Evening Prayer

Sunday 23rd May 2020

THE PREPARATION

O God, make speed to save us.

O Lord, make haste to help us.

Lead your people to freedom, O God,

And banish all darkness from our hearts and minds.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen
Alleluia!

THE OPENING CANTICLE:

A SONG OF WORSHIP

1 Behold now, bless the Lord,

   all you servants of the Lord,*
you that stand by night in the house of the Lord.
2 Lift up your hands in the holy place
   and bless the Lord;*
the Lord who made heaven and earth
   bless you out of Zion.
Psalm 134
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen
Alleluia!

A HYMN may be sung.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord!

Unnumbered blessings give my spirit voice;
tender to me the promise of his word;
in God my Saviour shall my heart rejoice.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his Name!

Make known his might, the deeds his arm has done;
his mercy sure, from age to age to same;
his holy Name--the Lord, the Mighty One.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his might!

Powers and dominions lay their glory by.
Proud hearts and stubborn wills are put to flight,
the hungry fed, the humble lifted high.

Tell out, my soul, the glories of his word!

Firm is his promise, and his mercy sure.
Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord
to children's children and for evermore!

THE OPENING PRAYER may be said.

May we, Lord,

who walk in the light of your presence
acclaim your Christ, rising victorious,
as he banishes all darkness
   from our hearts and minds,
now and for ever. Amen.

THE WORD OF GOD

THE PSALMODY

Psalm 104: 24-34

How many are your works, LORD!

    In wisdom you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.
25 
There is the sea, vast and spacious,
    teeming with creatures beyond number—
    living things both large and small.
26 
There the ships go to and fro,
    and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
27 
All creatures look to you
    to give them their food at the proper time.
28 
When you give it to them,
    they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
    they are satisfied with good things.
29 
When you hide your face,
    they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to the dust.
30 
When you send your Spirit,
    they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.
31 
May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
    may the LORD rejoice in his works—
32 
he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
    who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 
I will sing to the LORD all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

Each psalm, or group of psalms, may end with:

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen

If there are two SCRIPTURE READINGS, the first may be read here, or both may be
read after the second canticle. [lectionary]

THE SECOND CANTICLE:

By the river stood the tree of life,*

with healing for all the nations.

A SONG OF FAITH (48)

Refrain: God raised Christ from the dead,*

the Lamb without spot or stain.
1 Blessèd be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,*
who in his great mercy
   gave us a new birth as his children.
2 He has raised Jesus Christ from the dead,*
so that we have a sure hope in him.
3 We have the promise of an inheritance
   that can never be spoilt,*
because it is kept for us in heaven.
4 The ransom that was paid to free us*
was not paid in silver or gold,
5 But in the precious blood of Christ,*
the Lamb without spot or stain.
6 God raised him from the dead and gave him glory*
so that we might have faith and hope in God.
From 1 Peter 1
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen

God raised Christ from the dead,*

the Lamb without spot or stain.

On feasts of Group Commemorations, numbers 47 & 49 are alternative canticles.

THE SCRIPTURE READING(S)

Isaiah 65: 17-end

New Heavens and a New Earth

17 
“See, I will create
    new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
    nor will they come to mind.
18 
But be glad and rejoice forever
    in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
    and its people a joy.
19 
I will rejoice over Jerusalem
    and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
    will be heard in it no more.
20 
“Never again will there be in it
    an infant who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
    will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[a] a hundred
    will be considered accursed.
21 
They will build houses and dwell in them;
    they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 
No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
    or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
    so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
    the work of their hands.
23 
They will not labour in vain,
    nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the LORD,
    they and their descendants with them.
24 
Before they call I will answer;
    while they are still speaking I will hear.
25 
The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
    and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,”
says the LORD.

A RESPONSORY may be said.

The Lord is my light and my salvation;

   the Lord is the strength of my life.
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
   the Lord is the strength of my life.
The light shines in the darkness
   and the darkness has not overcome it.
The Lord is the strength of my life.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,

   and to the Holy Spirit.
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
   the Lord is the strength of my life.

THE GOSPEL CANTICLE: MAGNIFICAT (37)

For he has looked with favour on his lowly servant.*

From this day all generations will call me blessèd:
The Almighty has done great things for me*
and holy is his name.
He has mercy on those who fear him,*
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm*
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones*
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things*
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant, Israel,*
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our forebears,*
to Abraham and his children for ever.

THE PRAYERS

On this day that the Lord has made, let us give God the glory
and pray for the people he has redeemed.

That we may live as those who believe

in the triumph of the cross: R.

That all people may receive the good news of his victory: R.

That those born to new life in the waters of baptism

may know the power of his resurrection: R.

That those who suffer pain and anguish may find healing and peace
in the wounds of Christ: R.

That in the undying love of Christ,

we may have union with all who have died: R.
Let us join our voices with the saints in proclaiming
that Christ has given us the victory.

THE COLLECT of the day, or one of the following.

Grant to us, Lord, we pray,

the spirit to think and do always
such things as be rightful;
that we, who cannot do anything that is good without you
may by you be enabled to live
   according to your will;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

THE LORD’S PRAYER may be said.

[Rejoicing in God’s new creation,

let us pray as our Redeemer has taught us:]

Our 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.

THE CONCLUSION

THE BLESSING

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.

May the risen Christ grant us the joy of eternal life. Amen.

Let us bless the Lord. Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thanks be to God. Alleluia! Alleluia!