Evening Prayer

Advent
Watch, for you know not when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning; lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. Mark 13:35, 36

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.

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

The Lessons

Psalm 30

⁽¹⁾ I will extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my foes rejoice over me. ⁽²⁾ O LORD my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me. ⁽³⁾ O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. ⁽⁴⁾ Sing praise to the LORD, You saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.

⁽⁵⁾ For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning. ⁽⁶⁾ Now in my prosperity I said, 'I shall never be moved.' ⁽⁷⁾ LORD, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled. ⁽⁸⁾ I cried out to You, O LORD; And to the LORD I made supplication:

⁽⁹⁾ What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth? ⁽¹⁰⁾ Hear, O LORD, and have mercy on me; LORD, be my helper!' ⁽¹¹⁾ You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, ⁽¹²⁾ To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

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 32

⁽¹⁾ Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. ⁽²⁾ Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit. ⁽³⁾ When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long. ⁽⁴⁾ For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah

⁽⁵⁾ I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,' And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah ⁽⁶⁾ For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You In a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters They shall not come near him. ⁽⁷⁾ You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah ⁽⁸⁾ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.

⁽⁹⁾ Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround him. ⁽¹¹⁾ Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

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.

Haggai Chapter 2

⁽¹⁾ In the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying: ⁽²⁾ Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying: ⁽³⁾ Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing? ⁽⁴⁾ Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,' says the LORD; 'and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,' says the LORD, 'and work; for I am with you,' says the LORD of hosts.

⁽⁵⁾ According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!' ⁽⁶⁾ For thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; ⁽⁷⁾ and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,' says the LORD of hosts. ⁽⁸⁾ The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,' says the LORD of hosts.

⁽⁹⁾ The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,' says the LORD of hosts. 'And in this place I will give peace,' says the LORD of hosts.' ⁽¹⁰⁾ On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, ⁽¹¹⁾ Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Now, ask the priests concerning the law, saying, ⁽¹²⁾ If one carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with the edge he touches bread or stew, wine or oil, or any food, will it become holy?' ' ' Then the priests answered and said, 'No.'

⁽¹³⁾ And Haggai said, 'If one who is unclean because of a dead body touches any of these, will it be unclean?' So the priests answered and said, 'It shall be unclean.' ⁽¹⁴⁾ Then Haggai answered and said, ' 'So is this people, and so is this nation before Me,' says the LORD, 'and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean. ⁽¹⁵⁾ And now, carefully consider from this day forward: from before stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the LORD -- ⁽¹⁶⁾ since those days, when one came to a heap of twenty ephahs, there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty baths from the press, there were but twenty.

⁽¹⁷⁾ I struck you with blight and mildew and hail in all the labors of your hands; yet you did not turn to Me,' says the LORD. ⁽¹⁸⁾ Consider now from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid -- consider it: ⁽¹⁹⁾ Is the seed still in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit. But from this day I will bless you.' '

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Revelation Chapter 3

⁽¹⁾ And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, ' These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: 'I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. ⁽²⁾ Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. ⁽³⁾ Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. ⁽⁴⁾ You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.

⁽⁵⁾ He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. ⁽⁶⁾ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.' '

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Matthew Chapter 24

⁽¹⁾ Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. ⁽²⁾ And Jesus said to them, 'Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.' ⁽³⁾ Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, 'Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?' ⁽⁴⁾ And Jesus answered and said to them: 'Take heed that no one deceives you.

⁽⁵⁾ For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. ⁽⁶⁾ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁽⁷⁾ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. ⁽⁸⁾ All these are the beginning of sorrows.

⁽⁹⁾ Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. ⁽¹⁰⁾ And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. ⁽¹¹⁾ Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. ⁽¹²⁾ And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

⁽¹³⁾ But he who endures to the end shall be saved. ⁽¹⁴⁾ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

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 Earth and its Creatures

Let the earth glorify the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.
Glorify the Lord, O mountains and hills,
and all that grows upon the earth,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.
Glorify the Lord,
O springs of water, seas, and streams,
O whales and all that move in the waters.
All birds of the air, glorify the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.

Glorify the Lord,
O beasts of the wild,
and all you flocks and herds.
O men and women everywhere, 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 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.


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:  Second Sunday of Advent
Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; 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