Sunday 28 February 2021
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 109 (110)
The Messiah, king and priest
“He must be king so that he may put all his enemies under his feet” (1 Cor 15:25).
The Lord will send forth your sceptre of power with the splendour of your saints.
The Lord’s revelation to my Master:
‘Sit on my right:
your foes I will put beneath your feet.’
The Lord will wield from Sion
your sceptre of power:
rule in the midst of all your foes.
A prince from the day of your birth
on the holy mountains;
from the womb before the dawn I begot you.
The Lord has sworn an oath he will not change.
‘You are a priest for ever,
a priest like Melchizedek of old.’
The Master standing at your right hand
will shatter kings in the day of his wrath.
He shall drink from the stream by the wayside
and therefore he shall lift up his head.
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 will send forth your sceptre of power with the splendour of your saints.
Psalm-prayer
Father, we ask you to give us victory and peace. In Jesus Christ, our Lord and King, we are already seated at your right hand. We look forward to praise you in the fellowship of all your saints in our heavenly homeland.
Or:
Almighty God, bring the kingdom of Christ, your anointed one, to its fullness. May the perfect offering of your Son, eternal priest of the new Jerusalem, be offered in every place to your name and make all nations a holy people for you.
________
Psalm 113B (115)
Praise of the true God
“Turn away from idols and worship the living and true God” (1 Th 1:9).
We worship the one God, who made heaven and earth.
Not to us, Lord, not to us,
but to your name give the glory
for the sake of your love and your truth,
lest the heathen say: ‘Where is their God?’
But our God is in the heavens;
he does whatever he wills.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
They have mouths but they cannot speak;
they have eyes but they cannot see;
they have ears but they cannot hear;
they have nostrils but they cannot smell.
With their hands they cannot feel;
with their feet they cannot walk.
(No sound comes from their throats.)
Their makers will come to be like them
and so will all who trust in them.
Sons of Israel, trust in the Lord;
he is their help and their shield.
Sons of Aaron, trust in the Lord;
he is their help and their shield.
You who fear him, trust in the Lord;
he is their help and their shield.
He remembers us, and he will bless us;
he will bless the sons of Israel.
(He will bless the sons of Aaron.)
The Lord will bless those who fear him,
the little no less than the great:
to you may the Lord grant increase,
to you and all your children.
May you be blessed by the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
The heavens belong to the Lord
but the earth he has given to men.
The dead shall not praise the Lord,
nor those who go down into the silence.
But we who live bless the Lord
now and for ever. Amen.
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.
We worship the one God, who made heaven and earth.
Psalm-prayer
Father, creator and ruler of heaven and earth, you made man in your likeness to subdue the earth and master it, and to recognize the work of your hands in created beauty. Grant that your children, thus surrounded on all sides by signs of your presence, may live continually in Christ, praising you through him and with him.
________
Canticle
1 Peter 2
Christ's passion, freely chosen
God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all.
Christ suffered for you,
leaving you an example
that you should follow in his steps.
He committed no sin;
no guile was found on his lips.
When he was reviled,
he did not revile in return.
When he suffered,
he did not threaten;
but he trusted to him
who judges justly.
He himself bore our sins
in his body on the tree,
that we might die to sin
and live to righteousness.
By his wounds you have been healed.
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.
God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all.
________
Short Reading
(1 Corinthians 9:24-25)
All the runners at the stadium are trying to win, but only one of them gets the prize. You must run in the same way, meaning to win. All the fighters at the games go into strict training; they do this just to win a wreath that will wither away, but we do it for a wreath that will never wither.
________
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
And a cloud came, covering them in shadow; and there came a voice from the cloud, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.’ (Year B)
Or: Tell no man about the vision which you have seen, until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.
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.
And a cloud came, covering them in shadow; and there came a voice from the cloud, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.’ (Year B)
Or: Tell no man about the vision which you have seen, until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.
________
Prayers and intercessions
We give thanks to Christ, our head and our master. Let us pray to him with trust and humility, for he served all men and was good to everyone.
– Lord Jesus, visit your family.
Lord, help the bishops and priests of your Church, who share in your office of head and pastor;
unite them with yourself to lead all men to the Father.
– Lord Jesus, visit your family.
Send your angels to protect those who travel;
keep them from harm and bring them safely home.
– Lord Jesus, visit your family.
Teach us to care for everyone;
make us more like you in serving others.
– Lord Jesus, visit your family.
Help us to form a human community where all men live in friendship;
Lord, unite us in your love.
– Lord Jesus, visit your family.
Show your love for the dead:
let them see the light of your face.
– Lord Jesus, visit your family.
________
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.