Wednesday 20 November 2019
Wednesday of week 33 in Ordinary Time
Vespers (Evening Prayer)
Introduction (without Invitatory)
If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, use the version with the Invitatory Psalm instead.
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
To thee our inmost heart doth cry,
Our voice resounds in melody,
For thee chaste love with longing yearns,
Our humbled soul doth worship thee.
And when dense blackness falls to close
The day in thickest folds of night,
Let not our faith such darkness know,
But by that faith let dark be light.
Allow thou not our souls to rest;
Our sins in rest, we pray thee, bind:
Let pure, refreshing faith be strong
To cool all dreams that heat the mind.
Stripped clean from senses’ danger, let
Our inmost heart dream deep of thee;
Let not our envious foe disturb
Our rest with guile and treachery.
________
Psalm 26 (27)
Keeping faith in time of peril
“Behold, the place where God dwells among men” (Rev 21:3).
The Lord is my light and my help: whom shall I fear?
The Lórd is my líght and my hélp; *
whóm shall I féar?
The Lórd is the strónghold of my lífe; *
before whóm shall I shrínk?
When évil-dóers draw néar *
to devóur my flésh,
it is théy, my énemies and fóes, *
who stúmble and fáll.
Though an ármy encámp agáinst me *
my héart would not féar.
Though wár break óut agáinst me *
even thén would I trúst.
There is óne thing I ásk of the Lórd, *
for thís I lóng,
to líve in the hóuse of the Lórd, *
all the dáys of my lífe,
to sávour the swéetness of the Lórd, *
to behóld his témple.
For thére he keeps me sáfe in his tént *
in the dáy of évil.
He hídes me in the shélter of his tént, *
on a róck he sets me sáfe.
And nów my héad shall be ráised *
above my fóes who surróund me
and I shall óffer withín his tént *
a sácrifice of jóy.
I will síng and make músic for the Lórd.
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)
“Some stood up and submitted false evidence against Jesus.”
It is your face, O Lord, that I seek: hide not your face.
O Lórd, hear my vóice when I cáll; *
have mércy and ánswer.
Of yóu my héart has spóken: *
‘Séek his fáce.’
It is your fáce, O Lórd, that I séek; *
híde not your fáce.
Dismíss not your sérvant in ánger; *
yóu have been my hélp.
Dó not abándon or forsáke me, *
O Gód my hélp!
Though fáther and móther forsáke me, *
the Lórd will recéive me.
Instrúct me, Lórd, in your wáy; *
on an éven path léad me.
When they líe in ámbush protéct me *
from my énemy’s gréed.
False wítnesses ríse agáinst me, *
bréathing out fúry.
I am súre I shall sée the Lord’s góodness *
in the lánd of the líving.
Hope in hím, hold fírm and take héart. *
Hópe in the Lórd!
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.
Psalm-prayer
Father, you protect and strengthen those who hope in you; you heard the cry of your Son and kept him safe in your tent in the day of evil. Grant that your servants who seek your face in times of trouble may see your goodness in the land of the living.
________
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 the Father, †
who has qualified us to share *
in the inheritance of the saints in light.
He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness *
and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption, *
the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, *
the firstborn of all creation,
for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, *
visible and invisible.
All things were created *
through him and for him.
He is before all things, *
and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body, the Church; *
he is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, *
that in everything he might be pre-eminent.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, *
and through him to reconcile to himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven, *
making peace by the blood of his cross.
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
James 1:22,25
You must do what the word tells you, and not just listen to it and deceive yourselves. But the man who looks steadily at the perfect law of freedom and makes that his habit – not listening and then forgetting, but actively putting it into practice – will be happy in all that he does.
________
Short Responsory
Redeem me, Lord, and show me your mercy.
– Redeem me, Lord, and show me your mercy.
Do not cast me away with sinners.
– Redeem me, Lord, and show me your mercy.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– Redeem me, Lord, and show me your mercy.
________
Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
The Almighty has done great things for me; holy is his name.
My soul glórifies the Lórd, *
my spirit rejóices in Gód, my Sáviour.
He looks on his sérvant in her lówliness; *
henceforth all áges will cáll me bléssed.
The Almíghty works márvels for me. *
Hóly his náme!
His mércy is from age to áge, *
on thóse who féar him.
He púts forth his árm in stréngth *
and scátters the proud-héarted.
He casts the míghty from their thrónes *
and ráises the lówly.
He fills the stárving with good thíngs, *
sends the rích away émpty.
He protects Ísrael, his sérvant, *
remémbering his mércy,
the mercy prómised to our fáthers, *
to Ábraham and his sóns for éver.
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 Almighty has done great things for me; holy is his name.
________
Prayers and intercessions
The world is ablaze with the glory of God, who cares for his chosen people with infinite love. In the name of the Church we pray:
– Lord, show your love to all men.
Be mindful of your Church:
keep her free from evil and make her perfect in your love.
– Lord, show your love to all men.
Let all peoples acknowledge that you alone are God, and that Jesus Christ is your Son;
give them the light of faith.
– Lord, show your love to all men.
Grant to those around us all that they need,
so that they may know thankfulness and live in peace.
– Lord, show your love to all men.
Keep us mindful of those whose work is hard and unrewarding:
may we give every man the respect which is his right.
– Lord, show your love to all men.
Give peace to those who have died today;
grant them eternal rest.
– Lord, show your love to all men.
________
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.
________
Lord, support us as we pray,
protect us day and night,
so that we who under your guiding hand live in a world of change
may always draw strength from you,
with whom there is no shadow of alteration.
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.
Copyright © 1996-2019 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). Used with permission of A.P. Watt Ltd. All rights reserved.