Evening Prayer: Saturday 3 June 2023

Saturday 3 June 2023

Charles Lwanga and his companions, 1886, Janani Luwum, Bishop, 1977, Martyrs of Uganda
Week A

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

Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;* as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever.
Amen.

PSALMODY

Antiphon: O Lord my God, how excellent is your greatness! you are clothed with majesty and splendour.

Opening (from Psalm 104)

1 You appointed the moon to mark the seasons,*
and the sun knows the time of its setting.
2 You make darkness that it may be night,*
in which all the beasts of the forest prowl.
3 May the glory of the Lord endure for ever;*
may the Lord rejoice in all his works.
4 May these words of mine please him;*
I will rejoice in the Lord.

Glory to the Father
or a suitable Hymn

Psalm 33
1 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous;*
it is good for the just to sing praises.

2 Praise the Lord with the harp;*
play to him upon the psaltery and lyre.

3 Sing for him a new song;*
sound a fanfare with all your skill upon the trumpet.

4 For the word of the Lord is right,*
and all his works are sure.

5 He loves righteousness and justice;*
the loving-kindness of the Lord fills the whole earth.

6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made,*
by the breath of his mouth all the heavenly hosts.

7 He gathers up the waters of the ocean as in a water-skin*
and stores up the depths of the sea.

8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; *
let all who dwell in the world stand in awe of him.

9 For he spoke, and it came to pass;*
he commanded, and it stood fast.

10 The Lord brings the will of the nations to naught;*
he thwarts the designs of the peoples.

11 But the Lord's will stands fast for ever,*
and the designs of his heart from age to age.

12 Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord!*
happy the people he has chosen to be his own!

13 The Lord looks down from heaven,*
and beholds all the people in the world.

14 From where he sits enthroned he turns his gaze*
on all who dwell on the earth.

15 He fashions all the hearts of them*
and understands all their works.

16 There is no king that can be saved by a mighty army;*
a strong man is not delivered by his great strength.

17 The horse is a vain hope for deliverance;*
for all its strength it cannot save.

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him,*
on those who wait upon his love,

19 To pluck their lives from death,*
and to feed them in time of famine.

20 Our soul waits for the Lord;*
he is our help and our shield.

21 Indeed, our heart rejoices in him,*
for in his holy name we put our trust.

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

Glory to the Father…

Blessed are you, Creator of the universe. In your loving kindness you watch over your chosen people. Make us witnesses to your truth and instruments of your peace, that all may know you as the God of justice, and praise your holy name; through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Conclusion


1 John 4

1 Beloved let us love one another,*
for love is of God;
2 And those who love are born of God*
and know God.
3 Those who do not love do not know God,*
for God is love.
4 In this the love of God was made manifest among us,*
that God sent his only Son into the world
so that we might live through him.
5 In this is love: not that we loved God,*
but that God loved us and sent his Son
to be the expiation for our sins.
6 Beloved, if God so loved us,*
we also ought to love one another.

Glory to the Father…

Antiphon: O Lord my God, how excellent is your greatness! you are clothed with majesty and splendour.

READING(S)

Ecclesiasticus 42.15-25

I will now call to mind the works of the Lord, and will declare what I have seen. By the word of the Lord his works are made; and all his creatures do his will. The sun looks down on everything with its light, and the work of the Lord is full of his glory. The Lord has not empowered even his holy ones to recount all his marvellous works, which the Lord the Almighty has established so that the universe may stand firm in his glory. He searches out the abyss and the human heart; he understands their innermost secrets. For the Most High knows all that may be known; he sees from of old the things that are to come. He discloses what has been and what is to be, and he reveals the traces of hidden things. No thought escapes him, and nothing is hidden from him. He has set in order the splendours of his wisdom; he is from all eternity one and the same. Nothing can be added or taken away, and he needs no one to be his counsellor. How desirable are all his works, and how sparkling they are to see! All these things live and remain for ever; each creature is preserved to meet a particular need. All things come in pairs, one opposite to the other, and he has made nothing incomplete. Each supplements the virtues of the other. Who could ever tire of seeing his glory?

Ephesians 3.14-21

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

Silence

Response Psalm 119.105

Your word is a lantern to my feet.
Your word is a lantern to my feet.
A light upon my path.
A lantern to my feet.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Your word is a lantern to my feet.

MAGNIFICAT

Magnificat Antiphon: God has come to the aid of his servant Israel, as he promised to Abraham and his children.

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)

Magnificat Antiphon: God has come to the aid of his servant Israel, as he promised to Abraham and his children.

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

Almighty and eternal God:
direct our lives according to your gracious will;
that, in the name of your beloved Son,
we may be strengthened to abound in good works;
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.

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.