Prayer for the Evening
Jesus Christ is our Shepherd:
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
Th’apostle to the English lands,
Who now among the angels stands,
Saint Gregory, make haste, relieve
And help the people who believe.
From riches and from wealth you turned.
The glory of the world you spurned,
That you might follow, being poor,
Prince Jesus, who was poor before.
This Christ, High Pontifex, decreed
That you would take his Church’s lead,
And learn Saint Peter’s steps to tread:
The rule of all called in his stead.
You wondrously solved riddles deep:
The mystic secrets Scriptures keep,
For Truth himself has taught you these:
The lofty sacred mysteries.
O Pontifex, our leader bright,
The Church’s honor and its light,
Through dangers let them all be brought,
The ones you carefully have taught.
PSALM 22:24-32
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,/ because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. (Lk 4:18)
Saint Gregory worshiped God in song and in service. What he proclaimed in word at the liturgy, he lived out in hard labor in service of the poor and the ignorant of Rome and the wider world. He was the first to use the title “servant of the servants of God.” Few are called to be pope, but all of us are called to be servants.
“You who fear the Lord, give him praise;
all sons of Jacob, give him glory.
Revere him, Israel’s sons.
For he has never despised
nor scorned the poverty of the poor.
From him he has not hidden his face,
but he heard the poor man when he cried.”
You are my praise in the great assembly.
My vows I will pay before those who fear him.
The poor shall eat and shall have their fill.
They shall praise the Lord, those who seek him.
May their hearts live for ever and ever!
All the earth shall remember and return to the Lord,
all families of the nations worship before him
for the kingdom is the Lord’s; he is ruler of the nations.
They shall worship him, all the mighty of the earth;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust.
And my soul shall live for him, my children serve him.
They shall tell of the Lord to generations yet to come,
declare his faithfulness to peoples yet unborn:
“These things the Lord has done.”
Glory to the Father….
Word of God (1 Peter 5:1-4)
So I exhort the presbyters among you, as a fellow presbyter and witness to the sufferings of Christ and one who has a share in the glory to be revealed. Tend the flock of God in your midst, [overseeing] not by constraint but willingly, as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly. Do not lord it over those assigned to you, but be examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
The greatest among you
must be your servant. (Mt 23:11)
CANTICLE OF MARY
God made him master of his house/ and ruler of all he possessed. (cf. Ps 105:21)
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
Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep. Through the intercession of Saint Gregory, we pray:
R/Loving Shepherd, hear us.
You have called wise and holy pastors to lead your people:
– strengthen our pope in wisdom and holiness. R/
You came not to be served but to serve, and to give your life for many:
– strengthen in charity and courage all those whom you have called to live a life of pastoral service.
R/
You showed us the way to humble service in Saint Gregory:
– teach us to prefer the way of love to the way of
power. R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
May the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, Jesus our Lord, furnish us with all that is good, so that we may do his will. Amen. (cf. Heb 13:20-21)
MARIAN ANTIPHON
Antiphon for the Feast of the Nativity
of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
8 September
With joy let us celebrate the nativity of blessed Mary,
that she may intercede for us
before the Lord Jesus Christ.
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.
