Prayer for the Evening
In Christ, God shows us the path to life:
let us give thanks and praise!
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
Fades the glory of the west—
All the crimson and the gold,
Night allures the world to rest
’Neath her mantle’s dusky fold.
Ah, my soul, when night descends,
Fear lest slumber bind you fast,
And the Bridegroom with his friends,
To the marriage hasten past.
He may come—what soul can know?—
When the sun has gone from sight,
When the stars in myriads glow
In the middle of the night.
Think not you may safely dream
Of his coming by and by,
When the morning’s early gleam
Wakes the slumb’rer, from the sky.
Wake, awake, the time is near,
Trim your lamp, and tend its light;
For the Bridegroom may appear
In the middle of the night.
PSALM 27:7-14
If we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep. (1 Thes 4:14)
True wisdom chooses to live by faith in the Christ who died, is risen, and will come again in glory to draw us to himself despite the apparent power of our great enemy, death. To long for life is to long for Christ.
O Lord, hear my voice when I call;
have mercy and answer.
Of you my heart has spoken:
“Seek his face.”
It is your face, O Lord, that I seek;
hide not your face.
Dismiss not your servant in anger;
you have been my help.
Do not abandon or forsake me,
O God my help!
Though father and mother forsake me,
the Lord will receive me.
Instruct me, Lord, in your way;
on an even path lead me.
When they lie in ambush protect me
from my enemy’s greed.
False witnesses rise against me,
breathing out fury.
I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness
in the land of the living.
Hope in him, hold firm and take heart.
Hope in the Lord!
Glory to the Father….
Word of God (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
Now I am reminding you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.
We await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of the great God and of our savior Jesus Christ. (Ti 2:13)
CANTICLE OF MARY
Entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you. (2 Pt 1:11)
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 we keep vigil for the coming of Christ, we pray:
R/Have mercy, Lord, and answer!
We await you in hope:
– make us firm in our fidelity. R/
We look forward to your coming:
– make us wise in our perseverance. R/
We place our trust in you:
– make us strong in our joy. R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
May we find happiness at God’s right hand forever! Amen. (cf. Ps 16:11)
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.
