Thursday 25 February 2021
Thursday of the 1st week of Lent
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.
________
Hymn
God, of thy pity, unto us thy children
Bend down thine ear in thine own loving kindness,
And all thy people’s prayers and vows ascending
Hear, we beseech thee.
Look down in mercy from thy seat of glory,
Pour on our souls the radiance of thy presence,
Drive from our weary hearts the shades of darkness,
Lightening our footsteps.
Free us from sin by might of thy great loving,
Cleanse thou the sordid, loose the fettered spirit,
Spare every sinner, raise with thine own right hand
All who are fallen.
Glory to God the Father everlasting,
Glory for ever to the Sole-begotten,
With whom thy Holy Spirit through the ages
Reigneth co-equal.
________
Psalm 29 (30)
Thanksgiving for rescue from death
“Christ gives thanks to his Father after his glorious resurrection” (Cassian).
Lord, I cried to you for help and you have healed me: I will thank you for ever.
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me
and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O Lord, I cried to you for help
and you, my God, have healed me.
O Lord, you have raised my soul from the dead,
restored me to life from those who sink into the grave.
Sing psalms to the Lord, you who love him,
give thanks to his holy name.
His anger lasts a moment; his favour all through life.
At night there are tears, but joy comes with dawn.
I said to myself in my good fortune:
‘Nothing will ever disturb me.’
Your favour had set me on a mountain fastness,
then you hid your face and I was put to confusion.
To you, Lord, I cried,
to my God I made appeal:
‘What profit would my death be, my going to the grave?
Can dust give you praise or proclaim your truth?’
The Lord listened and had pity.
The Lord came to my help.
For me you have changed my mourning into dancing,
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.
So my soul sings psalms to you unceasingly.
O Lord my God, I will thank you 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.
Lord, I cried to you for help and you have healed me: I will thank you for ever.
Psalm-prayer
Lord, hear our cry and save us. We weep in the evening as if our Lord were asleep, but let us rejoice in the morning as he is raised up among us. Rescued from sadness and clothed in rejoicing, may we gloriously sing your praises for ever.
Or:
God our Father, glorious in giving life, and even more glorious in restoring it, when his last night on earth came, your Son shed tears of blood, but dawn brought incomparable gladness. Do not turn away from us, or we shall fall back into dust, but rather turn our mourning into joy by raising us up with Christ.
________
Psalm 31 (32)
The joy of the forgiven
“David says that a man is blessed if God considers him righteous, irrespective of good deeds” (Rom 4:6).
Happy the man to whom the Lord imputes no guilt.
Happy the man whose offence is forgiven,
whose sin is remitted.
O happy the man to whom the Lord
imputes no guilt,
in whose spirit is no guile.
I kept it secret and my frame was wasted.
I groaned all day long,
for night and day your hand
was heavy upon me.
Indeed my strength was dried up
as by the summer’s heat.
But now I have acknowledged my sins;
my guilt I did not hide.
I said: ‘I will confess
my offence to the Lord.’
And you, Lord, have forgiven
the guilt of my sin.
So let every good man pray to you
in the time of need.
The floods of water may reach high
but him they shall not reach.
You are my hiding place, O Lord;
you save me from distress.
You surround me with cries of deliverance.
I will instruct you and teach you
the way you should go;
I will give you counsel
with my eye upon you.
Be not like horse and mule, unintelligent,
needing bridle and bit,
else they will not approach you.
Many sorrows has the wicked
but he who trusts in the Lord,
loving mercy surrounds him.
Rejoice, rejoice in the Lord,
exult, you just!
O come, ring out your joy,
all you upright of heart.
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.
Happy the man to whom the Lord imputes no guilt.
Psalm-prayer
You desired, Lord, to keep from us your indignation and so did not spare Jesus Christ, who was wounded for our sins. We are your prodigal children but confessing our sins we come back to you. Embrace us that we may rejoice in your mercy together with Christ your beloved Son.
________
Canticle
Apocalypse 11
The Judgement
The Lord has given him power and honour and empire, and all peoples will serve him.
We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
who are and who were,
that you have taken your great power
and begun to reign.
The nations raged,
but your wrath came,
and the time for the dead to be judged,
for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
and those who fear your name,
both small and great.
Now the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Christ have come,
for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down,
who accuses them day and night before our God.
And they have conquered him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
for they loved not their lives even unto death.
Rejoice, then, O heaven,
and you that dwell therein.
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 has given him power and honour and empire, and all peoples will serve him.
________
Short Reading
James 4:7-8,10
Give in to God: resist the devil, and he will run away from you. The nearer you go to God, the nearer he will come to you. Clean your hands, you sinners, and clear your minds, you waverers. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up.
________
Short Responsory
I said: ‘Lord, have mercy on me.’
– I said: ‘Lord, have mercy on me.’
‘Heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.’
– I said: ‘Lord, have mercy on me.’
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– I said: ‘Lord, have mercy on me.’
________
Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
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.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
________
Prayers and intercessions
Let us pray to Christ the Lord, who gave us the new commandment to love one another.
– Lord, may your people grow in love.
Good master, teach us to love you in our fellow men,
teach us to serve you in our brothers.
– Lord, may your people grow in love.
You interceded with the Father for those who nailed you to the cross;
help us to love our enemies and pray for those who injure us.
– Lord, may your people grow in love.
Through the mystery of your body and blood deepen our courage and faith,
strengthen the weak, comfort the sorrowful and fill the dying with new hope.
– Lord, may your people grow in love.
Light of the world, you gave sight to the man born blind;
enlighten men in baptism through the washing in water and the word of life.
– Lord, may your people grow in love.
Grant to the dead your everlasting love;
count us among the chosen of God.
– Lord, may your people grow in love.
________
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.
________
In your bounty, Lord,
give us the Spirit
who alone can teach us to think and do what is right,
so that we, who without you cannot exist,
may live in loving obedience to your will.
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.
________
The Lord bless us, and keep us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
Copyright © 1996-2021 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.