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.
A suitable hymn may be inserted here.
Psalm 143 (144)
For victory and peace |
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The Lord is kindness and strength, and I trust in him.
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 kindness and strength, and I trust in him.
Happy 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.
Happy the people whose God is the Lord.
Now have come the salvation and kingdom of 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.
Now have come the salvation and kingdom of our God.
| Short reading | (Colossians 1:23) © |
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Persevere and stand firm on the solid base of the faith. Never let yourselves drift away from the hope promised by the Good News, which you have heard, which has been preached to every created thing under Heaven.
The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.
– The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.
He has taken me to green pastures.
– The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.
| My soul rejoices in the Lord |
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The Lord has filled with good things all who hungered for justice.
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 Lord has filled with good things all who hungered for justice.
| Prayers and Intercessions | |
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In joyful devotion to Christ, light of the nations and joy of all that lives, we pray:
– Lord, give us light, and peace, and salvation.
Word of the Father, inexhaustible Light, you came to save all mankind:
guide and enlighten those who are soon to be baptized.
– Lord, give us light, and peace, and salvation.
Pay no attention, Lord, to our transgressions,
for in you is mercy and forgiveness.
– Lord, give us light, and peace, and salvation.
You created men’s minds to search out the secrets of nature and harness them:
may the arts and sciences be directed to the glory and the happiness of all.
– Lord, give us light, and peace, and salvation.
Take care of all who have dedicated their lives to serving their brethren:
give them freedom and endurance to complete their task.
– Lord, give us light, and peace, and salvation.
Lord, the gates that you open no-one can close:
lead into your light the dead who have fallen asleep in the hope of rising again.
– Lord, give us light, and peace, and salvation.
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, accept our evening supplications.
Grant that, following in your Son’s footsteps,
we may yield, in time, a harvest of good works.
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.
A M E N
