Saturday 14 December 2019
Saint John of the Cross, Priest, Doctor
on Saturday of the 2nd week of Advent
(First Vespers of tomorrow, 3rd Sunday of Advent)
Vespers (Evening Prayer)
Introduction (without Invitatory)
If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, use the version with the Invitatory Psalm instead.
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
On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry
Announces that the Lord is nigh;
Come then and hearken, for he brings
Glad tidings from the King of kings.
Then cleansed be every Christian breast,
And furnished for so great a guest!
Yea, let us each his heart prepare
For Christ to come and enter there.
For thou art our salvation, Lord,
Our refuge and our great reward;
Without thy grace our souls must fade,
And wither like a flower decayed.
Stretch forth thine hand, to heal our sore,
And make us rise to fall no more;
Once more upon thy people shine,
And fill the world with love divine.
All praise, eternal Son, to thee,
Whose Advent sets thy people free,
Whom, with the Father, we adore,
And Holy Ghost, for evermore.
________
Psalm 112 (113)
Praise of the Lord's name
“He put down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly” (Lk 1:52).
Rejoice greatly, Jerusalem, for your Saviour will come to you. Alleluia.
Práise, O sérvants of the Lórd, *
práise the náme of the Lórd!
May the náme of the Lórd be bléssed *
both nów and for évermóre!
From the rísing of the sún to its sétting *
práised be the náme of the Lórd!
Hígh above all nátions is the Lórd, *
abóve the héavens his glóry.
Whó is like the Lórd, our Gód, *
who has rísen on hígh to his thróne
yet stóops from the héights to look dówn, *
to look dówn upon héaven and éarth?
From the dúst he lífts up the lówly, *
from the dúngheap he ráises the póor
to sét him in the cómpany of prínces, *
yés, with the prínces of his péople.
To the chíldless wífe he gives a hóme *
and gláddens her héart with chíldren.
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.
Rejoice greatly, Jerusalem, for your Saviour will come to you. Alleluia.
Psalm-prayer
Almighty Father, we praise and bless your name and ask you to join us together through your enduring love in the bosom of Mother Church.
Or:
Lord Jesus, Word of God, surrendering the brightness of your glory you became man so that we might be raised from the dust to share your very being. May there be innumerable children of the Church to offer homage to your name from the rising of the sun to its setting.
________
Psalm 115 (116B)
Thanksgiving in the Temple
“Through him [Christ], let us offer God an unending sacrifice of praise” (Heb 13:15).
I, the Lord, am coming to deliver you: I am already near and my saving act will not be delayed.
I trústed, éven when I sáid: *
‘I am sórely afflícted,’
and whén I sáid in my alárm: *
‘No mán can be trústed.’
How cán I repáy the Lórd *
for his góodness to mé?
The cúp of salvátion I will ráise; *
I will cáll on the Lórd’s name.
My vóws to the Lórd I will fulfíl *
befóre all his péople.
O précious in the éyes of the Lórd *
is the déath of his fáithful.
Your sérvant, Lord, your sérvant am Í; *
you have lóosened my bónds.
A thánksgiving sácrifice I máke; *
I will cáll on the Lórd’s name.
My vóws to the Lórd I will fulfíl *
befóre all his péople,
in the cóurts of the hóuse of the Lórd, *
in your mídst, O Jerúsalem.
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, the Lord, am coming to deliver you: I am already near and my saving act will not be delayed.
Psalm-prayer
Lord, accept the prayers of your faithful people. Help us always to offer you a sacrifice of praise. Quickly break the bonds that hold your children down, and we will fulfil our vows and praise you every day.
Or:
Father, precious in your sight is the death of the saints, but precious above all is the love with which Christ suffered to redeem us. In this life we fill up in our own flesh what is still lacking in the sufferings of Christ; accept this as our sacrifice of praise, and we shall even now taste the joy of the new Jerusalem.
________
Canticle
Philippians 2
Christ, God's servant
Send, Lord, the Lamb, the ruler of the earth, from the Rock in the desert to the mountain of the daughter of Sion.
Though he was in the form of God, *
Jesus did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.
He emptied himself, †
taking the form of a servant, *
being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form, †
he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, *
even death on a cross.
Therefore God has highly exalted him *
and bestowed on him the name which is above every name,
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, *
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, *
to the glory of God the Father.
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.
Send, Lord, the Lamb, the ruler of the earth, from the Rock in the desert to the mountain of the daughter of Sion.
________
Short Reading
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
May the God of peace make you perfect and holy; and may you all be kept safe and blameless, spirit, soul and body, for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. God has called you and he will not fail you.
________
Short Responsory
Show us, Lord, your steadfast love.
– Show us, Lord, your steadfast love.
And grant us your salvation.
– Show us, Lord, your steadfast love.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– Show us, Lord, your steadfast love.
________
Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
Before me there was no God nor will there be after me. Every knee shall bend before me and every tongue shall acknowledge me.
My soul glórifies the Lórd, *
my spirit rejóices in Gód, my Sáviour.
He looks on his sérvant in her lówliness; *
henceforth all áges will cáll me bléssed.
The Almíghty works márvels for me. *
Hóly his náme!
His mércy is from age to áge, *
on thóse who féar him.
He púts forth his árm in stréngth *
and scátters the proud-héarted.
He casts the míghty from their thrónes *
and ráises the lówly.
He fills the stárving with good thíngs, *
sends the rích away émpty.
He protects Ísrael, his sérvant, *
remémbering his mércy,
the mercy prómised to our fáthers, *
to Ábraham and his sóns for éver.
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.
Before me there was no God nor will there be after me. Every knee shall bend before me and every tongue shall acknowledge me.
________
Prayers and intercessions
The Son of God is coming with great power: all mankind shall see his face and be reborn.
– Come, Lord Jesus, do not delay!
You will bring us wisdom, fresh understanding and new vision.
– Come, Lord Jesus, do not delay!
You will bring us good news, and power which will transform our lives.
– Come, Lord Jesus, do not delay!
You will bring us truth, showing us the way to our Father.
– Come, Lord Jesus, do not delay!
Born of a woman, you will open in our flesh the way to eternal life and joy.
– Come, Lord Jesus, do not delay!
________
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.
________
Grant, almighty God,
that looking forward in faith to the feast of our Lord’s birth,
we may feel all the happiness our Saviour brings
and celebrate his coming with unfailing joy.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
________
The Lord bless us, and keep us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
Copyright © 1996-2019 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). Used with permission of A.P. Watt Ltd. All rights reserved.