Saturday 5 June 2021
Saint Boniface, Bishop, Martyr
on Saturday of week 9 in Ordinary Time
(First Vespers of tomorrow, Corpus Christi)
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
Of the glorious Body telling,
O my tongue, its mysteries sing,
And the Blood, all price excelling,
Which the world’s eternal King,
In a noble womb once dwelling,
Shed for this world’s ransoming.
Given for us, for us descending,
Of a Virgin to proceed,
Man with man in converse blending,
Scattered he the Gospel seed,
Till his sojourn drew to ending
Which he closed in wondrous deed.
At the last great Supper lying
Circled by his brethren’s band,
Meekly with the law complying,
First he finished its command,
Then, immortal Food supplying,
Gave himself with his own hand.
Word made Flesh, by word he maketh
Very bread his Flesh to be;
Man in wine Christ’s Blood partaketh:
And if senses fail to see,
Faith alone the true heart waketh
To behold the mystery.
Humbly we, before him bending,
This great Sacrament revere;
Types and shadows have their ending,
For the newer rite is here;
Faith, our outward sense befriending,
Makes the inward vision clear.
Glory let us give, and blessing
To the Father and the Son;
Honour, might and praise addressing,
While eternal ages run;
Ever too his love confessing,
Who, from both, with both is one.
________
Psalm 110 (111)
Great are the works of the Lord
“How great and wonderful are all your works, Lord God Almighty” (Rev 15:3).
The Lord is merciful: he gives food to those who fear him, to make them remember his wonders.
I will thank the Lord with all my heart
in the meeting of the just and their assembly.
Great are the works of the Lord,
to be pondered by all who love them.
Majestic and glorious his work,
his justice stands firm for ever.
He makes us remember his wonders.
The Lord is compassion and love.
He gives food to those who fear him;
keeps his covenant ever in mind.
He has shown his might to his people
by giving them the lands of the nations.
His works are justice and truth,
his precepts are all of them sure,
standing firm for ever and ever;
they are made in uprightness and truth.
He has sent deliverance to his people
and established his covenant for ever.
Holy his name, to be feared.
To fear the Lord is the first stage of wisdom;
all who do so prove themselves wise.
His praise shall last 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 is merciful: he gives food to those who fear him, to make them remember his wonders.
Psalm-prayer
Merciful and gentle Lord, you are the crowning glory of all the saints. Give us, your children, the gift of obedience which is the beginning of wisdom, so that we may do what you command and be filled with your mercy.
Or:
Merciful God, splendour of the Church and crown of all saints, give us that firm faith which begets wisdom and nourish us with heavenly bread in the holy assembly. May we renew the memory of your wondrous deeds in the one sacrifice worthy of you, until we enjoy the fullness of your covenant in an eternity of happiness.
________
Psalm 147 (147B)
God, the foundation of Jerusalem
“Come, and I will show you the bride that the Lamb has chosen” (Rev 21:9).
The Lord has established peace for his Church; he feeds us with finest wheat.
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
Sion, praise your God!
He has strengthened the bars of your gates
he has blessed the children within you.
He established peace on your borders,
he feeds you with finest wheat.
He sends out his word to the earth
and swiftly runs his command.
He showers down snow white as wool,
he scatters hoar-frost like ashes.
He hurls down hailstones like crumbs.
The waters are frozen at his touch;
he sends forth his word and it melts them:
at the breath of his mouth the waters flow.
He makes his word known to Jacob,
to Israel his laws and decrees.
He has not dealt thus with other nations;
he has not taught them his decrees.
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 established peace for his Church; he feeds us with finest wheat.
Psalm-prayer
Lord, you established peace within the borders of Jerusalem. Give the fullness of peace now to your faithful people. May peace rule us in this life and possess us in eternal life. You are about to fill us with the best of wheat; grant that what we see dimly now as in a mirror, we may come to perceive clearly in the brightness of your truth.
Or:
All-powerful God, it is through your Church, generously endowed with gifts of grace and fortified by the Holy Spirit, that you send out your word to all nations. Strengthen your Church with the best of all food and make her dauntless in faith. Multiply her children to celebrate with one accord the mysteries of your love at the altar on high.
________
Canticle
Apocalypse 11
The Judgement
Truly I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven, it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. Alleluia.
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.
Truly I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven, it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. Alleluia.
________
Short Reading
1 Corinthians 10:16-17
The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ, and the bread that we break is a communion with the body of Christ. The fact that there is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us, we form a single body because we all have a share in this one loaf.
________
Short Responsory
He gave them the bread of heaven to eat, alleluia, alleluia.
– He gave them the bread of heaven to eat, alleluia, alleluia.
Man has tasted the food of angels.
– He gave them the bread of heaven to eat, alleluia, alleluia.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– He gave them the bread of heaven to eat, alleluia, alleluia.
________
Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
Lord, how good you are and how gentle is your spirit. When you wished to show your goodness to your sons you gave them bread from heaven, filling the hungry with good things and sending the rich away empty.
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.
Lord, how good you are and how gentle is your spirit. When you wished to show your goodness to your sons you gave them bread from heaven, filling the hungry with good things and sending the rich away empty.
________
Prayers and intercessions
At the supper to which all are invited, Christ gives his body and blood for the life of the world. Earnestly we beseech him, saying:
– Lord Jesus Christ, give us the bread of eternal life.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, you have commanded us to celebrate the eucharistic meal in remembrance of you:
enrich your Church with the worthy celebration of these mysteries.
– Lord Jesus Christ, give us the bread of eternal life.
Lord Jesus Christ, eternal high priest, you have committed to your priests the ministration of your sacraments:
help them to do their part in your work with the unfailing gladness of genuine charity.
– Lord Jesus Christ, give us the bread of eternal life.
Lord Jesus Christ, manna from heaven, you make into one all who share the one bread:
grant peace and concord to all who believe in you.
– Lord Jesus Christ, give us the bread of eternal life.
Lord Jesus Christ, heavenly physician, you give an eternal remedy and a pledge of resurrection to those who eat your bread:
grant health to the ailing and a real hope to sinners.
– Lord Jesus Christ, give us the bread of eternal life.
Lord Jesus Christ, king who is to come, we know that whenever we celebrate these mysteries, we proclaim your death until you come again:
bring all those who have died in you to share your resurrection.
– Lord Jesus Christ, give us the bread of eternal life.
________
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 Jesus Christ,
you gave your Church an admirable sacrament
as the abiding memorial of your passion.
Teach us so to worship the sacred mystery of your Body and Blood
that its redeeming power may sanctify us always.
Who live and reign with God the Father
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.