Sunday 25 July 2021
17th Sunday 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.
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Hymn
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise,
In all his words most wonderful,
Most sure in all his ways.
O loving wisdom of our God!
When all was sin and shame,
A second Adam to the fight
And to the rescue came.
O wisest love! that flesh and blood
Which did in Adam fail,
Should strive afresh against their foe,
Should strive and should prevail.
And that a higher gift than grace
Should flesh and blood refine,
God’s presence and his very self,
And essence all divine.
O generous love! that he who smote
In man for man the foe
The double agony in man
For man should undergo.
And in the garden secretly
And on the cross on high,
Should teach his brethren, and inspire
To suffer and to die.
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise,
In all his words most wonderful,
Most sure in all his ways.
St John Henry Newman
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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 Lord will send his mighty sceptre from Sion, and he will rule for ever, 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 Lord will send his mighty sceptre from Sion, and he will rule for ever, 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.
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Psalm 113A (114)
Israel set free from Egypt
“You, who have renounced this world, have also been led forth from Egypt” (St Augustine).
The earth trembled before the Lord, 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.
The earth trembled before the Lord, 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
The Lord is King, our God, the Almighty! 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.
The Lord is King, our God, the Almighty! Alleluia.
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Short Reading
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, a gentle Father and the God of all consolation, who comforts us in all our sorrows, so that we can offer others, in their sorrows, the consolation that we have received from God ourselves.
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Short Responsory
Blessed are you, O Lord, in the vault of heaven.
– Blessed are you, O Lord, in the vault of heaven.
You are exalted and glorified above all else for ever.
– Blessed are you, O Lord, in the vault of heaven.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– Blessed are you, O Lord, in the vault of heaven.
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Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
The people, seeing this sign that he had given, said, ‘This really is the prophet who is to come into the world.’ (Year B)
Or: Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you, 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.
The people, seeing this sign that he had given, said, ‘This really is the prophet who is to come into the world.’ (Year B)
Or: Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you, alleluia.
________
Prayers and intercessions
Christ is the Head of his body, the Church, and we are the members of that body; gathered this evening to pray in his name, we say:
– Your kingdom come!
May your Church be a light to the nations, the sign and source of your power to unite all men:
may she lead mankind to the mystery of your love.
– Your kingdom come!
Guide the Pope and all the bishops of your Church:
grant them the gifts of unity, of love, and of peace.
– Your kingdom come!
Lord, give peace to our troubled world;
and give to your children security of mind and freedom from anxiety.
– Your kingdom come!
Help us to bring your compassion to the poor, the sick, the lonely, the unloved;
lead us to find you in the coming week.
– Your kingdom come!
Awaken the dead to a glorious resurrection:
may we be united with them at the end of time.
– Your kingdom come!
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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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Lord God, protector of those who hope in you,
without whom nothing is strong, nothing holy,
support us always with your love.
Guide us so to use the good things of this world,
that even now we may hold fast to what endures for ever.
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.