Sunday 1 November 2020
All Saints - Solemnity
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
For all the saints who from their labours rest,
Who thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy name, O Jesu, be for ever blest.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Thou wast their rock, their fortress and their might;
Thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight;
Thou in the darkness drear their one true Light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
O may thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
And win, with them, the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
O blest communion! fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
________
Psalm 109 (110)
The Messiah, king and priest
“He must be king so that he may put all his enemies under his feet” (1 Cor 15:25).
I saw a vast throng, which no man could number, from every nation, standing before the throne.
The Lord’s revelation to my Master:
‘Sit on my right:
your foes I will put beneath your feet.’
The Lord will wield from Sion
your sceptre of power:
rule in the midst of all your foes.
A prince from the day of your birth
on the holy mountains;
from the womb before the dawn I begot you.
The Lord has sworn an oath he will not change.
‘You are a priest for ever,
a priest like Melchizedek of old.’
The Master standing at your right hand
will shatter kings in the day of his wrath.
He shall drink from the stream by the wayside
and therefore he shall lift up his head.
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.
I saw a vast throng, which no man could number, from every nation, standing before the throne.
Psalm-prayer
Father, we ask you to give us victory and peace. In Jesus Christ, our Lord and King, we are already seated at your right hand. We look forward to praise you in the fellowship of all your saints in our heavenly homeland.
Or:
Almighty God, bring the kingdom of Christ, your anointed one, to its fullness. May the perfect offering of your Son, eternal priest of the new Jerusalem, be offered in every place to your name and make all nations a holy people for you.
________
Psalm 115 (116B)
Thanksgiving in the Temple
“Through him [Christ], let us offer God an unending sacrifice of praise” (Heb 13:15).
God has tried them and found them worthy of himself. Royal splendour shall be theirs from the Lord.
I trusted, even when I said:
‘I am sorely afflicted,’
and when I said in my alarm:
‘No man can be trusted.’
How can I repay the Lord
for his goodness to me?
The cup of salvation I will raise;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
My vows to the Lord I will fulfil
before all his people.
O precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful.
Your servant, Lord, your servant am I;
you have loosened my bonds.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
My vows to the Lord I will fulfil
before all his people,
in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
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 has tried them and found them worthy of himself. Royal splendour shall be theirs from the Lord.
Psalm-prayer
Lord, accept the prayers of your faithful people. Help us always to offer you a sacrifice of praise. Quickly break the bonds that hold your children down, and we will fulfil our vows and praise you every day.
Or:
Father, precious in your sight is the death of the saints, but precious above all is the love with which Christ suffered to redeem us. In this life we fill up in our own flesh what is still lacking in the sufferings of Christ; accept this as our sacrifice of praise, and we shall even now taste the joy of the new Jerusalem.
________
Canticle
Apocalypse 4,5
The song of the redeemed
You have redeemed us, Lord God, in your blood, from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made us a kingdom for our God.
Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honour and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.
Worthy are you, O Lord,
to take the scroll and to open its seals,
for you were slain,
and by your blood you ransomed men for God
from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
You have made us a kingdom and priests to our God,
and we shall reign on earth.
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
to receive power and wealth
and wisdom and might
and honour and glory and blessing.
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.
You have redeemed us, Lord God, in your blood, from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made us a kingdom for our God.
________
Short Reading
2 Corinthians 6:16,7:1
You are the temple of the living God. We have God’s word for it: I will make my home among them and live with them; I will be their God and they shall be my people. With promises like these made to us, dear brothers, let us wash off all that can soil either body or spirit, to reach perfection of holiness in the fear of God.
________
Short Responsory
Let the saints rejoice in the Lord.
– Let the saints rejoice in the Lord.
God has chosen you for his own.
– Let the saints rejoice in the Lord.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– Let the saints rejoice in the Lord.
________
Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
How full of splendour is the kingdom where all the saints exult with Christ! The white-robed throng follows the Lamb of God in all his ways.
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.
How full of splendour is the kingdom where all the saints exult with Christ! The white-robed throng follows the Lamb of God in all his ways.
________
Prayers and intercessions
With so many witnesses in a great cloud on every side of us, we are encouraged to run steadily in the race we have started. We pray to Christ, for he is the author of our faith, and he will bring it to fulfilment:
– With all the saints we praise and thank you, Lord.
Lord, you chose the apostles to be the foundation of your Church:
keep us faithful to all that you left in their care.
– With all the saints we praise and thank you, Lord.
Your martyrs testified to you, even to the shedding of their blood:
make all Christians faithful witnesses to your word.
– With all the saints we praise and thank you, Lord.
Lord, be with those who have consecrated their lives to you in virginity:
may their hope and generosity be a sign to the world of the glorious life they await at the end of time.
– With all the saints we praise and thank you, Lord.
In the saints you reveal your presence and your care:
as we venerate them, may we be drawn closer to you.
– With all the saints we praise and thank you, Lord.
Welcome our departed brothers and sisters into the company of Mary, Joseph and all the saints:
through their intercession, grant us a place in your kingdom.
– With all the saints we praise and thank you, 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.
________
Almighty, ever-living God,
we are celebrating with joy
the triumph of your grace in all the saints.
With so vast a multitude praying for us,
may we receive from you
the fullness of mercy we have always desired.
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 © 1996-2020 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.