Evening Prayer: Thursday 18 May 2017

May 18, 2017

Thursday after Fifth Sunday of Easter
Evening Prayer – New Life: The Lord

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: With you is the well of life,* and in your light we see light. (Ps. 36.9)

Opening (from Psalm 36)

1 Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens,*
and your faithfulness to the clouds.
2 Your righteousness is like the strong mountains,
your justice like the great deep;*
you save both man and beast, O Lord.
3 How priceless is your love, O God!*
your people take refuge under the shadow of your wings.
4 They feast upon the abundance of your house;*
you give them drink from the river of your delights.

Glory to the Father…

or a suitable hymn

Psalm 133
1 Oh, how good and pleasant it is,*
when brethren live together in unity!
2 It is like fine oil upon the head*
that runs down upon the beard,
3 Upon the beard of Aaron,*
and runs down upon the collar of his robe.
4 It is like the dew of Hermon*
that falls upon the hills of Zion.
5 For there the Lord has ordained the blessing:*
life for evermore.
Creator of the universe, from whom all things come, to whom all things return, give your people such unity of heart and mind, that all the world may grow in the life of your eternal kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 134
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.

Conclusion (from Colossians 1)

1 Give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ;*
he has delivered us from the dominion of darkness.
2 He has transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,*
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.
3 He is the image of the invisible God,*
the first-born of all creation.
4 For in him all things were created,*
in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.
5 He is the head of the body, the church;*
he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead.
6 In him all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell,*
to reconcile all things to himself,
making peace by the blood of his cross.

Glory to the Father…

Antiphon: With you is the well of life,* and in your light we see light. (Ps. 36.9)

READING(S)

Luke 8:26-39
Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes,* which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn* no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me’— for Jesus* had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Legion’; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.

Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons* begged Jesus* to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes* asked Jesus* to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus* sent him away, saying, ‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

Response (Ps. 30.1)

I will exalt you, O Lord, for you have lifted me up; alleluia, alleluia.
I will exalt you, O Lord, for you have lifted me up; alleluia, alleluia.
You have not let my enemies triumph over me.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
I will exalt you, O Lord, for you have lifted me up; alleluia, alleluia.

MAGNIFICAT

Magnificat Antiphon: I am the way,* the truth and the life, says the Lord; alleluia!

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: I am the way,* the truth and the life, says the Lord; alleluia!

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

Almighty God, your Son Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life.  Give us grace to love one another and walk in the way of his commandments, 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.