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SERVICE OF LIGHT
Greeting/Invocation
We light the Evening Candle and say or sing:
Light and Peace in Jesus Christ our Lord!
~Thanks be to God!
Stay with us Lord for it is evening,
~And the day is almost over.
THURSDAY EVENING HYMN
O God of mastery and might
Who from the raging deep once raised
The life that now still wings the air
Or teems beneath the restless wave,
That so a myriad living things
Might move with ease and multiply
To fill, though fathered from one source,
The empty earth and sea and sky,
Grant that you creatures whom the blood
Of Jesus Christ has freed from shame
May never bear the lash of sin
Or in their weakness fall again.
Let not our hearts be crushed by guilt
Or raised to heights of vaunting pride,
Lest in the dust we should despair
Or in our shame attempt to hide.
Most loving Abba, grant our prayer
Through Jesus Christ your well-loved Son,
That in your Spirit we may live
And praise your glory, ever One.
Text: Ralph Wright, OSB, alt; Tune: Plainsong
SERVICE OF THE WORD
PSALMODY
Antiphon
God’s reign has begun,
let earth rejoice, Alleluia!
Revelation 11:17-18; 12:10b-12a
We praise you, O Holy God,
Who is and who was.
You have assumed your great power,
You have begun your reign.
The nations have raged in anger,
But then came your day of retribution,
And the moment to judge the dead:
The time to reward your servants the prophets
And the holy ones who revere you,
The great and the small alike.
Now have salvation and power come,
The reign of our God,
and the authority of God’s Anointed One,
For the accuser of our siblings is cast out,
Who night and day accused them before God.
They defeated him by the blood of the Lamb
And by the word of their testimony;
Love for life did not deter them from death.
So rejoice, you heavens,
And you that dwell therein!
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
And to the BREATH of Love;
as always before,
so now and evermore. Amen.
God’s reign has begun,
let earth rejoice, Alleluia!
Reading 1 Peter 1:18-23
Realize that you were ransomed from your futile conduct, handed on by your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb. He was known before the foundation of the world but revealed in the final time for you, who through him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have purified yourselves by obedience to the truth for sincere mutual love, love one another intensely from a pure heart. You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and abiding word of God.
Responsory
R. Our price was paid in the precious blood of Christ, *a Lamb without blemish.
V. Not with silver or gold were we ransomed, but with the blood of Christ; * a Lamb without blemish. V. Glory to the ABBA, and the WORD, and the Holy BREATH of Life.
Gospel Canticle of Mary
Antiphon
The Human One shall be handed over to the pagans
to be mocked and scourged and crucified.
It is customary to make the sign of the cross at the beginning of the Gospel Canticle.
My heart + is radiant with the Lord,
My whole being delights in God my Savior.
All people now will call me blessed
For God has loved this humble handmaid.
The Almighty has shown me great favor
Holy is the NAME,
Whose mercy embraces the faithful,
From one generation to the next.
The mighty arm of God,
Scatters the proud in their own conceit,
Pulls tyrants from their thrones
While lifting up the lowly:
Fills the famished with bounty,
And reveals the emptiness of riches.
Rescues lowly Israel,
Sharing such loving kindness,
As promised to our ancestors
To Abraham and Sarah, and their descendants forever.
Glory to the ONE and to WORD
And to the BREATH of Love!
As always before,
so now and evermore. Amen
The Human One shall be handed over to the pagans
to be mocked and scourged and crucified.
SERVICE OF PRAYER
Litany of Intercession
For all who study and explore the beauty and wonder of birds, fish and other forms of sea life; ~God in your mercy, hear our prayer.
For all whose lives and livelihoods involve life from the sea, especially those striving to preserve endangered species through the development of sustainable fishing practices and to improve and restore oceans, seas, rivers, lakes and ponds;
For all whose lives and livelihoods involve poultry and other birds, especially those striving to develop sustainably integrated practices and to improve and restore their natural habitat;
For all who are deprived by modern lifestyles and urban jungles from experiencing the incredible beauty, diversity, liveliness and songs of the birds;
For all the sea creatures and winged birds themselves, whose praise of God that has been sounding for hundreds of millions of years, is threatened with extinction by the human destruction of their habitats and the toxins produced by consumerism and greed;
Prayer of Jesus
Our Father …
Closing Prayer & Blessing
God of the Sea and Sky, as we celebrate the fifth day of the week, we praise and thank you for the wonder and beauty of all the creatures that You have made, for each one of them reveals something of Your inexpressible love. Awaken in us a profound sensitivity to Your presence in all of creation and awareness that it is in You that we and all creation live and move and have our being. For your love is the power that has created all things, sustains all things, and invites all things to join you in building the future now and forever. Amen.
May the God of the Cosmos, the God of Sea and Sky, + bless us with reverence, wonder and awe . Amen.
Let us bless Adonai!
~Thanks be to God.
Those who wish may end evening prayer with the Marian Antiphon.
[Ave Regina Caelorum is sung from the 3rd of February until Good Friday, inclusive.]
Queen of the heavens we greet you, Queen of Angels we entreat you,
Fairest flower, heaven’s portal From whom came the Light immortal.
Matchless maiden, God did raise you For the Universe to praise you.
Hear us, O hear us, dear Mother; Show your children Jesus, our brother.
Pray for us, holy Mother of God.
~ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray. O Gracious God, grant to your people lasting health of mind and of body.
Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may we be freed from present sorrow and attain eternal happiness. We ask this through Christ our Love. Amen.