The Divine Lamp

The opening Prayer:

Oh, Lord, open Thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Thy praise (here make the little sign of the cross on the lips).  O Lord, incline to my aid, O Lord make haste to help me.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and always will be from ages to ages, Amen.

Alleluia (or), Praise to Thee, O Lord, King of eternal glory.

Commentary:

O Lord open Thou my lips, are words taken from the great Psalm of penitence, the Miserere (Ps. 51:12).  This verse is only said at Matins, and is the beginning of God’s service, in token that the first opening of your lips or mouth should be to the praising of God; and all the day after they should abide open and ready for the same and be so occupied and filled therewith that nothing contrary to His praising might enter us.  The sign of the Cross is here made on the lips, to consecrate them to the service of Him Who was crucified.  It reminds us, too, of that fiery coal which purified the lips of Isaiah in the vision, the year King Uzziah died: Woe to me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.  Then flew one of the Seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this has touched thy lips: and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.  Also I heard the Voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?  Then said I: Here I am; send me (Isa 6:5-8).  The prophet gained courage after his purification; so do we when the love of God, known to us by the Cross, touches our heart and kindles the fire within us.

Lord incline to my aid are words from Psalm 69:1 (70:1).  As we cannot do anything well any time of the day without His help, as He says Himself in His Gospel: Without Me you can do nought right (Jn 15:5), therefore both at Matins and at the beginnings of each hour you ask His help and say: God take heed unto my help.  And forasmuch as he that is doing of a thing and cannot bring it about hath need of hasty help, therefore feeling your need you pray our Lord to haste Himself and say: Lord haste Thee to help me.  And take heed that all this verse, both that part that is said by one alone and that that is answered by all together, is said in the singular number, as when you say ‘mine’ or ‘me,’ and not ‘our’ and ‘us,’ in token that you begin your praising and prayer in the person of Holy Church, which is one and not many.  For though there be many members of Holy Church as there are many Christian men and women, yet they make but one body, that is, Holy Church, whereof Christ is the Head.  And because that prayer that is said in the person and unity of Holy Church is never left unsped; therefore, trusting that our Lord has heard your prayer and is come to help you, you begin all together, lowly inclining, to praised the Blessed Trinity, as say: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. One Glory to all Three.  For the Three Persons are one God.  This word ‘Glory’ is no common English, and therefore you shall understand that ‘glory’ is called a good fame spoken of with praising.  Therefore when you bid ‘glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, you ask and desire that the Blessed Trinity should always be thanked and praised, and worshiped, for His endless goodness that is in Himself, and for all the benefits that He hath done and shall do to His creatures, oth of making creatures in the beginning and continually keeping of them in their being, and in the perfect end He shall bring all things to; and, therefore, you add to, and say: As it was in the beginning, is now, and always will be from ages to ages (now and always, without end).

Alleluia- And you shall not in praising delight you in the melody of the song nor of the notes, nor in your own voices; but all your joy and delight must set only in God; therefore anon after Glory be to the Father you say Alleluia, which is a word of joy and praising; and especially it betokens that unspeakable joy that is in heaven endlessly in praising and lauding God.  Therefore praising our Lord with such ghostly joy as you can have in Him here and desiring to praise Him in everlasting joy, you say Alleluia. Doctors say that Alleluia is as much as to say as ‘Praise God,’ or ‘The Praising of God,’ or ‘Father and Son and Holy Ghost,’ or ‘Light, Life, and Health.’  But because it is a word of joy therefore in times of penance, that is from Septuagesima till Easter, it is left, and instead thereof you say: Praise to Thee, O Lord, King of eternal glory. For though penance doing be praising to God, yet it is done in sorrow of heart and sharpness of body, and not in gladness and joy, namely, for sinful people.  And therefore, in time of penance we say Praise God not in joy, but in praising God, and not Alleluia, which is a word both of praising and joy. E. L. Taunton

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