Friday –
Year 2 Advent 1
Evening Prayer
I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel; my heart teaches me, night after night. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not fall. Psalm 16:7,8
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.
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.
1 My God, my
God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so
far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my
God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by
night, but find no rest.
3 Yet you are
holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4
In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted, and
you delivered them.
5 To you they cried, and were
saved;
in you they trusted, and were not put to
shame.
6 But I am a worm, and not human;
scorned
by others, and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock at
me;
they make mouths at me, they shake their
heads;
8 ‘Commit your cause to the Lord; let him
deliver—
let him rescue the one in whom he
delights!’
9 Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
you
kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
10 On you I was cast
from my birth,
and since my mother bore me you
have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me,
for
trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls encircle me,
strong bulls
of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at
me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my
bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it
is melted within my breast;
15 my mouth*
is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue
sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of
death.
16 For dogs are all around me;
a company
of evildoers encircles me.
My hands and feet have
shrivelled;*
17 I can count all
my bones.
They stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my
clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing
they cast lots.
19 But you, O Lord, do not be far away!
O my
help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the
sword,
my life*
from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the
mouth of the lion!
From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued*
me.
22 I will tell of your name to my brothers and
sisters;*
in
the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear
the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of
Jacob, glorify him;
stand in awe of him, all you
offspring of Israel!
24 For he did not despise or abhor
the
affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from
me,*
but heard
when I* cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my
vows I will pay before those who fear him.
26 The poor*
shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him
shall praise the Lord.
May your hearts live for
ever!
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember
and
turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations
shall
worship before him.*
28 For
dominion belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over
the nations.
29 To him,* indeed, shall
all who sleep in* the earth bow
down;
before him shall bow all who go down to
the dust,
and I shall live for him.*
30 Posterity will serve him;
future
generations will be told about the Lord,
31 and*
proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
saying
that he has done it.
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
Jude
1-16
Jude,* a servant* of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
To those who are called, who are beloved* in* God the Father and kept safe for* Jesus Christ:
May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.
Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain intruders have stolen in among you, people who long ago were designated for this condemnation as ungodly, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.*
Now I desire to remind you, though you are fully informed, that the Lord, who once for all saved* a people out of the land of Egypt, afterwards destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their own position, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deepest darkness for the judgement of the great day. Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural lust,* serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
Yet in the same way these dreamers also defile the flesh, reject authority, and slander the glorious ones.* But when the archangel Michael contended with the devil and disputed about the body of Moses, he did not dare to bring a condemnation of slander* against him, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’ But these people slander whatever they do not understand, and they are destroyed by those things that, like irrational animals, they know by instinct. Woe to them! For they go the way of Cain, and abandon themselves to Balaam’s error for the sake of gain, and perish in Korah’s rebellion. These are blemishes* on your love-feasts, while they feast with you without fear, feeding themselves.* They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the deepest darkness has been reserved for ever.
It was also about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘See, the Lord is coming* with tens of thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgement on all, and to convict everyone of all the deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’ These are grumblers and malcontents; they indulge their own lusts; they are bombastic in speech, flattering people to their own advantage.
The
Word of the Lord.
Thanks
be to God.
Lord,
you now have set your servant free *
to go in peace as you have
promised;
For
these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, *
whom you have prepared
for all the world to see:
A
Light to enlighten the nations, *
and the glory of your people
Israel.
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.
The
Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let
us pray.
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.
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: Advent 1
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
A Collect for Fridays
Lord Jesus Christ, by your death you took away the sting of death: Grant to us your servants so to follow in faith where you have led the way, that we may at length fall asleep peacefully in you and wake up in your likeness; for your tender mercies' sake. Amen.
For Mission
O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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.
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