Thursday 16 January 2020
Thursday of week 1 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.
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Hymn
When God had filled the earth with life
And blessed it, to increase,
Then cattle dwelt with creeping things,
And lion with lamb, at peace.
He gave them vast, untrodden lands,
With plants to be their food;
Then God saw all that he had made
And found it very good.
Praise God the Father of all life,
His Son and Spirit blest,
By whom creation lives and moves,
In whom it comes to rest.
Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal
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Psalm 29 (30)
Thanksgiving for rescue from death
“Christ gives thanks to his Father after his glorious resurrection” (Cassian).
Lord, I cried to you for help and you have healed me: I will thank you for ever.
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me
and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O Lord, I cried to you for help
and you, my God, have healed me.
O Lord, you have raised my soul from the dead,
restored me to life from those who sink into the grave.
Sing psalms to the Lord, you who love him,
give thanks to his holy name.
His anger lasts a moment; his favour all through life.
At night there are tears, but joy comes with dawn.
I said to myself in my good fortune:
‘Nothing will ever disturb me.’
Your favour had set me on a mountain fastness,
then you hid your face and I was put to confusion.
To you, Lord, I cried,
to my God I made appeal:
‘What profit would my death be, my going to the grave?
Can dust give you praise or proclaim your truth?’
The Lord listened and had pity.
The Lord came to my help.
For me you have changed my mourning into dancing,
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.
So my soul sings psalms to you unceasingly.
O Lord my God, I will thank you 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.
Lord, I cried to you for help and you have healed me: I will thank you for ever.
Psalm-prayer
Lord, hear our cry and save us. We weep in the evening as if our Lord were asleep, but let us rejoice in the morning as he is raised up among us. Rescued from sadness and clothed in rejoicing, may we gloriously sing your praises for ever.
Or:
God our Father, glorious in giving life, and even more glorious in restoring it, when his last night on earth came, your Son shed tears of blood, but dawn brought incomparable gladness. Do not turn away from us, or we shall fall back into dust, but rather turn our mourning into joy by raising us up with Christ.
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Psalm 31 (32)
The joy of the forgiven
“David says that a man is blessed if God considers him righteous, irrespective of good deeds” (Rom 4:6).
Happy the man to whom the Lord imputes no guilt.
Happy the man whose offence is forgiven,
whose sin is remitted.
O happy the man to whom the Lord
imputes no guilt,
in whose spirit is no guile.
I kept it secret and my frame was wasted.
I groaned all day long,
for night and day your hand
was heavy upon me.
Indeed my strength was dried up
as by the summer’s heat.
But now I have acknowledged my sins;
my guilt I did not hide.
I said: ‘I will confess
my offence to the Lord.’
And you, Lord, have forgiven
the guilt of my sin.
So let every good man pray to you
in the time of need.
The floods of water may reach high
but him they shall not reach.
You are my hiding place, O Lord;
you save me from distress.
You surround me with cries of deliverance.
I will instruct you and teach you
the way you should go;
I will give you counsel
with my eye upon you.
Be not like horse and mule, unintelligent,
needing bridle and bit,
else they will not approach you.
Many sorrows has the wicked
but he who trusts in the Lord,
loving mercy surrounds him.
Rejoice, rejoice in the Lord,
exult, you just!
O come, ring out your joy,
all you upright of heart.
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.
Happy the man to whom the Lord imputes no guilt.
Psalm-prayer
You desired, Lord, to keep from us your indignation and so did not spare Jesus Christ, who was wounded for our sins. We are your prodigal children but confessing our sins we come back to you. Embrace us that we may rejoice in your mercy together with Christ your beloved Son.
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Canticle
Apocalypse 11
The Judgement
The Lord has given him power and honour and empire, and all peoples will serve him.
We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
who are and who were,
that you have taken your great power
and begun to reign.
The nations raged,
but your wrath came,
and the time for the dead to be judged,
for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
and those who fear your name,
both small and great.
Now the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Christ have come,
for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down,
who accuses them day and night before our God.
And they have conquered him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
for they loved not their lives even unto death.
Rejoice, then, O heaven,
and you that dwell therein.
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 has given him power and honour and empire, and all peoples will serve him.
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Short Reading
1 Peter 1:6-9
This is a cause of great joy for you, even though you may for a short time have to bear being plagued by all sorts of trials; so that, when Jesus Christ is revealed, your faith will have been tested and proved like gold – only it is more precious than gold, which is corruptible even though it bears testing by fire – and then you will have praise and glory and honour. You did not see him, yet you love him; and still without seeing him, you are already filled with a joy so glorious that it cannot be described, because you believe; and you are sure of the end to which your faith looks forward, that is, the salvation of your souls.
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Short Responsory
The Lord fed us with finest wheat.
– The Lord fed us with finest wheat.
He filled us with honey from the rock.
– The Lord fed us with finest wheat.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– The Lord fed us with finest wheat.
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Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
The Lord brought down the mighty from their seats, and raised up the lowly.
My soul glorifies the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour.
He looks on his servant in her lowliness;
henceforth all ages will call me blessed.
The Almighty works marvels for me.
Holy his name!
His mercy is from age to age,
on those who fear him.
He puts forth his arm in strength
and scatters the proud-hearted.
He casts the mighty from their thrones
and raises the lowly.
He fills the starving with good things,
sends the rich away empty.
He protects Israel, his servant,
remembering his mercy,
the mercy promised to our fathers,
to Abraham and his sons 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 brought down the mighty from their seats, and raised up the lowly.
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Prayers and intercessions
Let us make our prayer to the God of our salvation because all our hope rests in him.
– Father, our trust is in you.
Father, you established a covenant with men:
we trust in you, for you are faithful to your word.
– Father, our trust is in you.
Send workers into the harvest,
and bring the world to the knowledge and love of you.
– Father, our trust is in you.
May the unity of the Church be formed by love and understanding;
gather us together through the gifts of your Holy Spirit.
– Father, our trust is in you.
Help men to create a community where justice and peace may flourish:
be with us lest we labour in vain.
– Father, our trust is in you.
Be mindful of the dead, especially those we have known;
have mercy on those who have given us their help.
– Father, our trust is in you.
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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.
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Lord God,
you give the moon to illumine the night,
and to dispel the darkness you bring in the light of day:
grant that during this night
we may elude the grasp of Satan
and in the morning rise to give you praise.
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.
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The Lord bless us, and keep us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
Copyright © 1996-2020 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.