Podcast: Play in new window | Download

 

 

 

Service of Light

Greeting/Invocation

 We light the Evening Candle and say or sing:

Light and Peace in Jesus Christ our Lord!

~Thanks be to God!

 

Stay with us Lord for it is evening,

~And the day is almost over.

 

WEDNESDAY EVENING HYMN

There was no sun to rule the day,

no moon to roam the night until

our God flung forth the nebulae,

the  planets, suns and stars at will.

 

With these God made the greater light

to dawn and blaze upon our day;

a lesser lamp illumined night

and marked each month along its way.

 

Thus time, the seasons and the years

began their endless ordered round;

the moon called forth the festivals

on which God’s praises would resound.

 

And so it was and it was good!

Companions, friends, the stars would be:

bright beacons in the cosmic night,

sure bearings both on land and sea.

 

Thus evening came and morning came.

The fourth day saw our day-star, sun,

bright symbol of undying light,

undimmed when day and night are done.  Amen.

Text: Aelred-Seton Shanley; Tune: Plainsong

 

 SERVICE OF THE WORD

PSALMODY

 Antiphon

O Christ the Sun of Justice

your coming forth is like a bridegroom from his tent.

Psalm 18/19a

 

The heavens proclaim the glory of God,

and the firmament shows forth the work of God’s hands.

Day unto day takes up the story

and night unto night makes the message known.

 

No speech, no word, no voice is heard

yet their span extends through all the Earth,

their words to the utmost bounds of the world.

 

There God has placed a dwelling for the sun;

it comes forth like a bridegroom coming from his tent,

rejoices like a champion to run its course.

 

At the end of the sky is the rising of the sun;

to the furthest ends of the sky is its course.

There is nothing concealed from its burning heat.

 

Glory to the ONE and to the WORD

And to the BREATH of Love;

as always before,

so now and evermore. Amen.

O Christ the Sun of Justice

your coming forth is like a bridegroom from his tent.

Reading   Genesis 1: 14-19

Then God said: Let there be lights in the dome of the sky, to separate day from night. Let them mark the seasons, the days and the years, and serve as lights in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth. And so it happened: God made the two great lights, the greater one to govern the day, and the lesser one to govern the night, and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. Evening came, and morning followed—the fourth day.

 

Responsory

R. The rising sun will shine upon us *and direct our feet in the ways of peace.

V. The heavens still proclaim the glory of God *and direct our feet in the ways of peace.

V. Glory to the ONE, to the WORD, and to the Holy BREATH of Life.

Gospel Canticle of Mary

Antiphon

Surely, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than destroy it. Alleluia!

It is customary to make the sign of the cross at the beginning of the Gospel Canticle.

My heart + is radiant with the Lord,

My whole being delights in God my Savior.

 

All people now will call me blessed

For God has loved this humble handmaid.

The Almighty has shown me great favor

Holy is the NAME,

 

Whose mercy embraces the faithful,

From one generation to the next.

The mighty arm of God,

Scatters the proud in their own conceit,

 

Pulls tyrants from their thrones

While lifting up the lowly:

Fills the famished with bounty,

And reveals the emptiness of riches.

 

Rescues lowly Israel,

Sharing such loving kindness,

As promised to our ancestors

To Abraham and Sarah, and their descendants forever.

 

Glory to the ONE and to  WORD

And to the BREATH of Love!

As always before,

so now and evermore.  Amen

Surely, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it. Alleluia!

Service of Prayer

Litany of Intercession

For astronomers, cosmologists, and all who explore the depths of space and the mysteries and wonder of the universe,

~God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 

For all whose lives and work are intimately connected to the time of day and the seasons of the years, especially those affected most by global warming and climate change,

~God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 

For all who are forced by poverty or war to live under the open sky, burned by the sun during the day or freezing under the stars each night,

~God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 

For all who are deprived by modern lifestyles and preferences from experiencing the natural beauty and rhythms of day and night, seasons and celebrations that acknowledge our home and role in the universe,

~God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 

Every atom in our bodies was forged in the fiery belly of a star who lived, died and gave itself back to the universe: may we learn this Wisdom of God, manifest in the stars and in Jesus of Nazareth, and live and die in harmony with everything else going on in the universe. ~God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Prayer of Jesus

Our Father …

 

Closing Prayer & Blessing

God of the Starry Universe, as we celebrate  the  fourth day of the week, we praise and thank you for the wisdom and splendor of each shimmering star; the heat and life-giving energy of our Sun, the serene beauty and mystery of our Moon, and the reliable rhythms of days, weeks, months, seasons and years.  May every person on earth be entranced by each sunset, amazed by each constellation, astonished by each season, and filled with gratitude that your universe in its infinite variety has invited each of us to be an integral part of such splendor, for your love is the power that has created all things, sustains all things in existence and frees all things to join you in building the future now and forever.  Amen.

 

May the God of the Cosmos +   bless us with reverence, wonder and awe .   Amen.

 

Let us bless Adonai!    ~And give thanks to God.

 

 

Those who wish may end evening prayer with the Marian Antiphon for this season.

Marian Antiphon

 

Loving Mother of our Savior, holding open heaven’s only hope, Star for steerage in this vastness, rise to help us, save the sinking.  Nature’s greatest  Wonder: you have borne your own true Maker, giving human life to him. Virgin ever, before and after, that Good News from Gabriel, Word of Life for living, tell it now: mercy to all people!

 

The angel of the Lord brought the message to Mary. ~ And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

 

Let us pray.  Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, your Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may, by his Passion and Cross, be brought to the glory of his Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.  Amen.