Thursday 3 June 2021
Saints Charles Lwanga and his Companions, Martyrs
on Thursday of week 9 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.
________
Hymn
All hail the power of Jesus’ name;
Let Angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem
To crown him Lord of all.
Crown him, ye Martyrs of your God,
Who from his altar call;
Praise him whose way of pain ye trod,
And crown him Lord of all.
Hail him, ye heirs of David’s line,
Whom David Lord did call;
The God Incarnate, Man Divine,
And crown him Lord of all.
Let every tribe and every tongue
To him their hearts enthral,
Lift high the universal song,
And crown him Lord of all.
________
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.
________
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.
________
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.
________
Short Reading
1 Peter 4:13-14
Beloved, if you can have some share in the sufferings of Christ, be glad, because you will enjoy a much greater gladness when his glory is revealed. It is a blessing for you when they insult you for bearing the name of Christ, because it means that you have the Spirit of glory, the Spirit of God resting on you.
________
Short Responsory
Rejoice in the Lord. Let the just shout for joy.
– Rejoice in the Lord. Let the just shout for joy.
Let the upright sing praise.
– Rejoice in the Lord. Let the just shout for joy.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– Rejoice in the Lord. Let the just shout for joy.
________
Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
The saints, who followed in the footsteps of Christ, rejoice in heaven. They gave their life for love of Christ: therefore, they will reign with him for ever.
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 saints, who followed in the footsteps of Christ, rejoice in heaven. They gave their life for love of Christ: therefore, they will reign with him for ever.
________
Prayers and intercessions
Let us give thanks to the king of martyrs, for this is the hour when he offered himself in the last supper and laid down his life on the cross.
– We praise you, Christ the Lord.
We praise you, Christ our Saviour, example and strength of the martyrs, because you have loved us to the end;
– We praise you, Christ the Lord.
Because you have promised repentant sinners the reward of eternal life,
– We praise you, Christ the Lord.
Because you have called the Church to offer the blood of the new and eternal covenant, the blood shed for the remission of sins,
– We praise you, Christ the Lord.
Because you have brought us to this day with the gift of faith intact,
– We praise you, Christ the Lord.
Because of the many brothers who today have come to share in your saving death,
– We praise you, Christ the 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.
________
Lord God, you have made the blood of martyrs
become the seed of Christians.
In your love, grant that your Church,
the field that was moistened by the blood of Saint Charles and his companions,
may always yield a fertile harvest for you.
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.