O God, make speed to save us.
AllO Lord, make haste to help us.
Reveal among us the light of your presence
Allthat we may behold your
power and glory.
One or more of the following is said or sung:
this or another prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
creator of light and darkness,
to you be glory and praise for ever.
As evening falls, you renew your promise
to reveal among us the light of your presence.
May your word be a lantern to our feet
and a light upon our path
that we may behold your coming among us.
Strengthen us in our stumbling weakness
and free our tongues to sing your praise.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
AllBlessed be God for ever.
A Song of Mercy and Truth (page 559), the following or another suitable hymn
Creator of the stars of night,
thy people’s everlasting light,
O Jesu, Saviour of us all,
regard thy servants when they call.
Thou, grieving at the bitter cry
of all creation doomed to die,
didst come to save a ruined race
with healing gifts of heavenly grace.
Thou camest, Bridegroom of the bride,
as drew the world to evening-tide,
proceeding from a virgin shrine,
the Son of Man, yet Lord divine.
At thy great name, exalted now,
all knees must bend, all hearts must bow,
and things in heaven and earth shall own
that thou art Lord and King alone.
To thee, O holy One, we pray
our judge in that tremendous day,
preserve us, while we dwell below,
from every onslaught of the foe.
All praise, eternal Son, to thee,
whose advent sets thy people free,
whom with the Father we adore,
and Spirit blest, for evermore.
Latin, tr: J M Neale
(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: O praise the name of the Lord.
1 Alleluia.
Praise the Lord from the heavens; ♦
praise him in the heights.
2 Praise him, all you his angels; ♦
praise him, all his host.
3 Praise him, sun and moon; ♦
praise him, all you stars of light.
4 Praise him, heaven of heavens, ♦
and you waters above the heavens.
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord; ♦
for he commanded and they were created.
6 He made them fast for ever and ever; ♦
he gave them a law which shall not pass away. R
7 Praise the Lord from the earth, ♦
you sea monsters and all deeps;
8 Fire and hail, snow and mist, ♦
tempestuous wind, fulfilling his word;
9 Mountains and all hills, ♦
fruit trees and all cedars;
10 Wild beasts and all cattle, ♦
creeping things and birds on the wing;
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples, ♦
princes and all rulers of the world;
12 Young men and women,
old and young together; ♦
let them praise the name of the Lord.
13 For his name only is exalted, ♦
his splendour above earth and heaven.
14 He has raised up the horn of his people
and praise for all his faithful servants, ♦
the children of Israel, a people who are near him.
Alleluia.
Refrain: O praise the name of the Lord.
O glorious God,
your whole creation sings your marvellous work;
may heaven’s praise so echo in our hearts
that we may be good stewards of the earth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Refrain: Sound praises to the Lord, all the earth.
1 Alleluia.
O sing to the Lord a new song; ♦
sing his praise in the congregation of the faithful.
2 Let Israel rejoice in their maker; ♦
let the children of Zion be joyful in their king.
3 Let them praise his name in the dance; ♦
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and lyre.
4 For the Lord has pleasure in his people ♦
and adorns the poor with salvation. R
5 Let the faithful be joyful in glory; ♦
let them rejoice in their ranks,
6 With the praises of God in their mouths ♦
and a two-edged sword in their hands;
7 To execute vengeance on the nations ♦
and punishment on the peoples;
8 To bind their kings in chains ♦
and their nobles with fetters of iron;
9 To execute on them the judgement decreed: ♦
such honour have all his faithful servants.
Alleluia.
Refrain: Sound praises to the Lord, all the earth.
Glorious and redeeming God,
give us hearts to praise you all our days
and wills to reject the world’s deceits,
that we may bind the evils of our age
and proclaim the good news of salvation
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Refrain: Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
1 Alleluia.
O praise God in his holiness; ♦
praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts; ♦
praise him according to his excellent greatness. R
3 Praise him with the blast of the trumpet; ♦
praise him upon the harp and lyre.
4 Praise him with timbrel and dances; ♦
praise him upon the strings and pipe. R
5 Praise him with ringing cymbals; ♦
praise him upon the clashing cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath ♦
praise the Lord.
Alleluia.
Refrain: Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
God of life and love,
whose Son was victorious over sin and death,
make us alive with his life,
that the whole world may resound with your praise;
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.
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth!
Let the sea roar and all that fills it,
the coastlands and their inhabitants.
Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice,
the villages that Kedar inhabits;
let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy,
let them shout from the tops of the mountains.
Let them give glory to the Lord,
and declare his praise in the coastlands.
The Lord goes forth like a soldier,
like a warrior he stirs up his fury;
he cries out, he shouts aloud,
he shows himself mighty against his foes.
For a long time I have held my peace,
I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out like a woman in labour,
I will gasp and pant.
I will lay waste mountains and hills,
and dry up all their herbage;
I will turn the rivers into islands,
and dry up the pools.
I will lead the blind
by a road they do not know,
by paths they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will do,
and I will not forsake them.
They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame—
those who trust in carved images,
who say to cast images,
‘You are our gods.’
A Song of the Spirit, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 57 (page 614) or number 72 (page 630), may be said
Refrain:
AllSurely I am coming soon.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! Alleluia.
1‘Behold, I am
coming soon’, says the Lord,
‘and bringing my reward with me, ♦
to give to everyone according to their deeds.
2‘I am the Alpha
and the Omega, the first and the last, ♦
the beginning and the end.’
3Blessed are those who
do God’s commandments,
that they may have the right to the tree of life, ♦
and may enter into the city through the gates.
4‘I, Jesus, have
sent my angel to you, ♦
with this testimony for all the churches.
5‘I am the root
and the offspring of David, ♦
I am the bright morning star.’
6‘Come!’
say the Spirit and the Bride; ♦
‘Come!’ let each hearer reply.
7Come forward, you who
are thirsty, ♦
let those who desire take the water of life as a gift.
Revelation 22.12-14, 16, 17
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.
AllSurely I am coming soon.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! Alleluia.
One or more readings appointed for the day are read.
The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence.
I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with his splendour.
He called out with a mighty voice,
‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
It has become a dwelling-place of demons,
a haunt of every foul spirit,
a haunt of every foul bird,
a haunt of every foul and hateful beast.
For all the nations have drunk
of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,
and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her,
and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxury.’
Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,
‘Come out of her, my people,
so that you do not take part in her sins,
and so that you do not share in her plagues;
for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities.
Render to her as she herself has rendered,
and repay her double for her deeds;
mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed.
As she glorified herself and lived luxuriously,
so give her a like measure of torment and grief.
Since in her heart she says,
“I rule as a queen;
I am no widow,
and I will never see grief”,
therefore her plagues will come in a single day—
pestilence and mourning and famine—
and she will be burned with fire;
for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.’
And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning;
they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,
‘Alas, alas, the great city,
Babylon, the mighty city!
For in one hour your judgement has come.’
And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo any more,
cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble,
cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, choice flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, slaves—and human lives.
‘The fruit for which your soul longed
has gone from you,
and all your dainties and your splendour
are lost to you,
never to be found again!’
The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,
‘Alas, alas, the great city,
clothed in fine linen,
in purple and scarlet,
adorned with gold,
with jewels, and with pearls!
For in one hour all this wealth has been laid waste!’
And all shipmasters and seafarers, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off
and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning,
‘What city was like the great city?’
And they threw dust on their heads, as they wept and mourned, crying out,
‘Alas, alas, the great city,
where all who had ships at sea
grew rich by her wealth!
For in one hour she has been laid waste.’
Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints and apostles and prophets! For God has given judgement for you against her.
Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,
‘With such violence Babylon the great city
will be thrown down,
and will be found no more;
and the sound of harpists and minstrels and of flautists and trumpeters
will be heard in you no more;
and an artisan of any trade
will be found in you no more;
and the sound of the millstone
will be heard in you no more;
and the light of a lamp
will shine in you no more;
and the voice of bridegroom and bride
will be heard in you no more;
for your merchants were the magnates of the earth,
and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.
And in you was found the blood of prophets and of saints,
and of all who have been slaughtered on earth.’
A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow
My soul is waiting for you, O Lord:
in your word is my hope.
AllMy soul is waiting for
you, O Lord:
in your word is my hope.
There is forgiveness with you,
so that you shall be feared.
AllIn your word is my hope.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit.
AllMy soul is waiting for
you, O Lord:
in your word is my hope.
from Psalm 130
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary) is normally said, or The Song of Christ's Glory (page 619) may be said
Refrain:
AllLord Jesus, you are the
one who is to come,
the one whom we await with longing hearts.
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:
AllLord Jesus, you are the
one who is to come,
the one whom we await with longing hearts.
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 Church, that she may be ready for the
coming of Christ
¶ The leaders of the Church
¶ The nations, that they may be subject to the
rule of God
¶ Those who are working for justice in the world
¶ The broken, that they may find God’s
healing
A form of prayer found on page 377 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,
give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light,
now in the time of this mortal life,
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day,
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him 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
Awaiting his coming in glory,
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)
Awaiting his coming in glory,
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 Lord, when he comes,
find us watching and waiting.
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.