Vespers (Evening Prayer)
INTRODUCTION
O God, come to our aid.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
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. Alleluia.
Hymn
Why, impious Herod, vainly fear
That Christ the Saviour cometh here?
He takes not earthly thrones away
Who gives the crown that lasts for aye.
To greet his birth the wise men went,
Led by the star before them sent;
Called on by light, towards Light they pressed,
And by their gifts their God confessed.
In holy Jordan’s purest wave
The heavenly Lamb vouchsafed to lave;
That he, to whom was sin unknown,
Might cleanse his people from their own.
New miracle of power divine,
The Water reddens into wine;
He spoke the word, and poured the wave
In other streams than nature gave.
All glory, Lord, to thee we pay
For thine Epiphany today;
All glory, as is ever meet,
To Father and to Paraclete.
Psalm 114 (116A)
Thanksgiving
Lord, keep my soul from death, my feet from stumbling.
I love the Lord, for he has heard
the cry of my appeal;
because he has turned his ear to me as I call on him,
day by day.
The ropes of death surrounded me,
Hell held me tight,
I had found pain and tribulation –
but I called on the Lord’s name:
“O Lord, free my soul.”
The Lord is compassionate and just;
our God takes pity on us.
The Lord cares for the simple –
I was brought low, but he saved me.
Return, my soul, to your rest,
for the Lord has looked after you;
he has rescued my spirit from death, my eyes from tears,
he has saved my feet from stumbling.
I shall walk in the presence of the Lord
in the land of the living.
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.
Lord, keep my soul from death, my feet from stumbling.
Psalm 120 (121)
The guardian of the people
My help shall come from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
I shall lift my eyes to the hills:
where is my help to come from?
My help will come from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip:
he will not doze, your guardian.
Behold, he will not doze or sleep,
the guardian of Israel.
The Lord is your guardian, the Lord is your shade;
he is at your right hand.
By day the sun will not strike you;
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will guard you from all harm;
the Lord will guard your life.
The Lord will guard your coming and your going
both now and for ever.
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.
My help shall come from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Canticle
Apocalypse 15
A hymn of adoration
Your ways are just and true, King of all the ages.
Great and wonderful are your deeds,
O Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways,
O King of the ages!
Who shall not fear and glorify your name, O Lord?
For you alone are holy.
All nations shall come and worship you,
for your judgements have been revealed.
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.
Your ways are just and true, King of all the ages.
Short Reading
Romans 8:3-4
©
God dealt with sin by sending his own Son in a body as physical as any sinful body, and in that body God condemned sin. He did this in order that the Law’s just demands might be satisfied in us, who behave not as our unspiritual nature but as the spirit dictates.
Short Responsory
All the peoples will be blessed in him.
– All the peoples will be blessed in him.
All nations will praise him.
– All the peoples will be blessed in him.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– All the peoples will be blessed in him.
Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
The Magi were warned in a dream by an angel, so they returned to their own country by another way.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God, my salvation.
For he has shown me such favour –
me, his lowly handmaiden.
Now all generations will call me blessed,
because the mighty one has done great things for me.
His name is holy,
his mercy lasts for generation after generation
for those who revere him.
He has put forth his strength:
he has scattered the proud and conceited,
torn princes from their thrones;
but lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
he has remembered his mercy as he promised to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
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.
The Magi were warned in a dream by an angel, so they returned to their own country by another way.
Prayers and intercessions
Let us pray to the Father who appointed Christ as light of the nations.
– Father, hear our prayer.
Eternal Father, may your Church spread to far horizons;
may she make Christ present in the midst of the world.
– Father, hear our prayer.
You guided wise men from the East to see the new-born Jesus:
reveal your Son to every man who searches for truth.
– Father, hear our prayer.
Lead all nations into the light of Christ;
may they acknowledge him as their Lord and Saviour.
– Father, hear our prayer.
Send your missionaries through the world
and let men know that their time of grace has come.
– Father, hear our prayer.
Grant to the dead the fullness of redemption;
raise them up in Christ who is the Lord of life.
– Father, hear our 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.
Almighty God and Father,
by the guidance of a star
you revealed the birth of the Saviour of the world.
Open our minds to that revelation,
and let it bear fruit in our lives.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Lord bless us, and keep us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
