Evening Prayer

Advent
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Isaiah 40:3

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

Venite
The Antiphon:

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

Our King and Savior now draws near: Come, let us adore him.

The Lessons

Psalm 63

⁽¹⁾ O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. ⁽²⁾ So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. ⁽³⁾ Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. ⁽⁴⁾ Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.

⁽⁵⁾ My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. ⁽⁶⁾ When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. ⁽⁷⁾ Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. ⁽⁸⁾ My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.

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 98

⁽¹⁾ Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory. ⁽²⁾ The LORD has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations. ⁽³⁾ He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. ⁽⁴⁾ Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.

⁽⁵⁾ Sing to the LORD with the harp, With the harp and the sound of a psalm, ⁽⁶⁾ With trumpets and the sound of a horn; Shout joyfully before the LORD, the King. ⁽⁷⁾ Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell in it; ⁽⁸⁾ Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together before the LORD,

⁽⁹⁾ For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, And the peoples with equity.

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.

Isaiah Chapter 13

⁽⁶⁾ Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. ⁽⁷⁾ Therefore all hands will be limp, Every man's heart will melt, ⁽⁸⁾ And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; They will be amazed at one another; Their faces will be like flames. ⁽⁹⁾ Behold, the day of the LORD comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it.

⁽¹⁰⁾ For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine. ⁽¹¹⁾ I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. ⁽¹²⁾ I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. ⁽¹³⁾ Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the LORD of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Hebrews Chapter 12

⁽¹⁸⁾ For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, ⁽¹⁹⁾ and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. ⁽²⁰⁾ (For they could not endure what was commanded: 'And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.' ⁽²¹⁾ And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, 'I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.')

⁽²²⁾ But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, ⁽²³⁾ to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, ⁽²⁴⁾ to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. ⁽²⁵⁾ See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven,

⁽²⁶⁾ whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, 'Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.' ⁽²⁷⁾ Now this, 'Yet once more,' indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. ⁽²⁸⁾ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. ⁽²⁹⁾ For our God is a consuming fire.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

John Chapter 3

⁽²²⁾ After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized. ⁽²³⁾ Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized. ⁽²⁴⁾ For John had not yet been thrown into prison. ⁽²⁵⁾ Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification.

⁽²⁶⁾ And they came to John and said to him, 'Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified -- behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!' ⁽²⁷⁾ John answered and said, 'A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. ⁽²⁸⁾ You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.' ⁽²⁹⁾ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.

⁽³⁰⁾ He must increase, but I must decrease.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.


The Song of Zechariah Luke 1: 68 to 79
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old,
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham,
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
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 Third Song of Isaiah       Isaiah 60:1 to 3, 11a, 14c, 18 to 19
Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has dawned upon you.
For behold, darkness covers the land;
deep gloom enshrouds the peoples.
But over you the Lord will rise,
and his glory will appear upon you.
Nations will stream to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawning.
Your gates will always be open;
by day or night they will never be shut.
They will call you, The City of the Lord,
The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Violence will no more be heard in your land,
ruin or destruction within your borders.
You will call your walls, Salvation,
and all your portals, Praise.
The sun will no more be your light by day;
by night you will not need the brightness of the moon.
The Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.
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.


You are God        
You are God: we praise you;
You are the Lord; we acclaim you;
You are the eternal Father:
All creation worships you.
To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
The glorious company of apostles praise you.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.
Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you;
Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy of all worship,
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.
You, Christ, are the king of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
When you became man to set us free
you did not shun the Virgin's womb.
You overcame the sting of death
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God's right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come and be our judge.
Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints
to glory everlasting.


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 of Advent
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: O God, you make us glad with the weekly remembrance of the glorious resurrection of your Son our Lord: Give us this day such blessing through our worship of you, that the week to come may be spent in your favor; 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