Officiant O
God, make speed to save us.
People 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.
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.
The LORD rewarded me because of my righteous dealing;
*
because my hands were clean he rewarded me;
For I have kept the ways of the LORD *
and have not
offended against my God;
For all his judgments are before my eyes, *
and his
decrees I have not put away from me;
For I have been blameless with him *
and have kept
myself from iniquity;
Therefore the LORD rewarded me according to my righteous
dealing, *
because of the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
With the faithful you show yourself faithful, O God;
*
with the forthright you show yourself forthright.
With the pure you show yourself pure, *
but with the
crooked you are wily.
You will save a lowly people, *
but you will humble
the haughty eyes.
You, O LORD, are my lamp; *
my God, you make my
darkness bright.
With you I will break down an enclosure; *
with the
help of my God I will scale any wall.
As 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.
For who is God, but the LORD? *
who is the Rock,
except our God?
It is God who girds me about with strength *
and
makes my way secure.
He makes me sure-footed like a deer *
and lets me
stand firm on the heights.
He trains my hands for battle *
and my arms for
bending even a bow of bronze.
You have given me your shield of victory; *
your
right hand also sustains me;
your loving care makes me great.
You lengthen my stride beneath me, *
and my ankles do
not give way.
I pursue my enemies and overtake them; *
I will not
turn back till I have destroyed them.
I strike them down, and they cannot rise; *
they fall
defeated at my feet.
You have girded me with strength for the battle; *
you
have cast down my adversaries beneath me;
you have put my enemies
to flight.
I 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.
I beat them small like dust before the wind; *
I
trample them like mud in the streets.
You deliver me from the strife of the peoples; *
you
put me at the head of the nations.
A people I have not known shall serve me;
no sooner
shall they hear than they shall obey me; *
strangers will cringe
before me.
The foreign peoples will lose heart; *
they shall
come trembling out of their strongholds.
The LORD lives! Blessed is my Rock! *
Exalted is the
God of my salvation!
He is the God who gave me victory *
and cast down the
peoples beneath me.
You rescued me from the fury of my enemies;
you
exalted me above those who rose against me; *
you saved me from my
deadly foe.
Therefore will I extol you among the nations, O LORD,
*
and sing praises to your Name.
He 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.
A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
Now while Peter was greatly puzzled about what to make of the vision that he had seen, suddenly the men sent by Cornelius appeared. They were asking for Simon’s house and were standing by the gate. They called out to ask whether Simon, who was called Peter, was staying there.
While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Look, three men are searching for you. Now get up, go down, and go with them without hesitation; for I have sent them.” So Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for your coming?” They answered, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” So Peter invited them in and gave them lodging. The next day he got up and went with them, and some of the believers from Joppa accompanied him. The following day they came to Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. On Peter’s arrival Cornelius met him, and falling at his feet, worshiped him. But Peter made him get up, saying, “Stand up; I am only a mortal.” And as he talked with him, he went in and found that many had assembled; and he said to them, “You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile; but God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without objection. Now may I ask why you sent for me?” Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this very hour, at three o’clock, I was praying in my house when suddenly a man in dazzling clothes stood before me. He said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon, who is called Peter; he is staying in the home of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’ Therefore I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. So now all of us are here in the presence of God to listen to all that the Lord has commanded you to say.”
The Word of the
Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Arise, shine, for your light has come, *
and the
glory of the Lord has dawned upon you.
For behold, darkness covers the land; *
deep gloom
enshrouds the peoples.
But over you the Lord will rise, *
and his glory will
appear upon you.
Nations will stream to your light, *
and kings to the
brightness of your dawning.
Your gates will always be open; *
by day or night
they will never be shut.
They will call you, The City of the Lord, *
The Zion
of the Holy One of Israel.
Violence will no more be heard in your land, *
ruin
or destruction within your borders.
You will call your walls, Salvation, *
and all your
portals, Praise.
The sun will no more be your light by day; *
by night
you will not need the brightness of the moon.
The Lord will be your everlasting light, *
and your
God will be your glory.
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.
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.
Officiant The
Lord be with you.
People And
also with you.
Officiant Let
us pray.
Our Father, who art in
heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will
be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our
daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive
those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into
temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the
kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
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.
Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirt, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Most holy God, the source of all good desires, all right judgments, and all just works: Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, so that our minds may be fixed on the doing of your will, and that we, being delivered from the fear of all enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through the mercies of Christ Jesus our Savior. Amen.
O God and Father of all, whom the whole heavens adore: Let the whole earth also worship you, all nations obey you, all tongues confess and bless you, and men and women everywhere love you and serve you in peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray now for our own needs and those of others.
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.
Let us bless the
Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20,21