Evening Prayer: Tuesday 31 March 2015

March 31, 2015

TUESDAY OF HOLY WEEK
Evening Prayer – The Suffering Christ

O God, make speed to save us;
O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory 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.

PSALMODY

Antiphon: Lord, hear my prayer;* answer me in your righteousness. (Ps. 143.1)

Opening (from (from Psalm 143))

1 I spread out my hands to you;*
my soul gasps to you like a thirsty land.
2 O Lord, make haste to answer me; my spirit fails me;*
do not hide your face from me
or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
3 Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord,*
for I flee to you for refuge.
4 Teach me to do what pleases you, for you are my God;*
let your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

Glory to the Father…

or a suitable hymn

Psalm 69:19-38
19 ‘Hide not your face from your servant;*
be swift and answer me, for I am in distress.
20 Draw near to me and redeem me;*
because of my enemies deliver me.
21 You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonour;*
my adversaries are all in your sight.’
22 Reproach has broken my heart, and it cannot be healed;*
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
for comforters, but I could find no one.
23 They gave me gall to eat,*
and when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar to drink.
24 Let the table before them be a trap*
and their sacred feasts a snare.
25 Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see,*
and give them continual trembling in their loins.
26 Pour out your indignation upon them,*
and let the fierceness of your anger overtake them.
27 Let their camp be desolate,*
and let there be none to dwell in their tents.
28 For they persecute him whom you have stricken*
and add to the pain of those whom you have pierced.
29 Lay to their charge guilt upon guilt,*
and let them not receive your vindication.
30 Let them be wiped out of the book of the living*
and not be written among the righteous.
31 As for me, I am afflicted and in pain;*
your help, O God, will lift me up on high.
32 I will praise the name of God in song;*
I will proclaim his greatness with thanksgiving.
33 This will please the Lord more than an offering of oxen,*
more than bullocks with horns and hoofs.
34 The afflicted shall see and be glad;*
you who seek God, your heart shall live.
35 For the Lord listens to the needy,*
and his prisoners he does not despise.
36 Let the heavens and the earth praise him,*
the seas and all that moves in them;
37 For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah;*
they shall live there and have it in possession.
38 The children of his servants will inherit it,*
and those who love his name will dwell therein.

Conclusion (from 1 Peter 2)

1 Christ our Lord suffered for us, leaving us an example,*
that we should follow in his steps.
2 He committed no sin, no guile was found on his lips;*
when he was reviled he did not revile in return.
3 When he suffered he did not threaten,*
but trusted in God who judges justly.
4 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree,*
that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
5 By his wounds we have been healed;*
for we were straying like sheep,
6 But now we have returned*
to the shepherd and guardian of our souls.

Glory to the Father…

Antiphon: Lord, hear my prayer;* answer me in your righteousness. (Ps. 143.1)

READING(S)

John 12:20-26
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.

Response (Ps. 140.6)

I have said to the Lord, You are my God.
I have said to the Lord, You are my God.
Listen, O Lord, to my supplication.
You are my God.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
I have said to the Lord, You are my God.

MAGNIFICAT

Magnificat Antiphon: False witnesses have risen against me,* and they breathe out violence.

1 My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,*
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour;
2 for he has looked with favour on his lowly servant;*
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
3 The Almighty has done great things for me*
and holy is his name.
4 He has mercy on those who fear him*
in every generation.
5 He has shown the strength of his arm;*
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
6 He has cast down the mighty from their thrones*
and has lifted up the lowly.
7 He has filled the hungry with good things,*
and the rich he has sent away empty.
8 He has come to the help of his servant Israel,*
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
9 the promise he made to our forebears,*
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father… (may be said by all)

Magnificat Antiphon: False witnesses have risen against me,* and they breathe out violence.

PRAYERS

Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.

Our 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.
Do not bring us to to the time of trial,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever.
Amen.

Collect of the Day

O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life. May our lives be so transformed by his passion that we may witness to his grace; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Lord God almighty, come and dispel the darkness from our hearts, that in the radiance of your brightness we may know you, the only unfading light, glorious in all eternity. Amen.

Let us bless the Lord:
Thanks be to God!

The God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing:
through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.