Hymn
Lord, who to share creative life
Created mankind man and wife,
To be with You creators of
The objects of Your endless love;
As Jesus loves the Church His bride,
Let our love be intensified,
Let love of one another be
Our pledge of love eternally.
Through Jesus Christ let this be done,
Who lives and reigns, our Lord, Your Son,
Whom with the Spirit we adore,
One God with You forevermore.
Antiphon
P. Happy they who dwell in your house! / Continually they praise you.
(Psalm 127)
All: Happy are you who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork; / happy shall you be, and favored.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine / in the recesses of your home.
Your children like olive plants / around your table.
Behold, thus is the man blessed / who fears the Lord.
The Lord bless you from Zion; / may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life;
May you see your children’s children. / Peace be upon Israel!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, / and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be / world without end. Amen.
Antiphon
All: Happy they who dwell in your house! / Continually they praise you.
P. (Chapter–Psalm 26:4-5) One thing I ask of the Lord: this I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord and contemplate his temple. For he will hide me in his abode in the day of trouble; he will conceal me in the shelter of his tent; he will set me high upon a rock.
R. Thanks be to God.
V. I will make all your children to be taught of the Lord.
R. And an abundance of peace to your children.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with your spirit.
Let us pray.
V. We offer You the sacrifice of praise, O Lord, and humbly pray that through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God, and of Saint Joseph, You may establish our families in peace and grace, through the same Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.
V. St. Isidore.
R. Pray for us.
Prayer in Honor of Saint Isidore
All: O God, who taught Adam the simple art of tilling the soil, / and who through Jesus Christ, the true vine, / revealed Yourself the husbandman of our souls, / deign, we pray, through the merits of blessed Isidore, / to instill into our hearts a horror of sin and a love of prayer, / so that, working the soil in the sweat of our brow, / we may enjoy eternal happiness in heaven, through the same Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with your spirit.
V. Let us bless the Lord
R. Thanks be to God.
V. May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
R. Amen.
REFLECTION
Many would have considered St. Isidore to be a simple man. His simplicity is precisely what is needed in a world that is too often complicated. The simplicity of St. Isidore was based on a profound spiritual truth that we can easily overlook. At the heart of our daily activity should be the first and greatest commandment. Love God with your whole being
St. Isidore kept the first thing first in his life and so the cultivation of his soul led to sainthood. In the original relationship of God and Man, Adam was tasked with cultivating the garden. He failed and toil began to mark human labor. St. Isidore stands as an example of growing into a greater harmony through work. Despite the fall and the sweat of the brow, it is possible to live in a closer union with God because of the saving work of Jesus. It is possible to cultivate the soil of the earth and the soul so that both grow to bear fruit in God’s providence.
Because St. Isidore was careful to give God the first fruits of his day he could live an ordered life. He discovered the power of simplicity because with God first everything else can operate in its proper place. The complexities of our lives will look different if we keep first things first.
Let these days of prayer cultivate your own sense God present so that you may live in greater harmony with the Almighty.
by Bishop Erik Pohlmeier
Diocese of St. Augustine
Recite the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be (etc.), three times, followed by the prayer of your choice for special needs.
Click here to see other days of the novena.
