O God, make speed to save us.
AllO Lord, make haste to help us.
The Blessing of Light (page 110) may replace the Preparation at Evening Prayer on any occasion.
One or more of the following is said or sung:
A prayer of thanksgiving (page 110),
Blessed are you, Lord God, creator of day and night:
to you be praise and glory for ever.
As darkness falls you renew your promise
to reveal among us the light of your presence.
By the light of Christ, your living Word,
dispel the darkness of our hearts
that we may walk as children of light
and sing your praise throughout the world.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
AllBlessed be God for ever.
or a suitable hymn,
or A Song of God’s Light
1The Lord is my light
and my salvation;
whom then shall I fear? ♦
The Lord is the strength of my life;
of whom then shall I be afraid?
2Though a host encamp
against me,
my heart shall not be afraid, ♦
and though there rise up war against me,
yet will I put my trust in him.
3One thing have I asked
of the Lord
and that alone I seek: ♦
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
4To behold the fair beauty
of the Lord ♦
and to seek his will in his temple.
5For in the day of trouble
he shall hide me in his shelter; ♦
in the secret place of his dwelling shall he hide me
and set me high upon a rock.
6Therefore will I offer
in his dwelling an oblation
with great gladness; ♦
I will sing and make music to the Lord.
Psalm 27.1, 3-6, 8
AllGlory to the Father and
to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
This opening prayer may be said
That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful,
let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As our evening prayer rises before you, O God,
so may your mercy come down upon us
to cleanse our hearts
and set us free to sing your praise
now and for ever.
AllAmen.
The appointed psalmody is said.
Refrain: Be joyful in God, all the earth.
1 Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion; ♦
to you that answer prayer shall vows be paid.
2 To you shall all flesh come to confess their sins; ♦
when our misdeeds prevail against us,
you will purge them away.
3 Happy are they whom you choose
and draw to your courts to dwell there. ♦
We shall be satisfied with the blessings of your house,
even of your holy temple. R
4 With wonders you will answer us in your righteousness,
O God of our salvation, ♦
O hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
5 In your strength you set fast the mountains ♦
and are girded about with might.
6 You still the raging of the seas, ♦
the roaring of their waves
and the clamour of the peoples.
7 Those who dwell at the ends of the earth
tremble at your marvels; ♦
the gates of the morning and evening sing your praise. R
8 You visit the earth and water it; ♦
you make it very plenteous.
9 The river of God is full of water; ♦
you prepare grain for your people,
for so you provide for the earth.
10 You drench the furrows and smooth out the ridges; ♦
you soften the ground with showers and bless its increase.
11 You crown the year with your goodness, ♦
and your paths overflow with plenty.
12 May the pastures of the wilderness flow with goodness ♦
and the hills be girded with joy.
13 May the meadows be clothed with flocks of sheep ♦
and the valleys stand so thick with corn
that they shall laugh and sing.
Refrain: Be joyful in God, all the earth.
May the richness of your creation, Lord,
and the mystery of your providence
lead us to that heavenly city
where all peoples will bring their wealth,
forsake their sins and find their true joy,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Refrain: All the earth shall worship you, O Lord.
1 Be joyful in God, all the earth; ♦
sing the glory of his name;
sing the glory of his praise.
2 Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds! ♦
Because of your great strength
your enemies shall bow before you.
3 ‘All the earth shall worship you, ♦
sing to you, sing praise to your name.’ R
4 Come now and behold the works of God, ♦
how wonderful he is in his dealings with humankind.
5 He turned the sea into dry land;
the river they passed through on foot; ♦
there we rejoiced in him.
6 In his might he rules for ever;
his eyes keep watch over the nations; ♦
let no rebel rise up against him. R
7 Bless our God, O you peoples; ♦
make the voice of his praise to be heard,
8 Who holds our souls in life ♦
and suffers not our feet to slip.
9 For you, O God, have proved us; ♦
you have tried us as silver is tried.
10 You brought us into the snare; ♦
you laid heavy burdens upon our backs.
11 You let enemies ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water; ♦
but you brought us out into a place of liberty. R
12 I will come into your house with burnt offerings
and will pay you my vows, ♦
which my lips uttered
and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.
13 I will offer you fat burnt sacrifices
with the smoke of rams; ♦
I will sacrifice oxen and goats. R
14 Come and listen, all you who fear God, ♦
and I will tell you what he has done for my soul.
15 I called out to him with my mouth ♦
and his praise was on my tongue.
16 If I had nursed evil in my heart, ♦
the Lord would not have heard me,
17 But in truth God has heard me; ♦
he has heeded the voice of my prayer.
18 Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer, ♦
nor withheld his loving mercy from me.
Refrain: All the earth shall worship you, O Lord.
How generous is your goodness, O God,
how great is your salvation,
how faithful is your love;
help us to trust you in trial
and praise you in deliverance;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Each psalm or group of psalms may end with
AllGlory to the Father and
to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
If there are two Scripture readings, the first may be read here, or both may be read after the canticle.
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ‘So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.’ Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.’ Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, ‘Get up and eat.’ He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, ‘Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.’ He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.
Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’
He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.’
So he set out from there, and found Elisha son of Shaphat, who was ploughing. There were twelve yoke of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle over him. He left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, ‘Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.’ Then Elijah said to him, ‘Go back again; for what have I done to you?’ He returned from following him, took the yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them; using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled their flesh, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out and followed Elijah, and became his servant.
A Song of God’s Love, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 53 (page 606), may be said
Refrain:
AllGod’s love was revealed
among us
so that we might live through Jesus. Alleluia.
1Beloved, let us love
one another,
for love is of God; ♦
everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
2Whoever does not love
does not know God, ♦
for God is love.
3In this the love of
God was revealed among us, ♦
that God sent his only Son into the world,
so that we might live through him.
4In this is love,
not that we loved God but that he loved us, ♦
and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins.
5Beloved, since God loved
us so much, ♦
we ought also to love one another.
6For if we love one another,
God abides in us, ♦
and God’s love will be perfected in us.
1 John 4.7-11, 12b
AllGlory to the Father and
to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
AllGod’s love was revealed
among us
so that we might live through Jesus. Alleluia.
One or more readings appointed for the day are read.
The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence.
When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us warmly. The next day Paul went with us to visit James; and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. When they heard it, they praised God. Then they said to him, ‘You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the law. They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs. What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow. Join these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay for the shaving of their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself observe and guard the law. But as for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our judgement that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.’ Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having purified himself, he entered the temple with them, making public the completion of the days of purification when the sacrifice would be made for each of them.
When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, who had seen him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd. They seized him, shouting, ‘Fellow-Israelites, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place; more than that, he has actually brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.’ For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. Then all the city was aroused, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. While they were trying to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. Immediately he took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. When they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. Then the tribune came, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains; he inquired who he was and what he had done. Some in the crowd shouted one thing, some another; and as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. When Paul came to the steps, the violence of the mob was so great that he had to be carried by the soldiers. The crowd that followed kept shouting, ‘Away with him!’
A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow
Your salvation is near to those who fear you;
that glory may dwell in our land.
AllYour salvation is near
to those who fear you;
that glory may dwell in our land.
Mercy and truth have met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
AllThat glory may dwell
in our land.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit.
AllYour salvation is near
to those who fear you;
that glory may dwell in our land.
from Psalm 85
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary) is normally said,
or A Song of Praise (page 627)
may be said
Refrain:
All
Well done, good and faithful servant:
you have been faithful over a little, I will make you ruler over much. Alleluia.
1My soul proclaims the
greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; ♦
he has looked with favour on his lowly servant.
2From this day all generations
will call me blessed; ♦
the Almighty has done great things for me
and holy is his name.
3He has mercy on those
who fear him, ♦
from generation to generation.
4He has shown strength
with his arm ♦
and has scattered the proud in their conceit,
5Casting down the mighty
from their thrones ♦
and lifting up the lowly.
6He has filled the hungry
with good things ♦
and sent the rich away empty.
7He has come to the aid
of his servant Israel, ♦
to remember his promise of mercy,
8The promise made to our
ancestors, ♦
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Luke 1.46-55
AllGlory to the Father and
to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
Refrain:
All
Well done, good and faithful servant:
you have been faithful over a little, I will make you ruler over much. Alleluia.
Thanksgiving may be made for the day.
Intercessions are offered
¶ for peace
¶ for individuals and their needs
Prayers may include the following concerns from the cycle on pages 362–363
¶ Our homes, families, friends and all whom
we love
¶ Those whose time is spent caring for others
¶ Those who are close to death
¶ Those who have lost hope
¶ The worship of the Church
One of the forms of prayer found on pages 362–371 may be used.
These responses may be used
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer
(or)
Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.
Silence may be kept.
The Collect of the day is said
Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,
and so bring us at last to your heavenly city
where we shall see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
AllAmen.
The Lord’s Prayer is said
As our Saviour taught us, so we pray
AllOur Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.
(or)
Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us
AllOur 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,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
All The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with us all evermore.
Amen.
Let us bless the Lord. Alleluia, alleluia.
AllThanks be to God. Alleluia, alleluia.
©
The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, 2000-2005
Official Common Worship apps, books and eBooks are available from
Church House Publishing.
The Bible readings (other than the psalms) are from The New Revised Standard Version Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Implemented by Simon Kershaw at
Crucix.
Implementation copyright © Simon Kershaw, 2002-2021.