Thursday 22 July 2021
Saint Mary Magdalen - Feast
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
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!
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Psalm 121 (122)
Jerusalem, the holy city
“You have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb 12:22).
Jesus said to Mary: ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?’
I rejoiced when I heard them say:
‘Let us go to God’s house.’
And now our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is built as a city
strongly compact.
It is there that the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord.
For Israel’s law it is,
there to praise the Lord’s name.
There were set the thrones of judgement
of the house of David.
For the peace of Jerusalem pray:
‘Peace be to your homes!
May peace reign in your walls,
in your palaces, peace!’
For love of my brethren and friends
I say: ‘Peace upon you!’
For love of the house of the Lord
I will ask for your good.
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.
Jesus said to Mary: ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?’
Psalm-prayer
When you rose from the dead, Lord Jesus, you formed the Church into your new body and made of her the new Jerusalem, united in your Spirit. Give us peace in our day. Make all nations come to your Church to share your gifts in fellowship, that they may render you thanks without end and come to your eternal city.
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Psalm 126 (127)
Without the Lord, we labour in vain
“You are God’s building” (1 Cor 3:9).
They have taken my Lord away and I do not know where they have put him.
If the Lord does not build the house,
in vain do its builders labour;
if the Lord does not watch over the city,
in vain does the watchman keep vigil.
In vain is your earlier rising,
your going later to rest,
you who toil for the bread you eat,
when he pours gifts on his beloved while they slumber.
Truly sons are a gift from the Lord,
a blessing, the fruit of the womb.
Indeed the sons of youth
are like arrows in the hand of a warrior.
O the happiness of the man
who has filled his quiver with these arrows!
He will have no cause for shame
when he disputes with his foes in the gateways.
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 have taken my Lord away and I do not know where they have put him.
Psalm-prayer
You command the seed to rise, Lord God, though the farmer is unaware. Grant that those who labour for you may trust not in their own work but in your help. Remembering that the land is brought to flower not with human tears but with those of your Son, may the Church rely only upon your gifts.
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Canticle
Ephesians 1
God the Saviour
Jesus said ‘Mary.’ She turned to him and said ‘Rabboni’ – which means Master.
Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
He chose us in him
before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy
and blameless before him.
He destined us in love
to be his sons through Jesus Christ,
according to the purpose of his will,
to the praise of his glorious grace
which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
In him we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of his grace
which he lavished upon us.
He has made known to us
in all wisdom and insight
the mystery of his will,
according to his purpose
which he set forth in Christ.
His purpose he set forth in Christ
as a plan for the fullness of time,
to unite all things in him,
things in heaven and things on earth.
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.
Jesus said ‘Mary.’ She turned to him and said ‘Rabboni’ – which means Master.
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Short Reading
Romans 8:28-30
We know that by turning everything to their good, God co-operates with all those who love him, with all those he has called according to his purpose. They are the ones he chose specially long ago and intended to become true images of his Son, so that his Son might be the eldest of many brothers. He called those he intended for this; those he called he justified, and with those he justified he shared his glory.
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Short Responsory
Mary, do not weep: the Lord has risen from the dead.
– Mary, do not weep: the Lord has risen from the dead.
Go to my brethren and tell them.
– Mary, do not weep: the Lord has risen from the dead.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– Mary, do not weep: the Lord has risen from the dead.
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Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
Mary came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, 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.
Mary came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, alleluia.
________
Prayers and intercessions
Through the holy women let us pray to the Lord for all the needs of his Church.
– Lord, remember your Church.
Through the women martyrs who overcame death with undying courage,
strengthen your Church in time of trial.
– Lord, remember your Church.
Through the married women who graced the lives of the human family,
renew the Church in her apostolic mission.
– Lord, remember your Church.
Through all the widows who sanctified loneliness with prayer and hospitality,
make your Church a telling sign of your love for all the world.
– Lord, remember your Church.
Through all the mothers who introduced their children to the kingdom of God and true human life in society,
may your Church bring all men to eternal life and salvation.
– Lord, remember your Church.
Through all the holy women who live in the light of your glory,
grant to the faithful departed the everlasting vision of happiness.
– Lord, remember your Church.
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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.
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Almighty, ever-living God,
your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ
made Mary Magdalen the first herald of Easter joy.
Grant that, following her example and her prayers,
we may, in this life, proclaim the living Christ,
and come to see him reigning in your glory.
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.
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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.