All Hallows Evening Prayer for Saturday Evening (September 19, 2020)
Evening Prayer
The Service of Light
Jesus Christ is the light of the world.
A light no darkness can extinguish.
Open this link in a new tab to hear William G. Storey’stranslation of the Phos hilaron, “O Radiant Light, O Son Divine.”
O radiant Light, O Sun divine
of God the Father's deathless face,
O image of the light sublime
that fills the heav'nly dwelling place.
O Son of God, the source of life,
praise is your due by night and day.
Our happy lips must raise the strain
of your esteemed and splendid name.
Lord Jesus Christ, as daylight fades,
as shine the lights of eventide,
we praise the Father with the Son,
the Spirit blest, and with them one.
Thanksgiving
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
our light and our salvation,
eternal creator of day and night,
to you be glory and praise for ever.
Now, as darkness is falling,
hear the prayer of your faithful people.
As we look for your coming in glory,
wash away our transgressions,
cleanse us by your refining fire
and make us temples of your Holy Spirit.
By the light of Christ,
dispel the darkness of our hearts
and make us ready to enter your kingdom,
where songs of praise for ever sound.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God for ever. Amen.
Psalm 141 is sung and incense may be burned.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Peter Inwood’s setting of Psalm 141, “O Lord, Let My Prayer Rise Before You Like Incense.”
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
1. Lord, I am calling:
hasten to help me.
Listen to me as I cry to you.
Let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
2. Lord, set a guard at my mouth,
keep watch at the gate of my lips.
Let my heart not turn to things that are wrong,
to sharing the evil deeds done by the sinful.
No, I will never taste their delights.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
3. The good may reprove me,
in kindness chastise me,
but the wicked shall never anoint my head.
Ev’ry day I counter their malice with prayer.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
4 To you, Lord, my God, my eyes are turned:
in you I take refuge;
do not forsake me.
Keep me from the traps they have set for me,
from the snares of those who do evil.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
5 Praise to the Father, praise to the Son,
all praise to the life-giving Spirit.
As it was, is now and shall always be
for ages unending. Amen.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you as incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
Silence is kept.
God our protector and guide, incline our hearts to turn from evil and do good,
that our lives may be a prayer for the coming of your kingdom,
The Psalms
Open this link in a new tab to hear Daniel Kallman’s choral arrangement of Jonathan Asprey’s paraphrase of Psalm 84, “How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place.”
How lovely is thy dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
My soul is longing and fainting,
The courts of the Lord to see.
My heart and flesh, they are singing,
For joy to the living God.
How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
Even the sparrow finds a home,
Where he can settle down.
And the swallow she can build a nest,
Where she may lay her young.
Within the court of the Lord of hosts,
My King, my Lord and my God.
And happy are those who are dwelling where
The song of praise is sung.
And I’d rather be a door-keeper
And only stay a day,
Than live the life of a sinner
And have to stay away.
For the Lord is shining as the sun,
And the Lord, he’s like a shield;
And no good thing does God withhold
From those who walk the way.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Daniel Kallman’s choral arrangement of Jonathan Asprey’s paraphrase of Psalm 84, “How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place.”
How lovely is thy dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
My soul is longing and fainting,
The courts of the Lord to see.
My heart and flesh, they are singing,
For joy to the living God.
How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
Even the sparrow finds a home,
Where he can settle down.
And the swallow she can build a nest,
Where she may lay her young.
Within the court of the Lord of hosts,
My King, my Lord and my God.
And happy are those who are dwelling where
The song of praise is sung.
And I’d rather be a door-keeper
And only stay a day,
Than live the life of a sinner
And have to stay away.
For the Lord is shining as the sun,
And the Lord, he’s like a shield;
And no good thing does God withhold
From those who walk the way.
How lovely is thy dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
My soul is longing and fainting,
The courts of the Lord to see.
My heart and flesh, they are singing,
For joy to the living God.
How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
O Lord of hosts, to me.
My soul is longing and fainting,
The courts of the Lord to see.
My heart and flesh, they are singing,
For joy to the living God.
How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
Silence is kept.
Lord God,
sustain us in this vale of tears
with the vision of your grace and glory,
that, strengthened by the bread of life,
we may come to your eternal dwelling place;
in the power of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Proclamation of the Word
The Reading
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Silence is kept.
The Gospel of Christ
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Homily
In the summary of the Law and the Prophets that Jesus gives in this evening’s reading from Matthew’s Gospel Jesus captures what may be described as the essence of a life that conforms to God’s will and which honors God, a life that is pleasing to God. The Great Commandment, as these two commandments are also called, is viewed by most Christians as the core of the Christian faith and way of life. Our love of others flows out of our love of God. At the same time as the apostle John draws to our attention, we cannot claim to love God if we do not truly love others. Loving God and loving others are so closely intertwined that they are inseparable. One does not exist without the other.
The first of the two commandments that form together the Great Commandment enjoins us to love God with our whole being—with every part of us.
Loving God is more than having warm fuzzy feelings about God. Loving God requires bringing our life completely into alignment with God’s will. We are to be like the girasol, or sunflower. Just as the girasol always turns to face the sun, our lives must be always oriented to God. God is the sun to whom we turn every moment of our lives.
Loving God means loving Jesus, God’s only begotten Son whom God gave that those who believe in him might not perish but have eternal life. Loving Jesus means keeping his word. Jesus’ word is not just his word. It is God’s word. Those who love Jesus follow his teaching and example. They obey his commandments.
Loving God means loving others, not just those who share our values and political views, those who vote for the same politicians as we do, but all people. Jesus, when he told the Parable of the Good Samaritan, included among our neighbors those who are different from, those whom we may distrust, and those whom we may dislike. Jesus taught that we should not only love our neighbor but also those who hate and despise us. Our love must reflect God’s love and encompass all people.
Loving God means living a life that genuinely honors God, a life in which not just our words honor him but also our thoughts, our desires, and our actions. The person that we desire to please the most is God.
Loving others means showing them kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. We seek to be merciful as God is merciful. We do not harbor anger and hatred in our hearts toward them. We do not hold grudges against them. We do not seek to do them injury in any way or avenge any injury that they may do us. We do not repay unkindness with unkindness, wrongdoing with wrongdoing.
Loving others, however, does not mean turning a blind eye when someone is doing harm to themselves or to someone else. Love of others speaks a cautioning word and extends a restraining hand. It is not an act of love to leave someone to do themselves or someone else harm out of the mistaken belief that we would be interfering with their freedom to do as they please. We are our brother’s keeper. We are our sister’s keeper too. We are responsible for the welfare of others.
Loving others means that we do to others what we would wish others to do to us. Following the Golden Rule as this teaching of Jesus is sometimes called is not an ideal to which we aspire but a way of life that permeates everything that we do.
John Wesley, a priest of the Church of England and the founder of the Methodist Movement, summed up what it means to be a follower of Jesus with three simple rules-- do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God. These three rules echo Jesus’ own summary of the Law and Prophets in the Great Commandment. They offer a practical guide for us as we seek to live our lives in accordance with the teaching and example of Jesus. In doing no harm and doing good, we show our love for others and in turn our love for God. Staying in love with God means that we do not permit the things of this world and the desires of our sinful human nature crowd God out of our lives. We do not let weeds grow up in our lives between ourselves and God so that instead of turning always toward the sun of our life, we are in the shadows. Instead of growing as we should, we become withered and stunted.
As we start each day and throughout the day, we might take a moment to ask ourselves these questions.
What can I do this day to keep from doing harm? What can I do right now at this very moment?
What can I do this day to do good? What can I do right now this very moment?
What can I do this day to keep the world and my own sinful desires from coming between God and myself? What can I do right now this very moment?
If we make a habit of asking ourselves these questions and acting upon the answers, we will begin to see a transformation in our lives. We will begin to grow as a follower of Jesus. God is busily working in the lives of each of us even though we may not always sense his presence. When we adopt such a habit, we are actively cooperating with God. We are joining hands with God in our renovation, in the renewing of God’s image in ourselves.
Silence is kept.
The Gospel Canticle
Open this link in a new tab to hear Lucien Deiss' setting of the Magnificat.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,*
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.*
And from this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,*
holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and sent the rich away empty handed.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Intercessions
Let us complete our evening prayer to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For peace from on high and our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For the welfare of all churches and for the unity of the human family, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For (name), our bishop, and (name), our pastor, and for all ministers of the Gospel, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For our nation, its government, and for all who serve and protect us, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For this city (town, university, monastery…). For every city and community, and for all those living in them, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For the good earth which God has given us and for the wisdom and will to conserve it, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For the safety of travelers, the recovery of the sick, the care of the destitute and the release of prisoners, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For an angel of peace to guide and protect us, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For a peaceful evening and a night free from sin, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For a Christian end to our lives and for all who have fallen asleep in Christ, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
In the communion of the Holy Spirit (and of all the saints), let us commend ourselves and one another to the living God through Christ our Lord.
To you, O Lord.
Free Prayer
In silent or spontaneous prayer all bring before God the concerns of the day.
The Collect
Lighten our darkness,
Lord, we pray,
and in your great mercy
defend us from all perils and dangers of this night,
for the love of your only Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
The Lord's Prayer
And now, as our Saviour has taught us,
we are bold to say,
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Dismissal
Lord God,
sustain us in this vale of tears
with the vision of your grace and glory,
that, strengthened by the bread of life,
we may come to your eternal dwelling place;
in the power of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Proclamation of the Word
The Reading
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Silence is kept.
The Gospel of Christ
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Homily
Love God; Love Others
In the summary of the Law and the Prophets that Jesus gives in this evening’s reading from Matthew’s Gospel Jesus captures what may be described as the essence of a life that conforms to God’s will and which honors God, a life that is pleasing to God. The Great Commandment, as these two commandments are also called, is viewed by most Christians as the core of the Christian faith and way of life. Our love of others flows out of our love of God. At the same time as the apostle John draws to our attention, we cannot claim to love God if we do not truly love others. Loving God and loving others are so closely intertwined that they are inseparable. One does not exist without the other.
The first of the two commandments that form together the Great Commandment enjoins us to love God with our whole being—with every part of us.
Loving God is more than having warm fuzzy feelings about God. Loving God requires bringing our life completely into alignment with God’s will. We are to be like the girasol, or sunflower. Just as the girasol always turns to face the sun, our lives must be always oriented to God. God is the sun to whom we turn every moment of our lives.
Loving God means loving Jesus, God’s only begotten Son whom God gave that those who believe in him might not perish but have eternal life. Loving Jesus means keeping his word. Jesus’ word is not just his word. It is God’s word. Those who love Jesus follow his teaching and example. They obey his commandments.
Loving God means loving others, not just those who share our values and political views, those who vote for the same politicians as we do, but all people. Jesus, when he told the Parable of the Good Samaritan, included among our neighbors those who are different from, those whom we may distrust, and those whom we may dislike. Jesus taught that we should not only love our neighbor but also those who hate and despise us. Our love must reflect God’s love and encompass all people.
Loving God means living a life that genuinely honors God, a life in which not just our words honor him but also our thoughts, our desires, and our actions. The person that we desire to please the most is God.
Loving others means showing them kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. We seek to be merciful as God is merciful. We do not harbor anger and hatred in our hearts toward them. We do not hold grudges against them. We do not seek to do them injury in any way or avenge any injury that they may do us. We do not repay unkindness with unkindness, wrongdoing with wrongdoing.
Loving others, however, does not mean turning a blind eye when someone is doing harm to themselves or to someone else. Love of others speaks a cautioning word and extends a restraining hand. It is not an act of love to leave someone to do themselves or someone else harm out of the mistaken belief that we would be interfering with their freedom to do as they please. We are our brother’s keeper. We are our sister’s keeper too. We are responsible for the welfare of others.
Loving others means that we do to others what we would wish others to do to us. Following the Golden Rule as this teaching of Jesus is sometimes called is not an ideal to which we aspire but a way of life that permeates everything that we do.
John Wesley, a priest of the Church of England and the founder of the Methodist Movement, summed up what it means to be a follower of Jesus with three simple rules-- do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God. These three rules echo Jesus’ own summary of the Law and Prophets in the Great Commandment. They offer a practical guide for us as we seek to live our lives in accordance with the teaching and example of Jesus. In doing no harm and doing good, we show our love for others and in turn our love for God. Staying in love with God means that we do not permit the things of this world and the desires of our sinful human nature crowd God out of our lives. We do not let weeds grow up in our lives between ourselves and God so that instead of turning always toward the sun of our life, we are in the shadows. Instead of growing as we should, we become withered and stunted.
As we start each day and throughout the day, we might take a moment to ask ourselves these questions.
What can I do this day to keep from doing harm? What can I do right now at this very moment?
What can I do this day to do good? What can I do right now this very moment?
What can I do this day to keep the world and my own sinful desires from coming between God and myself? What can I do right now this very moment?
If we make a habit of asking ourselves these questions and acting upon the answers, we will begin to see a transformation in our lives. We will begin to grow as a follower of Jesus. God is busily working in the lives of each of us even though we may not always sense his presence. When we adopt such a habit, we are actively cooperating with God. We are joining hands with God in our renovation, in the renewing of God’s image in ourselves.
Silence is kept.
The Gospel Canticle
Open this link in a new tab to hear Lucien Deiss' setting of the Magnificat.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,*
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.*
And from this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,*
holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and sent the rich away empty handed.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Intercessions
Let us complete our evening prayer to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For peace from on high and our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For the welfare of all churches and for the unity of the human family, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For (name), our bishop, and (name), our pastor, and for all ministers of the Gospel, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For our nation, its government, and for all who serve and protect us, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For this city (town, university, monastery…). For every city and community, and for all those living in them, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For the good earth which God has given us and for the wisdom and will to conserve it, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For the safety of travelers, the recovery of the sick, the care of the destitute and the release of prisoners, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For an angel of peace to guide and protect us, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For a peaceful evening and a night free from sin, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For a Christian end to our lives and for all who have fallen asleep in Christ, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
In the communion of the Holy Spirit (and of all the saints), let us commend ourselves and one another to the living God through Christ our Lord.
To you, O Lord.
Free Prayer
In silent or spontaneous prayer all bring before God the concerns of the day.
The Collect
Lighten our darkness,
Lord, we pray,
and in your great mercy
defend us from all perils and dangers of this night,
for the love of your only Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
The Lord's Prayer
And now, as our Saviour has taught us,
we are bold to say,
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Dismissal
1 My life flows on in endless song;
Above earth’s lamentation.
I hear the real though far-off hymn
That hails a new creation.
Refrain:
No storm can shake my inmost calm,
While to that rock I’m clinging.
Since Love is Lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?
2 Through all the tumult and the strife,
I hear that music ringing;
It sounds and echoes in my soul;
How can I keep from singing? [Refrain]
3 What though the tempest 'round me roar,
I hear the truth it liveth.
What though the darkness 'round me close,
Songs in the night it giveth. [Refrain]
4 When tyrants tremble, sick with fear,
And hear their death knells ringing;
When friends rejoice both far and near,
How can I keep from singing? [Refrain]
5 The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
A fountain ever springing.
All things are mine since I am his;
How can I keep from singing? [Refrain]
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us this night and forevermore.
Above earth’s lamentation.
I hear the real though far-off hymn
That hails a new creation.
Refrain:
No storm can shake my inmost calm,
While to that rock I’m clinging.
Since Love is Lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?
2 Through all the tumult and the strife,
I hear that music ringing;
It sounds and echoes in my soul;
How can I keep from singing? [Refrain]
3 What though the tempest 'round me roar,
I hear the truth it liveth.
What though the darkness 'round me close,
Songs in the night it giveth. [Refrain]
4 When tyrants tremble, sick with fear,
And hear their death knells ringing;
When friends rejoice both far and near,
How can I keep from singing? [Refrain]
5 The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
A fountain ever springing.
All things are mine since I am his;
How can I keep from singing? [Refrain]
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us this night and forevermore.
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