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Service of Light
Greeting/Invocation
We light the Christmas Candles and say or sing:
Light and Peace in Jesus Christ our Lord!
~Thanks be to God!
All the ends of Earth have seen salvation, alleluia!
~The salvation that comes from our God, alleluia!
CHRISTMAS HYMN — EVENING
A Child is born in Bethlehem, Alleluia!
The joy of all Jerusalem, Alleluia! Alleluia!
Let grateful hearts now sing,
A song of joy and holy praise to Christ now let us bring.
Our brother in the flesh is he, Alleluia!
Our God for all eternity, Alleluia! Alleluia!
Let grateful hearts now sing,
A song of joy and holy praise to Christ now let us bring.
By grace this child is born again, Alleluia!
In every heart he frees from sin, Alleluia! Alleluia!
Let grateful hearts now sing,
A song of joy and holy praise to Christ now let us bring.
All glory pay to Christ the Son, Alleluia!
With Abba, Holy Spirit One, Alleluia! Alleluia!
Let grateful hearts now sing,
A song of joy and holy praise to Christ now let us bring.
Text: Puer Natus Medieval Carol.
SERVICE OF THE WORD
Antiphon
With our God there is compassion and fullness of redemption.
Psalm 129/130
Out of the depths I cry to You!
in your mercy, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleading!
If you recorded our sins,
Adonai, who could survive?
But because you are ready to forgive
we stand here in wonder and awe.
My soul is waiting for Adonai
I trust in God’s word.
My soul is longing for Adonai
more than watchmen for daybreak.
Let the watchman count on daybreak
and all of us count on Adonai!
Because with God there is compassion
And fullness of redemption.
God indeed will redeem us
From all our iniquity.
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
And to the BREATH of Love;
as always before,
so now and evermore. Amen.
With our God there is compassion and fullness of redemption.
READING — Ephesians 2:3-5
By nature we deserved God’s wrath like the rest. But God is rich in compassion; because of this great love for us, God brought us to life with Christ when we were dead in sin. By this favor you were saved.
Silent Reflection
Responsory
R. The Word was made flesh. Alleluia, alleluia. V. And lived among us. Alleluia, alleluia!
Canticle of Mary Luke 1:46-55
I saw Mount Zion and standing on it a Lamb who had with him
a hundred and forty-four thousand people,
all with his name and the Name of the Holy One written on their foreheads.
It is customary to make the sign of the cross at the beginning of the Gospel Canticle.
My heart + is radiant with Adonai,
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
I saw Mount Zion and standing on it a Lamb who had with him
a hundred and forty-four thousand people,
all with his name and the Name of the Holy One written on their foreheads.
SERVICE OF PRAYER
Litany of Intercession
Let us pray to the One born of Mary: ~reveal again your kindness and compassion.
You are holy, yet wished to be born in the midst of our sins–
in order to make us holy; ~reveal again your kindness and compassion.
You are strong, yet wished to be born as a weak and vulnerable child–
in order to give us strength; ~reveal again your kindness and compassion.
You are immortal, yet emptied yourself into a mortal body–
in order to give us immortality: ~reveal again your kindness and compassion.
Prayer of Jesus
Our Father…
Closing Prayer and Blessing.
God of endless love and compassion, we praise you for creating us in your own image and likeness and even more for restoring us in Christ Jesus, your living Word. As we recall on this fourth day of Christmas the Holy Innocents who witnessed to Emmanuel not by speaking but by dying, grant that the faith we confess with our lips we may also proclaim through our manner of living. We ask this through your Incarnate Word who lives and loves with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
All may make the sign of the Cross as we say:
May the birth of our God and Savior Jesus Christ + bring all humanity to salvation. Amen.
Let us bless Adonai. ~Thanks be to God.
Those who wish may end evening prayer with the Marian Antiphon for Christmas.
Marian Antiphon
Loving Mother of our Savior, holding open heaven’s only hope,
Star for steerage in this vastness, rise to help us, save the sinking.
Nature’s greatest Wonder: you have borne your own true Maker,
giving human life to him. Virgin ever, before and after,
that Good News from Gabriel, Word of Life for living, tell it now: mercy to all people!
The angel of the Lord brought the message to Mary.
~ And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Let us pray. O Holy One, you have blessed humankind through the fruitful virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary; may we follow her example of strength and courage and so bring your Word into the world of today. Amen.