Podcast: Play in new window | Download

SERVICE OF LIGHT

Greeting/Invocation

 We light the EVENING CANDLE and say or sing:

Jesus Christ is the Light of the World!

~The Light no darkness can extinguish!

Throughout all the Earth their voices carry;

~Their message resounds with hope for all!

EVENING HYMN FEAST OF APOSTLES

Th’ Eternal Gifts of Christ the King, Th’ Apostles’ glory let us sing,

And all with hearts of gladness raise Due hymns of thankful love and praise.

Their faith in Christ, the Lord, prevailed; Their hope, a light that never failed;

Their love ablaze o’er pathways trod To lead them to our loving God.

In them the Abba’s glory shone, In them the will of God’s own Son,

In them exults the Holy Ghost, Through them rejoice the heav’ly host.

O great Redeemer hear our cry, That you would join to them on high

Your servants, who this grace implore, Forever and for ever more. Amen.

_{Text: Aeterna Christi Munera, Ambrose of Milan, tr. .M. Neale, alt.  Tune: JESU DULCIS MEMORIA}

SERVICE    OF THE WORD

EVENING PSALMODY

Antiphon

No one has any more love or charity,

than willingness to die for a neighbor

laying down one’s own life.

Psalm 115/116

I trust in God, even when I say,

“I am sorely afflicted,”

I believe, even when I cry out,

“There is no one I can trust!”

What gift can repay Adonai

for such goodness to me?

I will raise the cup of freedom

as I call on the Holy Name!

I will fulfill all my vows

in the presence of the people.

Adonai you hate to see

your faithful ones suffer and die.

It is I, the servant you love

the one you have freed from bondage,

who calls to you now for help.

I bring an offering of thanks

as I call on your Name.

I fulfill my vows to you, Adonai

standing before your assembly,

 in the courts of your house, my God,

in the very heart of Jerusalem.   

Glory to the ONE and to the WORD

And to the BREATH of Love!

As always before,

so now and evermore.  Amen.

No one has any more love or charity,

than willingness to die for a neighbor

laying down one’s own life.

READING        EPHESIANS 2: 21-22

Responsory

R.  Throughout all the earth, their voices carry, *their message resounds with hope for all. V.  Go out to the whole world, proclaim the Good News; *their message resounds with hope for all.  V. Glory to the Abba and the Word and the Holy Breath of Love.

Gospel Canticle

Antiphon

For my name you will be brought before kings and governors.

Do not worry about what you will say;

I myself will give you words and wisdom. Alleluia!

 Canticle of Mary

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 the Word

And to the Breath of Love

As always before

So now and evermore. Amen

For my name you will be brought before kings and governors.

Do not worry about what you will say;

I myself will give you words and wisdom. Alleluia!

 Litany of Intercession

You called James and his brother, John, to leave their fishing nets and become your disciples, ~call us to leave behind whatever prevents us from following you.

You invited James, along with John and Peter, to witness your transfiguration and to support you with their presence and prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, ~ make us conscious of the presence of your glory in the beauty of every day and in the faces of all those who suffer.

You understood the desire of James and John to sit close to you in glory, but explained to them that real glory comes from self-emptying service, taking the place of a slave, and giving up your life for others, ~may we seek not to be served but to serve and to be close to you in the persons and species who count for nothing in the eyes of the world. 

You strengthened James to bear witness to the truth in the face of bitter persecution and execution by Herod Agrippa~empower us to bear witness to the reality of your love at all times and in every place.

The legends of Saint James tell us he spent time preaching at the “ends of the Earth” in Spain before returning to guide the early Christian community in Jerusalem, ~bless the people of Spain on the feast of their patron saint, and may all who make pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela or celebrate this feast be blessed with a spirit of companionship and hospitality for all who are on journeys. 

Prayer of Jesus

Our Father…

Closing Prayer

Gracious God of Life and Love, you called St. James to stay close to Jesus and to learn from   him that the most important position on earth as in heaven is being the servant and slave of all.  He quickly learned that serving a community of disciples makes one a target of religious and political leaders whose power is built on wealth and violence which “lord it” over others.  May we who celebrate his life and legends on this feast, learn from his example that  sitting in glory with Christ means finding and serving him in the least of our brothers and sisters.  We ask this through the same Jesus Christ, who lives and loves with you and the Holy Spirit, One God for ever and ever.  Amen.

Blessing

May God bless + us, protect us from all evil, and lead us to freedom and the fullness of life,  ~Amen.

Let us bless Adonai.   ~Thanks be to God.

Those who wish may end evening prayer with the Salve Regina

Marian Antiphon

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 vale. Eia, ergo, Advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos, ad nos converte; et Jesum benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis, post hoc exilium ostende.  O Clemens, O Pia, O Dulcis, Virgo Maria!

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God;

~ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.  Holy, Mighty and Immortal God, through the working of the Holy Spirit, you prepared the body and soul of the glorious virgin Mother Mary, as a worthy dwelling for your Word; grant that we, who celebrate her memory each evening, may with the help of her prayers, be freed from ever-present evil, and come to share the fulness of life eternal.   Amen.