Monday 16 December 2019
Monday of the 3rd week of Advent
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 122 (123)
The Lord guards his people
“The two blind men cried out, ‘Lord, have pity on us, Son of David’” (Mt 20:30).
Our eyes are turned to the Lord; we look for his mercy.
To yóu have I lífted up my éyes, *
you who dwéll in the héavens;
my éyes, like the éyes of sláves *
on the hánd of their lórds.
Líke the éyes of a sérvant *
on the hánd of her místress,
so our éyes are on the Lórd our Gód *
till he shów us his mércy.
Have mércy on us, Lórd, have mércy. *
We are fílled with contémpt.
Indéed all too fúll is our sóul †
with the scórn of the rích, *
with the próud man’s disdáin.
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.
Our eyes are turned to the Lord; we look for his mercy.
Psalm-prayer
Father in heaven, we lift our eyes to you and pray: confound the scorn of the proud and graciously show us your mercy.
Or:
Lord Jesus Christ, you will wait on the servants who have kept faithful watch for you. Teach us to keep our eyes fixed on every trace of the work of your hands, so that we may watch for your coming and enter your home, our lamps radiant with light.
________
Psalm 123 (124)
Our help is in the name of the Lord
“The Lord said to Paul, ‘Do not fear; for I am with you’” (Acts 18:9,10).
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
‘If the Lórd had not béen on our síde,’ *
this is Ísrael’s sóng.
‘If the Lórd had not béen on our síde *
when mén rose up agáinst us,
thén would they have swállowed us alíve *
when their ánger was kíndled.
‘Thén would the wáters have engúlfed us, *
the tórrent gone óver us;
óver our héad would have swépt *
the ráging wáters.’
Bléssed be the Lórd who did not gíve us *
a préy to their téeth!
Our lífe, like a bírd, has escáped *
from the snáre of the fówler.
Indéed the snáre has been bróken *
and wé have escáped.
Our hélp is in the náme of the Lórd, *
who made héaven and éarth.
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.
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Psalm-prayer
Lord Jesus, you foretold that your disciples would be despised on account of your name, but that not a hair of their heads is ever forgotten. In times of persecution, defend and revive us by the power and comfort of the Holy Spirit, so that we can be freed from our enemies and praise your saving help.
________
Canticle
Ephesians 1
God the Saviour
God chose us in his Son and made us his adopted sons.
Blessed be the God and Father *
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ *
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
He chose us in him *
before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy *
and blameless before him.
He destined us in love *
to be his sons through Jesus Christ,
according to the purpose of his will, †
to the praise of his glorious grace *
which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
In him we have redemption through his blood, *
the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of his grace *
which he lavished upon us.
He has made known to us †
in all wisdom and insight *
the mystery of his will,
according to his purpose *
which he set forth in Christ.
His purpose he set forth in Christ *
as a plan for the fullness of time,
to unite all things in him, *
things in heaven and things on earth.
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.
God chose us in his Son and made us his adopted sons.
________
Short Reading
Philippians 3:20-21
We are waiting for our saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transfigure these wretched bodies of ours into copies of his glorious body. He will do that by the same power with which he can subdue the whole universe.
________
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
All generations will call me blessed, for God has looked upon his lowly handmaid.
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.
All generations will call me blessed, for God has looked upon his lowly handmaid.
________
Prayers and intercessions
As we make our evening prayer, we acknowledge the times when we have preferred darkness before true light.
– Lord, that we may see!
You came, as man, into this world:
free us from the darkness of its sin.
– Lord, that we may see!
Forgive us the hatred and envy that cloud our vision:
give us a generous spirit.
– Lord, that we may see!
You come to us through those who share our lives:
open our hearts to recognize you.
– Lord, that we may see!
Lord, do not forget our brothers,
who in all ages have hoped to see your light.
– Lord, that we may see!
________
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.
________
In your love, Father, listen to our prayer:
may your Son at his coming
dispel by his grace the darkness of our hearts.
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.