God, come to my assistance.
 - Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
 -  as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.


HYMN

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
We Who Once Were Dead
Christ Jesus Lay In Death's Strong Bands
Ad Cenam Agni Providi

Or:

Hymns for Ascensiontide

Or:


O Father, whose creating hand
Brings harvest from the fruitful land.
Your providence we gladly own.
And bring our hymns before your throne
To praise you for the living bread
On which our lives are daily fed.

O Lord, who in the desert fed
The hungry thousands in their need,
Where want and famine still abound
Let your relieving love be found,
And in your name we may supply
Your hungry children when they cry.

O Spirit, your revealing light
Has led our questing souls aright;
Source of our science, you have taught
The marvels human minds have wrought,
So that the barren deserts yield
The bounty by your love revealed.

Text: Donald Hughes


PSALMODY

Antiphon 1: Your sorrow will be turned into joy, alleluia.

When the Lord delivered Zion from bondage,
it seemed like a dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter,
on our lips there were songs.

The heathens themselves said: "What marvels
the Lord worked for them!"
What marvels the Lord worked for us!
Indeed we were glad.

Deliver us, O Lord, from our bondage
as streams in dry land.
Those who are sowing in tears
will sing when they reap.

They go out, they go out, full of tears,
carrying seed for the sowing:
they come back, they come back, full of song,
carrying their sheaves. Glory...

Antiphon 2 Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's, alleluia.

If the Lord does not build the house,
in vain do its builders labor;
if the Lord does not watch over the city,
in vain does the watchman keep vigil.

In vain is your earlier rising,
your going later to rest,
you who toil for the bread you eat,
when he pours gifts on his beloved while they slumber.

Truly sons are a gift from the Lord,
a blessing, the fruit of the womb.
Indeed the sons of youth
are like arrows in the hand of a warrior.

O the happiness of the man
who has filled his quiver with these arrows!
He will have no cause for shame
when he disputes with his foes in the gateways. Glory...

Antiphon 2 Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's, alleluia.

Antiphon 3 From him, through him and in him all things exist; glory to him for ever, alleluia.

Let us give thanks to the Father
for having made you worthy
to share the lot of the saints
in light.

He rescued us
from the power of darkness
and brought us
into the kingdom of his beloved Son.
Through him we have redemption,
the forgiveness of our sins.

He is the image of the invisible God,
the first-born of all creatures.
In him everything in heaven and on earth was created,
things visible and invisible.

All were created through him;
all were created for him.
He is before all else that is.
In him everything continues in being.

It is he who is head of the body, the church;
he who is the beginning,
the first-born of the dead,
so that primacy may be his in everything.

It pleased God to make absolute fullness reside in him
and, by means of him, to reconcile everything in his person,
both on earth and in the heavens,
making peace through the blood of his cross. Glory...

Antiphon 3 From him, through him and in him all things exist; glory to him for ever, alleluia.


READING           Romans 6:8-11
If we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God. Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.


RESPONSORY
The Holy Spirit is the Paraclete, alleluia, alleluia.
 - The Holy Spirit is the Paraclete, alleluia, alleluia.
He will teach you all things,
 - alleluia, alleluia.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
 - The Holy Spirit is the Paraclete, alleluia, alleluia.


MAGNIFICAT (Canticle of Mary)
Antiphon: Christ will baptize you with fire and the Holy Spirit, alleluia.


INTERCESSIONS
In company with the apostles and all who have the first fruits of the Holy Spirit, let us praise God and say,

                            Lord, hear our prayer

Almighty God, you raised Christ to glory in heaven,
 - may all humankind recognize his presence in the Church

All-holy Father, you said of Christ: This is my beloved son, hear him,
 - grant that all may hear his voice and be saved.

Send your Spirit in the hearts of your faithful people,
 - as cleansing water and refreshing rain.

Send your Spirit to guide the course of nature,
 - and renew life over the face of the earth

We commend to your care all who have died,
 - and ask you to strengthen our help in the resurrection to come.


Our Father...


COLLECT
Graciously grant to your Church, O merciful God,
that, gathered by the Holy Spirit,
she may be devoted to you with all her heart
and united in purity of intent.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.


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