Evening Prayer

Easter Week
Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow which was brought upon me, whom the Lord hath afflicted. Lamentations 1:12

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.

Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow which was brought upon me, whom the Lord has afflicted.

The Lessons

Psalm 51

⁽¹⁾ Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. ⁽²⁾ Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. ⁽³⁾ For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. ⁽⁴⁾ Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight -- That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.

⁽⁵⁾ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. ⁽⁶⁾ Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. ⁽⁷⁾ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. ⁽⁸⁾ Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice.

⁽⁹⁾ Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. ⁽¹¹⁾ Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. ⁽¹²⁾ Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

⁽¹³⁾ Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You. ⁽¹⁴⁾ Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. ⁽¹⁵⁾ O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise. ⁽¹⁶⁾ For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.

⁽¹⁷⁾ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart -- These, O God, You will not despise. ⁽¹⁸⁾ Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem. ⁽¹⁹⁾ Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, With burnt offering and whole burnt offering; Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

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 12

⁽¹⁾ Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead with You; Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously? ⁽²⁾ You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; They grow, yes, they bear fruit. You are near in their mouth But far from their mind. ⁽³⁾ But You, O LORD, know me; You have seen me, And You have tested my heart toward You. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, And prepare them for the day of slaughter. ⁽⁴⁾ How long will the land mourn, And the herbs of every field wither? The beasts and birds are consumed, For the wickedness of those who dwell there, Because they said, 'He will not see our final end.'

⁽⁵⁾ If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, Then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, In which you trusted, they wearied you, Then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan? ⁽⁶⁾ For even your brothers, the house of your father, Even they have dealt treacherously with you; Yes, they have called a multitude after you. Do not believe them, Even though they speak smooth words to you. ⁽⁷⁾ I have forsaken My house, I have left My heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies. ⁽⁸⁾ My heritage is to Me like a lion in the forest; It cries out against Me; Therefore I have hated it.

⁽⁹⁾ My heritage is to Me like a speckled vulture; The vultures all around are against her. Come, assemble all the beasts of the field, Bring them to devour! ⁽¹⁰⁾ Many rulers have destroyed My vineyard, They have trodden My portion underfoot; They have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. ⁽¹¹⁾ They have made it desolate; Desolate, it mourns to Me; The whole land is made desolate, Because no one takes it to heart. ⁽¹²⁾ The plunderers have come On all the desolate heights in the wilderness, For the sword of the LORD shall devour From one end of the land to the other end of the land; No flesh shall have peace.

⁽¹³⁾ They have sown wheat but reaped thorns; They have put themselves to pain but do not profit. But be ashamed of your harvest Because of the fierce anger of the LORD.' ⁽¹⁴⁾ Thus says the LORD: 'Against all My evil neighbors who touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit -- behold, I will pluck them out of their land and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. ⁽¹⁵⁾ Then it shall be, after I have plucked them out, that I will return and have compassion on them and bring them back, everyone to his heritage and everyone to his land. ⁽¹⁶⁾ And it shall be, if they will learn carefully the ways of My people, to swear by My name, 'As the LORD lives,' as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they shall be established in the midst of My people.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Philippians Chapter 3

⁽¹⁾ Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. ⁽²⁾ Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! ⁽³⁾ For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, ⁽⁴⁾ though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so:

⁽⁵⁾ circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; ⁽⁶⁾ concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. ⁽⁷⁾ But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. ⁽⁸⁾ Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ

⁽⁹⁾ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; ⁽¹⁰⁾ that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, ⁽¹¹⁾ if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. ⁽¹²⁾ Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

⁽¹³⁾ Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, ⁽¹⁴⁾ I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

John Chapter 12

⁽⁹⁾ Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. ⁽¹⁰⁾ But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, ⁽¹¹⁾ because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus. ⁽¹²⁾ The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

⁽¹³⁾ took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: 'Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!' ⁽¹⁴⁾ Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: ⁽¹⁵⁾ Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey's colt.' ⁽¹⁶⁾ His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.

⁽¹⁷⁾ Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. ⁽¹⁸⁾ For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. ⁽¹⁹⁾ The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, 'You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!'

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The Song of the Redeemed       Revelation 15:3 to 4  
O ruler of the universe, Lord God,
great deeds are they that you have done,
  surpassing human understanding.
Your ways are ways of righteousness and truth,
 O King of all the ages.

Who can fail to do you homage, Lord,
and sing the praises of your Name?
  for you only are the Holy One.
All nations will draw near
and fall down before you,
  because your just and holy works have been revealed.
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.

The First Song of Isaiah       Isaiah 12:2 to 6
 
Surely, it is God who saves me;
  I will trust in him and not be afraid.
For the Lord is my stronghold
and my sure defense,
  and he will be my Savior.
Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing
  from the springs of salvation.
And on that day you shall say,
  Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name;
Make his deeds known among the peoples;
  see that they remember that his Name is exalted.
Sing the praises of the Lord,
for he has done great things,
  and this is known in all the world.
Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy,
  for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One of 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 forever. Amen.


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:  Monday in Holy Week
Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son 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 King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for Mission: Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 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

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