O God, make speed to save us.
AllO Lord, make haste to help us.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
Allyour glory is proclaimed
in all the world.
One or more of the following is said or sung:
this or another prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
our light and our salvation,
to you be glory and praise for ever.
You gave your Christ as a light to the nations,
and through the anointing of the Spirit
you established us as a royal priesthood.
As you call us into your marvellous light,
may our lives bear witness to your truth
and our lips never cease to proclaim your praise.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
AllBlessed be God for ever.
A Song of God’s Splendour (page 561), the following or another suitable hymn
O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
Bow down before him, his glory proclaim;
with gold of obedience, and incense of lowliness,
kneel and adore him, the Lord is his name!
Low at his feet lay thy burden of carefulness,
high on his heart he will bear it for thee,
comfort thy sorrows, and answer thy prayerfulness,
guiding thy steps as may best for thee be.
Fear not to enter his courts in the slenderness
of the poor wealth thou wouldst reckon as thine:
truth in its beauty, and love in its tenderness,
these are the offerings to lay on his shrine.
These though we bring them in trembling and fearfulness,
he will accept for the name that is dear;
mornings of joy give for evenings of tearfulness,
trust for our trembling and hope for our fear.
O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
Bow down before him, his glory proclaim;
with gold of obedience, and incense of lowliness,
kneel and adore him, the Lord is his name!
J S B Monsell
(Tune: 13 10 13 10)
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: O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
1 Sing to the Lord a new song; ♦
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord and bless his name; ♦
tell out his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations ♦
and his wonders among all peoples. R
4 For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; ♦
he is more to be feared than all gods.
5 For all the gods of the nations are but idols; ♦
it is the Lord who made the heavens.
6 Honour and majesty are before him; ♦
power and splendour are in his sanctuary. R
7 Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples; ♦
ascribe to the Lord honour and strength.
8 Ascribe to the Lord the honour due to his name; ♦
bring offerings and come into his courts.
9 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; ♦
let the whole earth tremble before him.
10 Tell it out among the nations that the Lord is king. ♦
He has made the world so firm that it cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity. R
11 Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad; ♦
let the sea thunder and all that is in it;
12 Let the fields be joyful and all that is in them; ♦
let all the trees of the wood shout for joy before the Lord.
13 For he comes, he comes to judge the earth; ♦
with righteousness he will judge the world
and the peoples with his truth.
Refrain: O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
Lord God, you draw us by your beauty
and transform us by your holiness;
let our worship echo all creation’s praise
and declare your glory to the nations;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Refrain: You, Lord, are most high over all the earth.
1 The Lord is king: let the earth rejoice; ♦
let the multitude of the isles be glad.
2 Clouds and darkness are round about him; ♦
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him ♦
and burns up his enemies on every side. R
4 His lightnings lit up the world; ♦
the earth saw it and trembled.
5 The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, ♦
at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The heavens declared his righteousness ♦
and all the peoples have seen his glory. R
7 Confounded be all who worship carved images
and delight in mere idols. ♦
Bow down before him, all you gods.
8 Zion heard and was glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoiced, ♦
because of your judgements, O Lord.
9 For you, Lord, are most high over all the earth; ♦
you are exalted far above all gods. R
10 The Lord loves those who hate evil; ♦
he preserves the lives of his faithful
and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light has sprung up for the righteous ♦
and joy for the true of heart.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, ♦
and give thanks to his holy name.
Refrain: You, Lord, are most high over all the earth.
Most high and holy God,
enthroned in fire and light,
burn away the dross of our lives
and kindle in us the fire of your love,
that our lives may reveal the light and life
we find in your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
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.
Listen to me, O coastlands,
pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The Lord called me before I was born,
while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me away.
And he said to me, ‘You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’
But I said, ‘I have laboured in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the Lord,
and my reward with my God.’
And now the Lord says,
who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honoured in the sight of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
he says,
‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’
Thus says the Lord,
the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations,
the slave of rulers,
‘Kings shall see and stand up,
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.’
Thus says the Lord:
In a time of favour I have answered you,
on a day of salvation I have helped you;
I have kept you and given you
as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
to apportion the desolate heritages;
saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out’,
to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
They shall feed along the ways,
on all the bare heights shall be their pasture;
they shall not hunger or thirst,
neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down,
for he who has pity on them will lead them,
and by springs of water will guide them.
And I will turn all my mountains into a road,
and my highways shall be raised up.
Lo, these shall come from far away,
and lo, these from the north and from the west,
and these from the land of Syene.
Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord has comforted his people,
and will have compassion on his suffering ones.
A Song of Praise, or another suitable canticle, for example, number
63 (page 621) or number 71 (page
629), may be said
Refrain:
AllYou created all things,
O God,
and are worthy of our praise for ever. Alleluia.
1You are worthy, our
Lord and God, ♦
to receive glory and honour and power.
2For you have created
all things, ♦
and by your will they have their being.
3You are worthy, O Lamb,
for you were slain, ♦
and by your blood you ransomed for God
saints from every tribe and language and nation.
4You have made them to
be a kingdom and priests
serving our God, ♦
and they will reign with you on earth.
Revelation 4.11; 5.9b, 10
AllTo the One who sits on the
throne and to the Lamb ♦
be blessing and honour and glory and might, for ever and ever. Amen.
AllYou created all things,
O God,
and are worthy of our praise for ever. Alleluia.
One or more readings appointed for the day are read.
The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence.
A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’. (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink”, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.’
Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come back.’ The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am he, the one who is speaking to you.’
A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow
Arise, shine, for your light has come;
the glory of the Lord is rising upon you.
AllArise, shine, for your
light has come;
the glory of the Lord is rising upon you.
God’s salvation has been openly shown to all people.
AllThe glory of the Lord
is rising upon you.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit.
AllArise, shine, for your
light has come;
the glory of the Lord is rising upon you.
from Isaiah 60
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary) is normally said,
or A Song of Christ’s Appearing
(page 621) may be said
Refrain:
AllBehold, my servant, whom
I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
the anointed one on whom my Spirit rests.
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:
AllBehold, my servant, whom
I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
the anointed one on whom my Spirit rests.
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
¶ The unity of the Church
¶ The peace of the world
¶ The healing of the sick
¶ The revelation of Christ to those from whom
his glory is hidden
¶ All who travel
A form of prayer found on page 379 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
O God,
who by the leading of a star
manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth:
mercifully grant that we,
who know you now by faith,
may at last behold your glory 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
Believing the promises of God,
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)
Believing the promises of God,
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 Christ, who sends us to the nations,
give us the power of his Spirit.
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, 2002–2021.