Praying the Lauds - Your Daily Christian Morning Prayer

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 28, 2023 | Sunday 21st Week in Ordinary Time “Incomprehensible and immutable is the love of God. For it was not after we were reconciled to him by the blood of his Son that he began to love us, but he loved us before the foundation of the world, that with his only begotten Son we too might be sons of God before we were anything at all” (St. Augustine of Hippo). Joi...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 26, 2023 | Saturday 20th Week in Ordinary Time How genuine you are? Let God strip away every false image of yourself so that the true you can shine forth. Humble yourself in this way and God will take you and exalt you in His way so that your heart can be seen and loved by those around you. (https://catholicreadings.org) Join the universal Church in praying the Off...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 25, 2023 | Friday 20th Week in Ordinary Time “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depe...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 24, 2023 | Thursday 20th Week in Ordinary Time Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”  John 1:45–46 What is it in your life that seems confusing to...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 23, 2023 | Wednesday 20th Week in Ordinary Time "Lord, increase my sufferings, and with them increase Your love in my heart…Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to Heaven." ~Saint Rose of Lima Penance is good, but it takes great holiness to discover this mysterious and deep truth. The “good life” is not one that is filled with...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 22, 2023 | Tuesday 20th Week in Ordinary Time And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be to me, according to your word.” Luke 1:38 “More than all the angels and all the saints has God ineffable freely endowed Mary with the fullness of the heavenly gifts that abound in the divine treasury and she, preserving herself ever immaculately clean, fro...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 20, 2023 | Sunday, 20th Week in Ordinary Time COLLECT Prayer O God, who have prepared for those who love you good things which no eye can see, fill our hearts, we pray, with the warmth of your love, so that, loving you in all things and above all things, we may attain your promises, which surpass every human desire. Through our Lord... Join the universal Church in...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 19, 2023 | Saturday, 19th Week in Ordinary Time "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for such belongs the kingdom of heaven." Mark 10:14 The greatest thing we can do for children is to give them tender love. We must share our faith with our children, pray with them, as well as for them. We must bless them with the sign of the cross...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 18, 2023 | Friday, 19th Week in Ordinary Time God gave us the freedom to marry or not to marry for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Marriage is sacred. What God has joined together, no one must separate. May we keep an open heart and mind to God’s grace. He alone can satisfy our desire for companionship. He alone can give us the wisdom to understand what is best...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 17, 2023 | Thursday, 19th Week in Ordinary Time “How many times should we forgive those who offended us?" Often we do forgive, but in some situations forgiveness becomes a tough challenge. God is so merciful to us, we ought to appreciate his mercy by forgiving our brothers and sisters. Join the universal Church in praying the Office of Lauds, wherever you are....

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 16, 2023 | Memorial of St. Rock (Roque), Healer He was the son of the governor of Montpellier in France. At the age of 20 he went on a pilgrimage to Rome. When a plague broke out in Italy he took care of the infected and cured many. He himself caught the disease, but not wishing to be a burden to others, he went to the woods to die. There a dog brought him food and...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 12, 2023 | Saturday Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary "The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness: come, let us adore him." - invitatory antiphon LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 12, 2023 | Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary "The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness: come, let us adore him." - invitatory antiphon Join the universal Church in pr...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 10, 2023 | Memorial of St. Laurence, Deacon, Martyr "If anyone serves me, the Father will honour him." - John 12:26 St. Laurence was one of the seven deacons of the Church of Rome and was executed on 10th August 258, four days after Sixtus II and his companions. By now, few of the facts of his life are known for certain: he was probably a Spaniard from To...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 09, 2023 | Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin, Martyr “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” - Matthew 15:28 St. Teresa Benedicta was born into a practicing Jewish family. She had a distinguished career as a philosopher and received a doctorate at the University of Freiburg, but her academic career was impeded because...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 08, 2023 | Memorial of St. Dominic de Guzman, Priest "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." - John 1:49 St. Dominic was born in Castile (part of modern Spain) and became a canon of the Cathedral of Osma. In 1216 he founded the Order of Preachers, dedicated to saving souls by preaching and persuasion. Like the Franciscans, founded a f...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - MONDAY, 07 August 2023 | Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time "He looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds." - Matthew 14:19 Do you have your own meaningful encounter with Jesus? Today we see a totally different kind of behavior in Jesus when he receives news about the death of John....

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 06, 2023 | Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." - Matthew 17:5 The Transfiguration gives us a fresh opportunity to renew our faith in the lordship of Jesus. Jesus is exalted above all and His dominion will last forever. Today is a day of testimonies. God bears witness to the fact th...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 5, 2023 | Saturday Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary "The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness: come, let us adore him." - invitatory antiphon In the Gospel we see how many people are affected by just one true sentence of john the Baptist; it is against the law for you to have your brother’s wife. That sparks off violent reactions in Herod, Herodias and...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 04, 2023 | Memorial of St. John Mary Vianney, Priest "Come, let us worship Christ, chief shepherd of the flock." - invitatory antiphon St. John Vianney, also known as the Holy Curé de Ars, was born May 8, 1786 in Dardilly, near Lyon, France to a family of farmers. He was ordained a priest in 1815 and became curate in Ecully. He was then sent to the remote...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 03, 2023 | Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time "The Kingdom of heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad." - Matthew 13: 47-48 Jesus is reminding us through the parable above that while there is time, let us see...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 02, 2023 | Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time “The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” - Matthew 13:44 What is your ultimate desire in life? We are on a constant journey in life towards wholeness. This search takes us each to different walks...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - August 01, 2023 | Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church "The Lord is the source of all wisdom: come, let us adore him." - invitatory antiphon St. Alphonsus Liguori is a doctor of the Church who is widely known for his contribution to moral theology and his great kindness. He was born in 1696 in Naples to a well-respected family, and...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - MONDAY, 31 July, 2023 | Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest "Come, let us worship Christ, chief shepherd of the flock." - invitatory antiphon St. Ignatius Loyola was born in 1491, one of 13 children of a family of minor nobility in northern Spain. As a young man Ignatius Loyola was inflamed by the ideals of courtly love and knighthood and dreamed of doing...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - July 30, 2023 | Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." - Mt. 13:45-46 What do you consider as the highest value in your life? Solomon valued wisdom over material wealth and power and God was pleased with...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - July 29, 2023 | Memorial of Sts. Martha, Mary and Lazarus Martha was the sister of Mary of Bethany and Lazarus. In the West, her feast day comes a week after that of St Mary Magdalene because of the old and probably erroneous tradition that Mary Magdalene was the same person as Martha’s sister. Modern scholarship having made matters clearer, Martha, Mary and Lazarus have...