All Hallows Evening Prayer for Wednesday Evening (February 3, 2021)
The Service of Light
Jesus Christ is the light of the world.
A light no darkness can extinguish.
Open this link to hear Carl P. Schalk’s setting of the Phos Hilaron, “Joyous Light of Glory.”
Joyous light ,
joyous light, of glory
of the immortal Father,
Heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ,
We have come to the setting of the Sun
And we look to the evening light.
We sing to God,
We have come to the setting of the Sun
And we look to the evening light.
We sing to God,
we sing to God,
we sing to God,
we sing to God
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
You, you are worthy of being praised,
You, you are worthy of being praised,
of being praised with pure voices forever.
O Son of God,
O Son of God,
O Son of God,
O Son of God
O Giver of life,
The universe proclaims your glory.
Thanksgiving
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
We praise you, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe!
Your word brings on the dusk of evening,
your wisdom creates both night and day.
You determine the cycles of time,
arrange the succession of the seasons,
and establish the stars in their heavenly courses.
Lord of the starry hosts is your name.
Living and eternal God,
rule over us always.
Blessed be the Lord,
whose word makes evening fall.
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.
Let the incense of our repentant prayer ascend before you, O Lord, and let your loving kindness descend upon us, that with purified minds we may sing your praises with the Church on earth and the whole heavenly host, and may glorify you forever and ever. Amen.
The Psalms
Open this link in a new tab to hear Luke Mayernik’s responsorial setting of Psalm 113, "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord."
Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever, for ever.
1 Praise, you servants of the Lord
praise the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the name of the Lord
both now and for ever.
Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever, for ever.
2 From the rising to the setting of the sun
is the name of the Lord to be praised.
High above all the nations is the Lord;
above the heavens is his glory.
Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever, for ever.
3 Who is like the Lord, our God,
who is enthroned on high
and looks upon the heavens
and the earth below?
Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever, for ever.
4 He raises up the lowly from the dust;
from the dunghill he lifts up the poor
to seat them with princes,
with princes of his own people.
Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever, for ever.
Silence is kept.
Lord Jesus, surrendering the brightness of your glory, you became mortal so that we might be raised from the dust to share your very being. May the children of God always bless your name from the rising of the sun to its going down, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.
The Proclamation of the Word
The Reading
John 15: 12-17 Friends of Jesus
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.
Silence is kept.
Homily
In today’s reading Jesus reiterates the new commandment that he has given his disciples. They are to love one another as Jesus has loved them. He goes on to say that there is no greater love than to lay one’s life down for one’s friends. They are his friends if they do what he commands them. He has called them friends because he has made known to them everything that he has heard from his Father. He reminds them that they did not choose him but he chose them. He appointed them to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, in order that the Father will give them whatever they ask him in Jesus’ name. He tells them that he is giving them these commands in order that they may love one another.
What does this mean for us? I think that we are on safe ground if we assume what he has told the disciples also applies to us. We are to love one another too. We may consider ourselves Jesus’ friends if we do what he has commanded the disciples. Jesus has likewise made know to us in the gospels everything he has heard from God.
Jesus’ teachings are not something that he thought up on his own. They come from God. They are not just his words. They are God’s words.
A part of putting our trust in Jesus is putting our trust in what he says. We believe that his words are worthy of our trust and that they are true.
Failure to trust God and to trust his words lies at the heart of the Old Testament story of Adam and Eve and the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden. The serpent beguiles them into believing that they cannot trust God and what he says.
Instead of trusting God and his words, they believe the serpent’s lies. As a consequence, their relationship with God becomes marred by their lack of trust in him.
Their expulsion from the Garden of Eden is the outcome of this lack of trust. They are no longer able to enjoy the intimate relationship with God that they enjoyed in the Garden of Eden.
To make matters worse, their children, their children’s children, and future generations of their descendants will not be able to enjoy this kind of relationship. They not only damaged their relationship with God for themselves but also for all humanity.
This is the point of the Old Testament story of Adam and Eve. Now some people may disagree with me, but it does not matter whether we believe that Adam and Eve were real people. The point is the same. They represent ourselves. We, like them, listen to lies urging us to distrust God and his words and to disobey him. When we believe the lies and follow in their footsteps, we too mar our relationship with God.
The following is a rough analogy. What happened between Adam and Eve and God is like what happens when members of an extended family have a falling out. The falling out will have a ripple effect through the entire family. No one will be unaffected by it. Even children who are not yet born will be affected by their soured relationship.
Among the reasons that Jesus came was to heal our relationship with God and to undo the damage. Through him and through what he did, we can enjoy an intimate relationship with God. We can become friends with God.
Love is what heals broken relationships. Love also keeps relationships from becoming broken again. Love does not harbor grudges and ill-will towards others. This is one of the reasons that Jesus lays so much stress on love.
At the same time love means also sharing the hurt, the pain, of the broken relationship. Jesus certainly does that when he suffers and dies for our sake on the cross, when he lays down his life for those whom he has called friends.
To my mind friendship is something to be valued and cherished. Friendship with God is something to be valued and cherished most of all.
When I say friendship with God, I do not mean treating God as if he is our buddy. The word “buddy” can be used to refer to someone who is a close friend. But it also can be used to refer to someone with whom we have a superficial relationship, whose feelings we do not consider, of whom we may take advantage, and toward whom we show little respect.
God is, after all, God. God is our best friend. We have no better friend. But God is not our “bestie.” We cannot presume on our friendship with God like we might with a fellow human being.
Friends may drift apart They may quarrel. They may find new friends whom they enjoy more than their old friends. Friends may move away. Or die. But our friendship with God lasts for ever. It will last for all eternity.
Silence is kept.
The Gospel Canticle
Open this link in a new tab to hear Ann Krentz’s choral arrangement of “My Soul Proclaims Your Greatness.”
My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.
My soul proclaims your greatness, Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
You looked upon my lowliness,
and I am full of grace.
Now ev’ry land and ev’ry age
this blessing shall proclaim—
great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.
My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.
To all who live in holy fear
Your mercy ever flows.
With mighty arm you dash the proud,
Their scheming hearts expose.
The ruthless you have cast aside,
the lonely throned instead;
the hungry filled with all good things,
the rich sent off unfed.
My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.
To Israel, your servant blest,
your help is ever sure;
the promise to our parents made
their children will secure.
Sing glory to the Holy One,
give honor to the Word,
and praise the Pow’r of the Most High,
one God, by all adored.
My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name,
and holy is your name.
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
Be present, merciful God,
and protect us through the hours of this night:
that we, who are wearied by the changes
and chances of this fleeting world,
may rest on your eternal changelessness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer is said.
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
Open this link in a new tab to hear Steven C. Warner's arrangement of John Fennelly’s hymn, “Christ Be Near at Either Hand.”
1 Christ be near at either hand,
Christ behind, before me stand,
Christ with me where e’er I go,
Christ around, above, below.
2 Christ be in my heart and mind,
Christ within my soul enshrined.
Christ control my wayward heart;
Christ abide and ne’er depart.
3 Christ my life and only way,
Christ my lantern night and day;
Christ be my unchanging friend,
guide and shepherd to the end.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us praise the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The Lord bless us and keep us.
The Lord make his face to shine upon us
and be gracious to us.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon us
and give us peace. Amen
The universe proclaims your glory.
Thanksgiving
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
We praise you, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe!
Your word brings on the dusk of evening,
your wisdom creates both night and day.
You determine the cycles of time,
arrange the succession of the seasons,
and establish the stars in their heavenly courses.
Lord of the starry hosts is your name.
Living and eternal God,
rule over us always.
Blessed be the Lord,
whose word makes evening fall.
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.
Let the incense of our repentant prayer ascend before you, O Lord, and let your loving kindness descend upon us, that with purified minds we may sing your praises with the Church on earth and the whole heavenly host, and may glorify you forever and ever. Amen.
The Psalms
Open this link in a new tab to hear Luke Mayernik’s responsorial setting of Psalm 113, "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord."
Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever, for ever.
1 Praise, you servants of the Lord
praise the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the name of the Lord
both now and for ever.
Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever, for ever.
2 From the rising to the setting of the sun
is the name of the Lord to be praised.
High above all the nations is the Lord;
above the heavens is his glory.
Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever, for ever.
3 Who is like the Lord, our God,
who is enthroned on high
and looks upon the heavens
and the earth below?
Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever, for ever.
4 He raises up the lowly from the dust;
from the dunghill he lifts up the poor
to seat them with princes,
with princes of his own people.
Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever, for ever.
Silence is kept.
Lord Jesus, surrendering the brightness of your glory, you became mortal so that we might be raised from the dust to share your very being. May the children of God always bless your name from the rising of the sun to its going down, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.
The Proclamation of the Word
The Reading
John 15: 12-17 Friends of Jesus
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.
Silence is kept.
Homily
Friend to Jesus, Friend to God
In today’s reading Jesus reiterates the new commandment that he has given his disciples. They are to love one another as Jesus has loved them. He goes on to say that there is no greater love than to lay one’s life down for one’s friends. They are his friends if they do what he commands them. He has called them friends because he has made known to them everything that he has heard from his Father. He reminds them that they did not choose him but he chose them. He appointed them to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, in order that the Father will give them whatever they ask him in Jesus’ name. He tells them that he is giving them these commands in order that they may love one another.
What does this mean for us? I think that we are on safe ground if we assume what he has told the disciples also applies to us. We are to love one another too. We may consider ourselves Jesus’ friends if we do what he has commanded the disciples. Jesus has likewise made know to us in the gospels everything he has heard from God.
Jesus’ teachings are not something that he thought up on his own. They come from God. They are not just his words. They are God’s words.
A part of putting our trust in Jesus is putting our trust in what he says. We believe that his words are worthy of our trust and that they are true.
Failure to trust God and to trust his words lies at the heart of the Old Testament story of Adam and Eve and the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden. The serpent beguiles them into believing that they cannot trust God and what he says.
Instead of trusting God and his words, they believe the serpent’s lies. As a consequence, their relationship with God becomes marred by their lack of trust in him.
Their expulsion from the Garden of Eden is the outcome of this lack of trust. They are no longer able to enjoy the intimate relationship with God that they enjoyed in the Garden of Eden.
To make matters worse, their children, their children’s children, and future generations of their descendants will not be able to enjoy this kind of relationship. They not only damaged their relationship with God for themselves but also for all humanity.
This is the point of the Old Testament story of Adam and Eve. Now some people may disagree with me, but it does not matter whether we believe that Adam and Eve were real people. The point is the same. They represent ourselves. We, like them, listen to lies urging us to distrust God and his words and to disobey him. When we believe the lies and follow in their footsteps, we too mar our relationship with God.
The following is a rough analogy. What happened between Adam and Eve and God is like what happens when members of an extended family have a falling out. The falling out will have a ripple effect through the entire family. No one will be unaffected by it. Even children who are not yet born will be affected by their soured relationship.
Among the reasons that Jesus came was to heal our relationship with God and to undo the damage. Through him and through what he did, we can enjoy an intimate relationship with God. We can become friends with God.
Love is what heals broken relationships. Love also keeps relationships from becoming broken again. Love does not harbor grudges and ill-will towards others. This is one of the reasons that Jesus lays so much stress on love.
At the same time love means also sharing the hurt, the pain, of the broken relationship. Jesus certainly does that when he suffers and dies for our sake on the cross, when he lays down his life for those whom he has called friends.
To my mind friendship is something to be valued and cherished. Friendship with God is something to be valued and cherished most of all.
When I say friendship with God, I do not mean treating God as if he is our buddy. The word “buddy” can be used to refer to someone who is a close friend. But it also can be used to refer to someone with whom we have a superficial relationship, whose feelings we do not consider, of whom we may take advantage, and toward whom we show little respect.
God is, after all, God. God is our best friend. We have no better friend. But God is not our “bestie.” We cannot presume on our friendship with God like we might with a fellow human being.
Friends may drift apart They may quarrel. They may find new friends whom they enjoy more than their old friends. Friends may move away. Or die. But our friendship with God lasts for ever. It will last for all eternity.
Silence is kept.
The Gospel Canticle
Open this link in a new tab to hear Ann Krentz’s choral arrangement of “My Soul Proclaims Your Greatness.”
My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.
My soul proclaims your greatness, Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
You looked upon my lowliness,
and I am full of grace.
Now ev’ry land and ev’ry age
this blessing shall proclaim—
great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.
My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.
To all who live in holy fear
Your mercy ever flows.
With mighty arm you dash the proud,
Their scheming hearts expose.
The ruthless you have cast aside,
the lonely throned instead;
the hungry filled with all good things,
the rich sent off unfed.
My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.
To Israel, your servant blest,
your help is ever sure;
the promise to our parents made
their children will secure.
Sing glory to the Holy One,
give honor to the Word,
and praise the Pow’r of the Most High,
one God, by all adored.
My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name,
and holy is your name.
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
Be present, merciful God,
and protect us through the hours of this night:
that we, who are wearied by the changes
and chances of this fleeting world,
may rest on your eternal changelessness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer is said.
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
Open this link in a new tab to hear Steven C. Warner's arrangement of John Fennelly’s hymn, “Christ Be Near at Either Hand.”
1 Christ be near at either hand,
Christ behind, before me stand,
Christ with me where e’er I go,
Christ around, above, below.
2 Christ be in my heart and mind,
Christ within my soul enshrined.
Christ control my wayward heart;
Christ abide and ne’er depart.
3 Christ my life and only way,
Christ my lantern night and day;
Christ be my unchanging friend,
guide and shepherd to the end.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us praise the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The Lord bless us and keep us.
The Lord make his face to shine upon us
and be gracious to us.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon us
and give us peace. Amen
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