Evening Prayer

Lent
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; but if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:8, 9

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 55

⁽¹⁾ Give ear to my prayer, O God, And do not hide Yourself from my supplication. ⁽²⁾ Attend to me, and hear me; I am restless in my complaint, and moan noisily, ⁽³⁾ Because of the voice of the enemy, Because of the oppression of the wicked; For they bring down trouble upon me, And in wrath they hate me. ⁽⁴⁾ My heart is severely pained within me, And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

⁽⁵⁾ Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me, And horror has overwhelmed me. ⁽⁶⁾ So I said, 'Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. ⁽⁷⁾ Indeed, I would wander far off, And remain in the wilderness. Selah ⁽⁸⁾ I would hasten my escape From the windy storm and tempest.'

⁽⁹⁾ Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues, For I have seen violence and strife in the city. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Day and night they go around it on its walls; Iniquity and trouble are also in the midst of it. ⁽¹¹⁾ Destruction is in its midst; Oppression and deceit do not depart from its streets. ⁽¹²⁾ For it is not an enemy who reproaches me; Then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me; Then I could hide from him.

⁽¹³⁾ But it was you, a man my equal, My companion and my acquaintance. ⁽¹⁴⁾ We took sweet counsel together, And walked to the house of God in the throng. ⁽¹⁵⁾ Let death seize them; Let them go down alive into hell, For wickedness is in their dwellings and among them. ⁽¹⁶⁾ As for me, I will call upon God, And the LORD shall save me.

⁽¹⁷⁾ Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice. ⁽¹⁸⁾ He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, For there were many against me. ⁽¹⁹⁾ God will hear, and afflict them, Even He who abides from of old. Selah Because they do not change, Therefore they do not fear God. ⁽²⁰⁾ He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him; He has broken his covenant.

⁽²¹⁾ The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, But war was in his heart; His words were softer than oil, Yet they were drawn swords. ⁽²²⁾ Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved. ⁽²³⁾ But You, O God, shall bring them down to the pit of destruction; Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; But I will trust in You.

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.

Deuteronomy Chapter 11

⁽¹⁸⁾ Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁽¹⁹⁾ You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ⁽²⁰⁾ And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, ⁽²¹⁾ that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.

⁽²²⁾ For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do -- to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him -- ⁽²³⁾ then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves. ⁽²⁴⁾ Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea, shall be your territory. ⁽²⁵⁾ No man shall be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to you.

⁽²⁶⁾ Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: ⁽²⁷⁾ the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today; ⁽²⁸⁾ and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Hebrews Chapter 5

⁽¹⁾ For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. ⁽²⁾ He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. ⁽³⁾ Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. ⁽⁴⁾ And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.

⁽⁵⁾ So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.' ⁽⁶⁾ As He also says in another place: 'You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek'; ⁽⁷⁾ who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, ⁽⁸⁾ though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

⁽⁹⁾ And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, ⁽¹⁰⁾ called by God as High Priest 'according to the order of Melchizedek,'

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

John Chapter 4

⁽¹⁾ Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John ⁽²⁾ (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), ⁽³⁾ He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. ⁽⁴⁾ But He needed to go through Samaria.

⁽⁵⁾ So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. ⁽⁶⁾ Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. ⁽⁷⁾ A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give Me a drink.' ⁽⁸⁾ For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

⁽⁹⁾ Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, 'How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?' For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Jesus answered and said to her, 'If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.' ⁽¹¹⁾ The woman said to Him, 'Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? ⁽¹²⁾ Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?'

⁽¹³⁾ Jesus answered and said to her, 'Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, ⁽¹⁴⁾ but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.' ⁽¹⁵⁾ The woman said to Him, 'Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.' ⁽¹⁶⁾ Jesus said to her, 'Go, call your husband, and come here.'

⁽¹⁷⁾ The woman answered and said, 'I have no husband.' Jesus said to her, 'You have well said, 'I have no husband,' ⁽¹⁸⁾ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.' ⁽¹⁹⁾ The woman said to Him, 'Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. ⁽²⁰⁾ Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.'

⁽²¹⁾ Jesus said to her, 'Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. ⁽²²⁾ You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. ⁽²³⁾ But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. ⁽²⁴⁾ God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.'

⁽²⁵⁾ The woman said to Him, 'I know that Messiah is coming' (who is called Christ). 'When He comes, He will tell us all things.' ⁽²⁶⁾ Jesus said to her, 'I who speak to you am He.'

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 People of God

Let the people of God glorify the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.
Glorify the Lord,
O priests and servants of the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.

Glorify the Lord,
O spirits and souls of the righteous,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.
You that are holy and humble of heart,
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:  First Sunday in Lent
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son 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