Introductory Rite:
God, come to my assistance R/ Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
R/ as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.
It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their harps of gold!
Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From heaven’s all gracious King!
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.
Still through the cloven skies they come
With peaceful wings unfurled
And still their heavenly music floats
O’er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on hovering wing.
And ever o’er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.
Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world hath suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
The love song which they bring:
O hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing.
For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophet bards foretold,
When, with the ever-circling years,
Shall come the Age of Gold;
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And all the world give back the song
Which now the angels sing.
PSALMODY
Antiphon 1: I have made you the light of all nations to carry my salvation to the ends of the earth.
O God, give your judgment to the king,
to a king’s son your justice,
that he may judge your people in justice
and your poor in right judgment.
May the mountains bring forth peace for the people
and the hills, justice.
May he defend the poor of the people
and save the children of the needy
and crush the oppressor.
He shall endure like the sun and the moon
from age to age.
He shall descend like rain on the meadow,
like raindrops on the earth.
In his days justice shall flourish
and peace till the moon fails.
He shall rule from sea to sea,
from the Great River to earth’s bounds.
Before him his enemies shall fall,
his foes lick the dust.
The kings of Tarshish and the seacoasts
shall pay him tribute.
The kings of Sheba and Seba
shall bring him gifts.
Before him all kings shall fall prostrate,
all nations shall serve him. Glory…
Antiphon 1: I have made you the light of all nations to carry my salvation to the ends of the earth.
Antiphon 2. The Lord will save the children of the poor and rescue them from slavery.
For he shall save the poor when they cry
and the needy who are helpless.
He will have pity on the weak
and save the lives of the poor.
From oppression he will rescue their lives,
to him their blood is dear.
(Long may he live,
may the gold of Sheba be given him.)
They shall pray for him without ceasing
and bless him all the day.
May corn be abundant in the land
to the peaks of the mountains.
May its fruit rustle like Lebanon;
may people flourish in the cities
like grass on the earth.
May his name be blessed for ever
and endure like the sun.
Every tribe shall be blessed in him,
all nations bless his name.
Blessed be the Lord, God of Israel,
who alone works wonders,
ever blessed his glorious name.
Let his glory fill the earth.
Amen! Amen! Glory…
Psalm Prayer: We call upon your name, Father, and pronounce it blessed above the earth. Give your people the fullness of peace and justice in your kingdom
Antiphon 2 The Lord will save the children of the poor and rescue them from slavery.
.Antiphon 3 Now the victorious reign of our God has begun.
We praise you, the Lord God Almighty,
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 wrath
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 his Anointed One,
For the accuser of our brothers is cast out,
Who night and day accused them before God.
Antiphon 3 Now the victorious reign of our God has begun.
READING1 John 1 5b,7
God is light,
in him there is no darkness.
If we walk in the light
as he is in the light,
then we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
RESPONSORY
All peoples will be blessed in him, men and women of every race.
– All peoples will be blessed in him, men and women of every race.
All nations will acclaim his glory.
– Men and women of every race.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
– All peoples will be blessed in him, men and women of every race.
MAGNIFICAT (Canticle of Mary)
Antiphon: The people of Saba shall come bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh, alleluia.
(Tune to Amazing Grace/New Britain)
My soul proclaims the Lord my God My spirit sings his praiseHe looks on me, he lifts me upAnd gladness fills my days
All nations now will share my joy His gifts he has outpoured
His little ones he has made great I magnify the Lord
His mercy is forever moreHis name I praise againHis strong right arm puts down the proud And raises lowly men
He fills the hungry with good things The rich he sends awayThe promise made to AbrahamIs filled by him each day
Antiphon: The people of Saba shall come bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh, alleluia.
INTERCESSIONS
United in prayer with all of our brothers and sisters, we bless God and invoke his name:
Lord, show us your compassion.
Holy Father, we pray for those who know you only by the light of human reason, – may they be enriched by the light of the Gospel as well.
Look with favor on all who live outside the Church as they seek liberation from the harsh constraints of human existence, – may they discover Christ as the way, the truth and the life.
Help all who practice their faith in sincerity,
– may they attain to the marvelous light of your anointed one.
Keep pure the hearts of believers,
– may they see you more clearly at every moment.
Lord’s Prayer
Pater noster, qui es in cælis
Sanctificétur nomen tuum
Advéniat regnum tuum
Fiat volúntas tua
Sicut in cælo et in terra
Panem nostrum quotidiánum da nobis hódie
Et dimítte nobis débita nostra
Sicut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nostris
Et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem
Sed libera nos a malo
Amen
COLLECT
O God, who through your Son raised up your eternal light for all nations,
grant that your people may come to acknowledge
the full splendor of their Redeemer,
that, bathed ever more in his radiance,
they may reach everlasting glory.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Final Blessing and Dismissal