O God, make speed to save us.
AllO Lord, make haste to help us.
One or more of the following is said or sung:
a prayer of thanksgiving (page 110),
a suitable hymn,
or A Song of God’s Greatness
1Bless the Lord, O my
soul. ♦
O Lord my God, how excellent is your greatness!
2You are clothed with
majesty and honour, ♦
wrapped in light as in a garment.
3The sun knows the time
for its setting. ♦
You make darkness that it may be night.
4O Lord, how manifold
are your works! ♦
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
5When you send forth
your spirit, they are created, ♦
and you renew the face of the earth.
6May the glory of the
Lord endure for ever; ♦
may the Lord rejoice in his works;
7I will sing to the Lord
as long as I live; ♦
I will make music to my God while I have my being.
Psalm 104.1, 2, 21b ,22a, 26, 32, 33, 35
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: Show us your mercy, O Lord.
1 Lord, you were gracious to your land; ♦
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the offence of your people ♦
and covered all their sins.
3 You laid aside all your fury ♦
and turned from your wrathful indignation. R
4 Restore us again, O God our Saviour, ♦
and let your anger cease from us.
5 Will you be displeased with us for ever? ♦
Will you stretch out your wrath from one generation to another?
6 Will you not give us life again, ♦
that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your mercy, O Lord, ♦
and grant us your salvation. R
8 I will listen to what the Lord God will say, ♦
for he shall speak peace to his people and to the faithful,
that they turn not again to folly.
9 Truly, his salvation is near to those who fear him, ♦
that his glory may dwell in our land. R
10 Mercy and truth are met together, ♦
righteousness and peace have kissed each other;
11 Truth shall spring up from the earth ♦
and righteousness look down from heaven.
12 The Lord will indeed give all that is good, ♦
and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness shall go before him ♦
and direct his steps in the way.
Refrain: Show us your mercy, O Lord.
Most holy God,
when we come to you fearing that
truth condemns us,
show us that truth is one with love
in your Word made flesh,
our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Refrain: All nations
you have made shall come and worship
you, O Lord.
1 Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, ♦
for I am poor and in misery.
2 Preserve my soul, for I am faithful; ♦
save your servant, for I put my trust in you.
3 Be merciful to me, O Lord, for you are my God; ♦
I call upon you all the day long.
4 Gladden the soul of your servant, ♦
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. R
5 For you, Lord, are good and forgiving, ♦
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer ♦
and listen to the voice of my supplication.
7 In the day of my distress I will call upon you, ♦
for you will answer me. R
8 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord, ♦
nor any works like yours.
9 All nations you have made shall come and worship you, O Lord, ♦
and shall glorify your name.
10 For you are great and do wonderful things; ♦
you alone are God. R
11 Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; ♦
knit my heart to you, that I may fear your name.
12 I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart, ♦
and glorify your name for evermore;
13 For great is your steadfast love towards me, ♦
for you have delivered my soul from the depths of the grave. R
14 O God, the proud rise up against me
and a ruthless horde seek after my life; ♦
they have not set you before their eyes.
15 But you, Lord, are gracious and full of compassion, ♦
slow to anger and full of kindness and truth.
16 Turn to me and have mercy upon me; ♦
give your strength to your servant
and save the child of your handmaid.
17 Show me a token of your favour,
that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed; ♦
because you, O Lord, have helped and comforted me.
Refrain: All nations
you have made shall come and worship
you, O Lord.
God of mercy,
who in your great love
drew your Son from the depths of the Pit,
bring your people from death to life,
that we may rejoice in your compassion
and praise you now and for ever.
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.
Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favour with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, ‘If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.’ So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. And the king of Aram said, ‘Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.’
He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, ‘When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy.’ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, ‘Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.’
But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, ‘Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.’ So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, ‘Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.’ But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, ‘I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?’ He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, ‘Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, “Wash, and be clean”?’ So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.
Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, ‘Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant.’ But he said, ‘As the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will accept nothing!’ He urged him to accept, but he refused. Then Naaman said, ‘If not, please let two mule-loads of earth be given to your servant; for your servant will no longer offer burnt-offering or sacrifice to any god except the Lord. But may the Lord pardon your servant on one count: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow down in the house of Rimmon, when I do bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord pardon your servant on this one count.’ He said to him, ‘Go in peace.’
But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance, Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, ‘My master has let that Aramean Naaman off too lightly by not accepting from him what he offered. As the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something out of him.’ So Gehazi went after Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he jumped down from the chariot to meet him and said, ‘Is everything all right?’ He replied, ‘Yes, but my master has sent me to say, “Two members of a company of prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim; please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.” ’ Naaman said, ‘Please accept two talents.’ He urged him, and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and gave them to two of his servants, who carried them in front of Gehazi. When he came to the citadel, he took the bags from them, and stored them inside; he dismissed the men, and they left.
He went in and stood before his master; and Elisha said to him, ‘Where have you been, Gehazi?’ He answered, ‘Your servant has not gone anywhere at all.’ But he said to him, ‘Did I not go with you in spirit when someone left his chariot to meet you? Is this a time to accept money and to accept clothing, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves? Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you, and to your descendants for ever.’ So he left his presence leprous, as white as snow.
A Song of God’s Grace, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 58 (page 615), may be said
Refrain:
AllThe glorious grace of God
is freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. Alleluia.
1Blessed are you,
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ♦
for you have blest us in Christ Jesus
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
2You chose us to be yours
in Christ
before the foundation of the world, ♦
that we should be holy and blameless before you.
3In love you destined
us for adoption as your children,
through Jesus Christ, ♦
according to the purpose of your will,
4To the praise of your
glorious grace, ♦
which you freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
5In you, we have redemption
through the blood of Christ, ♦
the forgiveness of our sins,
6According to the riches
of your grace, ♦
which you have lavished upon us.
7You have made known
to us, in all wisdom and insight, ♦
the mystery of your will,
8According to your purpose
which you set forth in Christ, ♦
as a plan for the fullness of time,
9To unite all things
in Christ, ♦
things in heaven and things on earth.
Ephesians 1.3-10
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 glorious grace of God
is freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. Alleluia.
One or more readings appointed for the day are read.
The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence.
Agrippa said to Paul, ‘You have permission to speak for yourself.’ Then Paul stretched out his hand and began to defend himself:
‘I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am to make my defence today against all the accusations of the Jews, because you are especially familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews; therefore I beg of you to listen to me patiently.
‘All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, a life spent from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem. They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I have belonged to the strictest sect of our religion and lived as a Pharisee. And now I stand here on trial on account of my hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors, a promise that our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship day and night. It is for this hope, your Excellency, that I am accused by Jews! Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?
‘Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death. By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.
‘With this in mind, I was travelling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, when at midday along the road, your Excellency, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.” I asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The Lord answered, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”
‘After that, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout the countryside of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. To this day I have had help from God, and so I stand here, testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would take place: that the Messiah must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.’
A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow
Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
and be not wise in your own sight.
AllTrust in the Lord with
all your heart;
and be not wise in your own sight.
In all your ways acknowledge him
and he will make straight your paths.
AllTrust in the Lord with
all your heart.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
AllTrust in the Lord with
all your heart;
and be not wise in your own sight.
from Proverbs 3
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary) is normally said,
or A Song of the Blessed (page 606)
may be said
Refrain:
AllMy spirit rejoices in you,
O God,
my soul proclaims your greatness.
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:
AllMy spirit rejoices in you,
O God,
my soul proclaims your greatness.
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
¶ The media and the arts
¶ Farming and fishing
¶ Commerce and industry
¶ Those whose work is unfulfilling, stressful
or fraught with danger
¶ All who are unemployed
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 and everlasting God,
increase in us your gift of faith
that, forsaking what lies behind
and reaching out to that which is before,
we may run the way of your commandments
and win the crown of everlasting joy;
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, 2002-2018.