Little Office of
Divine Wrath

Vespers

Through the Year (Pentecost Monday, Matins—Wednesday of Holy Week, Compline)

Introduction

The Our Father and Hail Mary are prayed silently.

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. And lead us not into temptation: But deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace; The Lord is with thee; Blessed art thou amongst women, And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Psalmody

Ant. The Lord said to my Lord: * Sit thou at my right hand. ‡

Psalm 109

  • The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand:
  • ‡ Until I make thy enemies * thy footstool.
  • The Lord will send forth the sceptre of thy power out of Sion: * rule thou in the midst of thy enemies.
  • With thee is the principality in the day of thy strength: in the brightness of the saints: * from the womb before the day star I begot thee.
  • The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: * Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech.
  • The Lord at thy right hand * hath broken kings in the day of his wrath.
  • He shall judge among nations, he shall fill ruins: * he shall crush the heads in the land of many.
  • He shall drink of the torrent in the way: * therefore shall he lift up the head.
  • 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.

Ant. The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand.

Ant. Let my tongue cleave to my jaws * if I do not remember thee, Jerusalem.

Psalm 136

  • Upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept: * when we remembered Sion:
  • On the willows in the midst thereof * we hung up our instruments.
  • For there they that led us into captivity required of us * the words of songs.
  • And they that carried us away, said: * Sing ye to us a hymn of the songs of Sion.
  • How shall we sing the song of the Lord * in a strange land?
  • If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, * let my right hand be forgotten.
  • Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, * if I do not remember thee:
  • If I make not Jerusalem * the beginning of my joy.
  • Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, * in the day of Jerusalem:
  • Who say: Rase it, rase it, * even to the foundation thereof.
  • O daughter of Babylon, miserable: * blessed shall he be who shall repay thee thy payment which thou hast paid us.
  • Blessed be he that shall take * and dash thy little ones against the rock.
  • 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.

Ant. Let my tongue cleave to my jaws if I do not remember thee, Jerusalem.

Ant. Lord, * thou hast proved me, and known me. ‡

Psalm 138

  • Lord, thou hast proved me, and known me: * ‡ thou hast known my sitting down, and my rising up.
  • Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off: * my path and my life thou hast searched out.
  • And thou hast foreseen all my ways: * for there is no speech on my tongue.
  • Behold, O Lord, thou hast known all things, the last and those of old: * thou hast formed me, and hast laid thy hand upon me.
  • Thy knowledge is become wonderful to me: * it is high, and I cannot reach to it.
  • Whither shall I go from thy spirit? * or whither shall I flee from thy face?
  • If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: * if I descend into hell, thou art present.
  • If I take my wings early in the morning, * and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:
  • Even there also shall thy hand lead me: * and thy right hand shall hold me.
  • And I said: Perhaps darkness shall cover me: * and night shall be my light in my pleasures.
  • But darkness shall not be dark to thee, and night shall be light as the day: * the darkness thereof, and the light thereof are alike to thee.
  • For thou hast possessed my reins: * thou hast protected me from my mother’s womb.
  • I will praise thee, for thou art fearfully magnified: * wonderful are thy works, and my soul knoweth right well.
  • My bone is not hidden from thee, which thou hast made in secret: * and my substance in the lower parts of the earth.
  • Thy eyes did see my imperfect being, and in thy book all shall be written: * days shall be formed, and no one in them.
  • But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable: * their principality is exceedingly strengthened.
  • I will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand: * I rose up and am still with thee.
  • If thou wilt kill the wicked, O God: * ye men of blood, depart from me:
  • Because you say in thought: * They shall receive thy cities in vain.
  • Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hated thee: * and pined away because of thy enemies?
  • I have hated them with a perfect hatred: * and they are become enemies to me.
  • Prove me, O God, and know my heart: * examine me, and know my paths.
  • And see if there be in me the way of iniquity: * and lead me in the eternal way.
  • 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.

Ant. Lord, thou hast proved me, and known me.

Ant. Do not thou forsake me, * O Lord, the strength of my salvation.

Psalm 139

  • Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man: * rescue me from the unjust man.
  • Who have devised iniquities in their hearts: * all the day long they designed battles.
  • They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent: * the venom of asps is under their lips.
  • Keep me, O Lord, from the hand of the wicked: * and from unjust men deliver me.
  • Who have proposed to supplant my steps: * the proud have hidden a net for me.
  • And they have stretched out cords for a snare: * they have laid for me a stumbling block by the wayside.
  • I said to the Lord: Thou art my God: * hear, O Lord, the voice of my supplication.
  • O Lord, Lord, the strength of my salvation: * thou hast overshadowed my head in the day of battle.
  • Give me not up, O Lord, from my desire to the wicked: * they have plotted against me; do not thou forsake me, lest they should triumph.
  • The head of them compassing me about: * the labour of their lips shall overwhelm them.
  • Burning coals shall fall upon them; thou wilt cast them down into the fire: * in miseries they shall not be able to stand.
  • A man full of tongue shall not be established in the earth: * evil shall catch the unjust man unto destruction.
  • I know that the Lord will do justice to the needy, * and will revenge the poor.
  • But as for the just, they shall give glory to thy name: * and the upright shall dwell with thy countenance.
  • 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.

Ant. Do not thou forsake me, O Lord, the strength of my salvation.

Ant. I have cried to thee, * O Lord, hear me. ‡

Psalm 140

  • I have cried to thee, O Lord, hear me: * ‡ hearken to my voice, when I cry to thee.
  • Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight; * the lifting up of my hands, as evening sacrifice.
  • Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth: * and a door round about my lips.
  • Incline not my heart to evil words; * to make excuses in sins.
  • With men that work iniquity: * and I will not communicate with the choicest of them.
  • The just man shall correct me in mercy, and shall reprove me: * but let not the oil of the sinner fatten my head.
  • For my prayer also shall still be against the things with which they are well pleased: * their judges falling upon the rock have been swallowed up.
  • They shall hear my words, for they have prevailed: * as when the thickness of the earth is broken up upon the ground.
  • Our bones are scattered by the side of hell. * But to thee, O Lord, Lord, are my eyes: in thee have I put my trust, take not away my soul.
  • Keep me from the snare, which they have laid for me, * and from the stumbling blocks of them that work iniquity.
  • The wicked shall fall in his net: * I am alone until I pass.
  • 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.

Ant. I have cried to thee, O Lord, hear me.

Magnificat

Ant. Amen, I say unto you, * this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled; heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away, saith the Lord.

Canticle of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Luke 1:46–55)

  • My soul ✠ * doth magnify the Lord.
  • And my spirit hath rejoiced * in God my Saviour.
  • Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; * for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
  • Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; * and holy is his name.
  • And his mercy is from generation unto generations, * to them that fear him.
  • He hath shewed might in his arm: * he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
  • He hath put down the mighty from their seat, * and hath exalted the humble.
  • He hath filled the hungry with good things; * and the rich he hath sent empty away.
  • He hath received Israel his servant, * being mindful of his mercy:
  • As he spoke to our fathers, * to Abraham and to his seed for ever.
  • 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.

Ant. Amen, I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled; heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away, saith the Lord.

Antiphon

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider, and hear me, O Lord my God.

The Our Father is prayed silently.

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. And lead us not into temptation: But deliver us from evil. Amen.

Psalm 12

The psalm is prayed in a lower voice.
  • How long, O Lord, wilt thou forget me unto the end? * how long dost thou turn away thy face from me?
  • How long shall I take counsels in my soul, * sorrow in my heart all the day?
  • How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? * Consider, and hear me, O Lord my God.
  • Enlighten my eyes that I never sleep in death: * lest at any time my enemy say: I have prevailed against him.
  • They that trouble me will rejoice when I am moved: * but I have trusted in thy mercy.
  • My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation: I will sing to the Lord, who giveth me good things: * yea, I will sing to the name of the Lord the most High.
  • 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.

Prayer

Look down, we beseech thee, O Lord, on this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ did not hesitate to be delivered up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer the torment of the Cross.

The conclusion is prayed silently.

Who with thee liveth and reigneth, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

Other Little Offices

Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary Little Office of the Sacred Heart

© LittleOfficeOfDivineWrath.com

(except for texts already in the public domain)