Evening Prayer: Thursday 4 December 2025

Thursday 4 December 2025

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

Clement of Alexandria, Teacher of the Faith, c 214
Advent

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: My eyes are turned to you, Lord God; * in you I take refuge; do not strip me of my life.
(Psalm 141.8)

Opening (from Psalms 140 and 141)

1. I have said to the Lord, ”You are my God;
listen, O Lord, to my supplication.”

2. Lord, I call to you; come to me quickly; *
hear my voice when I cry to you

3. I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the poor *
and render justice to the needy.

4. Surely, the righteous will give thanks to your name,*
and the upright shall continue in your sight.

Glory ...
or a suitable Hymn

Psalm 88
1. O Lord, my God, my Saviour, *
by day and night I cry to you.

2. Let my prayer enter into your presence; *
incline your ear to my lamentation.

3. For I am full of trouble; *
my life is at the brink of the grave.

4. I am counted among those who go down to the
Pit; *
I have become like one who has no strength;

5. lost among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, *
whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand.

6. You have laid me in the depths of the Pit, *
in dark places, and in the abyss.

7. Your anger weighs upon me heavily, *
and all your great waves overwhelm me.

8. You have put my friends far from me;
you have made me to be abhorred by them; *
I am in prison and cannot get free.

9. My sight has failed me because of trouble; *
Lord, I have called upon you daily;
I have stretched out my hands to you.

10. Do you work wonders for the dead? *
Will those who have died stand up and give you thanks?

11. Will your loving-kindness be declared in the grave *
or your faithfulness in the land of destruction?


12. Will your wonders be known in the dark? *
or your righteousness in the country where all is forgotten?

13. But as for me, O Lord, I cry to you for help; *
in the morning my prayer comes before you.

14. Lord, why have you rejected me? *
Why have you hidden your face from me?

15. Ever since my youth, I have been wretched and at the point of death; *
I have borne your terrors with a troubled mind.

16. Your blazing anger has swept over me; *
your terrors have destroyed me;

17. They surround me all day long like a flood; *
they encompass me on every side.

18. My friend and my neighbour you have put away from me, *
and darkness is my only companion.

Glory …

Conclusion


Revelation 22

1. I am the Alpha and the Omega, *
says the Lord.

2. The first and the last,*
the beginning and the end.

3. I am the root and offspring of David,*
the bright morning star.

4. The Spirit and the Bride say, Come;*
let anyone who hears, say, Come,

5 Let anyone who is thirsty come;*
let anyone who desires take the water of life without price.

6. The Lord says, Surely I am coming soon.*
Amen; come, Lord Jesus!

Glory …

Antiphon: My eyes are turned to you, Lord God; * in you I take refuge; do not strip me of my life.

READING(S)

Matthew 8.1-17

When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; and there was a leper who came to him and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.’ He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Then Jesus said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’ When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him and saying, ‘Lord, my servant is lying at home paralysed, in terrible distress.’ And he said to him, ‘I will come and cure him.’ The centurion answered, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go”, and he goes, and to another, “Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this”, and the slave does it.’ When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ And to the centurion Jesus said, ‘Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.’ And the servant was healed in that hour. When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever; he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him. That evening they brought to him many who were possessed by demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and cured all who were sick. This was to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah, ‘He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.’

Silence

Response (Psalm 28.9)

Save your people and bless your inheritance.
Save your people and bless your inheritance.
Shepherd them and carry them for ever.
Bless your inheritance.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
Save your people and bless your inheritance.

SONG OF MARY

Song of Mary Antiphon: Look up and raise your heads,* because your redemption is drawing near. (Luke 21.28)

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: Look up and raise your heads,* because your redemption is drawing near. (Luke 21.28)

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

Stir up your power, Lord, and come:
that, with you as our protector,
we may be rescued from our sins;
and with you as our deliverer,
we may be set free;
for you live and reign with God the Father,
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.