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Evening Prayer (Evensong) in Traditional Language

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Please note: Daily Prayer provided by the official Church of England web site, © The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, 2002-2004.

    Evening Prayer from
    The Book of Common Prayer
    Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Vincent, Deacon, Martyr, 304
  The introduction to the service is used on Sundays, and may be used on any occasion. If the Introduction is not used, the service begins with the opening responses.
  Introduction
   
  The minister may use a seasonal sentence before using one or more of the penitential sentences.
   
  The minister introduces the service
     
    Dearly beloved [brethren],
    the Scripture moveth us in sundry places to acknowledge
       and confess our manifold sins and wickedness;
     
    [and that we should not dissemble nor cloak them before
       the face of almighty God our heavenly Father;
    but confess them with an humble, lowly, penitent and
       obedient heart;
    to the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same
       by his infinite goodness and mercy.
    And although we ought at all times humbly to acknowledge
       our sins before God;
    yet ought we most chiefly so to do,
    when we assemble and meet together
    to render thanks for the great benefits that we have
       received at his hands,
    to set forth his most worthy praise,
    to hear his most holy word,
    and to ask those things which are requisite and necessary,
    as well for the body as the soul.]
     
    Wherefore I pray and beseech you,
    as many as are here present,
    to accompany me with a pure heart, and humble voice,
    unto the throne of the heavenly grace, saying [after me]:
     
    (or)
     
    Beloved, we are come together in the presence of almighty God and of the whole company of heaven to offer unto him through our Lord Jesus Christ our worship and praise and thanksgiving; to make confession of our sins; to pray, as well for others as for ourselves, that we may know more truly the greatness of God's love and shew forth in our lives the fruits of his grace; and to ask on behalf of all men such things as their well-being doth require.
     
    Wherefore let us kneel in silence, and remember God's presence with us now.
   
All
   Almighty and most merciful Father,
    we have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep.
    We have followed too much the devices and desires
       of our own hearts.
    We have offended against thy holy laws.
    We have left undone those things
       which we ought to have done;
    and we have done those things
         which we ought not to have done;
    and there is no health in us.
    But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders.
    Spare thou them, O God, which confess their faults.
    Restore thou them that are penitent;
    according to thy promises declared unto mankind
       in Christ Jesu our Lord.
    And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake,
    that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life,
    to the glory of thy holy name.
  Amen.
   
  A priest says
     
    Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
    who desireth not the death of a sinner,
    but rather that he may turn from his wickedness and live;
    and hath given power, and commandment, to his ministers
    to declare and pronounce to his people, being penitent,
    the absolution and remission of their sins:
    he pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent
       and unfeignedly believe his holy gospel.
    Wherefore let us beseech him to grant us true repentance,
       and his Holy Spirit,
    that those things may please him which we do at this present;
    and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure and holy;
    so that at the last we may come to his eternal joy;
    through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All
   Amen.
   
  or other ministers may say
     
    Grant, we beseech thee, merciful Lord,
    to thy faithful people pardon and peace,
    that they may be cleansed from all their sins,
    and serve thee with a quiet mind;
    through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All
   Amen.
   
All
   Our Father, which art in heaven,
    hallowed be thy name;
    thy kingdom come;
    thy will be done,
    in earth as it is in heaven.
    Give us this day our daily bread.
    And forgive us our trespasses,
  as we forgive them that trespass against us.
    And lead us not into temptation;
    but deliver us from evil.
    For thine is the kingdom,
    the power and the glory,
    for ever and ever.
    Amen.
  Evening Prayer
     
    The introduction to the service is used on Sundays, and may be used on any occasion. If the Introduction is not used, the service begins with the opening responses.
     
    These responses are used
     
    O Lord, open thou our lips
All
   and our mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
     
    O God, make speed to save us.
All
   O Lord, make haste to help us.
     
    Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
    and to the Holy Ghost;
All
   as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
    world without end. Amen.
     
    Praise ye the Lord.
All
   The Lord's name be praised.
     
  Psalmody  
   

Psalm 108

  
 

  
1
 O God, my heart is ready, my heart is ready *
 I will sing and give praise with the best member that I have.
  
 
  
2
 Awake, thou lute, and harp *
 I myself will awake right early.
  
 
  
3
 I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the people *
 I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.
  
 
  
4
 For thy mercy is greater than the heavens *
 and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.
  
 
  
5
 Set up thyself, O God, above the heavens *
 and thy glory above all the earth.
  
 
  
6
 That thy beloved may be delivered *
 let thy right hand save them, and hear thou me.
  
 
  
7
 God hath spoken in his holiness *
 I will rejoice therefore, and divide Sichem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
  
 
  
8
 Gilead is mine, and Manasses is mine *
 Ephraim also is the strength of my head.
  
 
  
9
 Judah is my law-giver, Moab is my wash-pot *
 over Edom will I cast out my shoe; upon Philistia will I triumph.
  
 
  
10
 Who will lead me into the strong city *
 and who will bring me into Edom?
  
 
  
11
 Hast not thou forsaken us, O God *
 and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?
  
 
  
12
 O help us against the enemy *
 for vain is the help of man.
  
 
  
13
 Through God we shall do great acts *
 and it is he that shall tread down our enemies.
  
 

Psalm 109

  
 

  
1
 Hold not thy tongue, O God of my praise *
 for the mouth of the ungodly, yea, the mouth of the deceitful is opened upon me.
  
 
  
2
 And they have spoken against me with false tongues *
 they compassed me about also with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause.
  
 
  
3
 For the love that I had unto them, lo, they take now my contrary part *
 but I give myself unto prayer.
  
 
  
4
 Thus have they rewarded me evil for good *
 and hatred for my good will.
  
 
  
5
 Set thou an ungodly man to be ruler over him *
 and let Satan stand at his right hand.
  
 
  
6
 When sentence is given upon him, let him be condemned *
 and let his prayer be turned into sin.
  
 
  
7
 Let his days be few *
 and let another take his office.
  
 
  
8
 Let his children be fatherless *
 and his wife a widow.
  
 
  
9
 Let his children be vagabonds, and beg their bread *
 let them seek it also out of desolate places.
  
 
  
10
 Let the extortioner consume all that he hath *
 and let the stranger spoil his labour.
  
 
  
11
 Let there be no man to pity him *
 nor to have compassion upon his fatherless children.
  
 
  
12
 Let his posterity be destroyed *
 and in the next generation let his name be clean put out.
  
 
  
13
 Let the wickedness of his fathers be had in remembrance in the sight of the Lord *
 and let not the sin of his mother be done away.
  
 
  
14
 Let them alway be before the Lord *
 that he may root out the memorial of them from off the earth;
  
 
  
15
 And that, because his mind was not to do good *
 but persecuted the poor helpless man, that he might slay him that was vexed at the heart.
  
 
  
16
 His delight was in cursing, and it shall happen unto him *
 he loved not blessing, therefore shall it be far from him.
  
 
  
17
 He clothed himself with cursing, like as with a raiment *
 and it shall come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.
  
 
  
18
 Let it be unto him as the cloke that he hath upon him *
 and as the girdle that he is alway girded withal.
  
 
  
19
 Let it thus happen from the Lord unto mine enemies *
 and to those that speak evil against my soul.
  
 
  
20
 But deal thou with me, O Lord God, according unto thy Name *
 for sweet is thy mercy.
  
 
  
21
 O deliver me, for I am helpless and poor *
 and my heart is wounded within me.
  
 
  
22
 I go hence like the shadow that departeth *
 and am driven away as the grasshopper.
  
 
  
23
 My knees are weak through fasting *
 my flesh is dried up for want of fatness.
  
 
  
24
 I became also a reproach unto them *
 they that looked upon me shaked their heads.
  
 
  
25
 Help me, O Lord my God *
 O save me according to thy mercy;
  
 
  
26
 And they shall know, how that this is thy hand *
 and that thou, Lord, hast done it.
  
 
  
27
 Though they curse, yet bless thou *
 and let them be confounded that rise up against me; but let thy servant rejoice.
  
 
  
28
 Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame *
 and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a cloke.
  
 
  
29
 As for me, I will give great thanks unto the Lord with my mouth *
 and praise him among the multitude;
  
 
  
30
 For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor *
 to save his soul from unrighteous judges.
  
 
     
    At the end of each psalm these words are said or sung
     
    Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
    and to the Holy Ghost;
    as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
    world without end. Amen.
     
    Old Testament Reading  
 
   

First Reading: Genesis 8.1-14

 

And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;

The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;
 And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.
 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
 And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
 But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.
 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;
 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
 And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.
 And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.
 And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.

       
  Magnificat  
     
    Either the Magnificat (as follows) or Cantate Domino (Psalm 98) is said or sung.
     
1
   My soul doth magnify the Lord :
    and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
     
2
   For he hath regarded :
    the lowliness of his handmaiden.
     
3
   For behold, from henceforth :
    all generations shall call me blessed.
     
4
   For he that is mighty hath magnified me :
    and holy is his Name.
     
5
   And his mercy is on them that fear him :
    throughout all generations.
     
6
   He hath shewed strength with his arm :
    he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
     
7
   He hath put down the mighty from their seat :
    and hath exalted the humble and meek.
     
8
   He hath filled the hungry with good things :
    and the rich he hath sent empty away.
     
9
   He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel :
    as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed for ever.
   
Luke 1.46-55
     
    Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
    and to the Holy Ghost;
    as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
    world without end. Amen.
     
  New Testament Reading  
 
   

Second Reading: Matthew 24.29-end

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

     
  Nunc dimittis  
     
    Either the Nunc dimittis (as follows) or Deus misereatur (Psalm 67) is said or sung.
     
1
   Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace :
    according to thy word.
     
2
   For mine eyes have seen :
    thy salvation;
     
3
   Which thou hast prepared :
    before the face of all people;
     
4
   To be a light to lighten the Gentiles :
    and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
   
Luke 2.29-32
     
    Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
    and to the Holy Ghost;
    as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
    world without end. Amen.
     
  The Apostles' Creed  
     
All
   I believe in God the Father almighty,
    maker of heaven and earth:
    and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,
    who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
    born of the Virgin Mary,
    suffered under Pontius Pilate,
    was crucified, dead, and buried.
    He descended into hell;
    the third day he rose again from the dead;
    he ascended into heaven,
    and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty;
    from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
    I believe in the Holy Ghost;
    the holy catholic Church;
    the communion of saints;
    the forgiveness of sins;
    the resurrection of the body,
    and the life everlasting.
    Amen.
     
  Prayers  
     
    The Lord be with you.
All
   And with thy spirit.
     
    Let us pray.
     
    Lord, have mercy upon us.
All
   Christ, have mercy upon us.
    Lord, have mercy upon us.
     
All
   Our Father, which art in heaven,
    hallowed be thy name;
    thy kingdom come;
    thy will be done,
    in earth as it is in heaven.
    Give us this day our daily bread.
    And forgive us our trespasses,
    as we forgive them that trespass against us.
    And lead us not into temptation;
    but deliver us from evil. Amen.
     
    O Lord, shew thy mercy upon us.
All
   And grant us thy salvation.
     
    O Lord, save the King.
All
   And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee.
     
    Endue thy ministers with righteousness.
All
   And make thy chosen people joyful.
     
    O Lord, save thy people.
All
   And bless thine inheritance.
     
    Give peace in our time, O Lord.
All
   Because there is none other that fighteth for us,
    but only thou, O God.
     
    O God, make clean our hearts within us.
All
   And take not thy Holy Spirit from us.
     
    Three Collects are said.
     
  The Collect of the Day  
     
    Almighty and everlasting God, who dost govern all things in heaven and earth; Mercifully hear the supplications of thy people, and grant us thy peace all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All
   Amen.
     
     
  The Collect for Peace  
     
    O God, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels,
         and all just works do proceed;
    give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give;
    that both, our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments,
    and also that, by thee,
    we being defended from the fear of our enemies
    may pass our time in rest and quietness;
    through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour.
All
   Amen.
     
  The Collect for Aid against all Perils  
     
    Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord;
    and by thy great mercy defend us
         from all perils and dangers of this night;
    for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
All
   Amen.
     
    The order for the end of the service may include:
     
    hymns or anthems
       a sermon
    further prayers (which may include prayers from here)
     
    This prayer may be used to conclude the service
     
    The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
    and the love of God,
    and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost,
    be with us all evermore.
All
   Amen.
     
© The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, 2000-2004
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