All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (May 9, 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 Redeemer God,
You destroyed the bonds of death
and from the darkness of the tomb
drew forth the light of the world.
Led through the waters of death.
we become the children of light
singing our Alleluia
and dancing to the music of new life.
Pour out your Spirit upon us
that dreams and visions bring us
ever closer to the kingdom
of Jesus Christ our Risen Savior.
Through him and in the Holy Spirit
all glory be to you, Almighty Father,
this night and for ever and 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.

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.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Folliott S. Pierpoint’s hymn, “For the Beauty of the Earth.”

For the beauty of the earth,
for the beauty of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies:
Christ, our God, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth, and friends above;
for all gentle thoughts and mild:
Christ, our God, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For each perfect gift of thine
to our race so freely given,
graces human and divine,
flowers of earth, and buds of heaven:
Christ, our God, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For thy Church that evermore
lifteth holy hands above,
offering up on every shore
this pure sacrifice of love:
Christ, our God, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

The Proclamation of the Word

The Reading

1 Samuel 1:1-28 The Birth and Dedication of Samuel

There was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

Now this man used to go up year by year from his town to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters; but to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. Her rival used to provoke her severely, to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it went on year by year; as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the Lord. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord, and wept bitterly. She made this vow: “O Lord of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a Nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head.”

As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying silently; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore Eli thought she was drunk. So Eli said to her, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine.” But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time.” Then Eli answered, “Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him.” And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your sight.” Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband,[g] and her countenance was sad no longer.

They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. Elkanah knew his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I have asked him of the Lord.”

The man Elkanah and all his household went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and to pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear in the presence of the Lord, and remain there forever; I will offer him as a Nazirite for all time.” Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Do what seems best to you, wait until you have weaned him; only—may the Lord establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son, until she weaned him. When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.”

She left him there for the Lord.

Silence is kept

May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.

The Homily

A Place for All Mothers

The second Sunday of May. Mother’s Day. A day to recognize and honor all mothers—natural mothers and those who have cared for children to whom they did not give birth, grandmother, aunts, sisters, cousins, foster mothers, adoptive mothers, friends, neighbors, and strangers. A day to remember all those who mothered us when we were children, who cared for us and protected us. A day to give thanks for all who are caring for children and protecting them, nurturing them and encouraging them.

I was blessed with two mothers—the woman who gave birth to me, my mother, and the woman who gave birth to her, my grandmother. My mother and her younger sister both married US military personnel stationed in the United Kingdom at the close of World War II. Both went to live with their husbands in the United States after the war. My aunt’s marriage was a happy one. My mother’s was not. My father physically and psychologically abused her. With the help of her younger sister, she escaped from her abusive husband and returned to England, pregnant with me and my older brother in tow. My mother never divorced my father and always wore her wedding ring.

Upon returning to England, my mother moved back into her parents’ home. After I was born, she went back to work as a schoolteacher. My grandmother cared for my older brother and I while she was working. Until my grandmother died when I was in my twenties, I knew the love and care of two mothers. I am an orphan now. My mother died on May 14, 2013. Next Friday will be the eighth anniversary of her death. She lived to the age of 94.

Until her retirement my mother taught elementary school—fourth graders. She was not only a teacher but also a mother figure to many of her students. She greatly cared about the children that she taught. She helped to shape the lives of a number of them. Many of them remember her with affection.

Hockerill, the teachers training college that my mother attended, was established in 1852 by the Church of England for the training of women teachers, who like their brothers, "would go out to the schools in the service of humanity, lay priests to the poor, moved by Christian Charity." Her concern for children extended beyond the classroom. She took one young girl under wing and treated her as she would have her own daughter. She supported a number of worthy causes before and after her retirement. Among them were ministries to the children living in impoverished areas of Appalachia, in Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia.

When she was a schoolgirl, my mother sang in the choir of her parish church. Until ill-health prevented her, she sang for many years in the chancel choir of Christ Church (Episcopal) in Covington, Louisiana. She was interested in all kinds of church music. She attended a Community of Celebration Fisherfolk Team's Come Celebrate Workshop in Austin, Texas, with me and played a part in the introduction of what were at the time new hymns and songs into the worship of her parish. Her ashes are interred with those of other members of the chancel choir in St. Francis’ Garden next to the old church at Christ Church.

My mother took a hand in the rearing of three granddaughters, all of whom are now mothers themselves. She was godmother to all three of them and helped to prepare them for their Baptism and First Communion. My mother was also the doting great grandmother of six great grandchildren—four boys and two girls.

I could say more about my mother—her love of flowers and gardening, of nature and the outdoors, of cats, dogs, and birds, of places of historical interest, of camping, of murder mysteries, of folk lore and folk crafts, of crocheting, knitting, and embroidery, of bread baking, all of things that made her who she was. But she is not the only mother that I would like to recognize and honor today.

I would like to recognize and honor all single moms—mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and others struggling to raise children on their own. I worked in child welfare for 27 odd years, and I have a good idea of the kinds of struggles that they face. They often do not receive the encouragement and support that they need. We as Christians could do a better job of making a place for them in the local church.

When Jesus said, “…love your neighbor as yourself,” he was not saying love your married neighbor only. He meant all our neighbors and emphasized with the Parable of the Good Samaritan what he meant. This includes women who are for one reason or another caring for children on their own.

Loving these neighbors means not thinking or saying unkind things because they may be receiving public assistance, food stamps, and Medicaid. I have worked in the poorer neighborhoods of New Orleans and I am well-acquainted with how difficult it is for some single moms to find work or to keep a job. No childcare. Poor work skills. Inadequate education. No transportation. Low paying jobs. Depression.

Some single moms are themselves children trying to raise children when they themselves need a mother’s care.

I have also worked as a food stamp eligibility worker and fraud investigator and the number of deliberate fraud cases is a very tiny fraction of the people who are receiving benefits.

As Christians, as disciples of Jesus, the loving thing to do is to not form our opinions of single moms without fully knowing their stories and to not let our prejudices shape our opinions of them. In his sermon on the mountain Jesus admonishes the crowds not to judge others harshly lest they be judged harshly in turn. He urges us to temper our judgment with compassion. It is tempting to see other people through prejudiced eyes rather than seeing them as they really are—human beings like ourselves, human beings for whom our Lord suffered and died on the cross.

The apostle Paul’s comparison of us with the common earthenware pots of his time is helpful. These pots were made in the same mold and had all kinds of irregularities. For one such clay pot to feel superior to another clay pot because the other clay pot has flaws is ludicrous, so foolish to be amusing, since that clay pot itself has flaws. One of its flaws is feeling superior to the other clay pot. Whatever we may think of ourselves, we are all sinners in the eyes of God. We are all in need of God’s grace and forgiveness.

Today is a day to recognize and honor all those who have been mothers to us in our lives regardless of how they are related to us, if they are related to us at all; to recognize and honor all those who cared for us and protected us, who nurtured and encouraged us; to recognize and honor all those who still do so.

For those who are no longer with us, it is a day to cherish our memories of them, our memories of the love that they showed us.

It is a day to remember that God whom we call Father and rightly so is also mother to us all. Our God is a mothering God, a God who is “caring, protective, and kind,” a loving God who gave an only begotten Son that all who believe in him might not perish but have eternal life.

Silence is kept.

The Gospel Canticle

Open this link in a new tab to hear Chaz Bower’s choral arrangement of “My Soul Proclaims Your Greatness, Lord.”

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.

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 lowly throned instead;
the hungry filled with all good things,
the rich sent off unfed.

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,
on God, by all adored.

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

Eternal God,
whose Son Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life:
grant that we may walk in his way,
rejoice in his truth,
and share his risen life;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. 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

Open this link in a new tab to hear Jean Janzen’s hymn, “Mothering God, You Gave Me Birth,” adapted from the Showings of Julian of Norwich.

Mothering God, you gave me birth
in the bright morning of this world.
Creator, source of every breath,
you are my rain, my wind, my sun,
you are my rain, my wind, my sun.

Mothering Christ, you took my form,
offering me your food of light,
grain of life, and grape of love,
your very body for my peace,
your very body for my peace.

Mothering Spirit, nurturing one,
in arms of patience hold me close,
so that in faith I root and grow
until I flower, until I know,
until flower, until I know.

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

Open this link in a new tab to hear Karen Schneider Kirner’s choral benediction, “From Age to Age.”

Bless to us, O Lord, the earth beneath our feet.
Bless to us, O Lord, the path on which we walk.
Bless to us, O Lord, the heart of our desires.
From age to age, eternally
may we find rest in you.

Bless to us this day and bless to us this night.
Bless to us our hands and bless our feet that dance.
Bless us with the dreams on which we set our hopes.
From age to age, eternally
may we find rest in you.

Bless to us the way that leads us back to you.
Bless to us the ones on which we set our love.
Bless us with the grace that leads us to your peace.
From age to age, eternally
may we find rest in you