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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!
Stay with us Lord 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: Plainsong
SERVICE OF THE WORD
PSALMODY
Antiphon
I called Adonai, in my distress;
God heard my voice.
Canticle of Hezekiah
Once I said in the noontime of life
I must pass away;
I must go down to the gates of Sheol,
I am deprived of the rest of my years.
I will never see Adonai again
in the land of the living.
Never again like those who live in the world
shall I look on any creature.
My dwelling is taken from me,
pulled up like a shepherd’s tent.
Like a weaver you roll up my life
to cut from the loom.
I shudder like a swallow,
I moan like a dove.
My eyes turn to the heights:
care for me, Adonai, be my safeguard.
My heart will live for you
My spirit will live for you alone.
You will cure me and give me life
restore me and make me live.
Give my spirit rest, Adonai,
bring me back from the pit of destruction.
Sheol does not praise you,
nor does death extol your Name.
The living, the living are the ones who praise you,
as I do today.
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 Isaiah 38:21-22
Then the word of ADONAI came to Isaiah: “Go, tell Hezekiah:
Thus says ADONAI, the God of your father David:
I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.
I will heal you: in three days you shall go up to the temple;
I will add fifteen years to your life.
I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria;
I will be a shield to this city.”
Isaiah then ordered a poultice of figs to be taken
and applied to the boil, that he might recover.
Responsory
R. I thank you, Adonai, with all my heart, *you have heard the words of my mouth.
V. You stretch forth your hand, and heal me; *you have heard the words of my mouth.
V. Glory to the Abba and to the Word and to the Holy Breath of Life.
Gospel Canticle of Mary
Antiphon
Go and learn the meaning of these words:
“It is mercy that I desire and not sacrifice.”
For I have not come to call the just but to call sinners.
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
Go and learn the meaning of these words:
“It is mercy that I desire and not sacrifice.”
For I have not come to call the just but to call sinners.
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! ~And give thanks 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.
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God;
~ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray. Holy, Mighty and Immortal God, through the working of the Holy Spirit, you prepared the body and soul of the glorious virgin Mother Mary, as a worthy dwelling for your Word; grant that we, who celebrate her memory each evening, may with the help of her prayers, be freed from ever-present evil, and come to share the fulness of life eternal. Amen.