The Maiden’s Soliloquy May he kiss me ?passionately with his lips, for your love is better than wine. 3 As fragrance, ?your perfumes? are ?delightful?; your name is poured out ?perfume?; therefore young women love you. 4 Draw me after you, let us run! May the king bring me into his chambers! Let us be joyful and let us rejoice in you; let us extol your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you!…
+ DAILY PRAYER +
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy!
In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you;
He will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Psalm 39:4-7, 12-13
Psa 39:4 “O LORD, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
Psa 39:5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
Psa 39:6 Surely a man goes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
Psa 39:7 “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.
Psa 39:12 “Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry;
hold not your peace at my tears!
For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers.
Psa 39:13 Look away from me, that I may smile again,
before I depart and am no more!”
Reading for Friday October 17th Song of Songs 1:1-11
Title
1 The Song of Songs, which is for Solomon.
The Maiden’s Soliloquy
2 May he kiss me ?passionately with his lips?,
for your love is better than wine.
3 As fragrance, ?your perfumes? are ?delightful?;
your name is poured out ?perfume?;
therefore young women love you.
4 Draw me after you, let us run!
May the king bring me into his chambers!
Let us be joyful and let us rejoice in you;
let us extol your love more than wine.
Rightly do they love you!
The Maiden’s Self-Description
5 I am black but beautiful, ?O maidens of Jerusalem?,
like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not gaze at me because I am black,
because the sun has stared at me.
The sons of my mother were angry with me;
they made me keeper of the vineyards,
but my own “vineyard” I did not keep.
Dialogue between Shepherdess and Shepherd
7 Tell me, you whom my ?heart? loves,
where do you pasture your flock,
where do your sheep lie down at the noon?
?For why should I be like? one who is veiled
beside the flocks of your companions?
8 If you do not know, O fairest among women,
follow ?the tracks? of the flock,
and pasture your little lambs beside the tents of the shepherds.
The Man’s Poetic Praise of His Beloved
9 To a mare among the chariots of Pharaoh,
I compare you, my beloved.
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments,
your neck with strings of jewels.
11 We will make ornaments of gold for you
with studs of silver.
Lord’s Prayer
Daily Prayer
Almighty God, we praise Your name for Ignatius of Antioch, pastor and martyr. He offered himself as grain to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts so that he might present to You the pure bread of sacrifice. Accept the willing tribute of all that we are and all that we have, and give us a portion in the pure and unspotted offering of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Concluding Prayer
Heavenly Father, send Your Holy Spirit into our hearts to direct and rule us to do Your will, to comfort us in all our afflictions, to defend us from all error, and to lead us into all truth; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
