PRAYER FOR THIS EVENING (WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23)
Prayer for the Evening
Too heavy for us, our offenses!
Lord, have mercy!
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
Christian! do you see them
On the holy ground,
How the powers of darkness
Rage your steps around?
Christian! up and smite them,
Counting gain but loss;
In the strength that fills you
From the holy cross.
Christian! do you hear them,
How they speak you fair?
“Always fast and vigil?
Always watch and prayer?”
Christian! answer boldly:
“While I breathe I pray!”
Peace shall follow battle,
Night shall end in day.
“Well I know your trouble,
O my servant true;
You are very weary—
I was weary too;
But that toil shall make you
Some day all my own—
And the end of sorrow
Shall be near my throne.”
PSALM 65:2-5
Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away. (Acts 3:19)
At great cost to himself, Padre Pio devoted himself especially to the personal and sacramental work of penance, that all sinners might know and receive the mercy that flows upon us from the cross of Christ.
To you our praise is due
in Zion, O God.
To you we pay our vows,
you who hear our prayer.
To you all flesh will come
with its burden of sin.
Too heavy for us, our offenses,
but you wipe them away.
Blessed is he whom you choose and call
to dwell in your courts.
We are filled with the blessings of your house,
of your holy temple.
Glory to the Father….
Word of God (Luke 24:46-48)
And [Jesus] said to them, “Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
Come now, let us set things right,/ says the Lord:/ Though your sins be like scarlet,/ they may become white as snow;/ Though they be crimson red,/ they may become white as wool.
(Is 1:18)
CANTICLE OF MARY
We know that our old self was crucified with Christ, so that our sinful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in slavery to sin. (cf. Rom 6:6)
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
Through the intercession of Padre Pio, let us pray:
R/Forgive us, O Lord, that we may be healed!
For all believers in whom the Gospel witness burns only dimly: R/
For all who fail to recognize and benefit from the power of the Sacrament of Penance: R/
For all who persist in their sins: R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
May we receive a blessing from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings we have come for refuge. Amen. (cf. Ru 2:12)
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.
