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Vespers (Evening Prayer)

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.

Hymn

O Christ, the heavens’ eternal King,

Creator, unto thee we sing,

With God the Father ever One,

Co-equal, co-eternal Son.

Thy hand, when first the world began,

Made in thine own pure image man,

And linked to fleshly form of earth

A living soul of heavenly birth.

And when the envious crafty foe

Had marred thy noblest work below,

Thou didst our ruined state repair

By deigning flesh thyself to wear.

Once of a virgin born to save,

And now new born from death’s dark grave,

O Christ, thou bidd’st us rise with thee

From death to immortality.

Eternal Shepherd, thou art wont

To cleanse Thy sheep within the font,

That mystic bath, that grave of sin,

Where ransomed souls new life begin.

Divine Redeemer, thou didst deign

To bear for us the cross of pain,

And freely pay the precious price

Of all thy blood in sacrifice.

Jesu, do thou to every heart

Unceasing Paschal joy impart;

From death of sin and guilty strife

Set free the new born sons of life.

All praise be thine, O risen Lord,

From death to endless life restored;

All praise to God the Father be

And Holy Ghost eternally.

Psalm 26 (27)
Keeping faith in time of peril

God has exalted him at his own right hand as leader and Saviour. Alleluia.

The Lord is my light and my help:

whom should I fear?

The Lord protects my life:

what could terrify me?

When they come to do me harm,

to consume my flesh,

my enemies and my persecutors,

it is they who stumble and fall.

If their armies encamp against me,

my heart will not fear;

if battle flares up against me,

even then will I hope.

One thing I beg of the Lord, one thing will I ask:

that I may live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,

so that I may behold the joys of the Lord

and always see his temple.

For he will shelter me in his tent in the time of evils.

He will hide me in the hidden parts of the tabernacle;

then raise me up on a rock,

lift me high up above the enemies who surround me.

In his tabernacle I will offer him a sacrifice

of shouts, of songs, of psalms to 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.

God has exalted him at his own right hand as leader and Saviour. Alleluia.

Psalm 26 (27)

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living. Alleluia.

Listen, Lord, to my voice as I cry:

have mercy and listen to me.

“Seek his face,” my heart has said,

and so I will seek your face, O Lord.

Do not turn your face away from me,

do not turn from your servant in anger.

You are my helper, do not reject me;

do not abandon me, God, my help.

For when my father and mother have abandoned me,

the Lord will take me up.

Show me your ways, Lord, and guide me along the right path,

out of the reach of my enemies.

Do not hand me over to the whim of those who would persecute me,

when lying witnesses have risen up against me,

with those who plan to do me violence.

I trust I shall see the joys of the Lord

in the land of the living.

Hope in the Lord, be brave,

let your heart take comfort and trust in 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.

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living. Alleluia.

Canticle	(Colossians 1)

Christ, firstborn of all creatures and firstborn from the dead

From him, through him and in him are all things that exist: to him be glory for ever. Alleluia.

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.

From him, through him and in him are all things that exist: to him be glory for ever. Alleluia.

Short Reading	Hebrews 7:24-27 ©

Jesus, because he remains for ever, can never lose his priesthood. It follows, then, that his power to save is utterly certain, since he is living for ever to intercede for all who come to God through him. To suit us, the ideal high priest would have to be holy, innocent and uncontaminated, beyond the influence of sinners, and raised up above the heavens; one who would not need to offer sacrifices every day, as the other high priests do for their own sins and then for those of the people, because Jesus Christ our Lord has done this once and for all by offering himself.

Short Responsory

The disciples rejoiced, alleluia, alleluia.

– The disciples rejoiced, alleluia, alleluia.

They saw the Lord, alleluia, alleluia.

– The disciples rejoiced, alleluia, alleluia.

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

– The disciples rejoiced, alleluia, alleluia.

Canticle	Magnificat

My soul rejoices in the Lord

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for what you will and you shall have it. Alleluia.

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 you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for what you will and you shall have it. Alleluia.

Prayers and intercessions

Let us pray to Christ, who rose from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the Father.