Vespers (Evening Prayer)
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.
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 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.
The Lord is King: one 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: one 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.
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.
| My soul rejoices in the Lord |
If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward.
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.
If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward.
| Prayers and Intercessions |
|
We worship Christ the Lord: he is our Head and we are his body. In triumph we cry:
– Lord, may your kingdom come.
Our Saviour, make your Church more and more a sacrament of human unity:
and an ever more effective road to salvation.
– Lord, may your kingdom come.
Stand next to the college of Bishops, and our Pope,
and give them the gifts of unity, love, and peace.
– Lord, may your kingdom come.
May Christians be more closely united with you as their Head;
may the way they live proclaim your kingdom.
– Lord, may your kingdom come.
In your kindness, give peace to the world:
make peace and security flower everywhere.
– Lord, may your kingdom come.
Give the deceased a glorious resurrection at the end of time,
and allow us to share their blessedness.
– Lord, may 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.
Lord God,
since by the adoption of grace
you have made us children of light,
do not let false doctrine darken our minds,
but grant that your light may shine within us
and we may always live in the brightness of truth.
[We make our prayer] 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.
May the Lord bless us and keep us from all harm; and may he lead us to eternal life.
AMEN
