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.
Hymn
Sole hope of all the world and Lord,
Bestower of the great reward,
Receive the prayers thy servants raise
Mixed with meet psalms and chants of praise.
And though our conscience doth proclaim
Our deep transgressions and our shame,
Cleanse us, O God, we humbly plead,
From sins of thought and word and deed.
Our sins remember thou no more;
Forgive: thou art of mighty pow’r:
So take upon thee, Lord, our care
That pure in heart we make our prayer.
Therefore accept, O Lord, this tide
Of fast which thou hast sanctified,
That we may reach by mystic ways
The sacraments of Easter days.
Psalm 26 (27)
Keeping faith in time of peril
The Lord is my light and my help: whom shall I fear?
The Lord is my light and my help:
whom should I fear?
The Lord protects my life:
what could terrify me?
When they come to do me harm,
to consume my flesh,
my enemies and my persecutors,
it is they who stumble and fall.
If their armies encamp against me,
my heart will not fear;
if battle flares up against me,
even then will I hope.
One thing I beg of the Lord, one thing will I ask:
that I may live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
so that I may behold the joys of the Lord
and always see his temple.
For he will shelter me in his tent in the time of evils.
He will hide me in the hidden parts of the tabernacle;
then raise me up on a rock,
lift me high up above the enemies who surround me.
In his tabernacle I will offer him a sacrifice
of shouts, of songs, of psalms to the Lord.
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 Lord is my light and my help: whom shall I fear?
Psalm 26 (27)
It is your face, O Lord, that I seek: hide not your face.
Listen, Lord, to my voice as I cry:
have mercy and listen to me.
“Seek his face,” my heart has said,
and so I will seek your face, O Lord.
Do not turn your face away from me,
do not turn from your servant in anger.
You are my helper, do not reject me;
do not abandon me, God, my help.
For when my father and mother have abandoned me,
the Lord will take me up.
Show me your ways, Lord, and guide me along the right path,
out of the reach of my enemies.
Do not hand me over to the whim of those who would persecute me,
when lying witnesses have risen up against me,
with those who plan to do me violence.
I trust I shall see the joys of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Hope in the Lord, be brave,
let your heart take comfort and trust in the Lord.
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.
It is your face, O Lord, that I seek: hide not your face.
Canticle
(Colossians 1)
Christ, firstborn of all creatures and firstborn from the dead
He is the first-born of all creation, he is supreme over all creatures.
Let us give thanks to God the Father,
who has made us worthy to share in the light that is the saints’ inheritance.
He has rescued us from the power of the shadows
and brought us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption
and the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God,
the first-born of all creation,
for in him all things were created,
in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible,
thrones and dominations,
principalities and powers.
All things were created through him and for him:
he is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
And he is the head of the body, the Church.
He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead,
and so he is pre-eminent above all.
For it was the Father’s will that the fullness of God should dwell in him,
and that through him all things should be reconciled to himself.
Through the blood of the Cross he brought peace to all things,
both on Earth and in the heavens.
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.
He is the first-born of all creation, he is supreme over all creatures.
Short Reading
Ephesians 4:32-5:2
©
Be friends with one another, and kind, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ. Try to imitate God as children of his that he loves and follow Christ loving as he loved you, giving himself up in our place as a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God.
Short Responsory
I said: ‘Lord, have mercy on me.’
– I said: ‘Lord, have mercy on me.’
‘Heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.’
– I said: ‘Lord, have mercy on me.’
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– I said: ‘Lord, have mercy on me.’
Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
Why do you want to kill me when I tell you the truth?
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.
Why do you want to kill me when I tell you the truth?
Prayers and intercessions
God our Father knows all the needs of his people, but he wants us to give first place to his kingdom. Let us proclaim his greatness in our prayer.
– May your kingdom come in all its justice.
Holy Father, you gave us Christ as the shepherd of our souls;
may your people always have priests who care for them with his great love.
– May your kingdom come in all its justice.
Grant that Christians will prove brothers to the sick;
show them the features of your Son in the faces of those who suffer.
– May your kingdom come in all its justice.
Help those who do not believe in the gospel to come into your Church;
build it up in love to manifest your goodness everywhere.
– May your kingdom come in all its justice.
Father, we know that we are sinners;
grant us your forgiveness and reconcile us with your Church.
– May your kingdom come in all its justice.
May the dead enter eternal life,
may they abide with you for ever.
– May your kingdom come in all its justice.
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.
God of mercy,
shed your light on hearts that have been purified by penance,
and in your goodness give us a favourable hearing
when you move us to pray.
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.
