Evening Prayer

--Today is the Feast of St. Dominic--
Ordinary Time
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

Saint and Major Saints' Days
We give thanks to the Father, who has made us worthy to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Colossians 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   Alleluia

Venite
The Antiphon:

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

The mercy of the Lord is everlasting: Come let us adore him.

The Lessons

Psalm 88

⁽¹⁾ O LORD, God of my salvation, I have cried out day and night before You. ⁽²⁾ Let my prayer come before You; Incline Your ear to my cry. ⁽³⁾ For my soul is full of troubles, And my life draws near to the grave. ⁽⁴⁾ I am counted with those who go down to the pit; I am like a man who has no strength,

⁽⁵⁾ Adrift among the dead, Like the slain who lie in the grave, Whom You remember no more, And who are cut off from Your hand. ⁽⁶⁾ You have laid me in the lowest pit, In darkness, in the depths. ⁽⁷⁾ Your wrath lies heavy upon me, And You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah ⁽⁸⁾ You have put away my acquaintances far from me; You have made me an abomination to them; I am shut up, and I cannot get out;

⁽⁹⁾ My eye wastes away because of affliction. LORD, I have called daily upon You; I have stretched out my hands to You. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Will You work wonders for the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise You? Selah ⁽¹¹⁾ Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or Your faithfulness in the place of destruction? ⁽¹²⁾ Shall Your wonders be known in the dark? And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

⁽¹³⁾ But to You I have cried out, O LORD, And in the morning my prayer comes before You. ⁽¹⁴⁾ LORD, why do You cast off my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me? ⁽¹⁵⁾ I have been afflicted and ready to die from my youth; I suffer Your terrors; I am distraught. ⁽¹⁶⁾ Your fierce wrath has gone over me; Your terrors have cut me off.

⁽¹⁷⁾ They came around me all day long like water; They engulfed me altogether. ⁽¹⁸⁾ Loved one and friend You have put far from me, And my acquaintances into darkness.

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.

2 Samuel Chapter 12

⁽¹⁾ Then the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: 'There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. ⁽²⁾ The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. ⁽³⁾ But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. ⁽⁴⁾ And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.'

⁽⁵⁾ So David's anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, 'As the LORD lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! ⁽⁶⁾ And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.' ⁽⁷⁾ Then Nathan said to David, 'You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁽⁸⁾ I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more!

⁽⁹⁾ Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.' ⁽¹¹⁾ Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. ⁽¹²⁾ For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.' '

⁽¹³⁾ So David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the LORD.' And Nathan said to David, 'The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. ⁽¹⁴⁾ However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.'

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Acts Chapter 19

⁽²¹⁾ When these things were accomplished, Paul purposed in the Spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, 'After I have been there, I must also see Rome.' ⁽²²⁾ So he sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, but he himself stayed in Asia for a time. ⁽²³⁾ And about that time there arose a great commotion about the Way. ⁽²⁴⁾ For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no small profit to the craftsmen.

⁽²⁵⁾ He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and said: 'Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. ⁽²⁶⁾ Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands. ⁽²⁷⁾ So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.' ⁽²⁸⁾ Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, 'Great is Diana of the Ephesians!'

⁽²⁹⁾ So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul's travel companions. ⁽³⁰⁾ And when Paul wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would not allow him. ⁽³¹⁾ Then some of the officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent to him pleading that he would not venture into the theater. ⁽³²⁾ Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused, and most of them did not know why they had come together.

⁽³³⁾ And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander motioned with his hand, and wanted to make his defense to the people. ⁽³⁴⁾ But when they found out that he was a Jew, all with one voice cried out for about two hours, 'Great is Diana of the Ephesians!' ⁽³⁵⁾ And when the city clerk had quieted the crowd, he said: 'Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple guardian of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Zeus? ⁽³⁶⁾ Therefore, since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly.

⁽³⁷⁾ For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of your goddess. ⁽³⁸⁾ Therefore, if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a case against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. ⁽³⁹⁾ But if you have any other inquiry to make, it shall be determined in the lawful assembly. ⁽⁴⁰⁾ For we are in danger of being called in question for today's uproar, there being no reason which we may give to account for this disorderly gathering.'

⁽⁴¹⁾ And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Mark Chapter 9

⁽¹⁴⁾ And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. ⁽¹⁵⁾ Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. ⁽¹⁶⁾ And He asked the scribes, 'What are you discussing with them?' ⁽¹⁷⁾ Then one of the crowd answered and said, 'Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.

⁽¹⁸⁾ And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.' ⁽¹⁹⁾ He answered him and said, 'O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.' ⁽²⁰⁾ Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. ⁽²¹⁾ So He asked his father, 'How long has this been happening to him?' And he said, 'From childhood.

⁽²²⁾ And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.' ⁽²³⁾ Jesus said to him, 'If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.' ⁽²⁴⁾ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!' ⁽²⁵⁾ When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, 'Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!'

⁽²⁶⁾ Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, 'He is dead.' ⁽²⁷⁾ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. ⁽²⁸⁾ And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, 'Why could we not cast it out?' ⁽²⁹⁾ So He said to them, 'This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.'

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The Second Song of Isaiah      Isaiah 55:6 to 11

Seek the Lord while he wills to be found;
call upon him when he draws near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the evil ones their thoughts;
And let them turn to the Lord, and he will have compassion,
and to our God, for he will richly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as rain and snow fall from the heavens
and return not again, but water the earth,
Bringing forth life and giving growth,
seed for sowing and bread for eating,
So is my word that goes forth from my mouth;
it will not return to me empty;
But it will accomplish that which I have purposed,
and prosper in that for which I sent it.
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:   Proper 13 The Sunday closest to August 3
Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; 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: 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 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