Liturgy of the Hours for December 26
Evening Prayer - Feast for St. Stephen, M
Please Note
This is the Liturgy of the Hours for December 26. Your local date is .
Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. I:
Ordinary: 667
Proper of Seasons: 436
Psalms and canticle as in Evening Prayer II of Christmas, 414
Christian Prayer:
Ordinary: 694
Proper of Seasons: 159
Psalms and canticle as in Evening Prayer II of Christmas, 147
Evening Prayer for the Feast of Stephen, First Martyr
God, come to my assistance.
— Lord, make haste to help me.
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
Calm on the listening ear of night,
Come heaven's melodious strains,
Where wild Judea stretches far
Her silver-mantled plains.
Celestial choirs, from courts above,
Shed sacred glories there,
And angels, with their sparkling lyres,
Make music on the air.
The answering hills of Palestine
Send back the glad reply;
And greet, from all their holy hights,
The day-spring from on high.
"Glory to God!" the sounding skies
Loud with their anthems ring --
"Peace to the earth, good will to men,
From heaven's eternal King."
Light on thy hills, Jerusalem!
The Saviour now is born!
And bright on Bethlehem's joyous plains
Breaks the first Christmas morn.
| 𝄞 | "Calm on the Listening Ear of Night" by Kathleen Lundquist • Title: Calm on the listening ear of night; Author: Edmund H. Sears (1834); Artist: Kathleen Lundquist; Used with permission, visit and thank Kathleen at http://www.mystagogia.net • Albums that contain this Hymn: Light in Our Darkness: Music for Advent and Christmas |
PSALMODY
Ant. 1 You have been endowed from your birth with princely gifts; in eternal splendor, before the dawn of light on earth, I have begotten you.
Psalm 110:1-5, 7
The Messiah, king and priest
Christ’s reign will last until all his enemies are made subject to him (1 Corinthians 15:25).
The Lord’s revelation to my Master:
“Sit on my right:
your foes I will put beneath your feet.”
Ant. You have been endowed from your birth with princely gifts; in eternal splendor, before the dawn of light on earth, I have begotten you.
The Lord will wield from Zion
your scepter of power:
rule in the midst of all your foes.
Ant. You have been endowed from your birth with princely gifts; in eternal splendor, before the dawn of light on earth, I have begotten you.
A prince from the day of your birth
on the holy mountains;
from the womb before the dawn I begot you.
Ant. You have been endowed from your birth with princely gifts; in eternal splendor, before the dawn of light on earth, I have begotten you.
The Lord has sworn an oath he will not change.
“You are a priest for ever,
a priest like Melchizedek of old.”
Ant. You have been endowed from your birth with princely gifts; in eternal splendor, before the dawn of light on earth, I have begotten you.
The Master standing at your right hand
will shatter kings in the day of his great wrath.
Ant. You have been endowed from your birth with princely gifts; in eternal splendor, before the dawn of light on earth, I have begotten you.
He shall drink from the stream by the wayside
and therefore he shall lift up his head.
Ant. You have been endowed from your birth with princely gifts; in eternal splendor, before the dawn of light on earth, I have begotten you.
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.
Ant. You have been endowed from your birth with princely gifts; in eternal splendor, before the dawn of light on earth, I have begotten you.
Ant. 2 With the Lord is unfailing love; great is his power to save.
Psalm 130
A cry from the depths
He himself will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,
Lord, hear my voice!
O let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleading.
Ant. With the Lord is unfailing love; great is his power to save.
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,
Lord, who would survive?
But with you is found forgiveness:
for this we revere you.
Ant. With the Lord is unfailing love; great is his power to save.
My soul is waiting for the Lord,
I count on his word.
My soul is longing for the Lord more
than watchman for daybreak.
Let the watchman count on daybreak
and Israel on the Lord.
Ant. With the Lord is unfailing love; great is his power to save.
Because with the Lord there is mercy
and fullness of redemption,
Israel indeed he will redeem from all its iniquity.
Ant. With the Lord is unfailing love; great is his power to save.
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.
Ant. With the Lord is unfailing love; great is his power to save.
Ant. 3 In the beginning, before time began, the Word was God; today he is born, the Savior of the world.
Canticle – Colossians 1:12-20
Christ the first-born of all creation and the first-born from the dead
Let us give thanks to the Father
for having made you worthy
to share the lot of the saints
in light.
Ant. In the beginning, before time began, the Word was God; today he is born, the Savior of the world.
He rescued us
from the power of darkness and brought us
into the kingdom of his beloved Son.
Through him we have redemption,
the forgiveness of our sins.
Ant. In the beginning, before time began, the Word was God; today he is born, the Savior of the world.
He is the image of the invisible God,
the first-born of all creatures.
In him everything in heaven and on earth was created,
things visible and invisible.
Ant. In the beginning, before time began, the Word was God; today he is born, the Savior of the world.
All were created through him;
all were created for him.
He is before all else that is.
In him everything continues in being.
Ant. In the beginning, before time began, the Word was God; today he is born, the Savior of the world.
It is he who is head of the body, the church!
he who is the beginning,
the first-born of the dead,
so that primacy may be his in everything.
Ant. In the beginning, before time began, the Word was God; today he is born, the Savior of the world.
It pleased God to make absolute fullness reside in him
and, by means of him, to reconcile everything in his person,
both on earth and in the heavens,
making peace through the blood of his cross.
Ant. In the beginning, before time began, the Word was God; today he is born, the Savior of the world.
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.
Ant. In the beginning, before time began, the Word was God; today he is born, the Savior of the world.
READING 1 John 1:5b, 7
God is light,
in him there is no darkness.
If we walk in the light,
as he is in the light,
we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
Sacred Silence (indicated by a bell)
A moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church.
RESPONSORY
The Word was made man, alleluia, alleluia.
— The Word was made man, alleluia, alleluia.
He lived among us.
— Alleluia, alleluia.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
— The Word was made man, alleluia, alleluia.
CANTICLE OF MARY
Ant. While earth was rapt in silence and night only half through its course, your almighty Word, O Lord, came down from his royal throne, alleluia.
Luke 1:46-55
The soul rejoices in the Lord
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, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Ant. While earth was rapt in silence and night only half through its course, your almighty Word, O Lord, came down from his royal throne, alleluia.
INTERCESSIONS
The Word of God, by coming to dwell with us, has opened the path to eternal salvation. Let us pray to him with sincere humility:
Lord, deliver us from evil.
Through the mystery of your incarnation, through your birth and infancy,
— through your whole life, dedicated to the Father:
Lord, deliver us from evil.
Through your labor, your preaching and your journeys,
— through your continual encounters with sinners:
Lord, deliver us from evil.
Through your agony and passion, your cross and desolation,
— through your sufferings, your death and burial:
Lord, deliver us from evil.
Through your resurrection and ascension, through your gift of the Holy Spirit, through your joys and everlasting glory,
— free our departed brothers and sisters, O Lord.
Lord, deliver us from evil.
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Concluding Prayer
Grant,
Lord, we pray,
that we may imitate what we worship,
and so learn to love even our enemies,
for we celebrate the heavenly birthday of a man
who knew how to pray even for his persecutors.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
— Amen.
DISMISSAL
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life.
— Amen.
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