Night Prayer: Friday 14 December 2018

Friday 14 December 2018

John of the Cross, Priest, Teacher of the Faith, 1591

The Lord Almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end.
Amen.

O God, make speed to save us;
O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen
Alleluia!

PSALMODY

Antiphon: O Lord, my God, my Saviour,* by day and night I cry to you.
(not repeated in the psalm)

Psalm 88
2 Let my prayer enter into your presence;*
incline your ear to my lamentation.
3 For I am full of trouble;*
my life is at the brink of the grave.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the Pit;*
I have become like one who has no strength;
5 Lost among the dead,*
like the slain who lie in the grave,
6 Whom you remember no more,*
for they are cut off from your hand.
7 You have laid me in the depths of the Pit,*
in dark places, and in the abyss.
8 Your anger weighs upon me heavily,*
and all your great waves overwhelm me.
9 You have put my friends far from me;
you have made me to be abhorred by them;*
I am in prison and cannot get free.
10 My sight has failed me because of trouble;*
Lord, I have called upon you daily;
I have stretched out my hands to you.
11 Do you work wonders for the dead?*
will those who have died stand up and give you thanks?
12 Will your loving-kindness be declared in the grave?*
your faithfulness in the land of destruction?
13 Will your wonders be known in the dark?*
or your righteousness in the country where all is forgotten?
14 But as for me, O Lord, I cry to you for help;*
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
15 Lord, why have you rejected me?*
why have you hidden your face from me?
16 Ever since my youth, I have been wretched and at the
point of death;*
I have borne your terrors with a troubled mind.
17 Your blazing anger has swept over me;*
your terrors have destroyed me;
18 They surround me all day long like a flood;*
they encompass me on every side.
19 My friend and neighbour you have put away from me,*
and darkness is my only companion.

Glory to the Father…

Antiphon: O Lord, my God, my Saviour,* by day and night I cry to you.

READING(S)

Jeremiah 14.9

You are in our midst, Lord, and we bear your name. Do not forsake us.

Thanks be to God.

Silence

Response (Psalm 31.5)

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
For you have redeemed me, Lord God of truth.
I commend my spirit.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

NUNC DIMITTIS

Antiphon: Preserve us, O Lord,* while waking, and guard us while sleeping, that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.

Now, Lord, you let your servant go in peace;* your word has been fulfilled. My own eyes have seen the salvation* which you have prepared in the sight of every people; A light to reveal you to the nations,* and the glory of your people Israel. Glory be to the Father…

Antiphon: Preserve us, O Lord, while waking, and guard us while sleeping, that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.

PRAYERS

Collect

Almighty God, whose most dear Son lay at this hour in the sepulchre in obedience to your will; may we by your grace be so buried with him that with him we may rise to life everlasting; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Conclusion

The Lord be with you;
and also with you.
Let us bless the Lord;
Thanks be to God.
May the almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, bless and keep us.
Amen.

or

Bless the Lord, the God of our fathers;
Sing his praise and exalt him for ever.
Bless the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit;
Sing his praise and exalt him for ever.
The almighty and most merciful Lord guard us and give us his blessing.
Amen.