Sunday 23 May 2021
Pentecost
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
Come, O Creator Spirit, come,
And make within our hearts thy home;
To us thy grace celestial give,
Who of thy breathing move and live.
O Comforter, that name is thine,
Of God most high the gift divine;
The well of life, the fire of love,
Our souls’ anointing from above.
Our senses with thy light inflame,
Our hearts to heavenly love reclaim;
Our bodies’ poor infirmity
With strength perpetual fortify.
May we by thee the Father learn,
And know the Son, and thee discern,
Who art of both; and thus adore
In perfect faith for evermore.
________
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).
The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world. Alleluia.
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.
The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world. Alleluia.
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 113A (114)
Israel set free from Egypt
“You, who have renounced this world, have also been led forth from Egypt” (St Augustine).
Send forth your power, Lord, from your holy temple in Jerusalem, and bring to perfection your work among us. Alleluia.
When Israel came forth from Egypt,
Jacob’s sons from an alien people,
Judah became the Lord’s temple,
Israel became his kingdom.
The sea fled at the sight:
the Jordan turned back on its course,
the mountains leapt like rams
and the hills like yearling sheep.
Why was it, sea, that you fled,
that you turned back, Jordan, on your course?
Mountains, that you leapt like rams;
hills, like yearling sheep?
Tremble, O earth, before the Lord,
in the presence of the God of Jacob,
who turns the rock into a pool
and flint into a spring of water.
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.
Send forth your power, Lord, from your holy temple in Jerusalem, and bring to perfection your work among us. Alleluia.
Psalm-prayer
Almighty God, ever-living mystery of unity and Trinity, you gave life to the new Israel by birth from water and the Spirit, and made it a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a people set apart as your eternal possession. May all those you have called to walk in the splendour of the new light render you fitting service and adoration.
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Canticle
(Apocalypse 19)
The wedding of the Lamb
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak. Alleluia.
Alleluia.
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
his judgements are true and just.
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
Praise our God, all you his servants,
you who fear him, small and great.
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
The Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns,
let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory.
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
The marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
Alleluia.
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.
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak. Alleluia.
________
Short Reading
Ephesians 4:3-6
Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together. There is one Body, one Spirit, just as you were all called into one and the same hope when you were called. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is Father of all, over all, through all and within all.
________
Short Responsory
The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world, alleluia, alleluia.
– The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world, alleluia, alleluia.
It is he who holds all things in being and understands every word that is spoken.
– The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world, alleluia, alleluia.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world, alleluia, alleluia.
________
Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
This is the day of Pentecost, alleluia. Today the Holy Spirit appeared to the disciples in the form of fire and gave to them his special gifts; he sent them into the world to proclaim that whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. Alleluia.
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.
This is the day of Pentecost, alleluia. Today the Holy Spirit appeared to the disciples in the form of fire and gave to them his special gifts; he sent them into the world to proclaim that whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. Alleluia.
________
Prayers and intercessions
We know that the Father is with us because of the Spirit he has given us. With this confidence we turn to you in prayer.
– Father, send your Spirit into the Church!
Father, you want to unite all men by baptism in the Spirit;
draw all believers together in mind and heart.
– Father, send your Spirit into the Church!
You sent the Spirit to fill the earth with your love;
let men build the human city in justice and peace.
– Father, send your Spirit into the Church!
Lord God, Father of all men, bring to your scattered children unity of faith:
make the world alive with the power of your Spirit.
– Father, send your Spirit into the Church!
By the work of the Spirit you create all minds afresh:
heal the sick, comfort the afflicted, and bring all men to salvation.
– Father, send your Spirit into the Church!
Through the Holy Spirit you raised your Son from the dead.
Raise us by the power of your Spirit when we come to your kingdom.
– Father, send your Spirit into the Church!
________
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 God,
you sanctify your Church in every race and nation
by the mystery we celebrate on this day.
Pour out the gifts of the Holy Spirit on all mankind,
and fulfil now in the hearts of your faithful
what you accomplished when the Gospel was first preached on earth.
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.