Chesterton Radio Morning Prayer
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent — March 17, 2026
Invitatory
℣. Lord, open my lips.
℟. And my mouth shall declare thy praise.
Antiphon:
Come, let us adore Christ the Lord, who calls us to trust in what is unseen.
Come, let us praise the Lord with joy:
let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving;
and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
For in his hand are all the ends of the earth:
and the heights of the mountains are his.
Come, let us adore Christ the Lord, who calls us to trust in what is unseen.
For the sea is his, and he made it:
and his hands formed the dry land.
Come let us adore and fall down:
and weep before the Lord that made us.
For he is the Lord our God:
and we are the people of his pasture
and the sheep of his hand.
Come, let us adore Christ the Lord, who calls us to trust in what is unseen.
Hymn
The God Whom Earth and Sea and Sky
The God whom earth and sea and sky
Adore and laud and magnify,
Whose might they own, whose praise they tell,
In Mary’s womb vouchsafed to dwell.
Psalmody (Lauds — Week IV, Tuesday)
Psalm 101
Antiphon:
I will sing of mercy and judgment; to thee, O Lord, will I sing.
I will sing of mercy and judgment:
to thee, O Lord, will I sing.
And I will understand in the unspotted way,
when thou shalt come to me.
I will walk in the innocence of my heart,
in the midst of my house.
I will not set before my eyes any unjust thing:
I hated the workers of iniquities.
The perverse heart did not cleave to me:
and the malignant that turned aside from me, I would not know.
The man that in private detracted his neighbour, him did I persecute.
With him that had a proud eye and an unsatiable heart, I would not eat.
My eyes were upon the faithful of the earth, to sit with me:
the man that walked in the perfect way, he served me.
Antiphon:
I will sing of mercy and judgment; to thee, O Lord, will I sing.
Canticle — Daniel 3
Antiphon:
Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
Blessed art thou, O Lord, the God of our fathers:
and worthy to be praised, and glorified, and exalted above all for ever.
Blessed is thy holy and glorious name:
and worthy to be praised and glorified and exalted above all for ever.
Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord:
praise and exalt him above all for ever.
O ye angels of the Lord, bless the Lord:
O ye heavens, bless the Lord.
O all ye waters that are above the heavens, bless the Lord:
O all ye powers of the Lord, bless the Lord.
Antiphon:
Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.
Psalm 143
Antiphon:
Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my supplication in thy truth.
Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplication in thy truth:
hear me in thy justice.
And enter not into judgment with thy servant:
for in thy sight no man living shall be justified.
Cause me to hear thy mercy in the morning;
for in thee have I hoped.
Make the way known to me wherein I should walk:
for I have lifted up my soul to thee.
Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God.
Thy good spirit shall lead me into the right land:
for thy name’s sake, O Lord, thou wilt quicken me.
Antiphon:
Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my supplication in thy truth.
Short Reading — Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not.
Benedictus (Canticle of Zechariah)
Antiphon:
Blessed be the Lord, who reveals the unseen and strengthens those who trust in him.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;
because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people:
And hath raised up an horn of salvation to us,
in the house of David his servant:
As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets,
who are from the beginning:
Salvation from our enemies,
and from the hand of all that hate us:
To perform mercy to our fathers,
and to remember his holy testament:
The oath, which he swore to Abraham our father,
that he would grant to us,
That being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
we may serve him without fear,
In holiness and justice before him,
all our days.
Antiphon:
Blessed be the Lord, who reveals the unseen and strengthens those who trust in him.
Intercessions
Let us call upon Christ, the light that no darkness can overcome:
— That we may trust the truth we cannot see,
Lord, strengthen our faith.
— That our daily work may be guided by grace unseen but ever present,
Lord, direct our hands.
— That those burdened by doubt may receive clarity and peace,
Lord, enlighten their hearts.
— That we may walk faithfully through this day,
Lord, lead us in your light.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Concluding Prayer
O God, who callest us to believe what we do not see,
grant that we may hold fast to the hope thou hast given,
and walk faithfully in the light of thy truth.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Paradox of the Day
What cannot be seen is often what most surely guides us.
G.K. Chesterton Quote
“The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man.”
Chestertonian Reflection
The modern world is full of men who demand proof—and yet live entirely by things they cannot prove.
No man has ever seen justice, yet he will argue for it. No man has ever held truth in his hand, yet he will stake his life upon it. Even the most hardened skeptic trusts in things unseen every hour of his life—he trusts in memory, in meaning, in the invisible thread that connects cause to effect.
Faith, then, is not an exception to reason; it is its fulfillment. It is the admission that reality is deeper than appearances, and that the most important things are not only hidden—but must be hidden.
For if truth were as obvious as a stone in the road, it would be as easily ignored. But truth is more like a star: distant, mysterious, and yet the only thing by which a man can navigate.
The curious thing is not that God is invisible. The curious thing is that anything else is visible at all.
We are surrounded by symbols of something greater—shadows cast by a light we cannot look at directly. And the tragedy of the modern man is not that he cannot see God, but that he refuses to see anything that points beyond itself.
Faith restores that sight. It allows a man to look at the world and see not merely objects, but meaning. Not merely motion, but purpose.
And in that sense, the man of faith is not blind at all.
He is the only one who can truly see.
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