Friday 6 December 2019
Friday of the 1st week of Advent
or Saint Nicholas, Bishop
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
On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry
Announces that the Lord is nigh;
Come then and hearken, for he brings
Glad tidings from the King of kings.
Then cleansed be every Christian breast,
And furnished for so great a guest!
Yea, let us each his heart prepare
For Christ to come and enter there.
For thou art our salvation, Lord,
Our refuge and our great reward;
Without thy grace our souls must fade,
And wither like a flower decayed.
Stretch forth thine hand, to heal our sore,
And make us rise to fall no more;
Once more upon thy people shine,
And fill the world with love divine.
All praise, eternal Son, to thee,
Whose Advent sets thy people free,
Whom, with the Father, we adore,
And Holy Ghost, for evermore.
________
Psalm 40 (41)
Prayer in time of sickness
“One of you will betray me – one who is eating with me” (Mk 14:18).
Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.
Happy the mán who consíders the póor and the wéak. *
The Lórd will sáve him in the dáy of évil,
will gúard him, give him lífe, make him háppy in the lánd *
and will nót give him úp to the wíll of his fóes.
The Lórd will hélp him on his béd of páin, *
he will bríng him báck from síckness to héalth.
As for mé, I said: ‘Lórd, have mércy on mé, *
heal my sóul for Í have sínned agáinst you.’
My fóes are spéaking évil agáinst me. *
‘How lóng before he díes and his náme is forgótten?’
They cóme to vísit me and spéak empty wórds, *
their héarts full of málice, they spréad it abróad.
My énemies whísper togéther agáinst me. *
They áll weigh úp the évil which is ón me.
‘Some déadly thing has fástened upón him, *
he will nót rise agáin from whére he líes.’
Thus éven my fríend, in whóm I trústed, *
who áte my bréad, has túrned agáinst me.
But yóu, O Lórd, have mércy on mé. *
Let me ríse once móre and Í will repáy them.
By thís I shall knów that yóu are my fríend, *
if my fóes do not shóut in tríumph óver me.
If yóu uphóld me Í shall be unhármed *
and sét in your présence for éver móre.
Bléssed be the Lórd, the Gód of Ísrael *
from áge to áge. Amén. Amén.
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, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.
Psalm-prayer
Lord Jesus, healer of soul and body, you said: Blessed are the merciful, they will obtain mercy. Teach us to come to the aid of the needy in a spirit of brotherly love, that we in turn may be received and strengthened by you.
________
Psalm 45 (46)
God, our refuge and our strength
“They will call his name ‘Immanuel’, which means ‘God with us’” (Mt 1:23).
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Gód is for ús a réfuge and stréngth, *
a hélper close at hánd, in tíme of distréss,
so wé shall not féar though the éarth should róck, *
though the móuntains fáll into the dépths of the séa;
even thóugh its wáters ráge and fóam, *
even thóugh the móuntains be sháken by its wáves.
The Lórd of hósts is wíth us: *
the Gód of Jácob is our strónghold.
The wáters of a ríver give jóy to God’s cíty, *
the hóly pláce where the Móst High dwélls.
Gód is withín, it cánnot be sháken; *
Gód will hélp it at the dáwning of the dáy.
Nátions are in túmult, kíngdoms are sháken: *
he lífts his vóice, the éarth shrinks awáy.
The Lórd of hósts is wíth us: *
the Gód of Jácob is our strónghold.
Cóme, consíder the wórks of the Lórd, *
the redóubtable déeds he has dóne on the éarth.
He puts an énd to wárs over áll the éarth; †
the bów he bréaks, the spéar he snáps. *
He búrns the shíelds with fíre.
‘Be stíll and knów that Í am Gód, *
supréme among the nátions, supréme on the éarth!’
The Lórd of hósts is wíth us: *
the Gód of Jácob is our strónghold.
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 of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Psalm-prayer
All-powerful Father, the refuge and strength of your people, you protect in adversity and defend in prosperity those who put their trust in you. May they persevere in seeking your will and find their way to you through obedience.
Or:
Lord God, when the restless powers of this world and the waters of hell rise up against your holy city, the new Jerusalem, you keep watch over it and it is safe, founded on solid rock. May the river that flows from the throne of the Lamb so purify this city as to make it shine out before men as your chosen dwelling, the unfailing sign of your greatness.
________
Canticle
Apocalypse 15
A hymn of adoration
All the peoples will come and adore you, Lord.
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.
All the peoples will come and adore you, Lord.
________
Short Reading
2 Peter 3:8-9
With the Lord, ‘a day’ can mean a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord is not being slow to carry out his promises, as anybody else might be called slow; but he is being patient with you all, wanting nobody to be lost and everybody to be brought to change his ways.
________
Short Responsory
Come to us and save us, Lord God almighty.
– Come to us and save us, Lord God almighty.
Let your face smile on us and we shall be safe.
– Come to us and save us, Lord God almighty.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– Come to us and save us, Lord God almighty.
________
Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
Out of Egypt I have called my son. He will come and save his people.
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.
Out of Egypt I have called my son. He will come and save his people.
________
Prayers and intercessions
As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, we pray that the Church may come to birth again in our times.
– Be born in us, Lord.
Lord Jesus, born of Mary,
come again into our world.
– Be born in us, Lord.
Help us to show compassion and respect for the mentally ill,
since we are all children of God.
– Be born in us, Lord.
Through the Church’s proclamation of your coming,
bring light to those who search for truth.
– Be born in us, Lord.
You were born to die for our sins:
at our death may we be born into your life.
– Be born in us, Lord.
________
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.
________
Call forth your power, Lord:
come and save us from the judgement
that threatens us by reason of our sins.
Come, and set us free.
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.