Vespers for the Dead (Placebo)
The Psalter
I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
Psalm 116. Dilexi, quoniam.
1 MY delight is in the LORD; *because he hath heard the voice of my prayer;
2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me; *
therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death compassed me round about, *
and the pains of hell gat hold upon me.
4 I found trouble and heaviness; then called I upon the Name of the LORD; *
O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; *
yea, our God is merciful.
6 The LORD preserveth the simple: *
I was in misery, and he helped me.
7 Turn again then unto thy rest, O my soul; *
for the LORD hath rewarded thee.
8 And why? thou hast delivered my soul from death, *
mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.
9 I will walk before the LORD *
in the land of the living.
10 I believed, and therefore will I speak; but I was sore troubled: *
I said in my haste, All men are liars.
11 What reward shall I give unto the LORD *
for all the benefits that he hath done unto me?
12 I will receive the cup of salvation, *
and call upon the Name of the LORD.
13 I will pay my vows now in the presence of all his people: *
right dear in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
14 Behold, O LORD, how that I am thy servant; *
I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid; thou hast broken my bonds in sunder.
15 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, *
and will call upon the Name of the LORD.
16 I will pay my vows unto the LORD, in the sight of all his people, *
in the courts of the LORD's house; even in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD.
Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord
And let light perpetual shine upon them.
I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged.
Psalm 120. Ad Dominum.
1 WHEN I was in trouble, I called upon the LORD, *and he heard me.
2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, *
and from a deceitful tongue.
3 What reward shall be given or done unto thee, thou false tongue? *
even mighty and sharp arrows, with hot burning coals.
4 Woe is me, that I am constrained to dwell with Meshech, *
and to have my habitation among the tents of Kedar!
5 My soul hath long dwelt among them *
that are enemies unto peace.
6 I labour for peace; but when I speak unto them there-of, *
they make them ready to battle.
Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord
And let light perpetual shine upon them.
Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged.
The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil; yea, it is even he that shall keep thy soul.
Psalm 121. Levavi oculos.
1 I WILL lift up mine eyes unto the hills; *from whence cometh my help?
2 My help cometh even from the LORD, *
who hath made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved; *
and he that keepeth thee will not sleep.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel *
shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD himself is thy keeper; *
the LORD is thy defence upon thy right hand;
6 So that the sun shall not burn thee by day, *
neither the moon by night.
7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil; *
yea, it is even he that shall keep thy soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out, and thy coming in, *
from this time forth for evermore.
Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord
And let light perpetual shine upon them.
The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil; yea, it is even he that shall keep thy soul.
If thou, LORD, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who may abide it?
Psalm 130. De profundis.
1 OUT of the deep have I called unto thee, O LORD; *Lord, hear my voice.
2 O let thine ears consider well *
the voice of my complaint.
3 If thou, LORD, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss, *
O Lord, who may abide it?
4 For there is mercy with thee; *
therefore shalt thou be feared.
5 I look for the LORD; my soul doth wait for him; *
in his word is my trust.
6 My soul fleeth unto the Lord before the morning watch; *
I say, before the morning watch.
7 O Israel, trust in the LORD; for with the LORD there is mercy, *
and with him is plenteous redemption.
8 And he shall redeem Israel *
from all his sins.
Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord
And let light perpetual shine upon them.
If thou, LORD, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who may abide it?
Despise not then, O LORD, the works of thine own hands.
Psalm 138. Confitebor tibi.
1 I WILL give thanks unto thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; *even before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.
2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy Name, because of thy loving-kindness and truth; *
for thou hast magnified thy Name, and thy word, above all things.
3 When I called upon thee, thou heardest me; *
and enduedst my soul with much strength.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD; *
for they have heard the words of thy mouth.
5 Yea, they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, *
that great is the glory of the LORD.
6 For though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly; *
as for the proud, he beholdeth them afar off.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, yet shalt thou refresh me; *
thou shalt stretch forth thy hand upon the furiousness of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.
8 The LORD shall make good his loving-kindness toward me; *
yea, thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever; despise not then the works of thine own hands.
Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord
And let light perpetual shine upon them.
Despise not then, O LORD, the works of thine own hands.
V. I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me.
R. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.
All * that the Father hath given me shall come unto me: and him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.
The Song of Mary Magnificat
Luke 1:46-55
My soul doth magnify the Lord, *
and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.
For he hath regarded *
the lowliness of his handmaiden.
For behold from henceforth *
all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath magnified me, *
and holy is his Name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him *
throughout all generations.
He hath showed strength with his arm; *
he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat, *
and hath exalted the humble and meek.
He hath filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel, *
as he promised to our forefathers,
Abraham and his seed for ever.
Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord
And let light perpetual shine upon them.
All * that the Father hath given me shall come unto me: and him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.
The Prayers
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
V: PRAISE the LORD, O my soul: while I live, will I praise the LORD;
R: yea, as long as I have any being, I will sing praises unto my God.
V: O put not your trust in princes, nor in any child of man;
R: for there is no help in them.
V: For when the breath of man goeth forth, he shall turn again to his earth,
R: and then all his thoughts perish.
V: Blessed is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help,
R: and whose hope is in the LORD his God:
V: Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that therein is;
R: who keepeth his promise for ever;
V: The LORD looseth men out of prison;
R: the LORD giveth sight to the blind.
V: The LORD helpeth them that are fallen;
R: the LORD careth for the righteous.
V: The LORD careth for the strangers; he defendeth the fatherless and widow:
R: as for the way of the ungodly, he turneth it upside down.
V: The LORD thy God, O Sion, shall be King for ever-more,
R: and throughout all generations.
R: And let light perpetual shine upon them.
O eternal Lord God, who holdest all souls in life: Give, we beseech thee, to thy whole Church in paradise and on earth thy light and thy peace; and grant that we, following the good examples of those who have served you here and are now at rest, may at the last enter with them into thine unending joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.