Vespers (Evening Prayer)

Introduction

O God, come to my aid.

O Lord, make haste to help me.

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

O blest Creator of the light,

Who mak’st the day with radiance bright,

And o’er the forming world didst call

The light from chaos first of all.

Whose wisdom joined in meet array

The morn and eve, and named them day;

Night comes with all its darkling fears;

Regard thy people’s prayers and tears.

Lest, sunk in sin and ’whelmed with strife

They lose the gift of endless life;

While thinking but the thoughts of time,

They weave new chains of woe and crime.

But grant them grace that they may strain

The heavenly gate and prize to gain;

Each harmful lure aside to cast,

And purge away each error past.

O Father, that we ask be done

Through Jesus Christ, thine only Son,

Who, with the Holy Ghost and thee,

Doth live and reign eternally.

Psalm 109 (110) The Messiah, king and priest

The Lord will send a mighty sceptre from Zion, 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 a mighty sceptre from Zion, and he will rule for ever. Alleluia.

Psalm 113A (114) Israel set free from Egypt

The earth trembled at the presence of 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 at the presence of the Lord. Alleluia.

Canticle	(Apocalypse 19)

The wedding of the Lamb

God reigns: our Lord, the Almighty. Alleluia.

Alleluia.

Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

because his judgements are true and just.

Alleluia.

Praise our God, all his servants,

and you who fear him, small and great.

Alleluia.

For the Lord reigns, our God, the Almighty:

let us rejoice and exult and give him glory.

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.

God reigns: our Lord, 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, Lord, in the vault of heaven.

– Blessed are you, Lord, in the vault of heaven.

Praise and glory are yours for ever.

– Blessed are you, Lord, in the vault of heaven.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

– Blessed are you, Lord, in the vault of heaven.

Canticle	Magnificat

My soul rejoices in the Lord

No servant can be the slave of two masters. You cannot be the slave both of God and of 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.

No servant can be the slave of two masters. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.

Prayers and Intercessions

We worship Christ the Lord: he is our Head and we are his body. In triumph we cry: