Vespers (Evening Prayer)
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.
Sole hope of all the world and Lord,
Bestower of the great reward,
Receive the prayers thy servants raise
Mixed with meet psalms and chants of praise.
And though our conscience doth proclaim
Our deep transgressions and our shame,
Cleanse us, O God, we humbly plead,
From sins of thought and word and deed.
Our sins remember thou no more;
Forgive: thou art of mighty pow’r:
So take upon thee, Lord, our care
That pure in heart we make our prayer.
Therefore accept, O Lord, this tide
Of fast which thou hast sanctified,
That we may reach by mystic ways
The sacraments of Easter days.
Psalm 143 (144)
For victory and peace
The Lord is my love and my refuge: in him I place my trust.
Blessed be the Lord, my help,
who trains my hands for battle,
my fingers for war.
The Lord is kindness and strength,
my refuge and my liberator.
He is my shield, and I trust in him –
he places my people under his rule.
Lord, what is man, that you should take notice of him?
The son of man, that you should give him respect?
For man is as nothing,
his day is like a shadow that passes.
Lord, descend from your heavens,
touch the mountains so that they smoke.
Brandish your lightnings and scatter my enemies,
fire your arrows, sow confusion among them.
Send down your power from above,
raise me and free me from the flooding waters,
from the power of those of foreign race,
whose speeches are not to be trusted,
who lift up their hands in perjury.
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 my love and my refuge: in him I place my trust.
Psalm 143 (144)
Blessed the people whose God is the Lord.
I will sing a new song to you, God:
I will sound your praise on the ten-stringed harp.
You give victory to kings,
you rescue David your servant
from the swords of his enemies.
Raise me and free me from the power of strangers,
whose speeches are not to be trusted,
who lift up their hands in perjury.
Our sons are like growing saplings
in the time of their youth.
Our daughters are like the carved columns
that hold up the temple.
Our larders are full, overflowing with goodness –
our sheep fill the fields in uncountable thousands –
our oxen are strong.
Our walls are not ruined and we are not exiles:
in our streets there is no lamentation.
Blessed the people whose life is like this:
happy the people whose God is the Lord.
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.
Blessed the people whose God is the Lord.
The Judgement
Victory and empire have now been won by our God.
We thank you,
Lord God Almighty,
who are and who were,
that you have taken up your great power and begun to reign.
The nations were angered,
but your anger came, the time for the dead to be judged,
the time to reward the prophets and saints, your servants,
and those who feared your name, both great and small.
Now have come the salvation and might and kingdom of our God,
and the power of his Anointed,
for the accuser of our brethren has been brought down,
who accused them day and night in the sight of God.
But they vanquished him through the blood of the Lamb
and through their own witness.
They did not cling to life,
even in the face of death.
Therefore rejoice, heavens,
and you who dwell in them.
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.
Victory and empire have now been won by our God.
| Scripture Reading | James 4:7-8,10 © |
|---|
Give in to God: resist the devil, and he will run away from you. The nearer you go to God, the nearer he will come to you. Clean your hands, you sinners, and clear your minds, you waverers. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up.
I said: ‘Lord, have mercy on me.’
– I said: ‘Lord, have mercy on me.’
‘Heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.’
– I said: ‘Lord, have mercy on me.’
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– I said: ‘Lord, have mercy on me.’
My soul rejoices in the Lord
The very works that I do bear witness to me, since the Father has sent me, says the Lord.
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.
The very works that I do bear witness to me, since the Father has sent me, says the Lord.
| Prayers and intercessions | |
|---|
God enlightens us with the grace of the Holy Spirit that our lives may be filled with justice and faith. Let us proclaim his mercy in our evening prayer.
– Lord, give life to the people redeemed by Christ.
Lord, unite bishops, priests and deacons more closely with Christ through the mystery of the eucharist;
renew in them each day the grace of ordination.
– Lord, give life to the people redeemed by Christ.
Nourish the faithful with the food of Christ’s word;
feed them with the bread which is his body.
– Lord, give life to the people redeemed by Christ.
Grant that we may respect the dignity of every man, redeemed by the precious blood of your Son;
let us never violate his rights or his conscience.
– Lord, give life to the people redeemed by Christ.
Save men from the blind pursuit of wealth;
make them sensitive to the needs of others.
– Lord, give life to the people redeemed by Christ.
Be merciful to those who have left our world today;
give them everlasting happiness.
– Lord, give life to the people redeemed by Christ.
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.
Compassionate Lord, you have chastened us by penance and schooled us in good works.
Grant us now a single-hearted perseverance in keeping your commandments,
and bring us untouched by sin to the joys of Easter.
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.
The psalms and canticles here are our own translation from the Latin. 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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