Tuesday 9 November 2021
Dedication of the Lateran Basilica - 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.
________
Hymn
Christ is made the sure Foundation,
And the precious Corner-stone,
Who, the two-fold walls surmounting,
Binds them closely into one:
Holy Zion’s help for ever,
And her confidence alone.
All that dedicated city,
Dearly loved by God on high,
In exultant jubilation
Pours perpetual melody;
God the One, and God the Trinal,
Singing everlastingly.
To this Temple, where we call thee,
Come, O Lord of Hosts, today!
With thy wonted loving kindness
Hear thy people as they pray;
And thy fullest benediction
Shed within its walls for ay.
Here vouchsafe to all thy servants
What they supplicate to gain:
Here to have and hold for ever
Those good things their prayers obtain:
And hereafter in thy glory
With the blessed ones to reign.
Glory be to God, and honour
In the highest, as is meet,
To the Son and to the Father,
And the eternal Paraclete,
Whose is boundless praise and power
Through the ages infinite.
________
Psalm 45 (46)
God, our refuge and our strength
“They will call his name ‘Immanuel’, which means ‘God with us’” (Mt 1:23).
The Lord has made holy the place where he dwells: God is within, it cannot be shaken.
God is for us a refuge and strength,
a helper close at hand, in time of distress,
so we shall not fear though the earth should rock,
though the mountains fall into the depths of the sea;
even though its waters rage and foam,
even though the mountains be shaken by its waves.
The Lord of hosts is with us:
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
The waters of a river give joy to God’s city,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within, it cannot be shaken;
God will help it at the dawning of the day.
Nations are in tumult, kingdoms are shaken:
he lifts his voice, the earth shrinks away.
The Lord of hosts is with us:
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Come, consider the works of the Lord,
the redoubtable deeds he has done on the earth.
He puts an end to wars over all the earth;
the bow he breaks, the spear he snaps.
He burns the shields with fire.
‘Be still and know that I am God,
supreme among the nations, supreme on the earth!’
The Lord of hosts is with us:
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
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 made holy the place where he dwells: God is within, it cannot be shaken.
Psalm-prayer
All-powerful Father, the refuge and strength of your people, you protect in adversity and defend in prosperity those who put their trust in you. May they persevere in seeking your will and find their way to you through obedience.
Or:
Lord God, when the restless powers of this world and the waters of hell rise up against your holy city, the new Jerusalem, you keep watch over it and it is safe, founded on solid rock. May the river that flows from the throne of the Lamb so purify this city as to make it shine out before men as your chosen dwelling, the unfailing sign of your greatness.
________
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).
Let us enter the house of the Lord with rejoicing.
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.
Let us enter the house of the Lord with rejoicing.
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.
________
Canticle
(Apocalypse 19)
The wedding of the Lamb
Praise our God, all you his saints.
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.
Praise our God, all you his saints.
________
Short Reading
Apocalypse 21:1,2-3,22,27
I saw a new heaven and a new earth; I saw the holy city, and the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, as beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice call from the throne, ‘You see this city? Here God lives among men. He will make his home among them; they shall be his people, and he will be their God.’ I saw that there was no temple in the city since the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb were themselves the temple. Nothing unclean may come into it: no one who does what is loathsome or false, but only those who are listed in the Lamb’s book of life.
________
Short Responsory
Happy are they that dwell in your house, O Lord.
– Happy are they that dwell in your house, O Lord.
They will sing your praise for ever.
– Happy are they that dwell in your house, O Lord.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– Happy are they that dwell in your house, O Lord.
________
Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
The Lord has made holy the place where he dwells: this is the house of God, in which his name will be invoked, as it is written: ‘My name shall be there, says the Lord.’
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 Lord has made holy the place where he dwells: this is the house of God, in which his name will be invoked, as it is written: ‘My name shall be there, says the Lord.’
________
Prayers and intercessions
Let us pray to our Saviour who gave up his life to gather into unity the scattered children of God.
– Lord, remember your Church.
Lord Jesus, you commanded your disciples to hear your words and put them into action;
constantly strengthen your Church in faith, courage and trust.
– Lord, remember your Church.
Lord Jesus, from your opened side there poured out blood and water;
make your Church vigorously alive through the sacraments of the new and everlasting covenant.
– Lord, remember your Church.
Lord Jesus, you are present among those who are gathered in your name;
hear your Church, united in prayer.
– Lord, remember your Church.
Lord Jesus, you come with the Father to dwell in those who love you;
perfect your Church all over the world in your divine love.
– Lord, remember your Church.
Lord Jesus, anyone who comes to you is never turned away;
admit all those who have died into your Father’s house.
– Lord, remember your 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 have called your people to become your Church.
Grant that all who are gathered in your name
may fear you and love you and follow you
and, under your guidance, attain to your promises in heaven.
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.