PRAYER FOR THIS EVENING (SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12)
Prayer for the Evening
Vigil of the Third Sunday of Advent
The Lord will reign for ever:
come, let us adore him!
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
Hail to the Lord’s Anointed,
Great David’s greater son!
Hail, in the time appointed,
His reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression,
To set the captive free;
To take away transgression
And rule in equity.
He comes with succor speedy
To those who suffer wrong;
To help the poor and needy,
And bid the weak be strong;
To give them songs for sighing,
Their darkness turn to light,
Whose souls, condemned and dying,
Were precious in his sight.
PSALM 146:5-10
He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly,/ to heal the brokenhearted,/ To proclaim liberty to the captives/ and release to the prisoners. (Is 61:1)
Christ’s coming is Good News to those who are aware of their emptiness and need. For them it is a cause for rejoicing. It spells loss, however, for those who are full of themselves, their own importance, and their possessions.
He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who alone made heaven and earth,
the seas and all they contain.
It is he who keeps faith for ever,
who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry,
the Lord, who sets prisoners free,
the Lord who gives sight to the blind,
who raises up those who are bowed down,
the Lord, who protects the stranger
and upholds the widow and orphan.
It is the Lord who loves the just
but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign for ever,
Zion’s God, from age to age.
Glory to the Father….
Word of God (Isaiah 57:15)
Thus says he who is high and exalted,/ living eternally, whose name is the Holy One:/ On high I dwell, and in holiness,/ and with the crushed and dejected in spirit,/ To revive the spirits of the dejected,/ to revive the hearts of the crushed.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,/ for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven.
(Mt 5:3)
CANTICLE OF MARY
The lowly will ever find joy in the Lord,/ and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. (Is 29:19)
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 joyful anticipation, let us pray to the Lord whose coming we await:
R/Our hope is in you, O Lord.
For those who are in need of any sort:
– fill and heal them at your coming. R/
For those who serve those in need:
– bless them at your coming. R/
For those who have passed through the self-emptying of death:
– reward them at your coming. R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
May the Lord be kind and faithful to us. Amen. (cf. 2 Sm 2:6)
MARIAN ANTIPHON
Antiphon for the Solemnity of Christmas, December 25
This day a Virgin inviolate
has brought forth God for us,
clothed in tender members,
whom she was found worthy to suckle;
let us all adore him,
who has come to save us.
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,
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.
