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.
HYMN
O Loving Maker, hear the prayers
we raise to you with sighs and tears,
as we observe these forty days
with holy fast and abstinence.
You search all hearts with loving care
and know the weakness of our pow’rs;
show mercy, Lord, forgive the sins
of those who turn to seek your grace.
Though we, in truth, have greatly sinned,
yet spare us who confess our guilt;
restore and heal our ailing souls
for praise and honor of your name.
Grant us through corp’ral abstinence
to learn and practice self-control,
that inwardly with sober mind
we fast from ev’ry stain of sin.
Grant us, O Blessed Trinity,
O Undivided Unity,
to see this service of our fast
bring forth your fruit within our hearts. Amen.
Tune: JENA, 8 8 8 8
Music: later form of melody by Melchior Vulpius, ca. 1570-1615, composed in 1609
or Mode II, melody 44; Liber Hymnarius, Solesmes, 1983*
Text: Audi, benigne Conditor, attributed to Saint Gregory the Great, ca. 540-604, © 2023 ICEL
PSALMODY
Ant. 1 I shall place my law in their hearts; I shall be their God, and they shall be my people.
Psalm 141:1-9
A prayer when in danger
An angel stood before the face of God, thurible in hand. The fragrant incense soaring aloft was the prayer of God’s people on earth (Revelation 8:4).
I have called to you, Lord; hasten to help me!
*
Hear my voice when I cry to you.
Let my prayer arise before you like incense,
*
the raising of my hands like an evening oblation.
Set, O Lord, a guard over my mouth;
*
keep watch at the door of my lips!
Do not turn my heart to things that are wrong,
*
to evil deeds with men who are sinners.
Never allow me to share in their feasting.
*
If a good man strikes or reproves me it is kindness;
but let the oil of the wicked not anoint my head.
*
Let my prayer be ever against their malice.
Their princes were thrown down by the side of the rock:
*
then they understood that my words were kind.
As a millstone is shattered to pieces on the ground,
*
so their bones were strewn at the mouth of the grave.
To you, Lord God, my eyes are turned:
*
in you I take refuge; spare my soul!
From the trap they have laid for me keep me safe:
*
keep me from the snares of those who do evil.
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
Lord, from the rising of the sun to its setting your name is worthy of all praise. Let our prayer come like incense before you. May the lifting up of our hands be as an evening sacrifice acceptable to you, Lord our God.
Ant. I shall place my law in their hearts; I shall be their God, and they shall be my people.
Ant. 2 I count everything as loss but this: the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
Psalm 142
You, Lord, are my refuge
What is written in this psalm was fulfilled in our Lord’s passion (Saint Hilary).
With all my voice I cry to the Lord,
*
with all my voice I entreat the Lord.
I pour out my trouble before him;
*
I tell him all my distress
while my spirit faints within me.
*
But you, O Lord, know my path.
On the way where I shall walk
*
they have hidden a snare to entrap me.
Look on my right and see:
*
there is not one who takes my part.
I have no means of escape,
*
not one who cares for my soul.
I cry to you, O Lord.
†
I have said: “You are my refuge,
*
all I have left in the land of the living.”
Listen then to my cry
*
for I am in the depths of distress.
Rescue me from those who pursue me
*
for they are stronger than I.
Bring my soul out of this prison
*
and then I shall praise your name.
Around me the just will assemble
*
because of your goodness to 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.
Psalm Prayer
Lord, we humbly ask for your goodness. May you help us to hope in you, and give us a share with your chosen ones in the land of the living.
Ant. I count everything as loss but this: the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
Ant. 3 Although he was the Son of God, Christ learned obedience through suffering.
Canticle: Philippians 2:6-11
Christ, God’s holy servant
Though he was in the form of God, †
Jesus did not deem equality with God
*
something to be grasped at.
Rather, he emptied himself †
and took the form of a slave,
*
being born in the likeness of men.
He was known to be of human estate,
*
and it was thus that he humbled himself,
obediently accepting even death,
*
death on a cross!
Because of this,
*
God highly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
*
above every other name,
So that at Jesus’ name
*
every knee must bend
in the heavens, on the earth,
*
and under the earth,
and every tongue proclaim †
to the glory of God the Father:
*
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!
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. Although he was the Son of God, Christ learned obedience through suffering.
READING
1 Peter 1:18-21
Realize that you were delivered from the futile way of life your fathers handed on to you, not by any diminishable sum of silver or gold, but by Christ’s blood beyond all price: the blood of a spotless, unblemished lamb chosen before the world’s foundation and revealed for your sake in these last days. It is through him that you are believers in God, the God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory. Your faith and hope, then, are centered in God.
RESPONSORY
Listen to us, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against you.
— Listen to us, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against you.
Christ Jesus, hear our humble petitions,
— for we have sinned against you.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
— Listen to us, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against you.
GOSPEL CANTICLE
Ant. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it produces a rich harvest.
[ET] Lázarus, amícus noster, dormit; eámus, et a somno excitémus eum.
Canticle of Mary
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. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it produces a rich harvest.
[ET] Lázarus, amícus noster, dormit; eámus, et a somno excitémus eum.
INTERCESSIONS
Let us give glory to Christ the Lord, who became our teacher, our example and our brother. Let us pray to him, saying:
Lord, fill your people with your life.
Lord Jesus, you became like us in all things but sin; teach us how to share with others their joy and sorrow,
— that our love may grow deeper every day.
Lord, fill your people with your life.
Help us to feed you in feeding the hungry,
— and to give you drink in giving drink to the thirsty.
Lord, fill your people with your life.
You raised Lazarus from the sleep of death,
— grant that those who have died the death of sin may rise again through faith and repentance.
Lord, fill your people with your life.
Inspire many to follow you with greater zeal and perfection,
— through the example of the blessed Virgin Mary and the saints.
Lord, fill your people with your life.
Let the dead rise in your glory,
— to enjoy your love for ever.
Lord, fill your people with your life.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
(Remember us, Lord, when you come to your kingdom and teach us how to pray:)
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,
help us to be like Christ your Son,
who loved the world and died for our salvation.
Inspire us by his love,
guide us by his example,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
— Amen.
Or:
By your help, we beseech you, Lord our God,
may we walk eagerly in that same charity
with which, out of love for the world,
your Son handed himself over to death.
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.
******
Lord, who throughout these forty days
For us did fast and pray,
Teach us with you to mourn our sins,
And close by you to stay.
As you with Satan did contend
And did the vict’ry win,
O give us strength in you to fight,
In you to conquer sin.
As you did hunger and did thirst,
So teach us, gracious Lord,
To die to self and so to live
By your most holy word.
Abide with us that through this life
Of suff’ring and of pain
An Easter of unending joy
We may at last attain.
Tune: St. Flavian C.M.
Music: Day’s Psalter, 1562
Text: Claudia Hernaman, 1838-1898, alt.
Or:
Take up your cross, the Savior said,
If you would my disciple be;
Deny yourself, the world forsake,
And humbly follow after me.
Take up your cross, let not its weight
Fill your weak spirit with alarm;
His strength shall bear your spirit up,
Shall brace your heart and nerve your arm.
Take up your cross then in his strength,
And ev’ry danger calmly brave,
To guide you to a better home,
And vict’ry over death and grave.
Take up your cross and follow Christ,
Nor think till death to lay it down;
For only he who bears the cross
May hope to wear the glorious crown.
To you, great Lord, the One in three,
All praise for evermore ascend;
O grant us here below to see
The heav’nly life that knows no end.
Tune: Breslau or Winchester New L.M.
Music: (Breslau) As Hymnodus Sacer, 1625, or (Winchester New) Musikalisches Handbuch, Hamburg, 1690
Text: Charles William Everest, 1814-1877, adapted by Anthony G. Petti
Or:
Forty days and forty nights
You were fasting in the wild;
Forty days and forty nights
Tempted and yet undefiled.
Shall not we your sorrow share
And from worldly joys abstain,
Fasting with unceasing prayer,
Strong with you to suffer pain?
Then if Satan on us press,
Flesh or spirit to assail,
Victor in the wilderness,
Grant we may not faint nor fail!
So shall we have peace divine:
Holier gladness ours shall be;
Round us, too, shall angels shine,
Such as served you faithfully.
Keep, O keep us, Savior dear,
Ever constant by your side;
That with you we may appear
At the ’ternal Eastertide.
Tune: Heinlein 77.77
Music: Attributed to Martin Herbst, 1654-1681
Text: George Hunt Smyttan 1822-1870