Wednesday 20 April 2022
Easter Wednesday
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
The Lamb’s high banquet we await,
In snow-white robes of royal state;
And now, the Red Sea’s channel past,
To Christ our Prince we sing at last.
Upon the altar of the Cross
His body hath redeemed our loss;
And tasting of his scarlet blood,
Our life is hid with him in God.
Now Christ our paschal Lamb is slain,
The Lamb of God that knows no stain,
The true oblation offered here,
Our own unleavened bread sincere.
O thou, from whom hell’s monarch flies,
O great, O very Sacrifice,
Thy captive people are set free,
And endless life restored in thee.
To thee who, dead, again dost live,
All glory, Lord, thy people give:
All glory, as is ever meet,
To Father and to Paraclete.
________
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).
Mary Magdalen came with the other Mary to see the tomb where the Lord had been laid, 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.
Mary Magdalen came with the other Mary to see the tomb where the Lord had been laid, 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.
________
Psalm 113A (114)
Israel set free from Egypt
“You, who have renounced this world, have also been led forth from Egypt” (St Augustine).
Come and see where the Lord was laid, 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.
Come and see where the Lord was laid, 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.
________
Canticle
(Apocalypse 19)
The wedding of the Lamb
Jesus said: ‘Go, and tell my brothers that they are to leave for Galilee: they will see me there.’ 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.
Jesus said: ‘Go, and tell my brothers that they are to leave for Galilee: they will see me there.’ Alleluia.
________
Short Reading
Hebrews 7:24-27
Jesus, because he remains for ever, can never lose his priesthood. It follows, then, that his power to save is utterly certain, since he is living for ever to intercede for all who come to God through him. To suit us, the ideal high priest would have to be holy, innocent and uncontaminated, beyond the influence of sinners, and raised up above the heavens; one who would not need to offer sacrifices every day, as the other high priests do for their own sins and then for those of the people, because Jesus Christ our Lord has done this once and for all by offering himself.
________
Short Responsory
This is the day which was made by the Lord: let us rejoice and be glad, alleluia.
________
Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
He went in to stay with them, and while they were sitting at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them, 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.
He went in to stay with them, and while they were sitting at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them, alleluia.
________
Prayers and intercessions
Let us pray to Christ, who rose from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
– Ever-living Christ, hear us.
Lord, remember those who are consecrated to your service;
may they set before your holy people the example of their lives.
– Ever-living Christ, hear us.
Grant to those who rule us your spirit of justice and peace;
May men be united, heart and soul.
– Ever-living Christ, hear us.
Make our daily life a pilgrimage of salvation;
let the earth be rich and plentiful to meet the needs of the poor.
– Ever-living Christ, hear us.
Christ, our Saviour, light of the world, you have called all mortal men to imperishable life;
shed eternal light on our departed brothers.
– Ever-living Christ, hear us.
________
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.
________
God our Father,
you give us the joy of celebrating the Lord’s resurrection
each passing year.
Let this yearly feast
bring us to eternal joy.
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 © 1996-2022 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.