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
O Trinity of blessèd light,
O Unity of princely might,
The fiery sun now goes his way;
Shed thou within our hearts thy ray.
To thee our morning song of praise,
To thee our evening prayer we raise;
Thy glory humbly we adore
For ever and for evermore.
All laud to God the Father be;
All praise, eternal Son, to thee;
All glory, as is ever meet,
To God the Holy Paraclete.
Psalm 109 (110)
The Messiah, king and priest
O true, highest and everlasting Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!
The Lord has said to my lord:
“Sit at my right hand
while I make your enemies your footstool.”
From Zion the Lord will give you a sceptre,
and you will rule in the midst of your foes.
Royal power is yours in the day of your strength,
among the sacred splendours.
Before the dawn, I begot you from the womb.
The Lord has sworn, and he will not repent:
“You are a priest for ever,
a priest of the priesthood of Melchisedech.”
The Lord is at your right hand,
and on the day of his anger he will shatter kings.
He will drink from the stream as he goes –
he will hold his head high.
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.
O true, highest and everlasting Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!
Psalm 113A (114)
Israel set free from Egypt
Give us freedom, salvation and life, O blessed Trinity.
When Israel came out of Egypt,
Jacob’s people from a land of strangers,
Judah became his sanctuary
and Israel his domain.
The sea saw it, and fled;
the Jordan flowed backwards at the sight;
the mountains leapt like rams;
the hills, like yearling sheep.
Sea, what was it, what made you flee?
And you, Jordan, why did you flow uphill?
Mountains, why did you leap like rams?
Hills, like yearling sheep?
Tremble, Earth, at the presence of the Lord,
the presence of the Lord of Jacob,
who has turned the rock into a pool of water
and made a fountain out of the flint.
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.
Give us freedom, salvation and life, O blessed Trinity.
Canticle
(Apocalypse 19)
The wedding of the Lamb
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come.
Alleluia.
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
because his judgements are true and just.
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
Praise our God, all his servants,
and you who fear him, small and great.
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
For the Lord reigns, our God, the Almighty:
let us rejoice and exult and give him glory.
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
The marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his spouse has made herself ready.
Alleluia.
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.
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come.
Short Reading
Ephesians 4:3-6
©
Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together. There is one Body, one Spirit, just as you were all called into one and the same hope when you were called. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is Father of all, over all, through all and within all.
Short Responsory
Let us bless the Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit.
– Let us bless the Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit.
To God alone be all honour and glory.
– Let us bless the Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– Let us bless the Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit.
Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
With our heart and lips we praise you, we worship you and we bless you, God the Father unbegotten, only-begotten Son, and Holy Spirit Paraclete: all glory is yours for ever.
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.
With our heart and lips we praise you, we worship you and we bless you, God the Father unbegotten, only-begotten Son, and Holy Spirit Paraclete: all glory is yours for ever.
Prayers and intercessions
Father, through your Holy Spirit you gave Christ your Son to us in the flesh, so that we might have life through him. Filled now with that life, we raise our hearts in praise of the Holy Trinity, saying:
– Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Father almighty, eternal God, in the name of your Son send your Holy Spirit upon the Church:
may the Comforter preserve us in unity, harmony and the fullness of truth.
– Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Lord, send your labourers into the harvest to teach all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit:
strengthen them all in the faith.
– Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Lord, support all those who suffer persecution on account of their faith in your Son:
give them the Spirit of truth who will, according to his promise, speak through them.
– Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Father almighty, all acknowledge that you, the Word and the Spirit are one:
as we believe in one God, so may we hope in you and love you.
– Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Father of the living, bring those who have died to share your glory:
with your Son and the Holy Spirit may they reign eternally with you in heaven.
– Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
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.
Let us pray.
God our Father,
you revealed the great mystery of your godhead to men
when you sent into the world
the Word who is Truth
and the Spirit who makes us holy.
Help us to believe in you and worship you,
as the true faith teaches:
three Persons, eternal in glory,
one God, infinite in majesty.
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.
