Evening Prayer

Today is the Feast of The Annunciation -- Click for Readings
Lent
I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' Luke 15:18, 19

Saint and Major Saints' Days
Their sound has gone out into all lands, and their message to the ends of the world. Psalm 19:4

Confession of Sin
Most merciful God,
I confess that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbors as myself. I am truly sorry and I humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on me and forgive me; that I 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

The Invitatory and Psalter

Lord, open our lips. And our mouth shall proclaim your praise
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen

Venite
The Antiphon:

ⓘ   A short, reflective sentence recited alongside a psalm to deepen our understanding of the readings.

The Lord is full of compassion and mercy: Come let us adore him.

The Lessons

Psalm 78

⁽¹⁾ Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. ⁽²⁾ I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, ⁽³⁾ Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. ⁽⁴⁾ We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.

⁽⁵⁾ For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children; ⁽⁶⁾ That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children, ⁽⁷⁾ That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments; ⁽⁸⁾ And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

⁽⁹⁾ The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle. ⁽¹⁰⁾ They did not keep the covenant of God; They refused to walk in His law, ⁽¹¹⁾ And forgot His works And His wonders that He had shown them. ⁽¹²⁾ Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

⁽¹³⁾ He divided the sea and caused them to pass through; And He made the waters stand up like a heap. ⁽¹⁴⁾ In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, And all the night with a light of fire. ⁽¹⁵⁾ He split the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink in abundance like the depths. ⁽¹⁶⁾ He also brought streams out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers.

⁽¹⁷⁾ But they sinned even more against Him By rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness. ⁽¹⁸⁾ And they tested God in their heart By asking for the food of their fancy. ⁽¹⁹⁾ Yes, they spoke against God: They said, 'Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? ⁽²⁰⁾ Behold, He struck the rock, So that the waters gushed out, And the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide meat for His people?'

⁽²¹⁾ Therefore the LORD heard this and was furious; So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also came up against Israel, ⁽²²⁾ Because they did not believe in God, And did not trust in His salvation. ⁽²³⁾ Yet He had commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of heaven, ⁽²⁴⁾ Had rained down manna on them to eat, And given them of the bread of heaven.

⁽²⁵⁾ Men ate angels' food; He sent them food to the full. ⁽²⁶⁾ He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens; And by His power He brought in the south wind. ⁽²⁷⁾ He also rained meat on them like the dust, Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas; ⁽²⁸⁾ And He let them fall in the midst of their camp, All around their dwellings.

⁽²⁹⁾ So they ate and were well filled, For He gave them their own desire. ⁽³⁰⁾ They were not deprived of their craving; But while their food was still in their mouths, ⁽³¹⁾ The wrath of God came against them, And slew the stoutest of them, And struck down the choice men of Israel. ⁽³²⁾ In spite of this they still sinned, AND did not believe in His wondrous works.

⁽³³⁾ Therefore their days He consumed in futility, And their years in fear. ⁽³⁴⁾ When He slew them, then they sought Him; And they returned and sought earnestly for God. ⁽³⁵⁾ Then they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. ⁽³⁶⁾ Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, And they lied to Him with their tongue;

⁽³⁷⁾ For their heart was not steadfast with Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant. ⁽³⁸⁾ But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, And did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, And did not stir up all His wrath; ⁽³⁹⁾ For He remembered that they were but flesh, A breath that passes away and does not come again.

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

Jeremiah Chapter 7

⁽²¹⁾ Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat. ⁽²²⁾ For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices. ⁽²³⁾ But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.' ⁽²⁴⁾ Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.

⁽²⁵⁾ Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have even sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them. ⁽²⁶⁾ Yet they did not obey Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers. ⁽²⁷⁾ Therefore you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not obey you. You shall also call to them, but they will not answer you. ⁽²⁸⁾ So you shall say to them, 'This is a nation that does not obey the voice of the LORD their God nor receive correction. Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.

⁽²⁹⁾ Cut off your hair and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the desolate heights; for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.' ⁽³⁰⁾ For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight,' says the LORD. 'They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to pollute it. ⁽³¹⁾ And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart. ⁽³²⁾ Therefore behold, the days are coming,' says the LORD, 'when it will no more be called Tophet, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Tophet until there is no room.

⁽³³⁾ The corpses of this people will be food for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. And no one will frighten them away. ⁽³⁴⁾ Then I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. For the land shall be desolate.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Romans Chapter 4

⁽¹³⁾ For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. ⁽¹⁴⁾ For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, ⁽¹⁵⁾ because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression. ⁽¹⁶⁾ Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all

⁽¹⁷⁾ (as it is written, 'I have made you a father of many nations') in the presence of Him whom he believed -- God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; ⁽¹⁸⁾ who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, 'So shall your descendants be.' ⁽¹⁹⁾ And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. ⁽²⁰⁾ He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,

⁽²¹⁾ and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. ⁽²²⁾ And therefore 'it was accounted to him for righteousness.' ⁽²³⁾ Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, ⁽²⁴⁾ but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,

⁽²⁵⁾ who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

John Chapter 7

⁽³⁷⁾ On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. ⁽³⁸⁾ He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' ⁽³⁹⁾ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. ⁽⁴⁰⁾ Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, 'Truly this is the Prophet.'

⁽⁴¹⁾ Others said, 'This is the Christ.' But some said, 'Will the Christ come out of Galilee? ⁽⁴²⁾ Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?' ⁽⁴³⁾ So there was a division among the people because of Him. ⁽⁴⁴⁾ Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

⁽⁴⁵⁾ Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, 'Why have you not brought Him?' ⁽⁴⁶⁾ The officers answered, 'No man ever spoke like this Man!' ⁽⁴⁷⁾ Then the Pharisees answered them, 'Are you also deceived? ⁽⁴⁸⁾ Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?

⁽⁴⁹⁾ But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.' ⁽⁵⁰⁾ Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, ⁽⁵¹⁾ Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?' ⁽⁵²⁾ They answered and said to him, 'Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.'

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

A Song to the Lamb       Revelation 4:11, 5:9 to 10, 13

Splendor and honor and kingly power
are yours by right, O Lord our God,
For you created everything that is,
and by your will they were created
  and have their being;
And yours by right, O Lamb that was slain,
for with your blood you have redeemed for God,
From every family, language, people, and nation,
a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
And so, to him who sits upon the throne,
and to Christ the Lamb,
Be worship and praise, dominion and splendor,
forever and forevermore.

The Song of Zechariah Luke 1: 68 to 79

Glory to you, Lord God of our fathers;
you are worthy of praise; glory to you.
Glory to you for the radiance of your holy Name;
we will praise you and highly exalt you forever.

Glory to you in the splendor of your temple;
on the throne of your majesty, glory to you.
Glory to you, seated between the Cherubim;
we will praise you and highly exalt you forever.

Glory to you, beholding the depths;
in the high vault of heaven, glory to you.
Glory to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;
we will praise you and highly exalt you forever.



The Apostles' 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 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

The Lord's Prayer   Traditional
Suffrages A

Seasonal Collect:  Third Sunday in Lent
Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer 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.

Personal Prayers and Reflection

This is a time to pause, consider and listen. Pray for yourself and others. When you lack the words


Closing Prayers   Thanksgiving

Conclude with the following
Let Us Bless the Lord, Thanks be to God

May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Romans 15:13