Evening Prayer: Thursday 8 January 2026

Thursday 8 January 2026

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

Thursday after Second 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 23

1. The Lord is my shepherd; * I shall not be in want.
2. You make me lie down in green pastures * and lead me beside still waters.
3. You revive my soul *
and guide me along right pathways for your name’s sake.
4. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, *I shall fear no evil;
for you are with me; *your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5. You spread a table before me *in the presence of those who trouble me;
you have anointed my head with oil, * and my cup is running over.
6. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, *
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Glory …

Psalm 24

1. The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, * the world and all who dwell therein.
2. For it is God who founded it upon the seas * and made it firm upon the rivers of the deep.
3. “Who can ascend the hill of the Lord *
and who can stand in the holy place of God?”
4. “Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, * who have not pledged themselves to falsehood, nor sworn by what is a fraud.
5. They shall receive a blessing from the Lord *
and a just reward from the God of their salvation.”
6. Such is the generation of those who seek you, * of those who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
7. Lift up your heads, O gates; lift them high, O everlasting doors; *
and the One who reigns in glory shall come in.
8. “Who is this glorious One?”*
“The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle.”
9. Lift up your heads, O gates; lift them high, O everlasting doors; *
and the One who reigns in glory shall come in.
10. “Who is this glorious One?”*
“The Lord of hosts, the Lord who reigns in 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 7.37-52

On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.”’ Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified. When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, ‘This is really the prophet.’ Others said, ‘This is the Messiah.’ But some asked, ‘Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?’ So there was a division in the crowd because of him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why did you not arrest him?’ The police answered, ‘Never has anyone spoken like this!’ Then the Pharisees replied, ‘Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed.’ Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, ‘Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?’ They replied, ‘Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.’

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: Glory to Christ* who is preached among the nations and believed on in the world. from 1 Timothy 3.16

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: Glory to Christ* who is preached among the nations and believed on in the world. from 1 Timothy 3.16

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,
whose blessed Son,
Jesus Christ, was made human,
that we might become your children:
grant that we,
being made partakers of his divine nature,
may be shaped in his likeness;
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.