Wednesday 23 December 2020
23 December
(optional commemoration of Saint John of Kęty, Priest)
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
O come, now Rod of Jesse’s stem,
From every foe deliver them
That trust your mighty power to save,
And give them vict’ry o’er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
O come, now Key of David, come,
And open wide our heav’nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
O come, now Day-spring from on high,
And cheer us by your drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadow put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid now our sad divisions cease,
And be yourself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
________
Psalm 138 (139)
The Lord knows all things
“Who could ever know the mind of the Lord? Who could ever be his counsellor?” (Rom 11:34).
The Lord who is all-powerful will come from Sion to save his people.
O Lord, you search me and you know me,
you know my resting and my rising,
you discern my purpose from afar.
You mark when I walk or lie down,
all my ways lie open to you.
Before ever a word is on my tongue
you know it, O Lord, through and through.
Behind and before you besiege me,
your hand ever laid upon me.
Too wonderful for me this knowledge,
too high, beyond my reach.
O where can I go from your spirit,
or where can I flee from your face?
If I climb the heavens, you are there.
If I lie in the grave, you are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn
and dwell at the sea’s furthest end,
even there your hand would lead me,
your right hand would hold me fast.
If I say: ‘Let the darkness hide me
and the light around me be night,’
even darkness is not dark for you
and the night is as clear as the day.
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 who is all-powerful will come from Sion to save his people.
________
Psalm 138 (139)
About Sion I will not be silent until her Holy One shines forth like light.
For it was you who created my being,
knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I thank you for the wonder of my being,
for the wonders of all your creation.
Already you knew my soul,
my body held no secret from you
when I was being fashioned in secret
and moulded in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw all my actions,
they were all of them written in your book;
every one of my days was decreed
before one of them came into being.
To me, how mysterious your thoughts,
the sum of them not to be numbered!
If I count them, they are more than the sand;
to finish, I must be eternal, like you.
O search me, God, and know my heart.
O test me and know my thoughts.
See that I follow not the wrong path
and lead me in the path of life eternal.
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.
About Sion I will not be silent until her Holy One shines forth like light.
Psalm-prayer
You watch over heaven and earth, Lord Jesus. Your death brought light to the dead; your resurrection gave joy to the saints; your ascension made the angels rejoice. Your power exceeds all power. Lead us to life eternal, and watch over us with your love. May your friends be filled with honour and join you in heaven.
Or:
Lord Jesus Christ, when you descended among the dead, you brought them the light of day; when you ascended into heaven, you brought it new radiance. May you remain with us and lead us along the paths of life until we come to rest with your friends in your holy dwelling place.
________
Canticle
(Colossians 1)
Christ, firstborn of all creatures and firstborn from the dead
The spirit of the Lord is upon me. He sent me to bring the Good News to the poor.
Let us give thanks to the Father,
who has qualified us to share
in the inheritance of the saints in light.
He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness
and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation,
for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible.
All things were created
through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body, the Church;
he is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
that in everything he might be pre-eminent.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile to himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven,
making peace by the blood of his cross.
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 spirit of the Lord is upon me. He sent me to bring the Good News to the poor.
________
Short Reading
2 Peter 3:8-9
With the Lord, ‘a day’ can mean a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord is not being slow to carry out his promises, as anybody else might be called slow; but he is being patient with you all, wanting nobody to be lost and everybody to be brought to change his ways.
________
Short Responsory
Come to us and save us, Lord God almighty.
– Come to us and save us, Lord God almighty.
Let your face smile on us and we shall be safe.
– Come to us and save us, Lord God almighty.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– Come to us and save us, Lord God almighty.
________
Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
O Immanuel, you are our king and our judge, the One whom the peoples await and their Saviour. O come and save us, Lord our God.
My soul glorifies the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour.
He looks on his servant in her lowliness;
henceforth all ages will call me blessed.
The Almighty works marvels for me.
Holy his name!
His mercy is from age to age,
on those who fear him.
He puts forth his arm in strength
and scatters the proud-hearted.
He casts the mighty from their thrones
and raises the lowly.
He fills the starving with good things,
sends the rich away empty.
He protects Israel, his servant,
remembering his mercy,
the mercy promised to our fathers,
to Abraham and his sons 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.
O Immanuel, you are our king and our judge, the One whom the peoples await and their Saviour. O come and save us, Lord our God.
________
Prayers and intercessions
Let us ask our Father to save us from our sins and send us forward into new life.
– Father, may your Son bring us freedom.
The Baptist preached a change of heart:
free us from self-satisfaction.
– Father, may your Son bring us freedom.
The Pharisees refused the Baptist’s witness to the coming of your Son:
free us from fear of the truth.
– Father, may your Son bring us freedom.
The Baptist was glad to make way for him:
free us from pride.
– Father, may your Son bring us freedom.
The dead longed for life:
free them from death.
– Father, may your Son bring us freedom.
________
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.
________
Almighty God,
now that the birthday of your Son as man is drawing near,
we pray that your eternal Word,
who took flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary and came to dwell among men,
will show your unworthy people the greatness of his love and mercy.
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 © 1996-2020 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.