Evening Prayer

Ordinary Time
Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling. Psalm 43:3

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   Alleluia

Venite
The Antiphon:

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

The earth is the Lord's for he made it: Come let us adore him.

The Lessons

Psalm 75

⁽¹⁾ We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks! For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near. ⁽²⁾ When I choose the proper time, I will judge uprightly. ⁽³⁾ The earth and all its inhabitants are dissolved; I set up its pillars firmly. Selah ⁽⁴⁾ I said to the boastful, 'Do not deal boastfully,' And to the wicked, 'Do not lift up the horn.

⁽⁵⁾ Do not lift up your horn on high; Do not speak with a stiff neck.' ' ⁽⁶⁾ For exaltation comes neither from the east Nor from the west nor from the south. ⁽⁷⁾ But God is the Judge: He puts down one, And exalts another. ⁽⁸⁾ For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, And the wine is red; It is fully mixed, and He pours it out; Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth Drain and drink down.

⁽⁹⁾ But I will declare forever, I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. ⁽¹⁰⁾ All the horns of the wicked I will also cut off, But the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.'

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.

Psalm 76

⁽¹⁾ In Judah God is known; His name is great in Israel. ⁽²⁾ In Salem also is His tabernacle, And His dwelling place in Zion. ⁽³⁾ There He broke the arrows of the bow, The shield and sword of battle. Selah ⁽⁴⁾ You are more glorious and excellent Than the mountains of prey.

⁽⁵⁾ The stouthearted were plundered; They have sunk into their sleep; And none of the mighty men have found the use of their hands. ⁽⁶⁾ At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, Both the chariot and horse were cast into a dead sleep. ⁽⁷⁾ You, Yourself, are to be feared; And who may stand in Your presence When once You are angry? ⁽⁸⁾ You caused judgment to be heard from heaven; The earth feared and was still,

⁽⁹⁾ When God arose to judgment, To deliver all the oppressed of the earth. Selah ⁽¹⁰⁾ Surely the wrath of man shall praise You; With the remainder of wrath You shall gird Yourself. ⁽¹¹⁾ Make vows to the LORD your God, and pay them; Let all who are around Him bring presents to Him who ought to be feared. ⁽¹²⁾ He shall cut off the spirit of princes; He is awesome to the kings of the earth.

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.

Esther Chapter 2

⁽⁵⁾ In Shushan the citadel there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. ⁽⁶⁾ Kish had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been captured with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. ⁽⁷⁾ And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. ⁽⁸⁾ So it was, when the king's command and decree were heard, and when many young women were gathered at Shushan the citadel, under the custody of Hegai, that Esther also was taken to the king's palace, into the care of Hegai the custodian of the women.

⁽¹⁵⁾ Now when the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Hegai the king's eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised. And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her. ⁽¹⁶⁾ So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. ⁽¹⁷⁾ The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. ⁽¹⁸⁾ Then the king made a great feast, the Feast of Esther, for all his officials and servants; and he proclaimed a holiday in the provinces and gave gifts according to the generosity of a king.

⁽¹⁹⁾ When virgins were gathered together a second time, Mordecai sat within the king's gate. ⁽²⁰⁾ Now Esther had not revealed her family and her people, just as Mordecai had charged her, for Esther obeyed the command of Mordecai as when she was brought up by him. ⁽²¹⁾ In those days, while Mordecai sat within the king's gate, two of the king's eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, doorkeepers, became furious and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. ⁽²²⁾ So the matter became known to Mordecai, who told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai's name.

⁽²³⁾ And when an inquiry was made into the matter, it was confirmed, and both were hanged on a gallows; and it was written in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Acts Chapter 17

⁽¹⁶⁾ Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. ⁽¹⁷⁾ Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. ⁽¹⁸⁾ Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, 'What does this babbler want to say?' Others said, 'He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,' because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. ⁽¹⁹⁾ And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, 'May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak?

⁽²⁰⁾ For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.' ⁽²¹⁾ For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. ⁽²²⁾ Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, 'Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; ⁽²³⁾ for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:

⁽²⁴⁾ God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. ⁽²⁵⁾ Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. ⁽²⁶⁾ And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, ⁽²⁷⁾ so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

⁽²⁸⁾ for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' ⁽²⁹⁾ Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising. ⁽³⁰⁾ Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, ⁽³¹⁾ because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.'

⁽³²⁾ And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, 'We will hear you again on this matter.' ⁽³³⁾ So Paul departed from among them. ⁽³⁴⁾ However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

John Chapter 12

⁽⁴⁴⁾ Then Jesus cried out and said, 'He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. ⁽⁴⁵⁾ And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. ⁽⁴⁶⁾ I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. ⁽⁴⁷⁾ And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.

⁽⁴⁸⁾ He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him -- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. ⁽⁴⁹⁾ For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. ⁽⁵⁰⁾ And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.'

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

A Song of Creation   Prayer of Manasseh 1 to 2, 4, 6 to 7, 11 to 15
Invocation
Glorify the Lord,
all you works of the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.
In the firmament of his power, glorify the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.

The Cosmic Order
Glorify the Lord,
you angels and all powers of the Lord,
O heavens and all waters above the heavens.
Sun and moon and stars of the sky,
glorify the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.
Glorify the Lord,
every shower of rain and fall of dew,
all winds and fire and heat.
Winter and Summer, glorify the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.

Glorify the Lord, O chill and cold,
drops of dew and flakes of snow.
Frost and cold, ice and sleet,
glorify the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.

Glorify the Lord,
O nights and days,
O shining light and enfolding dark.
Storm clouds and thunderbolts, glorify the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.

Doxology
Let us glorify the Lord:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;
praise him and highly exalt him forever.
In the firmament of his power, glorify the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him 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:  Proper 19 The Sunday closest to September 14
O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all your works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for Mission: Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. 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

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