Prayer for the Evening
God is the architect and maker of the everlasting city:/ let us give thanks and praise! (cf. Heb 11:10)
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
Oh blest the house, whate’er befall,
Where Jesus Christ is All in All;
Yea, if he were not dwelling there,
How poor and dark and void it were!
Oh blest that house where faith you find,
And all within have set their mind
To trust their God and serve him still,
And do in all his holy will.
Blest, where their prayers shall daily rise
As fragrant incense to the skies,
While in their lives the world is taught
That forms without the heart are naught.
Blest such a house; it prospers well.
In peace and joy the parents dwell,
And in their children’s lot is shown
How richly God can bless his own.
Then here will I and mine today
A solemn covenant make, and say—
Though all the world forsake your Word,
I and my house will serve the Lord.
PSALM 127
The Lord also reveals to you that he will establish a house for you. (2 Sm 7:11)
The Psalmist plays on the double meaning of the word “house” as a building and a family. The Scriptures often present God as the builder who is constructing the heavenly city out of living stones, his children, adopted and loved in Jesus Christ, the firstborn Son of God’s house and its foundation.
If the Lord does not build the house,
in vain do its builders labor;
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 to the Father….
Word of God (Ephesians 2:19-22)
So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
We are your people, the work of your hands!
(cf. Is 64:7-8)
CANTICLE OF MARY
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? (Jn 14:2)
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
Let us pray to the Father and builder of our house:
R/Build up your house, O Lord.
You have called us and endowed us with different gifts for building up the household of the faith:
– make us skilled laborers in the art of mutual
support. R/
Your Son has gone before us to prepare a place for us:
– keep us strong in hope and faith as we await his return in glory. R/
You have given us a vision of the great city to come:
– bring our dead to dwell with you in glory. R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
May Christ dwell in our hearts through faith, and may charity be the root and foundation of our life. Amen. (cf. Eph 3:17)
MARIAN ANTIPHON
Antiphon for the Solemnity
of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
August 15
Virgin most prudent, where do you go forth,
shining exceedingly as the dawn?
Daughter of Zion, you are all beautiful and gracious,
fair as the moon, bright as the sun.
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, 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.
