Saturday 20 March 2021
Saturday of the 4th week of Lent
(First Vespers of tomorrow, 5th Sunday of Lent)
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.
________
Hymn
Sole hope of all the world and Lord,
Bestower of the great reward,
Receive the prayers thy servants raise
Mixed with meet psalms and chants of praise.
And though our conscience doth proclaim
Our deep transgressions and our shame,
Cleanse us, O God, we humbly plead,
From sins of thought and word and deed.
Our sins remember thou no more;
Forgive: thou art of mighty pow’r:
So take upon thee, Lord, our care
That pure in heart we make our prayer.
Therefore accept, O Lord, this tide
Of fast which thou hast sanctified,
That we may reach by mystic ways
The sacraments of Easter days.
________
Psalm 140 (141)
Prayer in time of danger
“The smoke of incense rose before God with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel” (Rev 8:4).
I will put my law into their hearts: I will be their God and they shall be my people.
I have called to you, Lord; hasten to help me!
Hear my voice when I cry to you.
Let my prayer arise before you like incense,
the raising of my hands like an evening oblation.
Set, O Lord, a guard over my mouth;
keep watch, O Lord, at the door of my lips!
Do not turn my heart to things that are wrong,
to evil deeds with men who are sinners.
Never allow me to share in their feasting.
If a good man strikes or reproves me it is kindness;
but let the oil of the wicked not anoint my head.
Let my prayer be ever against their malice.
Their princes were thrown down by the side of the rock;
then they understood that my words were kind.
As a millstone is shattered to pieces on the ground,
so their bones were strewn at the mouth of the grave.
To you, Lord God, my eyes are turned:
in you I take refuge; spare my soul!
From the trap they have laid for me keep me safe:
keep me from the snares of those who do evil.
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 will put my law into their hearts: I will be their God and they shall be my people.
Psalm-prayer
Lord, from the rising of the sun to its setting your name is worthy of all praise. Let our prayer come like incense before you. May the lifting up of our hands be as an evening sacrifice acceptable to you, Lord our God.
Or:
Lord, you never reject the prayer of those who cry to you. Listen to the pleading of your Church and defend your people. Make them strong in faith against the evil one who would devour them. After they have overcome the brief ordeals of this life, may they enter into your glory with Christ Jesus.
________
Psalm 141 (142)
You are my refuge
“All these things were fulfilled by the Lord at the time of his passion” (St Hilary).
I count everything as loss, because of the surpassing worth of knowing my Lord Jesus Christ.
With all my voice I cry to the Lord,
with all my voice I entreat the Lord.
I pour out my trouble before him;
I tell him all my distress
while my spirit faints within me.
But you, O Lord, know my path.
On the way where I shall walk
they have hidden a snare to entrap me.
Look on my right and see:
there is no one who takes my part.
I have no means of escape,
not one who cares for my soul.
I cry to you, O Lord.
I have said: ‘You are my refuge
all I have in the land of the living.’
Listen, then, to my cry
for I am in the depths of distress.
Rescue me from those who pursue me
for they are stronger than I.
Bring my soul out of this prison
and then I shall praise your name.
Around me the just will assemble
because of your goodness to me.
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 count everything as loss, because of the surpassing worth of knowing my Lord Jesus Christ.
Psalm-prayer
Lord, we humbly ask for your goodness. May you help us to hope in you, and give us a share with your chosen ones in the land of the living.
Or:
Lord Jesus, hanging alone on the cross, you accepted to be tortured by the executioners and cut to the heart by the defection of your disciples. You called on your Father with a mighty cry as you gave up your spirit. Deliver us from the prison of affliction and be yourself our inheritance in the land of the living.
________
Canticle
Philippians 2
Christ, God's servant
Although he was the Son of God, he learned to obey through suffering.
Though he was in the form of God,
Jesus did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.
He emptied himself,
taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even death on a cross.
Therefore God has highly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name which is above every name,
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
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.
Although he was the Son of God, he learned to obey through suffering.
________
Short Reading
1 Peter 1:18-21
Remember, the ransom that was paid to free you from the useless way of life your ancestors handed down was not paid in anything corruptible, neither in silver nor gold, but in the precious blood of a lamb without spot or stain, namely Christ; who, though known since before the world was made, has been revealed only in our time, the end of the ages, for your sake. Through him you now have faith in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory for that very reason – so that you would have faith and hope in God.
________
Short Responsory
Hear us, Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against you.
– Hear us, Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against you.
Listen, Christ, to the prayers of those who cry to you.
– Hear us, Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against you.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– Hear us, Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against you.
________
Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
Unless a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it remains a single grain alone; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.
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.
Unless a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it remains a single grain alone; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.
________
Prayers and intercessions
Let us give glory to Christ the Lord. He is our master, our example and our brother.
– Lord, give life to your people.
Lord Jesus, you became a man like us in every way, but did not sin;
may we open our lives to others, share their laughter and tears, and grow day by day in love.
– Lord, give life to your people.
Let us serve you in the hungry and give you to eat;
let us see you in the thirsty and give you to drink.
– Lord, give life to your people.
You raised up Lazarus from the dead;
call sinners from their living death to faith and repentance.
– Lord, give life to your people.
May we live up to the example of Mary and the saints;
may we follow you more perfectly in everything.
– Lord, give life to your people.
Let the dead rise in your glory,
let them rejoice for ever in your love.
– Lord, give life to your people.
________
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 our God, your Son so loved the world
that he gave himself up to death for our sake.
Strengthen us by your grace,
and give us a heart willing to live by that same love.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
________
The Lord bless us, and keep us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
Copyright © 1996-2021 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.