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SERVICE OF LIGHT
Greeting/Invocation
We light the Evening Candle and say or sing:
Light and Peace in Jesus Christ our Love!
~Thanks be to God!
Stay with us O Christ, for it is evening,
~And the day is almost over.
FRIDAY EVENING HYMN
The fields and plains were still ungrazed,
the ground untouched by things that crawl,
when God called creatures forth to play,
and woundrously Earth bore them all.
Then Life, beholding all was good,
in overflowing joy conceived:
“Let us now human beings make!”
God gave them breath that Sabbath eve.
“Let them, together and alone,
our image be, our likeness bear.
to you I give your kin the beasts
and all the earth into your care.
“For she has borne all living things:
her fruits will give you nourishment.
As for the flocks and herds, let them
with grass and foliage be content.”
Thus evening came and morning came,
the sixth day, giving God delight,
for everything was very good,
one with another ordered right!
The earth, God saw, was now complete—
a marvel of diversity!
So mirrors Earth its Maker’s life
revealed within the Trinity. Amen.
Text: Aelred-Seton Shanley; Tune: ACH BLEIB BEI UNS, L.M.
SERVICE OF THE WORD
PSALMODY
Antiphon
I called Adonai, in my distress;
God heard my voice.
Psalm 142/143
Adonai, hear my prayer;
in your faithfulness listen to my plea;
in your justice, answer me.
Do not judge me harshly;
In your sight, no one is just.
For what I fear has pursued my soul;
grinding me into dust,
caging me with the dead
in lasting darkness.
My strength drains away;
my heart is numb.
I remember the days of old;
I recall your wonders;
and the works of your hands.
I stretch out my hands to you,
my soul, like a parched land.
Answer me quickly, Adonai;
my spirit is spent.
Do not hide from me,
or I will fall into the grave.
Let the morning announce your love & mercy,
for it is you I trust.
Show me the path I should walk,
for I entrust my life to you.
Rescue me from all that I fear,
You are my only refuge, Adonai.
Teach me your will,
for you are my God.
May your kind spirit guide me
On to level ground.
For the sake of your holy Name
keep me safe and free from danger.
In your great love and compassion
disarm all that I fear;
dismantle the power of oppression,
for I belong to you.
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
And to the BREATH of Love;
as always before,
so now and evermore. Amen.
I called Adonai, in my distress;
God heard my voice.
Reading I Corinthians 15:50-58
This I declare: flesh and blood cannot inherit the reign of God, nor does corruption* inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For that which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility, and that which is mortal must clothe itself with immortality. And when this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality, then the word that is written shall be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved, be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
Responsory
R. Thanks be to God *who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
V. There is nothing in death or in life that can separate us from the Love of God *who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
V. Glory to the Abba and to the Word and to the Holy Breath of Life.
Gospel Canticle of Mary
Antiphon
“What God has joined together, humans must not divide.”
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
“What God has joined together, humans must not divide.”
SERVICE OF PRAYER
Litany of Thanksgiving and Intercession
For the healing waters of creation, which bring pleasure and health, purity and life, ~ We thank you.
For the richness of Mother Earth, who brings forth fruits and flowers, a pleasure to taste and a joy to behold,~ We thank you.
For the soaring birds of the air, the crawling creatures on the Earth, the gliding fishes in the seas, for all creatures great and small with whom we share this precious web of life, ~ We thank you.
For the invigorating sunlight of day, the deepening mystery of night, the wonder of the stars, and the call of the unknown in the universe, ~ We thank you.
From heedless misuse and dishonoring of the wonders of your hand,
~ O God, deliver us.
From squandering resources, abusing our companion species, and polluting the habitat we all share,~ O God, deliver us.
From the folly of imagining ourselves the center of creation,~ O God, deliver us.
For the courage and wisdom to confess how little we have cared for your gifts,
~ Strengthen us, O Spirit.
For the conviction that you have called us to love and restore the Earth,
~ Strengthen us, O Spirit.
For repentance and the determination to begin our proper role in creation anew,
~ Strengthen us, O Spirit.
Prayer of Jesus
Translation prepared for the New Zealand Book of Common Prayer
Eternal Spirit, Earth-Maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all, Loving God, in whom is heaven:
May the hallowing of your Name echo throughout the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the earth!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen.
Closing Prayer & Blessing
Creating and Sustaining God, as we celebrate the sixth day of the week, we praise and thank you for the wonder and beauty of all the creatures that You have made, for each one of them reveals something of Your inexpressible love. Awaken in us such a sense of wonder and delight that we receive with gratitude the gifts that Mother Earth provides to supply our needs, generously share these gifts with all your creatures, and lovingly care for our common home—all to the honor and glory of your Holy Name. Amen.
May the God of the Cosmos + bless us with reverence, wonder and awe . Amen.
Let us bless Adonai!
~ Thanks be to God.
Those who wish may end evening prayer with the Salve Regina
Marian Antiphon
Mother of Mercy, Our Queen we greet you. Our life, our hope, our happiness we hail you. We call to you as Eve’s own children, and exiles. To you we lift our hearts in sorrow and fear, in this valley of tears. Turn then, our loving Advocate, and look with favor upon us. And after our life in exile, show us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus. O gracious, O loving, O Virgin benign, our Mother Mary.