Evening Prayer

Thursday after the Third Sunday after the Epiphany

Worship the Lord in the beauty of his holiness; let the whole earth tremble before him.

Psalm 96:9

Confession of Sin

Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.



Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.

Invitatory and Psalter

BCP p. 117

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

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 59 BCP p. 665

Rescue me from my enemies, O God; *
protect me from those who rise up against me.

Rescue me from evildoers *
and save me from those who thirst for my blood.

See how they lie in wait for my life,
how the mighty gather together against me; *
not for any offense or fault of mine, O LORD.

Not because of any guilt of mine *
they run and prepare themselves for battle.

Rouse yourself, come to my side, and see; *
for you, LORD God of hosts, are Israel’s God.

Awake, and punish all the ungodly; *
show no mercy to those who are faithless and evil.

They go to and fro in the evening; *
they snarl like dogs and run about the city.

Behold, they boast with their mouths,
and taunts are on their lips; *
“For who,” they say, “will hear us?”

But you, O LORD, you laugh at them; *
you laugh all the ungodly to scorn.

My eyes are fixed on you, O my Strength; *
for you, O God, are my stronghold.

My merciful God comes to meet me; *
God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.

Slay them, O God, lest my people forget; *
send them reeling by your might
and put them down, O Lord our shield.

For the sins of their mouths, for the words of their lips,
for the cursing and lies that they utter, *
let them be caught in their pride.

Make an end of them in your wrath; *
make an end of them, and they shall be no more.

Let everyone know that God rules in Jacob, *
and to the ends of the earth.

They go to and fro in the evening; *
they snarl like dogs and run about the city.

They forage for food, *
and if they are not filled, they howl.

For my part, I will sing of your strength; *
I will celebrate your love in the morning;

For you have become my stronghold, *
a refuge in the day of my trouble.

To you, O my Strength, will I sing; *
for you, O God, are my stronghold and my merciful God.

Psalm 60 BCP p. 667

O God, you have cast us off and broken us; *
you have been angry;
oh, take us back to you again.

You have shaken the earth and split it open; *
repair the cracks in it, for it totters.

You have made your people know hardship; *
you have given us wine that makes us stagger.

You have set up a banner for those who fear you, *
to be a refuge from the power of the bow.

Save us by your right hand and answer us, *
that those who are dear to you may be delivered.

God spoke from his holy place and said: *
“I will exult and parcel out Shechem;
I will divide the valley of Succoth.

Gilead is mine and Manasseh is mine; *
Ephraim is my helmet and Judah my scepter.

Moab is my wash-basin,
on Edom I throw down my sandal to claim it, *
and over Philistia will I shout in triumph.”

Who will lead me into the strong city? *
who will bring me to Edom?

Have you not cast us off, O God? *
you no longer go out, O God, with our armies.

Grant us your help against the enemy, *
for vain is the help of man.

With God we will do valiant deeds, *
and he shall tread our enemies under foot.

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 Lessons

The First Lesson Mark 6:30-46

A Reading from the Gospel According to Mark.

The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?’ And he said to them, ‘How many loaves have you? Go and see.’ When they had found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. And all ate and were filled; and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

15. The Song of Mary Luke 1:46-55

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 Apostles’ Creed BCP p. 96

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 Prayers

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

The Lord’s Prayer

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.

Suffrages B

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.

The Collect of the Day

Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

A Collect 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.

A Prayer for Mission

O God, you manifest in your servants the signs of your presence: Send forth upon us the spirit of love, that in companionship with one another your abounding grace may increase among us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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

A Prayer of St. Chrysostom BCP p. 102

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 God from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:20,21