SATURDAY Vespers

God, come to my assistance
Lord, make haste to help me
Your help, propitious Mother, lend us
And from the dreadful foe defend us.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.

Byzantine Prokimen Vespers
The Lord is reigning, He is clothed with beauty. The Lord is clothed with power, and has girded Himself. For He has so firmly established the earth that it will not be overthrown. Holiness becomes Your house, O Lord, forever.

God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
God, cleanse me of my sins and have mercy on me.
I have sinned without number, forgive me, O Lord.

St. Germanus of Constantinople
My Lady, my refuge, life and help, my armor and my boast, my hope and my strength, grant that I may enjoy the ineffable, inconceivable gifts of your Son, your God and our God, in the heavenly kingdom. For I know surely that you have power to do as you will, since you are Mother of the Most High. Therefore, Lady Most Pure, I beg you that I may not be disappointed in my expectations but may obtain them, O spouse of God, who bore him who is the expectation of all: Our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and Master of all things, visible and invisible, to whom belongs all glory, honor, and respect, now and always and through endless ages. Amen.

Psalm 122
Antiphon: Mary has been taken up to heaven; the angels rejoice.
They bless the Lord and sing his praises.

I rejoiced at the things that were said to me:
We shall go into the house of the Lord.
Our feet were standing in your courts, O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, which is built as a city, which is compact together.
For thither did the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord:
the testimony of Israel, to praise the name of the Lord.

Because their seats have sat in judgment,
seats upon the house of David.

Pray for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem:
and abundance for them that love you.

Let peace be in your strength:
and abundance in your towers.
For the sake of my brethren, and of my neighbors,
I spoke peace of you.
Because of the house of the Lord our God,
I have sought good things for you.

Psalm 130
Antiphon: Through Eve the gates of heaven were closed to all mankind:
through the Virgin Mother they were opened wide again.

Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord:
Lord hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.

If you, O Lord, will mark iniquities:
Lord, who shall stand it?
For with you is merciful forgiveness:
and by reason of your law, I have waited for you, O Lord.

My soul has relied on his word:
my soul has hoped in the Lord.
From the morning watch even until night,
let Israel hope in the Lord.
Because with the Lord there is mercy:
and with him plentiful redemption.
And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Philippians 2
Antiphon: The Virgin Mary has been exalted above all the heavens;
come, let all men glorify Christ the King, whose kingdom will endure for ever.

For let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant,
being made in the likeness of men,
and in the habit found as a man.
He humbled himself,
becoming obedient unto death,
even to the death of the cross.
For which cause God also has exalted him,
and has given him a name which is above all names:
That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth:
and that every tongue should confess
that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.

Romans 5
Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death; and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned. For until the law sin was in the world; but sin was not imputed, when the law was not. But death reigned from Adam unto Moses, even over them also who have not sinned after the similitude of the transgression of Adam, who is a figure of him who was to come. But not as the offense, so also the gift. For if by the offense of one, many died; much more the grace of God, and the gift, by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, has abounded unto many. And not as it was by one sin, so also is the gift. For judgment indeed was by one unto condemnation; but grace is of many offenses, unto justification. For if by one man's offense death reigned through one; much more they who receive abundance of grace, and of the gift, and of justice, shall reign in life through one, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as by the offense of one, unto all men to condemnation; so also by the justice of one, unto all men to justification of life. For as by the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners; so also by the obedience of one, many shall be just. Now the law entered in, that sin might abound. And where sin abounded, grace did more abound. That as sin has reigned to death; so also grace might reign by justice unto life everlasting, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

St. Germanus of Constantinople
Truly, yes truly, and again I shall say in thanksgiving: even though you have left us, you have not deserted the Christian race. You who are like incorruptible life have not abandoned our mortal world, but on the contrary you draw near to those who call upon your name. You are found by those who faithfully seek you. And these visions indicate a living and continually active spirit and an everlasting body. For how could dissolution of the body return you to dust and ashes, you who delivered the human race from the destruction of death through the incarnation of your Son?

Indeed you left our earth to prove that the mystery of the awe-inspiring incarnation was really fulfilled. The fact that you waited for the natural end of human life would convince the world that the God who was born of you came into being also as perfect man, the Son of a true Mother, who was subject to the laws and constraints of nature, by divine decree and the requirement of an earthly lifetime. As one who possessed a human body you could not escape death, the common fate of humanity. Thus even your Son, though God of all things, even he, through sharing, so to speak, the mortality of all our race, tasted a similar bodily death. It was clearly in the same way as he made his own life-giving tomb that he made your sepulcher wonderful also, as the tomb of your falling asleep, a tomb which received life; therefore both tombs really received your bodies, but could in no way affect them with corruption. For nor could you, as the vessel which contained God, waste away to dust in the destruction of death.

For since he who humbled himself in you was God from beginning and eternal life, so the Mother of Life was to share the dwelling of Life, to accept her death like a sleep and consent to her translation like a waking, as the Mother of Life. For just as a child seeks and longs for its own mother, and the mother loves to spend her time with her child, so it was right that you, with your maternal love for your Son and God, should return to him. And it was right too that God, preserving a Son's love for you, should make his companionship with you into a perpetual association. In this way, then, you suffered the death of finite beings and the translation to the immortal way of life of eternal beings where God dwells; and because you are his companion, Mother of God, you do not abandon your life with him.

Pius XII
The august Mother of God was mysteriously united from all eternity with Jesus Christ in one and the same decree of predestination, immaculate in her conception, a virgin inviolate in her divine motherhood, the wholehearted companion of the divine Redeemer who won complete victory over sin and its consequences. Thus, she gained at last the supreme crown of her privileges--to be preserved immune from the corruption of the tomb, and like her Son, when death had been conquered, to be carried up body and soul to the exalted glory of heaven, there to sit in splendor at the right hand of her Son, the immortal King of the ages.

The Virgin Mary is exalted above the choirs of angels
Blessed is the Lord who has raised her up.
Above the choirs of the angels.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever.
The Virgin Mary is exalted above the choirs of angels.

As Mary is taken up to heaven, the angels of God rejoice.
They worship the Lord and sing his praises.
The angels of God rejoice.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever.
As Mary is taken up to heaven, the angels of God rejoice.

Angel's prayer at Fatima
Most Holy Trinity--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences whereby He is offended. And through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.

St. Alphonsus
O my most holy Mother. I see the graces which you have obtained for me; and I see the ingratitude of which I have been guilty towards you. An ungrateful soul is no longer worthy of favors; but I will not on this account distrust your mercy, which is greater than my ingratitude. O my great advocate, pity me. You dispense all the graces which God grants to us miserable creatures, and for this purpose he has made you so powerful, so rich, and so benign. He has done so, that you might succor us in our miseries. Ah, Mother of mercy, leave me not in my poverty. You are the advocate of the most miserable and guilty criminals who have recourse to you; defend me also, who recommend myself to you. Say not that my cause is too difficult to be gained; for all causes, however desperate, when defended by you are gained. In your hands, then, do I place my eternal salvation; to you do I intrust my soul: it was lost; you, then, by your intercession have to save it. I wish to be inscribed among your most devoted servants; reject me not. You seek the miserable to relieve them; abandon me not, who am a wretched sinner, and who have recourse to you. Speak for me; your Son does all that you ask him. Take me under your protection; that is all that I ask. Yes; for if you protect me, I fear nothing. I do not fear my sins; for you will obtain me a remedy for the evil they have done me. I do not fear the devils; for you are more powerful than all hell. I do not even fear Jesus my Judge himself; for by a single prayer of yours he is appeased. I only fear that by my negligence I may cease to recommend myself to you, and thus be lost. It is true that these graces are too great for me, who have not deserved them; but they are not too great for you, who are so much loved by God. Hence he grants you all that you ask. You have only to speak, and he denies you nothing. Pray, then, to Jesus for me; tell him that you protect me; and then he is sure to pity me. My Mother, in you too I do trust; in this hope I shall live in peace, and in it I wish to die. Live Jesus our love, and Mary our hope!

The Magnificat
My soul now magnifies the Lord.
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
Because he has regarded the humility of his handmaid;
for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
Because he that is mighty, has done great things to me;
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him.
He has shown might in his arm:
he has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He has put down the mighty from their seat,
and has exalted the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich he has sent empty away.
He has received Israel his servant,
being mindful of his mercy:
As he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his seed for ever.

Today the Virgin Mary was taken up to heaven;
rejoice, for she reigns with Christ for ever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Mary, full of grace, intercede for us.

All-powerful and ever-living God, you raised the sinless Virgin Mary, mother of your Son, body and soul to the glory of heaven. May we see heaven as our final goal and come to share her glory. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

St. Louis de Montfort
Eternal and incarnate Wisdom, most lovable and adorable Jesus, true God and true man, only Son of the eternal Father and of Mary always Virgin, I adore you profoundly, dwelling in the splendor of our Father from all eternity and in the virginal womb of Mary, your most worthy Mother, at the time of your Incarnation. I thank you for having emptied yourself in assuming the condition of a slave to set me free from the cruel slavery of the evil one.

I praise and glorify you for having willingly chosen to obey Mary, your holy Mother, in all things, so that through her I may be your faithful slave of love.

But I must confess that I have not kept the vows and promises which I made to you so solemnly at my baptism. I have not fulfilled my obligations, and I do not deserve to be called or child or even your slave.

Since I cannot lay claim to anything except what merits your rejection and displeasure, I dare no longer approach the holiness of your majesty on my own. That is why I turn to the intercession and the mercy of your holy Mother, whom you yourself have given me to mediate with you. Through her I hope to obtain from you contrition and pardon for my sins, and that Wisdom whom I desire to dwell in me always.

I turn to you, then, Mary immaculate, living tabernacle of God, in whom Eternal Wisdom willed to receive the adoration of both men and angels. I greet you as Queen of heaven and earth, for all that is under God has been made subject to your sovereignty.

I call upon you, the unfailing refuge of sinners, confident in your mercy that has never forsaken anyone. Grant my desire for divine Wisdom and, in support of my petition, accept the promises and the offering of myself which I now make, conscious of my unworthiness. I, an unfaithful sinner, renew and ratify today through you my baptismal promises. I renounce forever Satan, his empty promises, and his evil designs, and I give myself completely to Jesus Christ, the incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after him for the rest of my life, and to be more faithful to him than I have been till now. This day, with the whole court of heaven as witness, I choose you, Mary, as my Mother and Queen. I surrender and consecrate myself to you, body and soul, as your slave, with all that I possess, both spiritual and material, even including the value of all my good actions, past, present and to come. I give you the full right to dispose of me and all that belongs to me, without any reservations, in whatever way you please, for the greater glory of God in time and throughout eternity.

Accept, gracious Virgin, this little offering of my slavery to honor and imitate the obedience which Eternal Wisdom willing chose to have towards you, his Mother. I wish to acknowledge the authority which both of you have over this little worm and pitiful sinner. By it I wish also to thank God for the privileges bestowed on you by the Blessed Trinity. I declare that for the future I will try to honor and obey you in all things as your true slave of love.

O admirable Mother, present me to your dear Son as his slave now and for always, so that he who redeemed me thorough you, will now receive me through you. Mother of mercy, grant me the favor of obtaining the true Wisdom of God, and so make me one of those whom you love, teach and guide, whom you nourish and protect as your children and slaves.

Virgin most faithful, make me in everything so committed a disciple, imitator, and slave of Jesus, your Son, incarnate Wisdom, that I may become, through your intercession and example, fully mature with the fullness which Jesus possessed on earth, and with the fullness of his glory in heaven.

May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.

Hail, wonderful dial Ezechias of old
Beheld when the prophet His destiny told;
The Word, That incarnate in you did become,
Receded, descending to man's lowly home.
Nine choirs He passed of superior powers,
To take up the tenth in this nature of ours.
The beams of this sun Are the light of your face,
And you the aurora Preceding his race.
The serpent that lurks In night's desperate gloom
You crushed, and caused, All beauties to bloom.

I have caused a never-fading light to rise in heaven;
And like a luminous veil have spread it over the earth.