Evening Prayer: Saturday 3 January 2026

Saturday 3 January 2026

This is the new revised order for Daily Prayer authorised for experimental use. You can find the 2006 Revised version here.

Saturday after first Sunday after Christmas
Christmas and Epiphany

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

Glory to God, Source of all Being, Eternal Word, and Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever.
Amen.

PSALMODY

Antiphon: Let your loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us, as we have put our trust in you.
Psalm 33.22

Opening (from Psalm 33)

1. Behold, your eye, O Lord, is upon those who fear you, *
on those who wait upon your love.
2. To pluck their lives from death, *
and to feed them in time of famine.
3. Our soul waits for the Lord *
who is our help and our shield.
4. Indeed, our heart rejoices in God *
in whose holy name we put our trust.

Glory ...
or a suitable Hymn

Psalm 9
1. I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart;* I will tell of all your marvellous works.
2. I will be glad and rejoice in you; *
I will sing to your name, O Most High.
3. When my enemies are driven back, *
they will stumble and perish at your presence.
4. For you have maintained my right and my cause; * you sit upon your throne judging right.
5. You have rebuked the ungodly and destroyed the wicked; *
you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
6. As for the enemy, they are finished, in perpetual ruin, *
their cities ploughed under, the memory of them perished;
7. but you, O Lord, are enthroned for ever; * you have set up your throne for judgement.
8. It is you who rules the world with righteousness; * you judge the peoples with equity.
9. You will be a refuge for the oppressed, * a refuge in time of trouble.
10. Those who know your name will put their trust in you,* for you never forsake those who seek you, O Lord. 
11. Sing praise to the Lord who dwells in Zion; * proclaim to the peoples the things God has done.
12. The avenger of blood will remember them * and will not forget the cry of the afflicted.
13. Have pity on me, O Lord; *
see the misery I suffer from those who hate me, O you who lift me up from the gate of death;
14. so that I may tell of all your praises and rejoice in your salvation *
in the gates of the city of Zion.
15. The ungodly have fallen into the pit they dug, * and in the snare they set is their own foot caught.
16. O Lord, you are known by your acts of justice; * the wicked are trapped in the works of their own hands.
17. The wicked shall be given over to the grave, * and also all the peoples that forget you.
18. For the needy shall not always be forgotten, * and the hope of the poor shall not perish for ever.
19. Rise up, O Lord, let not the ungodly have the upper hand; *
let them be judged before you.
20 Put fear upon them, O Lord; *
let the ungodly know they are but mortal.

Glory …

Conclusion


Philippians 2

1. Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus:*
the divine nature was his from the first:
2. Yet he did not grasp at equality with God;*
he emptied himself and became like a slave.
3. Taking the nature of man he was revealed in human form;*
he humbled himself and became obedient even to death,
death on a cross.
4. Therefore God has raised him on high,*
and has given him a name above every other name;
5. So that in the name of Jesus every knee shall bow,*
in heaven, on earth, and in the depths;
6. And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord;*
to the glory of God the Father.

Glory …

Antiphon: Let your loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us, as we have put our trust in you.

READING(S)

John 6.15-27

When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, got into a boat, and started across the lake to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The lake became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the lake and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid.’ Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land towards which they were going. The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the lake saw that there had been only one boat there. They also saw that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Then some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’

Silence

Response Psalm 89.27

I will make the son of David my firstborn.
I will make the son of David my firstborn.
Higher than the rulers of the earth.
My firstborn.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
I will make the son of David my firstborn.

SONG OF MARY

Song of Mary Antiphon: To us is born this day a Saviour,* Christ the Lord. Luke 2.11

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)

Song of Mary Antiphon: To us is born this day a Saviour,* Christ the Lord. Luke 2.11

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,
you make us glad with the yearly remembrance
of the birth of your Son, Jesus Christ:
grant that, as we joyfully receive him as our Saviour,
so we may with confidence
behold him as he comes to be our Judge;
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.