Wednesday 10 March 2021
Wednesday of the 3rd 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
Sole hope of all the world and Lord,
Bestower of the great reward,
Receive the prayers thy servants raise
Mixed with meet psalms and chants of praise.
And though our conscience doth proclaim
Our deep transgressions and our shame,
Cleanse us, O God, we humbly plead,
From sins of thought and word and deed.
Our sins remember thou no more;
Forgive: thou art of mighty pow’r:
So take upon thee, Lord, our care
That pure in heart we make our prayer.
Therefore accept, O Lord, this tide
Of fast which thou hast sanctified,
That we may reach by mystic ways
The sacraments of Easter days.
________
Psalm 125 (126)
Gladness and hope in the Lord
“Just as you are sharing in our sufferings, so also will you share our consolations” (2 Cor 1:7).
Those who were sowing in tears will sing when they reap.
When the Lord delivered Sion from bondage,
it seemed like a dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter,
on our lips there were songs.
The heathens themselves said: ‘What marvels
the Lord worked for them!’
What marvels the Lord worked for us!
Indeed we were glad.
Deliver us, O Lord, from our bondage
as streams in dry land.
Those who are sowing in tears
will sing when they reap.
They go out, they go out, full of tears,
carrying seed for the sowing:
they come back, they come back, full of song,
carrying their sheaves.
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.
Those who were sowing in tears will sing when they reap.
Psalm-prayer
Lord, you have raised us from the earth; may you let the seeds of justice, which we have sown in tears, grow and increase in your sight. May we reap in joy the harvest we hope for patiently.
Or:
Lord Jesus, our life and resurrection, the tears you sowed in the sorrow of Good Friday brought the earth to flower on Easter morning. May you renew the wonders of your power in the Church, that after the sorrows of our exile we may come home to you in gladness.
________
Psalm 126 (127)
Without the Lord, we labour in vain
“You are God’s building” (1 Cor 3:9).
The Lord will build a house for us; he will watch over our city.
If the Lord does not build the house,
in vain do its builders labour;
if the Lord does not watch over the city,
in vain does the watchman keep vigil.
In vain is your earlier rising,
your going later to rest,
you who toil for the bread you eat,
when he pours gifts on his beloved while they slumber.
Truly sons are a gift from the Lord,
a blessing, the fruit of the womb.
Indeed the sons of youth
are like arrows in the hand of a warrior.
O the happiness of the man
who has filled his quiver with these arrows!
He will have no cause for shame
when he disputes with his foes in the gateways.
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 build a house for us; he will watch over our city.
Psalm-prayer
You command the seed to rise, Lord God, though the farmer is unaware. Grant that those who labour for you may trust not in their own work but in your help. Remembering that the land is brought to flower not with human tears but with those of your Son, may the Church rely only upon your gifts.
________
Canticle
(Colossians 1)
Christ, firstborn of all creatures and firstborn from the dead
He is the first-born of all creation, he is supreme over all creatures.
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.
He is the first-born of all creation, he is supreme over all creatures.
________
Short Reading
Philippians 2:12-15
Work for your salvation in fear and trembling, for it is God, for his own loving purpose, who puts both the will and the action into you. Do all that has to be done without complaining or arguing and then you will be innocent and genuine, you will be children of God.
________
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
The man who keeps the commandments of God and teaches them to others will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.
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.
The man who keeps the commandments of God and teaches them to others will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.
________
Prayers and intercessions
God our Father knows all the needs of his people, but he wants us to give first place to his kingdom. Let us proclaim his greatness in our prayer.
– May your kingdom come in all its justice.
Holy Father, you gave us Christ as the shepherd of our souls;
may your people always have priests who care for them with his great love.
– May your kingdom come in all its justice.
Grant that Christians will prove brothers to the sick;
show them the features of your Son in the faces of those who suffer.
– May your kingdom come in all its justice.
Help those who do not believe in the gospel to come into your Church;
build it up in love to manifest your goodness everywhere.
– May your kingdom come in all its justice.
Father, we know that we are sinners;
grant us your forgiveness and reconcile us with your Church.
– May your kingdom come in all its justice.
May the dead enter eternal life,
may they abide with you for ever.
– May your kingdom come in all its justice.
________
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.
________
Schooled by our Lenten observance, Lord,
and nourished on your word,
may we give you whole-hearted service through our self-denial,
and through our prayer become one in heart and mind.
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.