INTRODUCTION
God, + come to my assistance.
— Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.
HYMN
Receive, O Mary, Virgin pure,
within your chaste and blessed womb
the saving Word proclaimed for all,
proceeding from the Father’s mouth.
The fruitful Spirit’s shadow comes
and fills you now with heaven’s light,
that you may carry Christ the Lord,
the Father’s own coequal Son.
She is the sacred temple gate,
for ever sealed and barred to all;
yet for the heav’nly Prince alone
the blessed threshold opens wide.
Foretold by prophets long ago
and born before the morning star,
the one proclaimed by Gabriel
is Christ the Lord come down to earth.
Rejoice together, angel hosts!
Let all the peoples sing for joy.
The Most High comes, a humble child,
to save and ransom what was lost.
To you, O Christ, most loving King,
and to the Father, glory be,
one with the Spirit Paraclete,
from age to age for evermore. Amen.
Tune: WINCHESTER NEW, 8 8 8 8
Music: adapted from a chorale in Musicalisches Hand-Buch, Hamburg 1690
or Mode IV, melody 71; Antiphonale Sacrosanctæ Ecclesiæ Romanæ, Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1912
Text: Verbum salutis omnium, ca. 12th c., © 2023 ICEL
PSALMODY
Ant. 1 Our King will come from Zion; the Lord, God-is-with-us, is his mighty name.
Psalm 135
Praise for the wonderful things God does for us
He has won us for himself. . . and you must proclaim what he has done for you. He has called you out of darkness into his own wonderful light (see 1 Peter 2:9).
I
Praise the name of the Lord, *
praise him, servants of the Lord,
who stand in the house of the Lord *
in the courts of the house of our God.
Praise the Lord for the Lord is good. *
Sing a psalm to his name for he is loving.
For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself *
and Israel for his own possession.
For I know the Lord is great, *
that our Lord is high above all gods.
The Lord does whatever he wills, *
in heaven, on earth, in the seas.
He summons clouds from the ends of the earth; †
makes lightning produce the rain; *
from his treasuries he sends forth the wind.
The first-born of the Egyptians he smote, *
of man and beast alike.
Signs and wonders he worked †
in the midst of your land, O Egypt, *
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
Nations in their greatness he struck *
and kings in their splendor he slew.
Sihon, king of the Amorites, †
Og, the king of Bashan, *
and all the kingdoms of Canaan.
He let Israel inherit their land; *
on his people their land he bestowed.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. Our King will come from Zion; the Lord, God-is-with-us, is his mighty name.
Ant. 2 Wait for the Lord and he will come to you with his saving power.
II
Lord, your name stands for ever, *
unforgotten from age to age:
for the Lord does justice for his people; *
the Lord takes pity on his servants.
Pagan 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; *
there is never a breath on their lips.
Their makers will come to be like them *
and so will all who trust in them!
Sons of Israel, bless the Lord! *
Sons of Aaron, bless the Lord!
Sons of Levi, bless the Lord! *
You who fear him, bless the Lord!
From Zion may the Lord be blessed, *
he who dwells in Jerusalem!
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Psalm prayer
Father, your name and your memory last forever. We stand to pray in your house and praise you with psalms of joy. We ask you in your kindness to have mercy on us in our lowliness.
Ant. Wait for the Lord and he will come to you with his saving power.
Ant. 3 Eagerly I watch for the Lord; I wait in joyful hope for the coming of God my Savior.
Canticle: Revelation 15:3-4
Hymn of adoration
Mighty and wonderful are your works, *
Lord God Almighty!
Righteous and true are your ways, *
O King of the nations!
Who would dare refuse you honor, *
or the glory due your name, O Lord?
Since you alone are holy, *
all nations shall come
and worship in your presence. *
Your mighty deeds are clearly seen.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. Eagerly I watch for the Lord; I wait in joyful hope for the coming of God my Savior.
READING
Philippians 3:20b-21
We eagerly await the coming of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself.
RESPONSORY
Come and set us free, Lord God of power and might.
— Come and set us free, Lord God of power and might.
Let your face shine upon us and we shall be saved,
— Lord God of power and might.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
— Come and set us free, Lord God of power and might.
GOSPEL CANTICLE
Ant. O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.
Luke 1:46-55
The soul rejoices in the Lord
My + soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, †
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: †
the Almighty has done great things for me, *
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.
INTERCESSIONS
To Christ our Lord, judge of the living and the dead, let us cry out with faith:
Come, Lord Jesus!
Lord, may the world know your justice which the heavens proclaim,
— may your glory fill the earth.
Come, Lord Jesus!
For us you took upon yourself the weakness of man,
— protect us with the strength of your own divine life.
Come, Lord Jesus!
Come to those imprisoned in the darkness of ignorance,
— show them the radiance of your own divine light.
Come, Lord Jesus!
In your humility as a man, you took away our sin,
— now in your glory grant us true happiness.
Come, Lord Jesus!
When you come in glory to judge us,
— gather the dead into your kingdom.
Come, Lord Jesus!
THE LORD’S PRAYER
(Now let us offer together the prayer our Lord Jesus Christ taught us:)
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.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Father,
you show the world the splendor of your glory
in the coming of Christ born of the Virgin.
Give to us true faith and love
to celebrate the mystery of God made man.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
— Amen.
Or:
O God, who through the child-bearing of the holy Virgin
graciously revealed the radiance of your glory to the world,
grant, we pray,
that we may venerate with integrity of faith
the mystery of so wondrous an Incarnation
and always celebrate it with due reverence.
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.
DISMISSAL
If a priest or deacon presides, he dismisses the people:
The Lord be with you.
— And with your spirit.
May almighty God bless you,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
— Amen.
Another form of the blessing may be used, as at Mass.
Then he adds:
Go in peace.
— Thanks be to God.
In the absence of a priest or deacon and in individual recitation, Evening Prayer concludes:
May the Lord + bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
— Amen.
******
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Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming
From tender stem has sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming
As seers of old have sung.
It came a blossom bright,
Amid the cold of winter
When half-spent was the night.
Isaiah ‘twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind.
With Mary we behold it,
The Virgin Mother kind.
To show God’s love aright,
She bore to us a Savior,
When half spent was the night.
O Flow’r, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispel in glorious splendor
The darkness everywhere;
True man, yet very God,
From sin and death now save us;
And share our every load.
Tune: Es ist ein Ros Entsprungen 76.76.676
Music: Michael Praetorius, Speier Gesangbuch, 1599
Text: In the public domain
Or:
Once in royal David’s city
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her baby
In a manger for his bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little child.
He came down to earth from heaven,
Who is God and Lord of all,
And his shelter was a stable,
And his cradle was a stall;
With the poor, the scorned, the lowly,
Lived on earth our Savior holy.
And, through all his wondrous childhood,
He would honor and obey,
Love and watch the lowly maiden
In whose gentle arms he lay:
Christian people all must be
Mild, obedient, good as he.
For he is our childhood’s pattern,
Day by day like us he grew;
He was little, weak and helpless,
Tears and smiles like us he knew.
And he feels for all our sadness,
And he shares in all our gladness.
And our eyes at last shall see him,
Through his own redeeming love;
For that Child who seemed so helpless
Is our Lord in heaven above;
And he leads his children on
To the place where he is gone.
Not in that poor lowly stable,
With the oxen standing round,
We shall see him; but in heaven,
Set at God’s right hand on high;
When like stars his children crowned,
All in white shall wait around.
Tune: Irby 87.87.87
Music: Henry John Gauntlett, 1805-1876
Text: Cecil Frances Alexander 1818-1895, alt.
Or:
O quickly come, great Judge of all;
For glorious will your advent be,
All shadows from the truth will fall,
O come and heal that we may see!
O quickly come, for doubt and fear
Like clouds dissolve when you are near.
O quickly come, great King of all;
Reign all around us and within;
Let sin no more our souls enthrall,
Let pain and sorrow die with sin:
O quickly come, for you alone
Can make your scattered people one.
O quickly come, true Life of all,
For death is mighty all around;
On ev’ry home its shadows fall,
On ev’ry heart its mark is found:
O quickly come, for grief and pain
Cannot obscure your glorious reign.
O quickly come, sure Light of all,
For gloomy night broods o’er our way;
And weakened souls begin to fall
With weary watching for the day:
O quickly come, for round your throne
No eye is blind, no night is known.
Tune: Das Neugeborne Kindelein (Jena) or Melita (Dykes) 88.88.88.
Music: Melchior Vulpius, c. 1560-1616 (Jena) John Bacchus Dykes 1823-1876 (Dykes)
Text: Lawrence Tuttiette, 1825-1897, Hymns for Churchmen, 1854, alt
Or:
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! O Israel
To you shall come Emmanuel!
O come, O wisdom from on high,
And order all things far and nigh;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! O Israel
To you shall come Emmanuel!
O come, O come, O Lord of might,
Who to your tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times did give the law,
In cloud, and majesty, and awe.
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! O Israel
To you shall come Emmanuel!
O come, O rod of Jesse’s stem,
From ev’ry foe deliver them
That trust your mighty power to save,
And give them vict’ry o’er the grave.
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! O Israel
To you shall come Emmanuel!
O come, O key of David, come,
And open wide our heav’nly home,
Make safe the way that leads on high,
That we no more have cause to sigh.
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! O Israel
To you shall come Emmanuel!
O come, O Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by your drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadow put to flight.
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! O Israel
To you shall come Emmanuel!
O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of humankind;
Bid every strife and quarrel cease
And fill the world with heaven’s peace.
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! O Israel
To you shall come Emmanuel!
Tune: Veni, Veni, Emmanuel 88.88 with Refrain
Music: Thomas Helmore, 1811-1890, adapted from a first Mode Responsory in a fifteenth century French Processional
Text: Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, a paraphrase of the Latin twelfth-thirteenth century “Great O” antiphons in Psalteriolum Cantionum Catholicarum
Translation: Thomas Helmore, 1811-1890, John Mason Neale, 1818-1866, and others