Prayer for the Evening
Let us hope in God
and praise him still!
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
Let all the people join to raise
Their sweetest songs of love and praise.
The solemn festal crowd combines
While in the heav’ns this virgin shines.
This virgin, resolute and strong,
Stayed free for Christ her whole life long.
She spent her life in praise and prayer
And joins the saints in glory fair.
She conquered weak and fleshly sins:
Her chastity the victory wins.
The flattery of earth she spurned
And to the steps of Christ, she turned.
Through her, O Christ, watch where we go,
Protecting us from every foe.
Correct our sins, save us from wrong,
And in the virtues make us strong.
O Jesus, Virgin-born, to you
Be glory, as is ever due,
Whom with the Father we adore
And loving Spirit evermore.
PSALM 42:1-4, 6, 9
My whole being will say:/ “Lord, who is like you/ who rescue the weak from the strong/ and the poor from the oppressor?” (Ps 35:10)
In the Church of Saint Cecilia in Rome, there is a touching sculpture by Stefano Maderno (1599) of the young martyr Cecilia lying where she fell under the executioner’s sword. In her utter helplessness, and yet her utter victory, she challenges us to remember where true power lies.
Like the deer that yearns
for running streams,
so my soul is yearning
for you, my God.
My soul is thirsting for God,
the God of my life;
when can I enter and see
the face of God?
My tears have become my bread,
by night, by day,
as I hear it said all the day long:
“Where is your God?”
Why are you cast down, my soul,
why groan within me?
Hope in God; I will praise him still,
my savior and my God.
By day the Lord will send
his loving-kindness;
by night I will sing to him,
praise the God of my life.
Glory to the Father….
Word of God. 1 Corinthians 1:27-28
God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something.
Sing to the Lord,
for he is gloriously triumphant. (Ex 15:21)
CANTICLE OF MARY
Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice O earth,/ break forth into song, you mountains./ For the Lord comforts his people/ and shows mercy to his afflicted. (Is 49:13)
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
With confidence in God’s power displayed in our weakness, we pray:
R/You are our rock, O God!
In the martyrs, faith is victorious over force:
– strengthen our faith in daily life. R/
In the martyrs, love is victorious over violence:
– deepen our love for those who oppose and oppress us. R/
In the martyrs, life is victorious over death:
– bring to everlasting life all those who have died in modern persecutions. R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
May the Lord be kind and faithful to us. Amen. (cf. 2 Sm 2:6)
Marian Antiphon
Medieval Antiphon
Rejoice, O Mother of God, O Virgin Immaculate;
[rejoice], you who received joy from an angel;rejoice, you who bore the glory of the light everlasting;
[rejoice], O Mother, rejoice,O holy Virgin Mother of God;
you alone a maiden Mother,
all creation praises you, the Mother of light;
may you be for us, we beseech you,
a perpetual intercessor.
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.
Alma Redemptoris Mater
Alma Redemptoris Mater, quae pervia caeli
porta manes, et stella maris, succurre cadenti,
surgere qui curat, populo: tu quae genuisti,
natura mirante, tuum sanctum Genitorem,
Virgo prius ac posterius, Gabrielis ab ore
sumens illud Ave, peccatorum miserere.
Loving mother of the Redeemer
Loving mother of the Redeemer,
gate of heaven, star of the sea,
assist your people who have fallen yet strive
to rise again.
To the wonderment of nature, you bore your Creator,
yet remained a virgin after as before.
You who received Gabriel’s joyful greeting,
have pity on us, poor sinners.
V/ Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
R/ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
READ MORE
Prayer for the Evening (Thursday, November 18)
A Night prayer to Our Blessed Mother
Is it okay to fall asleep during night prayers or is it sinful?
