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 gladsome light, O grace
Of God the Father’s face,
The eternal splendour wearing;
Celestial, holy, blest,
Our Saviour Jesus Christ,
Joyful in thine appearing.
Now, ere day fadeth quite,
We see the evening light,
Our wonted hymn outpouring;
Father of might unknown,
Thee, his incarnate Son,
And Holy Ghost adoring.
To thee of right belongs
All praise of holy songs,
O Son of God, Life-giver:
Thee therefore, O most High,
The world doth glorify,
And shall exalt for ever.
Psalm 40 (41)
Prayer in time of sickness |
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Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.
Blessed is he who takes thought for the helpless,
for the Lord will keep him safe in time of trouble.
The Lord will guard him and give him life.
He will give him good fortune on the earth,
and not betray him into the power of his enemies.
The Lord will lend him strength on his bed of pain;
you will transform all his sickness into health.
I said, “Lord, have mercy, heal my soul,
for I have sinned against you.”
My enemies spoke against me, saying: “When will he die?
When will his name perish?”
When one of them came to visit me, he talked of nothing,
but stored up wickedness in his heart.
He went out, and told tales against me.
All my enemies whispered together against me,
imagined the worst:
“A plague has taken hold of him:
he has lain down and will not rise.”
Even my dearest friend, in whom I put my trust, who had eaten my bread –
even he trampled me down.
But you, Lord – have mercy on me,
revive me, and I will pay them back.
This is how I know that I have your favour,
when my enemy cannot triumph over me,
when you raise me up because of my innocence,
and put me in your presence for all eternity.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
from the beginning to the end of time.
Amen! Amen!
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.
Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.
Psalm 45 (46)
God, our refuge and our strength |
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The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
The Lord is our refuge and our strength,
a true help in our troubles.
Therefore we do not fear,
even when the earth is shaken and mountains fall into the depths of the sea,
the waves roar and foam
and rise up to shake the mountains.
The streams of the river give joy to the city of God,
the holy dwelling-place of the Most High.
God is within it, it will not be shaken;
God will give help as the day dawns.
The nations are in turmoil and kingdoms totter:
at the sound of his voice, the earth flows like water.
The Lord of strength is with us,
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Come and see the works of the Lord,
who has done wonders on the earth.
He puts an end to wars over all the world:
he tramples the bow, shatters weapons, and burns the shields with fire.
Stop and see that I am God:
I will be exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.
The Lord of strength is with us,
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
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 of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
All the peoples will come and adore you, Lord.
Great and wonderful are your deeds,
O Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways,
O King of the ages!
Who shall not fear and glorify your name, O Lord?
For you alone are holy.
All nations shall come and worship you,
for your judgements have been revealed.
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 the peoples will come and adore you, Lord.
| Short reading | Romans 15:1-3 © |
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We who are strong have a duty to put up with the qualms of the weak without thinking of ourselves. Each of us should think of his neighbours and help them to become stronger Christians. Christ did not think of himself: the words of scripture apply to him – the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
Christ in his love has washed us clean with his blood.
– Christ in his love has washed us clean with his blood.
He has made us a kingdom and priesthood for God.
– Christ in his love has washed us clean with his blood.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– Christ in his love has washed us clean with his blood.
| My soul rejoices in the Lord |
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Come, bride of Christ, receive the crown which the Lord has prepared for you from all eternity.
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.
Come, bride of Christ, receive the crown which the Lord has prepared for you from all eternity.
| Prayers and Intercessions | |
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Blessed be God. In his kindness he answers the prayers of those in need and fills the hungry full of good things. Let us put our trust in him and pray:
– Lord, show us your compassion.
Lord and gentle Father, we pray for the suffering limbs of the Church:
whose Head, your Son, suffered on the cross, and completed his sacrifice as day was ending.
– Lord, show us your compassion.
Free those who are in bondage, give sight to the blind,
look after widows and orphans.
– Lord, show us your compassion.
Clothe the faithful in your armour
to resist the snares of the Devil.
– Lord, show us your compassion.
Be close to us, Lord, in our last hours:
in your compassion, judge us to be faithful and let us leave this world at peace with you.
– Lord, show us your compassion.
Lead the dead into your light:
may they enjoy the sight of you for ever.
– Lord, show us your compassion.
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, may we, like Saint Scholastica,
serve you with an unsullied love.
Then our joy will be full
as we receive from your loving hand
all that we desire and ask.
[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
The psalms and canticles here are our own translation. 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 downloads do contain the Grail translation of the psalms.
