Evening Prayer

Advent
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. Isaiah 40:5

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 5

⁽¹⁾ Give ear to my words, O LORD, Consider my meditation. ⁽²⁾ Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray. ⁽³⁾ My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up. ⁽⁴⁾ For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You.

⁽⁵⁾ The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. ⁽⁶⁾ You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. ⁽⁷⁾ But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple. ⁽⁸⁾ Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; Make Your way straight before my face.

⁽⁹⁾ For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; Their inward part is destruction; Their throat is an open tomb; They flatter with their tongue. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Pronounce them guilty, O God! Let them fall by their own counsels; Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, For they have rebelled against You. ⁽¹¹⁾ But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You. ⁽¹²⁾ For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

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 6

⁽¹⁾ O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure. ⁽²⁾ Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am weak; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled. ⁽³⁾ My soul also is greatly troubled; But You, O LORD -- how long? ⁽⁴⁾ Return, O LORD, deliver me! Oh, save me for Your mercies' sake!

⁽⁵⁾ For in death there is no remembrance of You; In the grave who will give You thanks? ⁽⁶⁾ I am weary with my groaning; All night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears. ⁽⁷⁾ My eye wastes away because of grief; It grows old because of all my enemies. ⁽⁸⁾ Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity; For the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.

⁽⁹⁾ The LORD has heard my supplication; The LORD will receive my prayer. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled; Let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly.

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 1

⁽²¹⁾ How the faithful city has become a harlot! It was full of justice; Righteousness lodged in it, But now murderers. ⁽²²⁾ Your silver has become dross, Your wine mixed with water. ⁽²³⁾ Your princes are rebellious, And companions of thieves; Everyone loves bribes, And follows after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, Nor does the cause of the widow come before them. ⁽²⁴⁾ Therefore the Lord says, The LORD of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, 'Ah, I will rid Myself of My adversaries, And take vengeance on My enemies.

⁽²⁵⁾ I will turn My hand against you, And thoroughly purge away your dross, And take away all your alloy. ⁽²⁶⁾ I will restore your judges as at the first, And your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.' ⁽²⁷⁾ Zion shall be redeemed with justice, And her penitents with righteousness. ⁽²⁸⁾ The destruction of transgressors and of sinners shall be together, And those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed.

⁽²⁹⁾ For they shall be ashamed of the terebinth trees Which you have desired; And you shall be embarrassed because of the gardens Which you have chosen. ⁽³⁰⁾ For you shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fades, And as a garden that has no water. ⁽³¹⁾ The strong shall be as tinder, And the work of it as a spark; Both will burn together, And no one shall quench them.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

1 Thessalonians Chapter 2

⁽¹⁾ For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain. ⁽²⁾ But even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. ⁽³⁾ For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit. ⁽⁴⁾ But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.

⁽⁵⁾ For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness -- God is witness. ⁽⁶⁾ Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. ⁽⁷⁾ But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. ⁽⁸⁾ So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.

⁽⁹⁾ For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God. ⁽¹⁰⁾ You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; ⁽¹¹⁾ as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, ⁽¹²⁾ that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Luke Chapter 20

⁽⁹⁾ Then He began to tell the people this parable: 'A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁽¹¹⁾ Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. ⁽¹²⁾ And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.

⁽¹³⁾ Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Probably they will respect him when they see him.' ⁽¹⁴⁾ But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.' ⁽¹⁵⁾ So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ⁽¹⁶⁾ He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.' And when they heard it they said, 'Certainly not!'

⁽¹⁷⁾ Then He looked at them and said, 'What then is this that is written: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone'? ⁽¹⁸⁾ Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.'

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

A Song to the Lamb       Revelation 4:11, 5:9 to 10, 13

Splendor and honor and kingly power
are yours by right, O Lord our God,
For you created everything that is,
and by your will they were created
  and have their being;
And yours by right, O Lamb that was slain,
for with your blood you have redeemed for God,
From every family, language, people, and nation,
a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
And so, to him who sits upon the throne,
and to Christ the Lamb,
Be worship and praise, dominion and splendor,
forever and forevermore.

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.


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 of Advent
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of 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