Evening Prayer: Thursday 25 September 2025

Thursday 25 September 2025

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

Finnbar of Caithness, Bishop, c 610
Season of Creation

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: Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation All things have been created through Christ and for Christ.
(Colossians 1.15,16)

Opening (from Psalm 19.1-4)

1. The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.

2. Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.

3. There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;


4. Yet their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.

Glory ...
or a suitable Hymn

Psalm 69.1-18
1. Save me, O God, *
for the waters have risen up to my neck.

2. I am sinking in deep mire, and there is no firm ground for my feet.*
I have come into deep waters, and the torrent washes over me.

3. I have grown weary with my crying; my throat is inflamed; *
my eyes have failed from looking for my God.

4. Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; *
my lying foes who would destroy me are mighty. Must I then give back what I never stole?

5. O God, you know my foolishness, *
and my faults are not hidden from you.

6. Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, Lord God of hosts; *
let not those who seek you be disgraced because of me, O God of Israel.

7. Surely, for your sake have I suffered reproach, *
and shame has covered my face.

8. I have become a stranger to my own kindred, *
an alien to my mother’s children.

9. Zeal for your house has eaten me up; *
the scorn of those who scorn you has fallen upon me.

10. I humbled myself with fasting, *
but that was turned to my reproach.

11. I put on sack-cloth also, *
and became a byword among them.

12. Those who sit at the gate murmur against me, *
and the drunkards make songs about me.

13. But as for me, this is my prayer to you, *at the time you have set, O Lord:
“In your great mercy, O God, *answer me with your unfailing help.

14. Save me from the mire; *do not let me sink;
let me be rescued from those who hate me *and out of the deep waters.

15. Let not the torrent of waters wash over me, neither let the deep swallow me up; *
do not let the Pit shut its mouth upon me.

16. Answer me, O Lord, for your love is kind; *
in your great compassion, turn to me.”

17. “Hide not your face from your servant; *
be swift and answer me, for I am in distress.

18. Draw near to me and redeem me; *
because of my enemies deliver me.

Glory …

Conclusion


Benedicite

All you Works of the Lord, bless the Lord :
praise and magnify God for ever.
O Showers and Dew, bless the Lord :
praise and magnify God for ever.
O Winds of God, bless the Lord :
praise and magnify God for ever.
O Fire and Heat, bless the Lord :
praise and magnify God for ever.
O Winter and Summer, bless the Lord :
praise and magnify God for ever.
O Frost and Cold, bless the Lord:
praise and magnify God for ever.

Glory …

Antiphon: Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. All things have been created through Christ and for Christ.

READING(S)

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

‘Beware of practising your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.* ‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.* ‘And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.*

Silence

Response John 1

Through God’s Word all things were made.
Through God’s Word all things were made.
In the Word is life
And the life is the light of all people.
Glory to God, Source of all Being, Eternal Word and Holy Spirit.
Through God’s Word all things were made.

SONG OF MARY

Song of Mary Antiphon: I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121.1-2)

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: I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121.1-2)

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,
in whose wisdom all things have been established in order:
enlighten the people you have saved,
that they may consider
the greater wonder of your new creation,
brought forth in the fullness of time,
through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord,
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.