Vespers

The general structure of the Roman Catholic service of vespers is as follows:

• Vespers opens with the singing or chanting of the words, Deus in adiutorium meum intende; Domine ad adiuvandum me festina. (O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.)

• A hymn is then sung;

• Anywhere from two to four psalms are then sung, with the psalms concluding in a doxology and answered by an antiphon.

• After the psalms, there is a reading from the New Testament.

• Following the reading, the participants sing the Magnificat, the canticle[?] of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the Gospel of Luke I:46-55.

• Then a litany[?] is recited, the Lord's Prayer, and a closing prayer.

The psalms and hymns of the Vespers service have attracted the interest of many composers, including Claudio Monteverdi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Anton Bruckner, and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

See also: Mass (music); requiem; sacred music[?]; Book of Hours[?]

External link:

The Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours (http://www.catholicliturgy.com/index.cfm/FuseAction/DocumentContents/Index/2/SubIndex/39/DocumentIndex/2)