Wednesday, April 16
The Vespers Office To Be Observed on the Hour or Half Hour Between 5 and 8 p.m

Wednesday of Holy Week


The Call to Prayer
The LORD is near to those who call upon him,* to all who call upon him faithfully.
Psalm 145:19

The Request for Presence
Protect me, O God, for I take refuge in you;* I have said to the LORD, “You are my Lord, my good above all other.”
Psalm 16:1


The Greeting

How deep I find your thoughts, O God!* how great is the sum of them!
Psalm 139:16

The Hymn

In the Cross of Christ I Glory

In the cross of Christ I glory, towering over the wrecks of time; All the light of sacred story gathers round its head sublime. When the woes of life overtake me, hopes deceive, and fears annoy, Never shall the cross forsake me. Lo! It glows with peace and joy. When the sun of bliss is beaming light and love upon my way, From the cross the radiance streaming adds more luster to the day. Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure, by the cross are sanctified; Peace is there that knows no measure, joys that through all time abide. In the cross of Christ I glory, towering over the wrecks of time; All the light of sacred story gathers round its head sublime.
John Bowring

The Refrain for the Vespers Lessons

I will bear witness that the LORD is righteous;* I will praise the Name of the LORD Most High.
Psalm 7:18

The Vespers Psalm

They Shall Make Known to a People Yet Unborn

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD,* and all the families of the nations shall bow before him. For kingship belongs to the LORD;* he rules over the nations. To him alone all who sleep in the earth bow down in worship;* all who go down to the dust fall before him. My soul shall live for him; my descendants shall serve him;* they shall be known as the LORD’s forever. They shall come and make known to a people yet unborn* the saving deeds that he has done.
Psalm 22:26–30

The Refrain

I will bear witness that the LORD is righteous;* I will praise the Name of the LORD Most High.

The Cry of the Church

Even so, come Lord Jesus!

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your Name. May your kingdom come, and your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for yours are the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

The Prayer Appointed for the Week

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that I, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. †

The Concluding Prayer of the Church

O God, who willed that Your Son should undergo for us the ignominy of the Cross to deliver us from the power of the enemy, grant to me Your servant, that I may obtain the grace of His resurrection. Through the same Jesus Christ. Amen.
adapted from THE SHORT BREVIARY