Thursday
Evening Prayer – Proper 9 in Year 1

Opening Sentence

Yours is the day, O God, yours also the night; you established the moon and the sun. You fixed all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter. Psalm 74:15,16

Versicle and Response

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 will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

Invitatory

O gracious light,
pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!
Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper light,
we sing your praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of Life,
and to be glorified through all the worlds.

Psalm

Psalm 18:21-50

²¹The LORD rewarded me because of my righteous dealing;*
because my hands were clean he rewarded me;
²²For I have kept the ways of the LORD *
and have not offended against my God;
²³For all his judgments are before my eyes, *
and his decrees I have not put away from me;
²⁴For I have been blameless with him *
and have kept myself from iniquity;
²⁵Therefore the LORD rewarded me according to my righteous dealing,*
because of the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
²⁶With the faithful you show yourself faithful, O God;*
with the forthright you show yourself forthright.
²⁷With the pure you show yourself pure,*
but with the crooked you are wily.
²⁸You will save a lowly people,*
but you will humble the haughty eyes.
²⁹You, O LORD, are my lamp;*
my God, you make my darkness bright.
³⁰With you I will break down an enclosure; *
with the help of my God I will scale any wall.
³¹As for God, his ways are perfect;
the words of the LORD are tried in the fire;*
he is a shield to all who trust in him.
³²For who is God, but the LORD? *
who is the Rock, except our God?
³³It is God who girds me about with strength *
and makes my way secure.
³⁴He makes me sure-footed like a deer *
and lets me stand firm on the heights.
³⁵He trains my hands for battle *
and my arms for bending even a bow of bronze.
³⁶You have given me your shield of victory; *
your right hand also sustains me;
your loving care makes me great.
³⁷You lengthen my stride beneath me,*
and my ankles do not give way.
³⁸I pursue my enemies and overtake them;*
I will not turn back till I have destroyed them.
³⁹I strike them down, and they cannot rise; *
they fall defeated at my feet.
⁴⁰You have girded me with strength for the battle;*
you have cast down my adversaries beneath me;
you have put my enemies to flight.
⁴¹I destroy those who hate me;
they cry out, but there is none to help them;*
they cry to the LORD, but he does not answer.
⁴²I beat them small like dust before the wind; *
I trample them like mud in the streets.
⁴³You deliver me from the strife of the peoples; *
you put me at the head of the nations.
⁴⁴A people I have not known shall serve me;
no sooner shall they hear than they shall obey me;*
strangers will cringe before me.
⁴⁵The foreign peoples will lose heart;*
they shall come trembling out of their strongholds.
⁴⁶The LORD lives! Blessed is my Rock! *
Exalted is the God of my salvation!
⁴⁷He is the God who gave me victory *
and cast down the peoples beneath me.
⁴⁸You rescued me from the fury of my enemies;
you exalted me above those who rose against me;*
you saved me from my deadly foe.
⁴⁹Therefore will I extol you among the nations, O LORD,*
and sing praises to your Name.
⁵⁰He multiplies the victories of his king; *
he shows loving-kindness to his anointed,
to David and his descendants for ever.

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

Reading

Luke 24:36-53

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’* They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.* While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah* is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses* of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.* And they worshipped him, and* returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.*

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Canticle 15 The Song of Mary

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

The Apostle's Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.

The Lord's Prayer

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.

Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.

Suffrages

That this evening may be holy, good, and peaceful,

We entreat you, O Lord.

That your holy angels may lead us in paths of peace and goodwill,

We entreat you, O Lord.

That we may be pardoned and forgiven for our sins and offenses,

We entreat you, O Lord.

That there may be peace to your Church and to the whole world,

We entreat you, O Lord.

That we may depart this life in your faith and fear,
and not be condemned before the great judgment seat of Christ,

We entreat you, O Lord.

That we may be bound together by your Holy Spirit in
the communion of all your saints,
entrusting one another and all our life to Christ,

We entreat you, O Lord.

Collect of the Day: Proper 9

O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

For Protection

O God, the life of all who live, the light of the faithful, the strength of those who labor, and the repose of the dead: We thank you for the blessings of the day that is past, and humbly ask for your protection through the coming night. Bring us in safety to the morning hours; through him who died and rose again for us, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

For Mission

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake. Amen.

Prayers and Intercessions

Let us pray now for our own needs and those of others.

A Prayer of St. Chrysostom

Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen.

Benediction

Let us bless the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen.
2 Corinthians 13:14