Evening Prayer: Friday 4 September 2015

September 4, 2015

Friday after Pentecost 14
Evening Prayer – Week C

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: Search me out, O God, and know my heart;* try me and know my restless thoughts. (Ps. 139.22)

Opening (from Psalm 139)

1 You trace my journeys and my resting-places*
and are acquainted with all my ways.
2 Indeed there is not a word on my lips,*
but you, O Lord, know it altogether.
3 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will cover me,*
and the light around me turn to night’,
4 Darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day;*
darkness and light to you are both alike.

Glory to the Father…

or a suitable hymn

Psalm 31.14-24
14 But as for me, I have trusted in you, O Lord.*
I have said, ‘You are my God.
15 My times are in your hand;*
rescue me from the hand of my enemies,
and from those who persecute me.
16 Make your face to shine upon your servant,*
and in your loving-kindness save me.’
17 Lord, let me not be ashamed for having called upon you;*
rather, let the wicked be put to shame;
let them be silent in the grave.
18 Let the lying lips be silenced which speak against the righteous,*
haughtily, disdainfully, and with contempt.
19 How great is your goodness, O Lord!
which you have laid up for those who fear you;*
which you have done in the sight of all
for those who put their trust in you.
20 You hide them in the covert of your presence from those
who slander them;*
you keep them in your shelter from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord!*
for he has shown me the wonders of his love in a besieged city.
22 Yet I said in my alarm,
‘I have been cut off from the sight of your eyes.’*
Nevertheless, you heard the sound of my entreaty
when I cried out to you.
23 Love the Lord, all you who worship him;*
the Lord protects the faithful,
but repays to the full those who act haughtily.
24 Be strong and let your heart take courage,*
all you who wait for the Lord.

Conclusion A song of Pilgrimage (from Sirach 51)

1 While I was still young, before I began my travels,*
I sought for wisdom openly in my prayers.
2 I asked for her outside the temple sanctuary,*
and I will seek her to the end.
3 She has been the delight of my heart.*
from first blossom to early fruit.
4 I have kept firmly to the true path;*
I have followed her steps since my youth.
5 I bowed my ear a little and received her;*
I found wisdom and was well instructed.
6 Glory to the One who gives me wisdom!*
I will live according to her way.
7 From the beginning I gained understanding from her;*
therefore I will never be deserted.
8 Because I longed to find her with all my heart,*
I have gained a good possession.
9 As my reward the Lord has given me a tongue*
with which I shall sing his praises.

Glory to the Father…

Antiphon: Search me out, O God, and know my heart;* try me and know my restless thoughts.

READING(S)

Mark 15:22-32
Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.

It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, ‘The King of the Jews.’ And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!’ In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.’ Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.

Response (Sirach 51.26)

Buy wisdom without money, take her yoke upon you.
Buy wisdom without money, take her yoke upon you.
Let your souls receive instruction.
Take her yoke upon you.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Buy wisdom without money, take her yoke upon you.

MAGNIFICAT

Magnificat Antiphon: God has cast down the mighty* and lifted up the lowly.

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: God has cast down the mighty* and lifted up the lowly.

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

Author and Giver of all good things, graft in our hearts the love of your name, increase in us true religion, nourish us in all goodness, and of your great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord, 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.