Evening Prayer
INTRODUCTION
God, + come to my assistance.
– Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
HYMN
O merciful Creator, hear!
To us in pity bow thine ear:
Accept the tearful prayer we raise
In this our fast of forty days.
Our hearts are open, Lord, to Thee:
Thou know well our infirmity;
Pour out on all who seek Thy face
Abundance of Thy pardoning grace.
Our sins are many, this we know;
Spare us, good Lord, Thy mercy show;
And for the honor of Thy name
Our fainting souls to life reclaim.
Give self-control to us that springs
From discipline of outward things,
That fasting inward, secretly,
The soul may purely dwell with Thee.
We pray Thee, Holy Trinity,
One God, unchanging Unity,
That we from this our abstinence
May reap the fruits of penitence. Amen.
Tune: Jesus Dulcis Memoria L.M.
Music: Gregorian, Mode I
Text: Audi benigne Conditor, attributed to Saint Gregory the Great, 540-604
Translation: T. A. Lacey, 1853-1931, and others, alt.
Go to the Psalmody
Or:
Lord Jesus, think on me
And purge away my sin;
From earthborn passions set me free
And make me pure within.
Lord Jesus, think on me,
With many a care oppressed;
Let me Thy loving servant be
And taste Thy promised rest.
Lord Jesus, think on me
Amid the battle’s strife;
In all my pain and misery
Be Thou my Health and Life.
Lord Jesus, think on me
Nor let me go astray;
Through darkness and perplexity
Point Thou the heavenly way.
Lord Jesus, think on me
When floods the tempest high;
When on doth rush the enemy,
O Savior, be Thou nigh!
Lord Jesus, think on me
That, when the flood is past,
I may th’eternal brightness see
And share Thy joy at last.
Lord Jesus, think on me
That I may sing above
To Father, Spirit, and to Thee
The strains of praise and love.
Tune: Southwell (Daman) S.M.
Music: William Daman, Psalmes of David in English Meter, 1579
Text: Synesius of Cyrene, circa 430
Translation: Allen W. Chatfield, Songs and Hymns of Earliest Greek Christian Poets, 1876
PSALMODY
Ant. 1 He is my comfort and my refuge. In him I put my trust.
Psalm 144
Prayer for victory and peace
Christ learned the art of warfare when he overcame the world, as he said: “I have overcome the world” (Saint Hilary).
I
Blessed be the Lord, my rock †
who trains my arms for battle, *
who prepares my hands for war.
He is my love, my fortress; *
he is my stronghold, my savior,
my shield, my place of refuge. *
He brings peoples under my rule.
Lord, what is man that you care for him, *
mortal man, that you keep him in mind;
man, who is merely a breath, *
whose life fades like a shadow?
Lower your heavens and come down; *
touch the mountains; wreathe them in smoke.
Flash your lightnings; rout the foe, *
shoot your arrows and put them to flight.
Reach down from heaven and save me; *
draw me out from the mighty waters,
from the hands of alien foes †
whose mouths are filled with lies, *
whose hands are raised in perjury.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son: *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. He is my comfort and my refuge. In him I put my trust.
Ant. 2 Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.
II
To you, O God, will I sing a new song; *
I will play on the ten-stringed harp
to you who give kings their victory, *
who set David your servant free.
You set him free from the evil sword; *
you rescued him from alien foes
whose mouths were filled with lies, *
whose hands were raised in perjury.
Let our sons then flourish like saplings *
grown tall and strong from their youth:
our daughters graceful as columns, *
adorned as though for a palace.
Let our barns be filled to overflowing *
with crops of every kind;
our sheep increasing by thousands, †
myriads of sheep in our fields, *
our cattle heavy with young,
no ruined wall, no exile, *
no sound of weeping in our streets.
Happy the people with such blessings; *
happy the people whose God is the Lord.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son: *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Psalm Prayer
Lord, God of strength, you gave your Son victory over death. Direct your Church’s fight against evil in the world. Clothe us with the weapons of light and unite us under the one banner of love, that we may receive our eternal reward after the battle of earthly life.
Ant. Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.
Ant. 3 Now the victorious reign of our God has begun.
Canticle: Revelation 11:17-18; 12:10b-12a
The judgment of God
We praise you, the Lord God Almighty, *
who is and who was.
You have assumed your great power, *
you have begun your reign.
The nations have raged in anger, *
but then came your day of wrath
and the moment to judge the dead: *
the time to reward your servants the prophets
and the holy ones who revere you, *
the great and the small alike.
Now have salvation and power come, †
The reign of our God and the authority *
of his Anointed One.
For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, *
who night and day accused them before God.
They defeated him by the blood of the Lamb †
and by the word of their testimony; *
love for life did not deter them from death.
So rejoice, you heavens, *
and you that dwell therein!
Glory to the Father, and to the Son: *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. Now the victorious reign of our God has begun.
READING
James 4:7-8, 10
Submit to God; resist the devil and he will take flight. Draw close to God, and he will draw close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, you backsliders. Be humbled in the sight of the Lord and he will raise you on high.
RESPONSORY
To you, O Lord, I make my prayer for mercy.
– To you, O Lord, I make my prayer for mercy.
Heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.
– I make my prayer for mercy.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
– To you, O Lord, I make my prayer for mercy.
GOSPEL CANTICLE
Ant. The works that I do speak on my behalf, says the Lord. They prove that the Father has sent me.
Canticle of Mary
Luke 1:46-55
The soul rejoices in the Lord
My + soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, †
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: †
the Almighty has done great things for me, *
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. The works that I do speak on my behalf, says the Lord. They prove that the Father has sent me.
INTERCESSIONS
In his mercy, God sends the Holy Spirit to shine on us, so that our lives may radiate holiness and faith. Let us raise our voices in prayer and say:
Lord, give life to your people, whom Christ has redeemed.
Lord, source of all holiness, draw bishops, priests and deacons closer to Christ through the Eucharistic mystery,
– may they grow daily in the grace of their ordination.
Lord, give life to your people, whom Christ has redeemed.
Teach Christ’s faithful people to be devout and attentive at the table of his word and of his Body,
– so that they may bring into their daily lives the grace they receive through faith and sacrament.
Lord, give life to your people, whom Christ has redeemed.
Grant, Lord, that we may see in each person the dignity of one redeemed by your Son’s blood,
– so that we may respect the freedom and the conscience of all.
Lord, give life to your people, whom Christ has redeemed.
Teach us to restrain our greed for earthly goods,
– and to have concern for the needs of others.
Lord, give life to your people, whom Christ has redeemed.
Be merciful to your faithful people whom you have called to yourself today,
– grant them the gift of eternal happiness.
Lord, give life to your people, whom Christ has redeemed.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
(Gathering our prayer and praises into one, let us offer the prayer Christ himself taught us:)
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.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Merciful Father,
may the penance of our lenten observance
make us your obedient people.
May the love within us be seen in what we do
and lead us to the joy of Easter.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.
Or:
We invoke your mercy in humble prayer, O Lord,
that you may cause us, your servants,
corrected by penance and schooled by good works,
to persevere sincerely in your commands
and come safely to the paschal festivities.
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.
DISMISSAL
If a priest or deacon presides, he dismisses the people:
The Lord be with you.
– And with your spirit.
May almighty God bless you,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
– Amen.
Another form of the blessing may be used, as at Mass.
Then he adds:
Go in peace.
– Thanks be to God.
In the absence of a priest or deacon and in individual recitation, Evening Prayer concludes:
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
– Amen.
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