Prayer for the Evening
Let our prayer arise before God like incense,
the raising of our hands in prayer
like the evening sacrifice!
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
As the darkness draweth nigh,
Daylight fadeth from the sky:
Father, unto thee we call,
Thou who rulest over all.
Light that cannot know decline,
Come within our souls to shine!
All our hearts to thee are known;
Come, possess them as thine own.
Thou alone these hearts can fill,
And their deepest yearning still.
Love that never groweth old,
In thy love our lives enfold!
May the virtue of our lives
Unto thee as incense rise,
When each joy and pain shall be
Joined with Paschal Mystery.
May our gift to thee arise
As an evening sacrifice.
PSALM 141:1-5a, 8
May the spoken words of my mouth,/ the thoughts of my heart,/ win favor in your sight, O Lord. (Ps 19:15)
We can use our treasured capacity for speech to offer prayer, as fragrant as incense before God, or to offer hurt to another.
I have called to you, Lord; hasten to help me!
Hear my voice when I cry to you.
Let my prayer arise before you like incense,
the raising of my hands like an evening oblation.
Set, O Lord, a guard over my mouth;
keep watch at the door of my lips!
Do not turn my heart to things that are wrong,
to evil deeds with men who are sinners.
Never allow me to share in their feasting.
If a good man strikes or reproves me it is kindness;
but let the oil of the wicked not anoint my head.
To you, Lord God, my eyes are turned:
in you I take refuge; spare my soul!
Glory to the Father….
Word of God (Revelation 8:3-4)
Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a gold censer. He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne. The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel.
Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones. (Rv 5:8)
CANTICLE OF MARY
Live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma. (Eph 5:2)
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
Our love for God and neighbor is the fire in which the incense of our worship burns sweetly. Let us pray:
R/Receive our prayer, O Lord.
You have called your people to pray always:
– may we grow in awareness that every thought, word, and deed lies open to you. R/
You receive all our offerings in love:
– may we offer them more and more faithfully in love. R/
You have promised us the gift of your Holy Spirit:
– may the fire of divine charity burn in our hearts and in our prayer. R/
You desire to bring all people into your glory:
– receive the souls of those who have died. R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
May grace, mercy, and peace be with us from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. (cf. 2 Tm 1:2)
MARIAN ANTIPHON
Antiphon for the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, January 1
The root of Jesse has budded,
a star has arisen from Jacob;
a Virgin has brought forth the Savior;
we praise you, our God.
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.
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.
