Evening Prayer: Wednesday 12 November 2025

Wednesday 12 November 2025

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

Machar, Bishop, c 600
Week C

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: Search me out, O God, and know my heart;* try me and know my restless thoughts.
(Psalm 139.23)

Opening (from Psalm 139)

1. You trace my journeys and my resting-places*
and are acquainted with all my ways.

2. Indeed there is not a word on my lips,*
but you, O Lord, know it altogether.

3. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will cover me,*
and the light around me turn to night’.

4. Darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day;*
darkness and light to you are both alike.

Glory ...
or a suitable Hymn

Psalm 34

1. I will bless the Lord at all times; *
the praise of God shall ever be in my mouth.

2. I will glory in the Lord; *
let the humble hear and rejoice.

3. Proclaim with me the greatness of the Lord; *
let us exalt the name of God together.

4. I sought the Lord, who answered me *
and delivered me out of all my terror.
5. Look upon God and be radiant, *
and let not your faces be ashamed.

6. I called in my affliction and the Lord heard me *
and saved me from all my troubles.

7. The angel of the Lord encompasses those who fear God*
and will deliver them.

8. Taste and see that the Lord is good; *
happy are they who trust in God!

9. Fear the Lord, you holy ones of God, *
for those who fear God lack nothing.

10. The young lions lack and suffer hunger, *
but those who seek the Lord lack nothing that is good.

11. Come, children, and listen to me; *
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

12. Who among you loves life *
and desires long life to enjoy prosperity?

13. Keep your tongue from evil-speaking *
and your lips from lying words.

14. Turn from evil and do good; *
seek peace and pursue it.

15. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, *
and the ears of God are open to their cry.

16. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, *
to root out the remembrance of them from the earth.
17. The righteous cry, and the Lord hears them *
and delivers them from all their troubles.

18. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted *
and will save those whose spirits are crushed.

19. Many are the troubles of the righteous, *
but the Lord will deliver them out of them all.

20 The Lord will keep safe all their bones; *
not one of them shall be broken.

21. Evil shall slay the wicked, *
and those who hate the righteous will be punished.

22. O Lord, you redeem the life of your servants, *
and none will be punished who trust in you.

Glory …

Conclusion

A song of Pilgrimage

1. While I was still young, before I began my travels,*
I sought for wisdom openly in my prayers.

2. I asked for wisdom outside the temple sanctuary,*
and I will seek until the end.

3. Wisdom has been the delight of my heart,*
from first blossom to early fruit.

4. I have kept firmly to the true path;*
I have followed in wisdom’s steps since my youth.

5. I bowed my ear a little and received;*
I found wisdom and was well instructed.

6. Glory to the One who gives me wisdom!*
I will live according to God’s way.

7. From the beginning I gained understanding from the Lord;*
therefore I will never be deserted.

8. Because I longed to find wisdom with all my heart,*
I have gained a good possession.

9. As my reward the Lord has given me a tongue*
with which I shall sing God’s praises.

Glory …

Antiphon: Search me out, O God, and know my heart;* try me and know my restless thoughts.

READING(S)

Matthew 2.13-23

Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’ When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.’ When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He will be called a Nazorean.’

Silence

Response Sirach 51.26

Buy wisdom without money, take wisdom’s yoke upon you.
Buy wisdom without money, take wisdom’s yoke upon you.
Let your souls receive instruction.
Take wisdom’s yoke upon you.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
Buy wisdom without money, take wisdom’s yoke upon you.

SONG OF MARY

Song of Mary Antiphon: Give peace in our time, O Lord: * for you alone protect us.

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: Give peace in our time, O Lord: * for you alone protect us.

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, our refuge and strength,
the very author of devotion:
hear the prayers of your Church;
and grant that what we seek in faith
we may in fact obtain;
through 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.