Prayer for the Evening
Vigil of Christmas
The Lord is near: come, let us adore him, alleluia!
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
Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming,
As men of old have sung.
It came, a floweret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.
Isaiah ’twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind;
With Mary we behold it,
The virgin mother kind.
To show God’s love aright,
She bore to them a Savior,
When half spent was the night.
Psalm 98:5-9
In the morning you will see the glory of the Lord. (Ex 16:7)
The long silence of Advent’s waiting begins to break slowly, hesitantly into song as we listen for the first proclamation of the Good News: to you is born a Savior!
Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp
with the sound of music.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
acclaim the King, the Lord.
Let the sea and all within it thunder;
the world, and all its peoples.
Let the rivers clap their hands
and the hills ring out their joy.
Rejoice at the presence of the Lord,
for he comes to rule the earth.
He will rule the world with justice
and the peoples with fairness.
Glory to the Father….
Word of God. Wisdom 18:14-15, 16b
When peaceful stillness compassed everything/ and the night in its swift course was half spent,/ Your all-powerful word from heaven’s royal throne/ bounded, a fierce warrior, into the doomed land./ And as he alighted […],/ he still reached to heaven, while he stood upon the earth.
Our God comes, he keeps silence no longer. (Ps 50:3)
Te Deum
And the Word became flesh/ and made his dwelling among us. (Jn 1:14)
You are God: we praise you;
You are the Lord: we acclaim you;
You are the eternal Father:
All creation worships you.
To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
The glorious company of apostles praise you.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.
Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you:
Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy of all worship,
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.
You, Christ, are the king of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
When you became man to set us free
you did not spurn the Virgin’s womb.
You overcame the sting of death,
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come, and be our judge.
Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints
to glory everlasting.
Intercessions
To Christ the Savior we pray:
R/O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!
Descend, O Truth from above,
– as dew from heaven upon our parched earth. R/
Rise up, O Faithful One and true,
– as our race’s redeemer, born in our midst. R/
Shine forth, O Light from light,
– as the glory of God in human flesh, upon this humble earth. R/
Personal intentions
Our Father….
May the glory of the Lord shine upon us now and for ever! Amen.
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.
