:3c Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. * Their feet are swift to shed blood.
13:3d Grief and unhappiness are in their ways; † and the way of peace, they have not known. * There is no fear of God before their eyes.
13:4 Will they never learn: all those who work iniquity, * who devour my people like a meal of bread?
13:5 They have not called upon the Lord. * There, they have trembled in fear, where there was no fear.
13:6 For the Lord is with the just generation. † You have confounded the counsel of the needy * because the Lord is his hope.
13:7 Who will grant the salvation of Israel from Zion? * When the Lord turns away the captivity of his people, Jacob will exult, and Israel will rejoice.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the children of men.

Ant. He who does justice * shall rest on your holy mountain, O Lord.

Psalm 14

14:1 O Lord, who will dwell in your tabernacle? * Or who will rest on your holy mountain?
14:2 He who walks without blemish * and who works justice.
14:3a He who speaks the truth in his heart, * who has not acted deceitfully with his tongue,
14:3b and has not done evil to his neighbor, * and has not taken up a reproach against his neighbors.
14:4a In his sight, the malicious one has been reduced to nothing, * but he glorifies those who fear the Lord.
14:4b He who swears to his neighbor and does not deceive. * (5a) He who has not given his money in usury, nor accepted bribes against the innocent.
14:5b He who does these things * will be undisturbed for eternity.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. He who does justice shall rest on your holy mountain, O Lord.

Ant. Incline, O Lord, * your ear to me, and hear my words.

Psalm 16

16:1a Lord, listen to my justice, * attend to my supplication.
16:1b Pay attention to my prayer, * which is not from deceitful lips.
16:2 Let my judgment proceed from your presence. * Let your eyes behold fairness.
16:3 You have tested my heart and visited it by night. * You have examined me by fire, and iniquity has not been found in me.
16:4 Therefore, may my mouth not speak the works of men. * I have kept to difficult ways because of the words of your lips.
16:5 Perfect my steps in your paths, * so that my footsteps may not be disturbed.
16:6 I have cried out because you, O God, have listened to me. * Incline your ear to me and heed my words.
16:7 Make your mercies wonderful, * for you save those who hope in you.
16:8a From those who resist your right hand, preserve me * like the pupil of your eye.
16:8b Protect me under the shadow of your wings, * (9a) from the face of the impious who have afflicted me.
16:9b My enemies have surrounded my soul. † (10) They have concealed their fatness; * their mouth has been speaking arrogantly.
16:11 They have cast me out, and now they have surrounded me. * They have cast their eyes down to the earth.
16:12 They have taken me, like a lion ready for the prey, * and like a young lion dwelling in hiding.
16:13 Rise up, O Lord, arrive before him and displace him. * Deliver my soul from the impious one: your spear (14a) from the enemies of your hand.
16:14b Lord, divide them from the few of the earth in their life. * Their gut has been filled from your hidden stores.
16:14c They have been filled with sons, * and they have bequeathed to their little ones the remainder.
16:15 But as for me, I will appear before your sight in justice. * I will be satisfied when your glory appears.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. Incline, O Lord, your ear to me, and hear my words.

Ant. I will love you, * O Lord, my strength.

Psalm 17(2-16b)

17:2 I will love you, O Lord my strength. * (3a) The Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my liberator.
17:3b My God is my helper, * and I hope in him:
17:3c my protector, and the horn of my salvation, * and my support.
17:4 Praising, I will call upon the Lord. * And I will be saved from my enemies.
17:5 The sorrows of death surrounded me, * and the torrents of iniquity dismayed me.
17:6 The sorrows of Hell encompassed me, * and the snares of death intercepted me.
17:7a In my tribulation, I called upon the Lord, * and I cried out to my God.
17:7b And he listened to my voice from his holy temple. * And my cry in his presence entered into his ears.
17:8 The earth was shaken, and it trembled. * The foundations of the mountains were disturbed, and they were shaken, because he was angry with them.
17:9 A smoke ascended by his wrath, † and a fire flared up from his face: * coals were kindled by it.
17:10 He bent the heavens, and they descended. * And darkness was under his feet.
17:11 And he ascended upon the cherubim, and he flew: * he flew upon the feathers of the winds.
17:12 And he set darkness as his hiding place, † with his tabernacle all around him: * dark waters in the clouds of the air.
17:13 At the brightness that was before his sight, the clouds crossed by, * with hail and coals of fire.
17:14 And the Lord thundered from heaven, † and the Most High uttered his voice: * hail and coals of fire.
17:15 And he sent forth his arrows and scattered them. * He multiplied lightnings, and he set them in disarray.
17:16a Then the fountains of waters appeared, * and the foundations of the world were revealed,
17:16b by your rebuke, O Lord, * by the inspiration of the Spirit of your wrath.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. I will love you, O Lord, my strength.

Ant. The Lord will repay me * according to my justice.

Psalm 17(17-35)

17:17 He sent from on high, and he accepted me. * And he took me up, out of many waters.
17:18 He rescued me from my strongest enemies, † and from those who hated me. * For they had been too strong for me.
17:19 They intercepted me in the day of my affliction, * and the Lord became my protector.
17:20 And he led me out, into a wide place. * He accomplished my salvation, because he willed me.
17:21 And the Lord will reward me according to my justice, * and he will repay me according to the purity of my hands.
17:22 For I have preserved the ways of the Lord, * and I have not behaved impiously before my God.
17:23 For all his judgments are in my sight, * and his justice, I have not pushed away from me.
17:24 And I will be immaculate together with him, * and I will keep myself from my iniquity.
17:25 And the Lord will reward me according to my justice * and according to the purity of my hands before his eyes.
17:26 With the holy, you will be holy, * and with the innocent, you will be innocent,
17:27 and with the elect, you will be elect, * and with the perverse, you will be perverse.
17:28 For you will save the humble people, * but you will bring down the eyes of the arrogant.
17:29 For you illuminate my lamp, O Lord. * My God, enlighten my darkness.
17:30 For in you, I will be delivered from temptation; * and with my God, I will climb over a wall.
17:31 As for my God, his way is undefiled. † The eloquence of the Lord has been examined by fire. * He is the protector of all who hope in him.
17:32 For who is God, except the Lord? * And who is God, except our God?
17:33 It is God who has wrapped me with virtue * and made my way immaculate.
17:34 It is he who has perfected my feet, like the feet of deer, * and who stations me upon the heights.
17:35 It is he who trains my hands for battle. * And you have set my arms like a bow of brass.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. The Lord will repay me according to my justice.

Ant. The Lord lives, * and blessed be God my salvation.

Psalm 17(36a-51)

17:36a And you have given me the protection of your salvation. * And your right hand sustains me.
17:36b And your discipline has corrected me unto the end. * And your discipline itself will teach me.
17:37 You have expanded my footsteps under me, * and my tracks have not been weakened.
17:38 I will pursue my enemies and apprehend them. * And I will not turn back until they have failed.
17:39 I will break them, and they will not be able to stand. * They will fall under my feet.
17:40 And you have wrapped me with virtue for the battle. * And those rising up against me, you have subdued under me.
17:41 And you have given the back of my enemies to me, * and you have destroyed those who hated me.
17:42 They cried out, but there was none to save them, to the Lord, * but he did not heed them.
17:43 And I will crush them into dust before the face of the wind, * so that I will obliterate them like the mud in the streets.
17:44 You will rescue me from the contradictions of the people. * You will set me at the head of the Gentiles.
17:45 A people I did not know has served me. * As soon as their ears heard, they were obedient to me.
17:46 The sons of foreigners have been deceitful to me, * the sons of foreigners have grown weak with time, and they have wavered from their paths.
17:47 The Lord lives, and blessed is my God, * and may the God of my salvation be exalted:
17:48 O God, who vindicates me and who subdues the people under me, * my liberator from my enraged enemies.
17:49 And you will exalt me above those who rise up against me. * From the iniquitous man, you will rescue me.
17:50 Because of this, O Lord, I will confess to you among the nations, * and I will compose a psalm to your name:
17:51 magnifying the salvation of his king, † and showing mercy to David, his Christ, * and to his offspring, even for all time.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. The Lord lives, and blessed be God my salvation.

Ant. May the Lord hear you * in the day of tribulation.

Psalm 19

19:2 May the Lord hear you in the day of tribulation. * May the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
19:3 May he send you help from the sanctuary * and watch over you from Zion.
19:4 May he be mindful of all your sacrifices, * and may your burnt-offerings be fat.
19:5 May he grant to you according to your heart, * and confirm all your counsels.
19:6 We will rejoice in your salvation, * and in the name of our God, we will be magnified.
19:7a May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. * Now I know that the Lord has saved his Christ.
19:7b He will hear him from his holy heaven. * The salvation of his right hand is in his power.
19:8 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, * but we will call upon the name of the Lord our God.
19:9 They have been bound, and they have fallen. * But we have risen up, and we have been set upright.
19:10 O Lord, save the king, * and hear us on the day that we will call upon you.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. May the Lord hear you in the day of tribulation.

Ant. O Lord, * in your power the king shall rejoice.

Psalm 20

20:2 In your virtue, Lord, the king will rejoice, * and over your salvation, he will exult exceedingly.
20:3 You have granted him the desire of his heart, * and you have not cheated him of the wish of his lips.
20:4 For you have gone ahead of him with blessings of sweetness. * You have placed a crown of precious stones on his head.
20:5 He petitioned you for life, * and you have granted him length of days, in the present time, and forever and ever.
20:6 Great is his glory in your salvation. * Glory and great adornment, you will lay upon him.
20:7 For you will give him as a blessing forever and ever. * You will make him rejoice with gladness in your presence.
20:8 Because the king hopes in the Lord, * and in the mercy of the Most High, he will not be disturbed.
20:9 May your hand be found by all your enemies. * May your right hand discover all those who hate you.
20:10 You will make them like an oven of fire, in the time of your presence. * The Lord will stir them up with his wrath, and fire will devour them.
20:11 You will destroy their fruit from the earth * and their offspring from the sons of men.
20:12 For they have turned evils upon you; * they have devised plans, which they have not been able to accomplish.
20:13 For you will make them turn their back; * with your remnants, you will prepare their countenance.
20:14 Be exalted, Lord, by your own power. * We will play music and sing psalms to your virtues.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. O Lord, in your power the king shall rejoice.

Ant. I will exalt you, * O Lord, for you have upheld me.

Psalm 29

29:2 I will extol you, Lord, for you have sustained me, * and you have not allowed my enemies to delight over me.
29:3 O Lord my God, I have cried out to you, * and you have healed me.
29:4 Lord, you led my soul away from Hell. * You have saved me from those who descend into the pit.
29:5 Sing a psalm to the Lord, you his saints, * and confess with remembrance of his holiness.
29:6 For wrath is in his indignation, * and life is in his will.
29:6 Toward evening, weeping will linger, * and toward morning, gladness.
29:7 But I have said in my abundance: * “I will never be disturbed.”
29:8 O Lord, in your will, * you made virtue preferable to beauty for me.
29:8 You turned your face away from me, * and I became disturbed.
29:9 To you, Lord, I will cry out. * And I will make supplication to my God.
29:10 What use would there be in my blood, * if I descend into corruption?
29:10 Will dust confess to you * or announce your truth?
29:11 The Lord has heard, and he has been merciful to me. * The Lord has become my helper.
29:12 You have turned my mourning into gladness for me. * You have cut off my sackcloth, and you have surrounded me with joy.
29:13 So then, may my glory sing to you, and may I not regret it. * O Lord, my God, I will confess to you for eternity.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

Ant. I will exalt you, O Lord, for you have upheld me.

℣ Sing to the Lord, you his holy ones.

℟ And give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

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 also forgive those who trespass against us:

℣ And lead us not into temptation:

℟ But deliver us from evil.

Hear us, Lord Jesus Christ, and have mercy on your servants: You who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.

℟ Amen.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

Benediction. May he bless us who lives and reigns without end.

℟ Amen.

Reading 1

From the Second Book of Maccabees

2 Mac 2:1-3

1 Now it is found in the descriptions of the prophet Jeremiah that he ordered those who transmigrated to take the fire, just as it was signified and as he ordered, into the transmigration.
2 And he gave them the law, so that they would never forget the commandments of the Lord, and so that they would not go astray in their minds, seeing the idols of gold and silver, and their ornaments.
3 And in this manner, with other sayings, he exhorted them, lest they remove the law from their heart.

℣ But you, O Lord, have mercy on us.

℟ Thanks be to God.

℟ Judas said to Simon his brother: Choose men for yourself and go, and free your brothers in Galilee; but I and my brother Jonathan will go into the country of Gilead.

As will be the will in heaven, so let it be done.

℣ Gird yourselves, O sons of power, and be ready; for it is better for us to die in battle than to see evils come to our nation and to our holy places.

℟ As will be the will in heaven, so let it be done.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

Benediction. May he whose feast we celebrate intercede for us to the Lord.

℟ Amen.

Reading 2

2 Mac 2:4-6

4 Furthermore, it was in the same writing, how the prophet, by divine response, ordered that the tabernacle and the ark be made to accompany him, until he exited from the mountain, where Moses ascended and saw the inheritance of God.
5 And arriving there, Jeremiah found a place in a cave. And he brought both the tabernacle, and the ark, and the altar of incense into that place, and he obstructed the opening.
6 And certain ones of those who followed him, approached to make note of the location, but they were not able to find it.

2 Mac 2:7-9

7 But when Jeremiah knew of it, he blamed them, saying: 'The place shall be unknown, until God shall gather together the congregation of the people, and until he may be favorably inclined.'
8 And then the Lord will reveal these things, and the majesty of the Lord shall appear, and there will be a cloud, just as it was also manifested to Moses, and just as he manifested these when Solomon petitioned that the place should be sanctified to the great God.
9 For he also drew upon wisdom magnificently, and so, having wisdom, he offered the sacrifice of the dedication and the consummation of the temple.

℣ But you, O Lord, have mercy on us.

℟ Thanks be to God.

℟ In hymns and confessions they blessed the Lord,

Who did great things in Israel, and the Lord almighty gave them victory.

℣ They adorned the face of the temple with golden crowns, and dedicated the altar to the Lord.

℟ Who did great things in Israel, and the Lord almighty gave them victory.

℣ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Spirit.

℟ Who did great things in Israel, and the Lord almighty gave them victory.

℣ Grant a blessing, O Lord.

Benediction. May the King of Angels lead us to the company of the citizens on high.

℟ Amen.

Reading 3

Peter of Alcantara, born of noble parents at Alcantara in Spain, was received into the Order of Friars Minor in his sixteenth year of age; he set himself forth as an example of all virtues, especially of poverty and chastity, and drew innumerable souls from vices to penance by preaching the word of God. Eager to restore the primitive institute of Saint Francis, in a most narrow and most poor monastery built near Pedroso, he happily began a most austere manner of life, which was afterward propagated in a marvelous way. He was a helper to Saint Teresa — whose spirit he had approved and who while he was alive customarily called him a saint — in promoting the reform of the Carmelites. The same Saint Teresa testifies that he was distinguished by the grace of contemplation and of miracles, and that he was endowed with the gift of prophecy and discernment of spirits. Finally, when he was in his sixty-third year, he departed to heaven. Blessed Teresa saw him in a vision shining with marvelous glory.

℣ But you, O Lord, have mercy on us.

℟ Thanks be to God.

Te Deum

O God, we praise you; * O Lord, we acclaim you.
Eternal Father, * all the earth reveres you.
To you all the Angels, * the heavens and all the Powers of heaven:
To you the Cherubim and Seraphim * cry out in endless praise:
(A bow is made) Holy, Holy, Holy * Lord God of hosts;
Heaven and earth are filled * with the majesty of your glory.
The glorious choir of Apostles * sings to you,
the noble company of Prophets * praises you,
the white-robed army of Martyrs * glorifies you.
Holy Church throughout the earth * proclaims you,
the Father * of boundless majesty;
your true and only Son, * worthy of adoration;
and the Holy Spirit, * the Paraclete.
You, O Christ, * are the King of glory.
You are * the Father's everlasting Son.
(A bow is made) When you resolved to save the human race, * you did not spurn the Virgin's womb.
You overcame the sting of death * and opened the Kingdom of Heaven to those who put their faith in you.
You are seated at the right hand of God * in the glory of the Father.
We believe you are the Judge * who is to come.

(The following verse is said kneeling)

And so we beg you, help your servants, * redeemed by your most precious blood.
Number them * among your Saints in eternal glory.
Save your people, Lord, * and bless your inheritance.
Shepherd them * and raise them to eternal life.
Day by day * we bless you,
(A bow is made, according to custom) and we praise your name * for endless ages evermore.
Be gracious, Lord, on this day, * and keep us from all sin.
Have mercy on us, O Lord, * have mercy.
May your mercy be upon us, Lord, * as we place our trust in you.
In you, O Lord, I rest my hope: * let me never be put to shame.