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: You are
my refuge, O God,
a strong tower against the enemy.
1 Hear my crying, O God, ♦
and listen to my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth I call to you with fainting heart; ♦
O set me on the rock that is higher than I.
3 For you are my refuge, ♦
a strong tower against the enemy.
4 Let me dwell in your tent for ever ♦
and take refuge under the cover of your wings. R
5 For you, O God, will hear my vows; ♦
you will grant the request of those who fear your name.
6 You will add length of days to the life of the king, ♦
that his years may endure throughout all generations.
7 May he sit enthroned before God for ever; ♦
may steadfast love and truth watch over him.
8 So will I always sing praise to your name, ♦
and day by day fulfil my vows.
Refrain: You are
my refuge, O God,
a strong tower against the enemy.
Risen Christ,
as you knew the discipline of suffering
and the victory that brings us salvation,
so grant us your presence in our weakness
and a place in your unending kingdom
now and for evermore.
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.
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.
Hear this word, you cows of Bashan
who are on Mount Samaria,
who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
who say to their husbands, ‘Bring something to drink!’
The Lord God has sworn by his holiness:
The time is surely coming upon you,
when they shall take you away with hooks,
even the last of you with fish-hooks.
Through breaches in the wall you shall leave,
each one straight ahead;
and you shall be flung out into Harmon,
says the Lord.
Come to Bethel—and transgress;
to Gilgal—and multiply transgression;
bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three days;
bring a thank-offering of leavened bread,
and proclaim freewill-offerings, publish them;
for so you love to do, O people of Israel!
says the Lord God.
I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
and lack of bread in all your places,
yet you did not return to me,
says the Lord.
And I also withheld the rain from you
when there were still three months to the harvest;
I would send rain on one city,
and send no rain on another city;
one field would be rained upon,
and the field on which it did not rain withered;
so two or three towns wandered to one town
to drink water, and were not satisfied;
yet you did not return to me,
says the Lord.
I struck you with blight and mildew;
I laid waste your gardens and your vineyards;
the locust devoured your fig trees and your olive trees;
yet you did not return to me,
says the Lord.
I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword;
I carried away your horses;
and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
yet you did not return to me,
says the Lord.
I overthrew some of you,
as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
and you were like a brand snatched from the fire;
yet you did not return to me,
says the Lord.
Therefore, thus I will do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!
For lo, the one who forms the mountains, creates the wind,
reveals his thoughts to mortals,
makes the morning darkness,
and treads on the heights of the earth—
the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!
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.
And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, ‘I belong to Paul’, and another, ‘I belong to Apollos’, are you not merely human?
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labour of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. If the work is burned, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written,
‘He catches the wise in their craftiness’,
and again,
‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise,
that they are futile.’
So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours,
whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all belong to you,
and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
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
Eternal Father,
who at the baptism of Jesus
revealed him to be your Son,
anointing him with the Holy Spirit:
grant to us, who are born again by water and the Spirit,
that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children;
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.