PRAYER FOR THIS EVENING (SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7)

Prayer for the Evening

Vigil of the Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Hope in God! Let us praise him still!

Glory to the Father…. Alleluia!

HYMN

Rejoice, rejoice, believers,

And let your lights appear.

The evening is advancing,

And darker night is near.

The Bridegroom is arising,

And soon he will draw nigh.

Up, pray, and watch, and wrestle:

At midnight comes the cry.

See that your lamps are burning;

Replenish them with oil.

And wait for your salvation,

The end of earthly toil.

The watchers on the mountain

Proclaim the Bridegroom near.

Go meet him as he cometh,

With alleluias clear.

Our hope and expectation,

O Jesus, now appear!

Arise, thou Sun so longed for,

O’er this benighted sphere!

With hearts and hands uplifted,

We plead, O Lord, to see

The day of earth’s redemption

That brings us unto thee.

PSALM 42:2-4, 6, 9

My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God. (cf. Ps 63:2)

Desire sets our compass. Is our desire for Christ’s coming strong enough to sustain us when the night is long and our hearts grow weary?

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 (Song of Songs 5:2)

I was sleeping, but my heart kept vigil;/ I heard my lover knocking:/ “Open to me, my sister, my beloved,/ my dove, my perfect one!/ For my head is wet with dew,/ my locks with the moisture of the night.”

Consider the Lord and his strength;/

constantly seek his face. (Ps 105:4)

CANTICLE OF MARY

My soul yearns for you in the night,/ yes, my spirit within me keeps vigil for you. (Is 26:9)

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

As evening falls, we pray:

R/Let us keep vigil for you, O Lord!

When our longing for you grows cold:

– inflame us with your Spirit. R/

When we choose the sleep offered by soul-dulling ­distractions:

– awaken us to your love. R/

When we lose hope:

– stir us to renewed zeal for the fulfillment of your promises. R/

(Personal intentions)

Our Father….

May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing, so that we may abound in hope by the power of the holy Spirit. Amen. (cf. Rom 15:13)

MARIAN ANTIPHON

Antiphon of the Divine Office

My soul magnifies the Lord,

for God has regarded my humility.

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.

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.