Holy Cross Day
Evening Prayer – Week B
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: Where can I go from your Spirit?
where can I flee from your presence?
Opening (from Psalm 139)
1 I will thank you because I am marvellously made;*
your works are wonderful, and I know it well.
2 My body was not hidden from you,*
while I was being made in secret
and woven in the depths of the earth.
3 How deep I find your thoughts, O God!*
how great is the sum of them!
4 If I were to count them, they would be more in number than the sand;* to count them all, my life span would need to be like yours.
Glory to the Father…
or a suitable hymn
Psalm 25
1To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
my God, I put my trust in you;*
let me not be humiliated,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
2 Let none who look to you be put to shame;*
let the treacherous be disappointed in their schemes.
3 Show me your ways, O Lord,*
and teach me your paths.
4 Lead me in your truth and teach me,*
for you are the God of my salvation;
in you have I trusted all the day long.
5 Remember, O Lord, your compassion and love,*
for they are from everlasting.
6 Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions;*
remember me according to your love
and for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.
7 Gracious and upright is the Lord;*
therefore he teaches sinners in his way.
8 He guides the humble in doing right*
and teaches his way to the lowly.
9 All the paths of the Lord are love and faithfulness*
to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
10 For your name’s sake, O Lord,*
forgive my sin, for it is great.
11 Who are they who fear the Lord?*
he will teach them the way that they should choose.
12 They shall dwell in prosperity,*
and their offspring shall inherit the land.
13 The Lord is a friend to those who fear him*
and will show them his covenant.
14 My eyes are ever looking to the Lord,*
for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.
15 Turn to me and have pity on me,*
for I am left alone and in misery.
16 The sorrows of my heart have increased;*
bring me out of my troubles.
17 Look upon my adversity and misery*
and forgive me all my sin.
18 Look upon my enemies, for they are many,*
and they bear a violent hatred against me.
19 Protect my life and deliver me;*
let me not be put to shame, for I have trusted in you.
20 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,*
for my hope has been in you.
21 Deliver Israel, O God,*
out of all his troubles.
God of compassion and love, forgive our sins, relieve our misery, satisfy our longing, and fulfil all our hopes for peace; through your Son Jesus Christ our Redeemer.
Conclusion (from 1 Timothy 3)
1 Great indeed, we confess,*
is the mystery of our religion.
2 He was manifested in the flesh,*
vindicated in the Spirit,
3 Seen by angels,*
preached among the nations,
4 Believed on in the world;*
taken up in glory.
Glory to the Father…
Antiphon: Where can I go from your Spirit?
where can I flee from your presence?
READING(S)
Genesis 3:1-15
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that theLord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.” ’ But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But theLord God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ He said, ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.’ He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’The man said, ‘The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.’ Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent tricked me, and I ate.’ The Lord God said to the serpent,
‘Because you have done this,
cursed are you among all animals
and among all wild creatures;
upon your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.’
1 Peter 3:17-22
For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight people, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.
Response (Ps. 105.5)
Call to mind what wonders he has done!
Call to mind what wonders he has done!
His marvellous acts and the judgements of his mouth.
What wonders he has done!
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Call to mind what wonders he has done!
MAGNIFICAT
Magnificat Antiphon: God looks with favour* on his lowly servant.
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 looks with favour* on his lowly servant.
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 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, whom it has pleased to redeem the human race through the precious blood of your Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: mercifully grant, that we, who rejoice in the life-giving Cross, might die to our sins and live for righteousness; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.
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.
