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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 Lord!
~Thanks be to God!
O Adonai, You are my Light;
~My God, You illumine my darkness.
EVENING HYMN for FRIDAYS in LENT
Take up your cross, the Savior said, If you would my disciple be;
Give up your priv’lege and your greed, And humbly follow after me.
Take up your cross, let not its weight Fill your weak spirit with alarm;
His strength will lift your spirit up And brace your heart and nerve your arm.
Take up your cross, heed not the shame, Nor let your foolish pride rebel;
Our Lord for you the cross endured and fought the pow’rs of death and hell.
Take up your cross, and follow Christ, Nor think till death to lay it down;
For only those who bear the cross May hope to wear the glorious crown. Amen.
Tune: DISTRESS L.M. (Southern Harmony 1835); Text: C.W. Everest (1814-1877), alt.
SERVICE OF THE WORD
PSALMODY
Antiphon
Seek first the reign of God and the holiness it implies;
then all other things will be given you besides.
Psalm 134/135: 1-7, 12-21
Praise the Name of Adonai,
sing praise, servants of our God,
who stand in the courts of God’s dwelling
gathered in the house of Adonai.
Sing hymns, for God is good,
Sing a psalm to the Name of Love.
For Adonai has chosen this people,
Israel, as a precious treasure.
I know Adonai is great,
surpassing every god and idol.
Whatever God wills, God does
in heaven, on earth, in the seas.
God blankets the Earth with clouds,
strikes lightning to produce the rain,
from the storehouse releases the winds.
God gave us the lands of the nations
a gift that we should treasure.
Your name, Adonai, stands for ever,
your glory will never be forgotten
for you give your people justice
and attend to each of their needs.
Many people worship silver and gold:
idols that mortals have crafted.
Their mouths cannot speak,
their eyes do not see.
Their ears can hear no sound,
no breath is ever on their lips.
Those who make and rely on things
become hollow like the idols themselves.
Bless God, O house of Israel.
House of Aaron, bless Adonai,
House of Levi, sing God’s praises
with everyone who reveres the Holy One:
Blest be Adonai of Zion
who calls Jerusalem home.
Glory to the ONE and to the WORD
and to the BREATH of Love;
as always before,
so now and evermore. Amen.
Seek first the reign of God and the holiness it implies;
then all other things will be given you besides.
Reading Hosea 14:5-8
I will heal my people’s defection, says Adonai,
I will love them freely, for my compassion is turned toward them.
I will be like the dew for Israel: They shall blossom like the lily;
They shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar, and put forth shoots.
Their splendor shall be like the olive tree and their fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.
Again nations shall dwell in their shade and raise grain;
They shall blossom like the vine, and their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
Thanks be to God.
Responsory
R. I will call my Israel back to the dessert and there I will speak to her heart;
she will remember me and know me as her Love.
V. The dessert and parched land exult; the wasteland will bloom and rejoice; All who return will know that Adonai is a God full of love.
V. As the heavens are high above the earth, so strong is God’s love for this people; as far as the east is from the west, so far does God remove all our guilt.
Gospel Canticle of Mary
Antiphon
Love Adonai your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind.
Then love your neighbor as yourself.
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
Love Adonai your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind.
Then love your neighbor as yourself.
Service of Prayer
Litany of Intercession
The fast that you desire, Adonai, is breaking the chains of evil and untying the bonds of injustice; ~Help us to love you by loving our neighbor.
The fast that you desire, Adonai, is freeing the oppressed and welcoming the poor into our homes; ~Help us to love you by loving our neighbor.
The fast that you desire, Adonai, is clothing the persons we find naked and not despising our neighbors; ~Help us to love you by loving our neighbor.
The fast that you desire, Adonai, is sharing food with the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, and welcoming immigrants and strangers;~Help us to love you by loving our neighbor.
The fast that you desire, Adonai, is caring for those who are sick or injured and visiting those who are in prison; ~Help us to love you by loving our neighbor.
Create in us clean hearts, O God;
~ And fill us with your Holy Spirit.
Prayer of Jesus
Our Father …
Closing Prayer & Blessing
O Gracious God of Creation, we stand in awe before the wondrous beauty of the universe and the miraculous cycle of life and death which you called forth from Sun and Earth. Open our eyes to the new life which Spring shares with us each day and our ears to the voice of your love which invites us to follow you on the path that leads to freedom, flourishing and fullness of life for all people and all creation, for your love is the power that has created all things, sustains all things, and frees all things to join you in building the future now and forever. Amen.
May the God of all Compassion + fill our hearts with loving-kindness for all people and all creation . Amen.
Let us bless Adonai! ~And give thanks to God.
Those who wish may end evening prayer with the Marian Antiphon.
Queen of the heavens we greet you, Queen of Angels now we entreat you,
Fairest flower, heaven’s portal From whom came the Light immortal.
Matchless maiden, God did raise you For the Universe to praise you.
Hear us, O hear us, dear Mother; Show your children Jesus, our brother.
Pray for us O gracious Queen of the Universe.
~That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray. O Gracious God, grant to your people lasting health of mind and of body. Send us your assistance in times of temptation. May we who celebrate the memory of the Holy Mother of God, rise from our sins by the help of her intercession. We ask this through Christ our Love. Amen.