Vespers (Evening Prayer)

INTRODUCTION

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

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

Psalm 109 (110)

The Messiah, king and priest

The Lord will send his mighty sceptre from Sion, and he will rule for ever, alleluia.

The Lord has said to my lord:

“Sit at my right hand

while I make your enemies your footstool.”

From Zion the Lord will give you a sceptre,

and you will rule in the midst of your foes.

Royal power is yours in the day of your strength,

among the sacred splendours.

Before the dawn, I begot you from the womb.

The Lord has sworn, and he will not repent:

“You are a priest for ever,

a priest of the priesthood of Melchisedech.”

The Lord is at your right hand,

and on the day of his anger he will shatter kings.

He will drink from the stream as he goes –

he will hold his head high.

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 113A (114)

Israel set free from Egypt

The earth trembled before the Lord, alleluia.

When Israel came out of Egypt,

Jacob’s people from a land of strangers,

Judah became his sanctuary

and Israel his domain.

The sea saw it, and fled;

the Jordan flowed backwards at the sight;

the mountains leapt like rams;

the hills, like yearling sheep.

Sea, what was it, what made you flee?

And you, Jordan, why did you flow uphill?

Mountains, why did you leap like rams?

Hills, like yearling sheep?

Tremble, Earth, at the presence of the Lord,

the presence of the Lord of Jacob,

who has turned the rock into a pool of water

and made a fountain out of the flint.

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.

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,

because his judgements are true and just.

Alleluia.

Alleluia.

Praise our God, all his servants,

and you who fear him, small and great.

Alleluia.

Alleluia.

For the Lord reigns, our God, the Almighty:

let us rejoice and exult and give him glory.

Alleluia.

Alleluia.

The marriage of the Lamb has come,

and his spouse 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.

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.

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.

Canticle Magnificat

My soul rejoices in the Lord

‘Call the workers and pay them their wages,’ says the Lord. (Year A)

Or: No man can serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and money.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God, my salvation.

For he has shown me such favour –

me, his lowly handmaiden.

Now all generations will call me blessed,

because the mighty one has done great things for me.

His name is holy,

his mercy lasts for generation after generation

for those who revere him.

He has put forth his strength:

he has scattered the proud and conceited,

torn princes from their thrones;

but lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things;

the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel,

he has remembered his mercy as he promised to our fathers,

to Abraham and his children 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.

‘Call the workers and pay them their wages,’ says the Lord. (Year A)

Or: No man can serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and money.

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!

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.

Father,

you summed up the whole law

as love of you and of our neighbour.

Grant that by keeping this commandment of love,

we may come to eternal life.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

The Lord bless us, and keep us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.

Amen.

The psalms and canticles here are our own translation. The Grail translation of the psalms, which is used liturgically in most of the English-speaking world, cannot be displayed on the Web for copyright reasons; The Universalis apps and programs do contain the Grail translation of the psalms.

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