Prayer for the Evening (Friday, February 4)

Prayer for the Evening

He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified,

died, and was buried:

let us worship him in grateful prayer!

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

In the Lord’s atoning grief

Be our rest and sweet relief;

Store we deep in heart’s recess

All the shame and bitterness.

Thorns, and cross, and nails, and lance,

Wounds, our treasure that enhance,

Vinegar, and gall, and reed,

And the pang his soul that freed.

May these all our spirits sate,

And with love inebriate;

In our souls plant virtue’s root,

And mature its glorious fruit.

Psalm 22:2-3, 17-19

He was pierced for our offenses,/ crushed for our sins,/ by his stripes we were healed. (cf. Is 53:5)

The Lord wept over the incurable wound which sin had inflicted on his people, seen in the reading as “the virgin daughter.” Yet he cured the wound by making it his own. He assumed our wounded huma­nity and healed it through the wounds he suffered on the cross.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

You are far from my plea and the cry of my distress.

O my God, I call by day and you give no reply;

I call by night and I find no peace.

Many dogs have surrounded me,

a band of the wicked beset me.

They tear holes in my hands and my feet

and lay me in the dust of death.

I can count every one of my bones.

These people stare at me and gloat;

they divide my clothing among them.

They cast lots for my robe.

Glory to the Father….

Word of God. Jeremiah 14:15a, 17

Thus says the Lord: Speak to them this word:

Let my eyes stream with tears/ day and night, without rest,/ Over the great destruction which overwhelms/ the virgin daughter of my people,/ over her incurable wound.

Why is my pain continuous,/ my wound incurable, ­refusing to be healed? (Jer 15:18)

Canticle of Mary

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” (Jn 20:27)

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…

Intercessions

Christ in glory bears the wounds he made his own and offers them to us as the pledge of his transforming love. In faith we pray:

R/Heal us, O Lord!

You knew the pain of torture:

– have mercy on those who suffer torture and death in our day. R/

You knew the unbearable burden of the cross:

– have mercy on those who fall under the burden of life. R/

You knew the anguish of abandonment:

– have mercy on those who have been abandoned by loved ones. R/

(Personal intentions)

Our Father….

May the God who is rich in mercy, because of his great love for us, bring us to life in Christ when we are dead in sin! Amen. (cf. Eph 2:4-5)

Marian Antiphon

Your praise, O Virgin Mary, shall not recede

from the mouths of men,

who have ever been mindful of the power of the Lord,

for whom you did not spare your life.

Salve Regina

Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae;

vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.

Ad te clamamus, exsules filii Evae.

Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes

in hac lacrimarum valle.

Eia ergo, advocata nostra,

illos tuos misericordes oculos

ad nos converte.

Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,

nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.

O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.

Hail Holy Queen

Hail, holy Queen, mother of mercy,

our life, our sweetness, and our hope.

To you do we cry,

poor banished children of Eve.

To you do we send up our sighs,

mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.

Turn then, O most gracious advocate,

your eyes of mercy toward us,

and after this our exile

show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus.

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

V/ Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,

R/ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Read More

A Prayer to the Shoulder Wound of Christ

Today, meditate on God’s mercy with this short prayer