Praying the Lauds - Your Daily Christian Morning Prayer

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 25, 2022 | Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord "The Word was made flesh; come, let us adore him." - antiphon Lent's austerity is again interrupted as we solemnly keep a feast in honor of the Annunciation. The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord is a mystery that belongs to the temporal rather than to the sanctoral cycle in the Church's...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 24, 2023 | Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent "So they tried to arrest him, but no one laid a hand upon him, because his hour had not yet come." - John 7:30 The hostility of the enemies of Jesus becomes increasingly clear, and the agitation around His person continues with greater intensity; but He awaits His "hour." Satan and the forces of evil w...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 23, 2023 | Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent "The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me." - John 5:36 One way to follow Jesus is to join him in his offering to the Father. We can do this by saying yes to God's will in everything that happens to us. Whether we are happy...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 22, 2023 | Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent "Whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life" - John 5:24 What a blessing it is to be saved by faith and not by works! We don't have to worry about earning God's favor or pleasing him with our actions. He loves us unconditionally and forgives us freely. We can have peace...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 21, 2023 | Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent "When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, 'Do you want to be well?'" - John 5:6 Jesus cares about our pain and wants to heal us from the inside out. He invites us to come to him with faith and humility, and he will touch us with his power and love. He...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 20, 2023 | Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." - Mt. 1:20-21 St. Joseph, the s...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 19, 2023 | Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday) "I am the light of the world." - John 9:5 Today is the halfway mark of the Sundays of Lent. This Sunday is known as Laetare Sunday for the first word of the Introit or Entrance Antiphon laetare (rejoice); it is a Sunday of joy. The Church’s liturgy, on this Fourth Sunday of Lent, invites us to retrace one o...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 18, 2023 | Saturday of the Third Week of Lent  "Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted." - Luke 18:14 One way to pray to God is to be honest and humble. We don't need to brag about what we have done or pretend to be better than we are. We can admit our mistakes and ask for God's forgiveness and guidance. We...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 17, 2023 | Friday of the Third Week of Lent  "I am the Lord your God: hear my voice." - Ps. 81:11, 9 Sometimes we get so busy with our lives that we forget to listen to God's voice. We may think that we know what is best for us, or that we can handle everything on our own. But God is always speaking to us, through his Word, his creation, his people and the even...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 16, 2023 | Thursday of the Third Week of Lent  "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts." - Ps. 95:8 God commands us to listen to Him and to walk in His ways so that we may prosper. Many times, however, we give in to our stubborn pride and we abandon the Lord and His commands. Whenever we do so, we are blinded from recognizing God's graciousness and...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 15, 2023 | Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent  "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill." - Mt. 5:17 Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament Law and He regards every part of it as sacred and valid. He respects and upholds it as God's revelation but also invites us to go beyond mere legal...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 14, 2023 | Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent  "Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?" - Mt. 18:33 Prayer on its own is not enough. As Christians, we follow Jesus wherever He goes, even if it means dying to our sinful pride. Prayer will find its fruit in hearts that are humble and ready to forgive those who have wronged us. A...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 13, 2023 | Monday of the Third Week of Lent  "Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place." - Luke 4:24 It can be difficult to act as Christians in our families and workplaces. However, let us consider how many prophets we fail to recognize, particularly those with whom we disagree. Jesus asks us to open our hearts so that we can see all...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 12, 2023 | Third Sunday of Lent (Year A) "Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." - John 45:15 On our path of conversion, what a great grace it is to find the Lord Jesus waiting patiently for us beside our senseless wells. When, like the Samaritan woman, we are tired of the things of this world, of almost emp...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 11, 2023 | Saturday of the Second Week of Lent "I will get up and go to my father and shall say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you." - Luke 15:18 God does not remember our sins forever, but rather forgives us and casts our sins away. Our Lenten journey should challenge us to examine our lives and return to the Lord, seeking forgiveness for...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 10, 2023 | Friday of the Second Week of Lent "Jesus said to them, 'Did you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?'" - Mt. 21:42 Throughout history, the Church has experienced persecution of her members: in the hearts of missionaries expelled from...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 9, 2023 | Thursday in the Second Week of Lent "Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart and yield a harvest through perseverance." - Luke 8:15 When we put our trust in the Lord in all the affairs of our life, He will lead us to unimaginable graces and will use us to be a blessing to others. When He says to trust Him, it means to be open to recei...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 8, 2023 | Wednesday in the Second Week of Lent "The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." - Mt. 20:28 God so loved us that He sent His Son Jesus to serve His brothers and sisters, and to save us from our sins through His salvific offering on the cross. This was the Father's will and this was Jesus' food. He emp...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 7, 2023 | Tuesday in the Second Week of Lent "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted." - Mt. 23:12 Being humble means recognizing our true worth: to see ourselves as God sees us. It involves striking a careful balance between humbly acknowledging our sin and being aware of how much God values and loves us. He constantly c...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 6, 2023 | Monday in the Second Week of Lent "Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins." - Ps. 103:10 Even though we may sin and rebel against God, he always pardons us when we ask for it. But what about those who have sinned against us? God desires for us to extend the mercy we have been extended to those who have offended us. Let us ask our Transfigured Lord...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 5, 2023 | Second Sunday of Lent "From the shining cloud the Father’s voice is heard: This is my beloved Son, listen to him." - Mt. 17:5 Christian life is a journey towards our final destination. In this journey, we meet diverse trials and difficulties and experience various moments of joys and graces. In every moment, the Father journeys with us, reminding us that o...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 4, 2023 | Saturday in the First Week of Lent "Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation." - 2 Cor. 6:2b The first week of Lent is a week of seedtime: let us entrust to God's goodness the fruits of the earth and the work of human hands, so that all may receive daily bread, so that hunger may be taken from the earth. May the Lord exten...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 3, 2023 | Friday in the First Week of Lent "Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the LORD, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit." - Ez. 18:31 God does not rejoice in the death of a wicked man but rejoices to see that person converted. How consoling it is for us who struggle with sin! He delights to receive our humble and contrit...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 2, 2023 | Thursday in the First Week of Lent "Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me." - Ps. 138:3 What is it that you need at this moment? God, our Father, loves us, wills our happiness and wants to provide for our needs. Let us not be afraid to tell Him what we need and to be open and humble to accept His will in our lives, trusting that good things s...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - March 1, 2023 | Wednesday in the First Week of Lent Before we arrive at the joy and glory of Easter we have first to go through forty days of Lenten journey. This period of preparation is designed by God. It is not merely a time of self-denial, of death to self, and of carrying the cross; it is a time of recovery of our real self, of a more real life, and of sharing in Ch...