All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (March 28, 2021)

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 David von Kampen’s choral arrangement of “Joyous Light of Glory.”

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 the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
You are worthy of being praised
with pure voices forever.
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
The universe proclaims your glory,
your glory, your glory.

Thanksgiving

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Blessed are you, O Lord our God,
the Shepherd of Israel,
their pillar of cloud by day,
their pillar of fire by night.
In these forty days you lead us
into the desert of repentance
that in this pilgrimage of prayer
we may learn to be your people once more.
In fasting and service you bring us back to your heart.
Open our eyes to your presence in the world
and free our hands to lead others
to the radiant splendour of your mercy.
Be with us in these journey days
for without you we are lost and will perish.
To you alone be dominion and glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 141 is sung and incense may be burned.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Randall De Bruyn’s arrangement of Psalm 141 from The Grail (England).

Like burning incense, O Lord, let my prayer rise up to you.
Like burning incense, O Lord, let my prayer rise up to you.

I have called to you, Lord, hasten to help me.
Hear my voice when I cry to you.
Let my prayer arise before you like incense.
the raising of my hands like the evening oblation.

Set, O Lord, a guard over my mouth,
keep watch, O Lord, at the door of my lips!
Do not turn my heart to things that are wrong,
to evil deeds with those who are sinners.

Never allow me to share in their feasting.
If the righteous strike or reprove me, it is a kindness;
but let the oil of the wicked n’er anoint my head.
Let my prayer be ever against their malice.

To you, Lord God, my eyes are turned;
in you I take refuge; spare my soul!
From the trap they have laid for me keep me safe;
Keep me from the snares of those who do evil.

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.

Like burning incense, O Lord, let my prayer rise up to you.

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 Tim Manion’s arrangement of “Psalm 22: My God, my God.”

My God, my God,
why have you abandoned me?
My God, my God,
why have you abandoned me?

All who see me laugh at me.
They shake their heads, they shake their heads.
You trusted in God, let God deliver you;
deliver you if God loves you.

My God, my God,
why have you abandoned me?

Closely now, they press me ‘round
and pierce me through,
and pierce me through.
You trusted in God, let God deliver you;
deliver you if God loves you.

My God, my God,
why have you abandoned me?

All is taken, all is lost.
Be near, my help.
Come near my help.
I trusted in God, may God deliver me,
O deliver me as you love me.

I long to stand in the midst of your people,
and sing your name.
Give God your laud.
Cry out your praises, and hold fast,
Hold fast to your Lord.

My God, my God,
why have you abandoned me?
My God, my God,
why have you abandoned me?

Silence is kept.

Restless with grief and fear,
the abandoned turn to you:
in every hour of trial,
good Lord, deliver us,
O God most holy, God most strong,
whose wisdom is the cross of Christ.
Amen.

The Proclamation of the Word

The Reading

John 19:31-37 Jesus’ Side Is Pierced

Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘None of his bones shall be broken.’ And again another passage of scripture says, ‘They will look on the one whom they have pierced.’

Silence is kept.

Homily

He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions

The Romans had refined crucifixion to an art, if their cruel method of executing common criminals may be considered a form of art. The criminal was suspended from the cross in such a way so that he could not take a breath without pushing up with his legs and putting his full weight on his hands which were nailed to the crossbar of the cross. This caused him excruciating pain. The crucified criminal eventually died from a combination of exposure to the elements, exhaustion, suffocation, dehydration, blood loss, organ failure, and shock. If the crucified criminal had a weak constitution, his death would have been a quick one. If he, however, had a more robust physical makeup, he would have taken longer to die.

The Romans rarely wrote about crucifixion in their literature. It was considered a highly shameful way to die. It was not something about which a respectable person would write. It was not mentioned in polite conversations. 

Criminals who were to be crucified were flogged and then forced to carry the means of their execution to the place of their execution. They would have been subject to the jeers of those who had come to witness their crucifixion. The Romans themselves were accustomed to seeing men fight each other to the death or mauled to death by half-starved wild beasts in the arena for their entertainment. Many were addicted to witnessing the violent deaths of others. They would have flocked to witness the execution of a criminal and may have made bets on how long a particular criminal would survive on the cross. They may have pelted the crucified criminal with anything that was handy.

The Roman soldiers used a whip with several lashes, each tipped with small pieces of metal or bone to flog those whom they were about to crucify. The tips of the lashes cut into the flesh and drew blood. The flogging was so brutal that the victim sometimes died from loss of blood and shock. We know from the Gospel accounts of his crucifixion that the flogging that Jesus received so weakened him that he stumbled under the weight of the cross.

The Jewish religious authorities asked Pilate to order his soldiers to break the legs of Jesus and the two criminals crucified with him so that their bodies could be taken down and removed. They did not make this request out of pity for the three men. Their concern was that leaving the bodies hanging on the cross would be a desecration of the Sabbath. The Book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament, the Jewish Bible, directs that the corpse of someone who has been executed should be hung from a tree as a warning to others. However, the corpse should not be allowed to hang from the tree overnight. Such an act is a cursing of God (Deuteronomy 21:23).

Pilate would comply with their request. While he was governor of Judaea, Pilate had been forced to deal with several riots, brutally suppressing them with the Roman soldiers at his command. He did not want Titus who then was emperor to believe that he was unable to keep the peace in Jerusalem and recall him to Rome. It would not only be the end of his career but also the end of his life. According to the Christian historian, Eusebius, Pilate eventually did suffer that fate. He was recalled by the Emperor Caligula and ordered to commit suicide.

To hasten the death of crucified criminals. Roman soldiers broke their legs with heavy stone mauls, or hammers. With broken legs the criminals were unable to breathe and would die from suffocation. It was not a merciful way of hastening their death. The Romans did not have a reputation for mercifulness, and they liked it that way.

When they came to Jesus, the Roman soldiers found that he was already dead. To make sure, one of them thrust his pilum, a javelin which was a standard issue weapon to Roman soldiers, and which could pierce body armor, into Jesus’ side. From the wound, which would have a large one, poured what John describes as blood and water, showing that Jesus had been dead for some time. The blood was Jesus’ blood’s heavier red cells, and the water was his blood’s lighter-colored plasma, which separate from each other after death.

The trauma of the flogging and the crucifixion had ended Jesus’ life. When Jesus was taken down from the cross and laid in a borrowed tomb, he was dead. He did not pass out on cross and revive from his feint in the coolness of the tomb as some detractors of Jesus’ resurrection would have us believe. He was dead, The Roman soldiers were experts at killing people. Death was their trade. They knew how and where to thrust a javelin or sword for it to have the most effect.

In the tomb we must leave him, the Lord of Glory, who by his death on the cross offered the one true sacrifice for sin¸ and obtained an eternal deliverance for his people. His story and our story do not end there. But the telling of that part of the story is for another time.

Silence is kept.

The Gospel Canticle

Open this link in a new tab to hear Richard Hillert’s choral arrangement of the Magnificat.

My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior;

For He has regarded
the low estate of His handmaiden.

For behold henceforth
all generations will call me blessed.

For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is His name;

And His mercy is on those who fear Him
from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He has put down the mighty from their thrones
and has exalted the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich He has sent empty away.

He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy
as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be world without end. 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

Everlasting God,
in your tender love for the human race
you sent your Son to take our nature,
and to suffer death upon the cross:
in your mercy
enable us to share in his obedience to your will
and in the glorious victory of his resurrection;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. 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 Bath Abbey Choirs’ rendition of the African American spiritual, “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord.”

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there? Were you there?
Were you there? Were you there?
Were you there?

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us praise the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Almighty God,
who have made known to your people
the ways of eternal life,
lead them by that path, we pray,
to you, the unfading light.
Amen.