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Vespers (Evening Prayer)

INTRODUCTION

Deus, in adiutórium meum inténde.

Dómine, ad adiuvándum me festína.

Glória Patri et Fílio*

et Spirítui Sancto.

Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*

et in sǽcula sæculórum.

Amen. Allelúia.

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.

Hymnus

Sol, ecce, lentus óccidens

montes et arva et ǽquora

mæstus relínquit, ínnovat

sed lucis omen crástinæ,

Mirántibus mortálibus

sic te, Creátor próvide,

leges vicésque témporum

umbris dedísse et lúmini.

Ac dum, ténebris ǽthera

siléntio preméntibus,

vigor labórum déficit,

quies cupíta quǽritur,

Spe nos fidéque dívites

tui beámur lúmine

Verbi, quod est a sǽculis

splendor patérnæ glóriæ.

Est ille sol qui nésciat

ortum vel umquam vésperum;

quo terra gestit cóntegi,

quo cæli in ævum iúbilant.

Hac nos seréna pérpetim

da luce tandem pérfrui,

cum Nato et almo Spíritu

tibi novántes cántica. Amen.

Hymn

O Trinity of blessèd light,

O Unity of princely might,

The fiery sun now goes his way;

Shed thou within our hearts thy ray.

To thee our morning song of praise,

To thee our evening prayer we raise;

Thy glory humbly we adore

For ever and for evermore.

All laud to God the Father be;

All praise, eternal Son, to thee;

All glory, as is ever meet,

To God the Holy Paraclete.

Ps 138:1-12
Dominus intuens omnia

“Quis cognovit sensum Domini? Aut quis consiliarius eius fuit?” (Rom 11, 34).

Mirábilis facta est sciéntia tua super me, Dómine.

1Dómine, scrutátus es et cognovísti me,*

2tu cognovísti sessiónem meam et resurrectiónem meam.

Intellexísti cogitatiónes meas de longe,*

3sémitam meam et accúbitum meum investigásti.

Et omnes vias meas perspexísti,†

4quia nondum est sermo in lingua mea,*

et ecce, Dómine, tu novísti ómnia.

5A tergo et a fronte coartásti me*

et posuísti super me manum tuam.

6Mirábilis nimis facta est sciéntia tua super me,*

sublímis, et non attíngam eam.

7Quo ibo a spíritu tuo*

et quo a fácie tua fúgiam?

8Si ascéndero in cælum, tu illic es;*

si descéndero in inférnum, ades.

9Si súmpsero pennas auróræ*

et habitávero in extrémis maris,

10étiam illuc manus tua dedúcet me,*

et tenébit me déxtera tua.

11Si díxero: «Fórsitan ténebræ cómpriment me,*

et nox illuminátio erit circa me»,

12étiam ténebræ non obscurabúntur a te,†

et nox sicut dies illuminábitur*

— sicut ténebræ eius ita et lumen eius —.

Glória Patri et Fílio*

et Spirítui Sancto.

Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*

et in sǽcula sæculórum.

Amen.

Mirábilis facta est sciéntia tua super me, Dómine.

Psalm 138 (139)
The Lord knows all things

How wonderful is this knowledge of yours that you have shown me, Lord.

Lord, you have examined me, you know me:

you know when I sit down and when I rise.

From far away you know my thoughts:

you know every step I take,

when I walk, when I lie down:

you have seen all that I do.

Before a word even reaches my lips,

you know, Lord, all that I will say.

You are close in front of me and close behind me:

you have laid your hand upon me.

Your knowledge is beyond my understanding:

it is too high, I cannot reach it.

Where shall I go, to escape your spirit?

Where shall I go, to flee your face?

If I rise to the heavens, you are there.

If I sink to the depths, you are there.

If I put on the wings of the dawn itself –

if I make my abode beyond the farthest sea –

it is still your hand that will lead me there,

it is still your right hand that will hold me.

If I say “May the shadows cover me:

let there be no light around me” –

the shadows will not hide me from you,

and the night will shine like the day:

for shadows and light are the same to you.

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.

How wonderful is this knowledge of yours that you have shown me, Lord.

Ps 138:13-18,23-24

Ego Dóminus scrutans cor et probans renes, qui do unicuíque secúndum viam suam.

13Quia tu formásti renes meos,*

contexuísti me in útero matris meæ.

14Confitébor tibi, quia mirabíliter plasmátus sum;†

mirabília ópera tua,*

et ánima mea cognóscit nimis.

15Non sunt abscóndita ossa mea a te,†

cum factus sum in occúlto,*

contéxtus in inferióribus terræ.

16Imperféctum adhuc me vidérunt óculi tui,†

et in libro tuo scripti erant omnes dies:*

ficti erant, et nondum erat unus ex eis.

17Mihi autem nimis pretiósæ cogitatiónes tuæ, Deus;*

nimis gravis summa eárum.

18Si dinumerábo eas, super arénam multiplicabúntur;*

si ad finem pervénerim, adhuc sum tecum.

23Scrutáre me, Deus, et scito cor meum;*

proba me et cognósce sémitas meas

24et vide, si via vanitátis in me est,*

et deduc me in via ætérna.

Glória Patri et Fílio*

et Spirítui Sancto.

Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*

et in sǽcula sæculórum.

Amen.

Ego Dóminus scrutans cor et probans renes, qui do unicuíque secúndum viam suam.

Psalm 138 (139)

I am the Lord, who test the mind and heart; I give each man what his conduct deserves.

For you created my innermost being

as you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I will praise you, for you made me so wonderfully:

so wonderful are your works,

so perfect your knowledge.

Even my bones were not hidden from you

as I was being created in secret,

put together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw me before ever I was completed.

All my days were written in your book

before any of them came into being.

Your thoughts, O God, are precious to me:

precious above all things and too many to count.

If I try to count them, they are more than the sand:

if I come to an end, still I am with you.

Look into me, God, and know my heart:

examine me and know my paths.

See if I am wandering on ways that lead nowhere,

and set my feet on the path to eternity.

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.

I am the Lord, who test the mind and heart; I give each man what his conduct deserves.

Canticum	cf. Col 1:12-20

Christus primogenitus omnis creaturæ et primogenitus ex mortuis

In ipso cóndita sunt univérsa et ómnia in ipso constant.

12Grátias agámus Deo Patri,*

qui idóneos nos fecit in partem sortis sanctórum in lúmine;

13qui erípuit nos de potestáte tenebrárum*

et tránstulit in regnum Fílii dilectiónis suæ,

14in quo habémus redemptiónem,*

remissiónem peccatórum;

15qui est imágo Dei invisíbilis,*

primogénitus omnis creatúræ,

16quia in ipso cóndita sunt univérsa†

in cælis et in terra,*

visibília et invisibília,

sive throni sive dominatiónes*

sive principátus sive potestátes.

Omnia per ipsum et in ipsum creáta sunt,†

17et ipse est ante ómnia,*

et ómnia in ipso constant.

18Et ipse est caput córporis ecclésiæ;†

qui est princípium, primogénitus ex mórtuis,*

ut sit in ómnibus ipse primátum tenens,

19quia in ipso complácuit omnem plenitúdinem habitáre*

20et per eum reconciliáre ómnia in ipsum,

pacíficans per sánguinem crucis eius,*

sive quæ in terris sive quæ in cælis sunt.

Glória Patri et Fílio*

et Spirítui Sancto.

Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*

et in sǽcula sæculórum.

Amen.

In ipso cóndita sunt univérsa et ómnia in ipso constant.

Canticle	(Colossians 1)

Christ, firstborn of all creatures and firstborn from the dead

All things were created in him and he holds all things in being.

Let us give thanks to God the Father,

who has made us worthy to share in the light that is the saints’ inheritance.

He has rescued us from the power of the shadows

and brought us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

in whom we have redemption

and the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image of the invisible God,

the first-born of all creation,

for in him all things were created,

in heaven and on earth,

visible and invisible,

thrones and dominations,

principalities and powers.

All things were created through him and for him:

he is before all things,

and in him all things hold together.

And he is the head of the body, the Church.

He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead,

and so he is pre-eminent above all.

For it was the Father’s will that the fullness of God should dwell in him,

and that through him all things should be reconciled to himself.

Through the blood of the Cross he brought peace to all things,

both on Earth and in the heavens.

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.

All things were created in him and he holds all things in being.

Lectio brevis	1 Io 2:3-6

In hoc cognóscimus quóniam nóvimus Christum: si mandáta eius servémus. Qui dicit: «Novi eum», et mandáta eius non servat, mendax est, et in isto véritas non est; qui autem servat verbum eius, vere in hoc cáritas Dei consummáta est. In hoc cognóscimus quóniam in ipso sumus. Qui dicit se in ipso manére, debet, sicut ille ambulávit, et ipse ambuláre.

Short Reading	1 John 2:3-6 ©

We can be sure that we know God only by keeping his commandments. Anyone who says, ‘I know him’, and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, refusing to admit the truth. But when anyone does obey what he has said, God’s love comes to perfection in him. We can be sure that we are in God only when the one who claims to be living in him is living the same kind of life as Christ lived.

Responsorium breve

℣. Custódi nos, Dómine,* Ut pupíllam óculi. Custódi.

℟. Sub umbra alárum tuárum prótege nos.* Ut pupíllam óculi. Glória Patri. Custódi.

Short Responsory

Guard us, Lord, as the apple of your eye.

– Guard us, Lord, as the apple of your eye.

Hide us in the shadow of your wings.

– Guard us, Lord, as the apple of your eye.

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

– Guard us, Lord, as the apple of your eye.

Canticum

Exsultatio animæ in Domino

Fac, Deus, poténtiam in bráchio tuo, dispérde supérbos et exálta húmiles.

Magníficat*

ánima mea Dóminum,

et exsultávit spíritus meus*

in Deo salvatóre meo,

quia respéxit humilitátem ancíllæ suæ.*

Ecce enim ex hoc beátam me dicent omnes generatiónes,

quia fecit mihi magna, qui potens est,*

et sanctum nomen eius,

et misericórdia eius in progénies et progénies*

timéntibus eum.

Fecit poténtiam in bráchio suo,*

dispérsit supérbos mente cordis sui;

depósuit poténtes de sede*

et exaltávit húmiles;

esuriéntes implévit bonis*

et dívites dimísit inánes.

Suscépit Israel púerum suum,*

recordátus misericórdiæ,

sicut locútus est ad patres nostros,*

Abraham et sémini eius in sǽcula.

Glória Patri et Fílio*

et Spirítui Sancto.

Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*

et in sǽcula sæculórum.

Amen.

Fac, Deus, poténtiam in bráchio tuo, dispérde supérbos et exálta húmiles.

Canticle	Magnificat

My soul rejoices in the Lord

Show the power of your arm, Lord: put down the proud and exalt the lowly.

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.

Show the power of your arm, Lord: put down the proud and exalt the lowly.

Preces

Ætérno Patri, cuius misericórdia in pópulum suum magnificáta est usque ad cælos, exsultántibus córdibus acclamémus: