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
Remember those, O Lord,
Who in your peace have died,
Yet may not gain love’s high reward
Till love is purified.
With you they faced death’s night,
Sealed with your victory sign,
Soon may the splendour of your light
On them for ever shine.
Sweet is their pain, yet deep,
Till perfect love is born;
Their lone night-watch they gladly keep
Before your radiant morn.
Your love is their great joy,
Your will their one desire;
As finest gold without alloy
Refine them in love’s fire.
For them we humbly pray:
Perfect them in your love.
O may we share eternal day
With them in heaven above.
Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal
Psalm 120 (121)
The guardian of the people
The Lord will guard you from every evil. He will guard your soul.
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.
The Lord will guard you from every evil. He will guard your soul.
Psalm 129 (130)
Out of the depths
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
Out of the depths I have cried to you, Lord:
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears listen out
for the voice of my pleading.
If you took notice of our transgressions, Lord –
Lord, who would be left?
But with you is forgiveness,
and for this we revere you.
I rely on you, Lord,
my spirit relies on your promise;
my soul hopes in the Lord,
more than the watchman for daybreak.
More than the watchman for daybreak,
let Israel hope in the Lord:
for with the Lord there is kindness
and abundant redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel
from all its transgressions.
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.
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
Canticle
Philippians 2
Christ, God's servant
As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to anyone he chooses.
Jesus Christ, although he shared God’s nature,
did not try to cling to his equality with God;
but emptied himself, took on the form of a slave,
and became like a man:
not in appearance only,
for he humbled himself by accepting death,
even death on a cross.
For this, God has raised him high,
and given him the name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bend,
in heaven, on earth, and under the earth,
and every tongue will proclaim
“Jesus Christ is Lord,”
to the glory of God the Father.
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.
As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to anyone he chooses.
Short Reading
1 Corinthians 15:55-57
©
Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? Now the sting of death is sin, and sin gets its power from the Law. So let us thank God for giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Short Responsory
In you, Lord, I take refuge. Let me not be lost for ever.
– In you, Lord, I take refuge. Let me not be lost for ever.
I will rejoice and be glad because of your merciful love.
– In you, Lord, I take refuge. Let me not be lost for ever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– In you, Lord, I take refuge. Let me not be lost for ever.
Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
All that the Father gives me will come to me; and I will never turn away the one who comes to me.
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.
All that the Father gives me will come to me; and I will never turn away the one who comes to me.
Prayers and intercessions
Let us pray to Christ who gives us the hope that our mortal bodies will become like his in glory.
– Lord, you are our life and our resurrection.
Christ, Son of the living God, you raised your friend Lazarus from the dead;
grant life and glory to the faithful departed, redeemed by your precious blood.
– Lord, you are our life and our resurrection.
Compassionate Saviour, you wiped away all tears when you gave back to the widow of Naim her only son;
comfort those who mourn because the one they love has died.
– Lord, you are our life and our resurrection.
Christ, our Redeemer, destroy the reign of sin in our mortal bodies;
let us not receive the wages of death but the reward of eternal life.
– Lord, you are our life and our resurrection.
Christ, our Saviour, look on those who live without hope and do not know you;
let them believe in the resurrection and the life of the world to come.
– Lord, you are our life and our resurrection.
You restored sight to the man born blind and opened the eyes of his faith;
reveal your face to the dead who have not seen your glory.
– Lord, you are our life and our resurrection.
Lord, be merciful to us when we leave this earthly dwelling;
make for us a home in heaven that will last for ever.
– Lord, you are our life and our resurrection.
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.
Grant, Lord, we pray,
that as our faith is built on the Risen Christ,
so too our hope may be steadfast
as we await the resurrection of all the faithful departed.
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.
