Praying the Lauds - Your Daily Christian Morning Prayer

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - January 9, 2023 | Feast of the Baptism of the Lord  "The heavens were opened and the voice of the Father thundered: This is my beloved Son, listen to him." - Mk. 9:7  Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord. This feast brings to an end the season of Christmas. The Church recalls Our Lord's second manifestation or epiphany which occurred...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - January 8, 2023 | Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord "We have seen his star in the East, and have come with gifts to adore the Lord." - Mt. 2:2 The Epiphany of the Lord is Jesus’ manifestation not only to the three Magi from the East, but it’s also a symbolic but real manifestation of the Christ to the whole world. By the guidance of a star, God revealed His only Begot...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - January 7, 2023 | Saturday of the Christmas Season "Do whatever he tells you." - John 2:5 With listening comes obedience. In the midst of an impending challenge when the wine ran short in a wedding, Mary intercedes and exhorts the servers to obey what Jesus would ask them to do. Let us ask the intercession of our Blessed Mother that we too may listen and heed God's invita...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - January 6, 2023 | Friday of the Christmas Season "The heavens were opened and the voice of the Father thundered: This is my beloved Son. Listen to him." - Mk 9:6 Jesus has brought about a new era of grace and truth and has called each one of us to follow Him wherever He leads. The Father's Beloved Son constantly invites us to a deeper friendship with Him by listening to H...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - January 5, 2023 | Thursday of the Christmas Season "In the beginning and before all ages, the Word was God and he humbled himself to be born the Savior of the world." - John 1:1 Through the birth of His only begotten Son, God put forth the work of redemption. We pray that He may grant us firmness in faith that we may attain the glorious prize He has promised in Christ Jes...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - January 4, 2023 | Wednesday of the Christmas Season "Rabbi, where are you staying? (Jesus) said to them, "Come and see." - John 1:38-39 Jesus invites his disciples to a new life of grace in Him. He has some new mission for us to daily fulfill and He promises to give us all we need to live it. Say "Yes" to the call He gives you and you will see incredible things ahead of y...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - January 3, 2023 | Optional Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Jesus "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name through all the earth!" - Ps. 8:2 The Church celebrates today the Optional Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Jesus. The name of Jesus means Savior; it had been shown in a dream to Joseph together with its meaning and to Our Lady at the annunciation by the Archan...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - January 2, 2023 | Memorial of Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church "Let the peoples recount the wisdom of the Saints, and let the Church proclaim their praise. Their names will live on and on." - Entrance antiphon Today the Church celebrates the Memorial of St. Basil the Great (329-379) and St. Gregory Nazianzen (330-390), bishops...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - January 1, 2023 | Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God | World Day of Prayer for Peace  "May God bless us in his mercy." - Psalm 67 God wants to bless his people. This is His action and He is always acting to bring us into union with himself. We make it possible for him to bless us by our response to Him as Mary did when she gave her fiat. As you begin the new year, how...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - December 31, 2022 | Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas "And the Word became flesh." - John 1:14 Christmas celebrates the Word becoming flesh, God pitching his tent among us. In the Gospel of John, there is no question about the divinity of Jesus or the mystery of the Incarnation. However, not everyone will accept Jesus. To accept him means, as he himself tells us, &nb...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - December 30, 2022 | Feast of the Holy Family "The shepherds went in haste, and found Mary and Joseph and the Infant lying in a manger." - Luke 2:16 On this Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Scripture tells us practically nothing about the first years and the boyhood of the Child Jesus. All we know ar...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - December 29, 2022 | Fifth Day Within the Octave of Christmas "My eyes have seen your salvation..." - Luke 2:30 On this Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas, the Church invites us to reflect on the Presentation of Jesus in the temple, which marks the manifestation of the Child Jesus not just to the Jewish community but also, symbolically, to the whole of humanity. As Simeo...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - December 28, 2022 | Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs "The innocents were slaughtered as infants for Christ; spotless, they follow the Lamb and sing for ever: Glory to you, O Lord." - Entrance antiphon Today is the Fourth Day in the Octave of Christmas. The Church celebrates the Feast of Holy Innocents, Martyrs. The Church celebrates the memory of the small children of...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - December 27, 2022 | Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist "The Lord is the King of apostles: come, let us adore him." - Invitatory antiphon, Lauds On the third day of Christmas, we celebrate the Feast of St. John the Apostle, brother of James, sons of Zebedee, nicknamed "the sons of thunder." He calls himself the "beloved disciple" not because he was well-loved by the...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - December 26, 2022 | Feast of St. Stephen, the First Martyr "Let us adore the new-born Christ; today he has crowned Saint Stephen." - Invitatory antiphon, Lauds Stephen is the first martyr. He was one of the deacons appointed by the Apostles to organize the distribution of food to the poor. He performed many miracles and confounded the Jews in disputation. They fabricated...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - December 25, 2022 | Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us..." - John 1:14 Jesus, the only begotten Son of the Father, is born this day of the Virgin Mary, bringing salvation to his people. At the heart of today's celebration is the revelation of God. Before Jesus was born, no one had ever seen God. Now he can be seen, for he has m...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - December 24, 2022 | Saturday of the Fourth Week of Advent - Christmas Eve "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has come to his people and set them free..." - Luke 1:68 Every morning, during Lauds, the Church echoes Zechariah's Canticle of Praise, giving glory to God for fulfilling His promise of mercy to His people. Before he burst forth into song, Zechariah was st...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - December 23, 2022 | Friday of the Fourth Week of Advent "He will be called John (the Baptist)" - Lk 1:60 God is gracious. This is what John's name literally means. His birth and the giving of his name symbolizes a newness being ushered in, as he stands as the last prophet of the Old Law and the first to point to the arrival of the Messiah. John's birth signals the beginni...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - December 22, 2022 | Thursday of the Fourth Week of Advent "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord!" - Lk 1:46 How does God intervene in your life? To magnify God or to proclaim God's greatness is our task as a Christian. Borrowing the lines from the song of Hannah, Mary exclaims God's infinite goodness, wisdom, power and love through his intervention in the history o...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - December 21, 2022 | Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Advent "When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb..." - Lk 1:41 The spirit of joy that especially characterizes the second half of Advent arises from our awareness that the Lord is near. This is the spontaneous reaction of John the Baptist in the womb of his mother, Elizabeth, when Mary visited...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - December 20, 2022 | Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Advent "I am the lowly servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me as you say." - Lk 1:38 Nine months before the birth of the Divine Word, Jesus Christ, he enters the world of time in secret, hidden in the sanctuary of Mary's womb. Mary's "yes" at the Annunciation is the perfect example of how we are to respond to God's will...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - December 19, 2022 | Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent "O Root of Jesse’s stem, sign of God’s love for all his people: come to save us without delay!" - O Antiphon for the day We are on the final days of Advent and we have now intensified our anticipation for the coming of our Lord. How ready are you to welcome the Lord Jesus on this special day? As we scurry about our l...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - December 18, 2022 | Sunday of the Fourth Week of Advent "Drop down dew from above, you heavens, and let the clouds rain down the Just One; let the earth be opened and bring forth a Savior." - Is. 45:8 This is the last Sunday of our preparation for Christmas, the anniversary of Christ's birth. Like Joseph, we can all feel unworthy of the honor of welcoming him into our hea...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - December 17, 2022 | Saturday of the Third Week of Advent "Eleazar became the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ." - Matthew 1:1-17 We begin, today, an “octave” of immediate preparation for the birth of Christ. After this octave, we enter into the glorious Solemnity...

LISTEN | Morning Prayer - December 16, 2022 | Friday of the Third Week of Advent "Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus" In the Philippines, and in other nation throughout the world, today begins a special nine-day novena of Masses in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Let us pray during these Aguinaldo Masses (known as Misa de Gallo or Simbang Gabi) that we may persevere in faith and that we may walk in the...