O God, make speed to save us.
AllO Lord, make haste to help us.
Send your Holy Spirit upon us,
Alland clothe us with power
from on high. Alleluia..
One or more of the following is said or sung:
this or another prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,
to you be glory and praise for ever.
Raised to your right hand on high
the ascended Christ shows the prints of love
and bestows on us the gifts of grace.
As your Spirit renews the face of the earth,
may we bring forth the fruit of the Spirit
and reveal your glory in all the world.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
AllBlessed be God for ever.
A Song of God’s Greatness (page 565), the following or another suitable hymn
Creator Spirit, Lord of grace,
come, make in us your dwelling place;
O purest Light, in darkness shine;
fill loveless hearts, O Love Divine.
Consoler, hear your people’s cry;
come down, O Gift of God, Most High.
Descend in peace, O heav’nly Dove;
come Fount of Life; come Flame of Love.
As once on Christ the Servant’s head
the oil of sevenfold grace you shed,
so now anoint from love’s deep springs
your chosen prophets, priests and kings.
Of ev’ry gift the living source,
of mighty deeds the unseen force,
the Father sends his promised One
to speak for all who serve his Son.
Keep far all those who wish us ill,
O Dove of Peace, be with us still,
in ev’ry danger at our side
O Friend, befriend us; be our guide.
Reveal to us the Father’s love,
reveal his Son, who reigns above.
To truth, O Truth, make us all true;
in love, O Love, make all things new.
James Quinn S J, based on Veni, Creator Spiritus
(Tune: LM)
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: The Lord my God shall make my darkness to be bright.
1 I love you, O Lord my strength. ♦
The Lord is my crag, my fortress and my deliverer,
2 My God, my rock in whom I take refuge, ♦
my shield, the horn of my salvation and my stronghold.
3 I cried to the Lord in my anguish ♦
and I was saved from my enemies. R
4 The cords of death entwined me ♦
and the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
5 The cords of the Pit fastened about me ♦
and the snares of death entangled me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord ♦
and cried out to my God for help.
7 He heard my voice in his temple ♦
and my cry came to his ears. R
8 The earth trembled and quaked; ♦
the foundations of the mountains shook;
they reeled because he was angry.
9 Smoke rose from his nostrils
and a consuming fire went out of his mouth; ♦
burning coals blazed forth from him.
10 He parted the heavens and came down ♦
and thick darkness was under his feet.
11 He rode upon the cherubim and flew; ♦
he came flying on the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness his covering round about him, ♦
dark waters and thick clouds his pavilion. R
13 From the brightness of his presence, through the clouds ♦
burst hailstones and coals of fire.
14 The Lord also thundered out of heaven; ♦
the Most High uttered his voice
with hailstones and coals of fire.
15 He sent out his arrows and scattered them; ♦
he hurled down lightnings and put them to flight.
16 The springs of the ocean were seen,
and the foundations of the world uncovered ♦
at your rebuke, O Lord,
at the blast of the breath of your displeasure. R
17 He reached down from on high and took me; ♦
he drew me out of the mighty waters.
18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, ♦
from foes that were too mighty for me.
19 They came upon me in the day of my trouble; ♦
but the Lord was my upholder.
20 He brought me out into a place of liberty; ♦
he rescued me because he delighted in me. R
21 The Lord rewarded me after my righteous dealing; ♦
according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me,
22 Because I had kept the ways of the Lord ♦
and had not gone wickedly away from my God,
23 For I had an eye to all his laws, ♦
and did not cast out his commandments from me.
24 I was also wholehearted before him ♦
and kept myself from iniquity;
25 Therefore the Lord rewarded me
after my righteous dealing, ♦
and according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. R
26 With the faithful you show yourself faithful; ♦
with the true you show yourself true;
27 With the pure you show yourself pure, ♦
but with the crooked you show yourself perverse.
28 For you will save a lowly people ♦
and bring down the high looks of the proud.
29 You also shall light my candle; ♦
the Lord my God shall make my darkness to be bright.
30 By your help I shall run at an enemy host; ♦
with the help of my God I can leap over a wall. R
31 As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the Lord is tried in the fire; ♦
he is a shield to all who trust in him.
32 For who is God but the Lord, ♦
and who is the rock except our God?
33 It is God who girds me about with strength ♦
and makes my way perfect.
34 He makes my feet like hinds’ feet ♦
so that I tread surely on the heights.
35 He teaches my hands to fight ♦
and my arms to bend a bow of bronze. R
36 You have given me the shield of your salvation; ♦
your right hand upholds me
and your grace has made me great.
37 You enlarge my strides beneath me, ♦
yet my feet do not slide.
38 I will pursue my enemies and overtake them, ♦
nor turn again until I have destroyed them.
39 I will smite them down so they cannot rise; ♦
they shall fall beneath my feet.
40 You have girded me with strength for the battle; ♦
you will cast down my enemies under me;
41 You will make my foes turn their backs upon me ♦
and I shall destroy them that hate me. R
42 They will cry out, but there shall be none to help them; ♦
they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer.
43 I shall beat them as small as the dust on the wind; ♦
I will cast them out as the mire in the streets.
44 You will deliver me from the strife of the peoples; ♦
you will make me the head of the nations.
45 A people I have not known shall serve me;
as soon as they hear me, they shall obey me; ♦
strangers will humble themselves before me.
46 The foreign peoples will lose heart ♦
and come trembling out of their strongholds. R
47 The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock! ♦
Praised be the God of my salvation,
48 Even the God who vindicates me ♦
and subdues the peoples under me!
49 You that deliver me from my enemies,
you will set me up above my foes; ♦
from the violent you will deliver me;
50 Therefore will I give you thanks, O Lord, among the nations ♦
and sing praises to your name,
51 To the one who gives great victory to his king ♦
and shows faithful love to his anointed,
to David and his seed for ever.
Refrain: The Lord my God shall make my darkness to be bright.
From your royal throne, O God,
you sent your living Word
to pierce the gloom of oppression;
so, in our souls’ night,
come with your saving help
and penetrate our darkness with the
rays of your glory
in 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.
When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, he said to them: ‘I am now a hundred and twenty years old. I am no longer able to get about, and the Lord has told me, “You shall not cross over this Jordan.” The Lord your God himself will cross over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua also will cross over before you, as the Lord promised. The Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. The Lord will give them over to you and you shall deal with them in full accord with the command that I have given to you. Be strong and bold; have no fear or dread of them, because it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.’
Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel: ‘Be strong and bold, for you are the one who will go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their ancestors to give them; and you will put them in possession of it. It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’
Then Moses wrote down this law, and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. Moses commanded them: ‘Every seventh year, in the scheduled year of remission, during the festival of booths, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people—men, women, and children, as well as the aliens residing in your towns—so that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God and to observe diligently all the words of this law, and so that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to possess.’
A Song of God’s Children, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 60 or number 63, may be said
Refrain:
AllThe Spirit of the Father,
who raised Christ Jesus from the dead,
gives life to the people of God. Alleluia.
1The law of the Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus ♦
has set us free from the law of sin and death.
2All who are led by the
Spirit of God are children of God; ♦
for we have received the Spirit that enables us to cry, ‘Abba, Father’.
3The Spirit himself bears
witness that we are children of God ♦
and if God’s children, then heirs of God;
4If heirs of God, then
fellow-heirs with Christ; ♦
since we suffer with him now, that we may be glorified with him.
5These sufferings that
we now endure ♦
are not worth comparing to the glory that shall be revealed.
6For the creation waits
with eager longing ♦
for the revealing of the children of God.
Romans 8.2, 14, 15b-19
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.
AllThe Spirit of the Father,
who raised Christ Jesus from the dead,
gives life to the people of God. Alleluia.
One or more readings appointed for the day are read.
The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence.
Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But by going out they made it plain that none of them belongs to us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and you know that no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he has promised us, eternal life.
I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you. As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him.
And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming.
If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who does right has been born of him.
A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow
When you send forth your Spirit, we are created;
you renew the face of the earth.
AllWhen you send forth
your Spirit, we are created;
you renew the face of the earth.
O Lord, how manifold are your works;
in wisdom you have made them all.
AllYou renew the face of
the earth.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit.
AllWhen you send forth
your Spirit, we are created;
you renew the face of the earth.
from Psalm 104
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary) is normally said, or Great and Wonderful may be said
Refrain:
AllYou have left all things and followed me:
you will be rewarded a hundred times over and gain eternal life. 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:
AllYou have left all things and followed me:
you will be rewarded a hundred times over and gain eternal life. 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 364–365
¶ God’s royal priesthood, for empowerment
by the Spirit
¶ Those who wait on God, that they may find
renewal
¶ All people, that they may acknowledge the
kingdom of the ascended Christ
¶ The earth, for productivity and for fruitful
harvests
¶ All who are struggling with broken relationships
A form of prayer found on page 383 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
God our maker,
whose Son Jesus Christ gave to your servant Bede
grace to drink in with joy the word
that leads us to know you and to love you:
in your goodness
grant that we also may come at length to you,
the source of all wisdom,
and stand before your 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
Being made one by the power of the Spirit,
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)
Being made one by the power of the Spirit,
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.
May the Spirit kindle in us the fire of God’s love.
AllAmen.
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, 2002-2019.