Saturday 27 February 2021
Saturday of the 1st week of Lent
(optional commemoration of Saint Gregory of Narek, Abbot and Doctor of the Church)
(First Vespers of tomorrow, 2nd Sunday 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 118 (119): 105-112
Meditating the word of the Lord in the Law
“This is my commandment, that you love one another” (Jn 15:12).
Jesus took Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain where they were alone; and in their presence he was transfigured.
Your word is a lamp for my steps
and a light for my path.
I have sworn and have made up my mind
to obey your decrees.
Lord, I am deeply afflicted;
by your word give me life.
Accept, Lord, the homage of my lips
and teach me your decrees.
Though I carry my life in my hands,
I remember your law.
Though the wicked try to ensnare me,
I do not stray from your precepts.
Your will is my heritage for ever,
the joy of my heart.
I set myself to carry out your statutes
in fullness, 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.
Jesus took Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain where they were alone; and in their presence he was transfigured.
Psalm-prayer
Let your Word, Father, be a lamp for our feet and a light to our path, so that we may understand what you wish to teach us and follow the path your light marks out for us.
________
Psalm 15 (16)
The Lord, my inheritance
“God raised up Jesus, freeing him from the pains of death” (Acts 2:24).
His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as snow.
Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you.
I say to the Lord: ‘You are my God.
My happiness lies in you alone.’
He has put into my heart a marvellous love
for the faithful ones who dwell in his land.
Those who choose other gods increase their sorrows.
Never will I offer their offerings of blood.
Never will I take their name upon my lips.
O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup;
it is you yourself who are my prize.
The lot marked out for me is my delight:
welcome indeed the heritage that falls to me!
I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel,
who even at night directs my heart.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight:
since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.
And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad;
even my body shall rest in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead,
nor let your beloved know decay.
You will show me the path of life,
the fullness of joy in your presence,
at your right hand happiness 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.
His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as snow.
Psalm-prayer
Lord Jesus, uphold those who hope in you and give us your counsel, so that we may know the joy of your resurrection and deserve to be among the saints at your right hand.
Or:
Father, in the mysterious plan of your love, you offered your Son the bitter cup of death, and yet you would not let your Holy One know decay, but opened to him the way of life. Help us to look for happiness in you alone and to share one day the glory of your Son’s resurrection.
________
Canticle
Philippians 2
Christ, God's servant
Moses and Elijah were speaking to him of his passion and death, and all he was to fulfil in Jerusalem.
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.
Moses and Elijah were speaking to him of his passion and death, and all he was to fulfil in Jerusalem.
________
Short Reading
2 Corinthians 6:1-4
We beg you once again not to neglect the grace of God that you have received. For he says: At the favourable time, I have listened to you; on the day of salvation I came to your help. Well, now is the favourable time; this is the day of salvation. We do nothing that people might object to, so as not to bring discredit on our function as God’s servants. Instead, we prove we are servants of God in all circumstances.
________
Short Responsory
Hear us, Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against you.
– Hear us, Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against you.
Listen, Christ, to the prayers of those who cry to you.
– Hear us, Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against you.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– Hear us, Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against you.
________
Canticle
Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
In their presence Jesus was transfigured: his clothes became dazzlingly white, whiter than any earthly bleacher could make them. Elijah appeared to them with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. (Year B)
Or: A voice came from the cloud, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased: listen to him.’
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.
In their presence Jesus was transfigured: his clothes became dazzlingly white, whiter than any earthly bleacher could make them. Elijah appeared to them with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. (Year B)
Or: A voice came from the cloud, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased: listen to him.’
________
Prayers and intercessions
Let us proclaim the greatness of God and pray to him, for he cares for all men.
– Give salvation, Lord, to those you have redeemed.
God of all truth, grant every good gift to the college of bishops
and preserve in the faith of the apostles the people you have entrusted to them.
– Give salvation, Lord, to those you have redeemed.
May all who share in the one bread of life be filled with your love;
may they be united more closely in the body of your Son.
– Give salvation, Lord, to those you have redeemed.
Help us to put aside our selfish ways;
let us put on Christ, the new man.
– Give salvation, Lord, to those you have redeemed.
May sinners share in the blessings of Christ’s atonement;
may they find repentance and forgiveness.
– Give salvation, Lord, to those you have redeemed.
Let the dead praise your goodness in the peace of heaven;
there we hope to glorify your name for ever.
– Give salvation, Lord, to those you have redeemed.
________
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.
________
God our Father,
you bid us listen to your Son, the well-beloved.
Nourish our hearts on your word,
purify the eyes of our mind,
and fill us with joy at the vision of your glory.
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.