Evening Prayer (Evensong) in Contemporary Language

¶ Evening Prayer
Easter Season
Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Helena, Protector of the Holy Places, 330 [Commemoration]

Preparation

O God, make speed to save us.
AllO Lord, make haste to help us.

In your resurrection, O Christ,
Alllet heaven and earth rejoice. Alleluia.

One or more of the following is said or sung:

this or another prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign Lord,
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
to you be glory and praise for ever.
From the deep waters of death
you brought your people to new birth
by raising your Son to life in triumph.
Through him dark death has been destroyed
and radiant life is everywhere restored.
As you call us out of darkness into his marvellous light
may our lives reflect his glory
and our lips repeat the endless song.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
AllBlessed be God for ever.

A Song of David (page 573), the following or another suitable hymn

Ye choirs of new Jerusalem,
your sweetest notes employ,
the Paschal victory to hymn
in strains of holy joy.

How Judah’s lion burst his chains
and crushed the serpent’s head;
and brought with him, from death’s domains,
the long-imprisoned dead.

Triumphant in his glory now
his sceptre ruleth all,
earth, heaven, and hell before him bow,
and at his footstool fall.

While joyful thus his praise we sing,
his mercy we implore,
into his palace bright to bring
and keep us evermore.

All glory to the Father be,
all glory to the Son,
all glory, Holy Ghost, to thee,
while endless ages run. Alleluia, Amen.

Fulbert of Chartres, tr: Robert Campbell
(Tune: CM)

This opening prayer may be said

That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful,
let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As our evening prayer rises before you, O God,
so may your mercy come down upon us
to cleanse our hearts
and set us free to sing your praise
now and for ever.
AllAmen.

The Word of God

Psalmody

The appointed psalmody is said.

Psalm 98

Refrain: The Lord has made known his salvation.

1 Sing to the Lord a new song, ♦
for he has done marvellous things.

2 His own right hand and his holy arm ♦
have won for him the victory.

3 The Lord has made known his salvation; ♦
his deliverance has he openly shown in the sight of the nations.

4 He has remembered his mercy and faithfulness
towards the house of Israel, ♦
and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.  R

5 Sound praises to the Lord, all the earth; ♦
break into singing and make music.

6 Make music to the Lord with the lyre, ♦
with the lyre and the voice of melody.

7 With trumpets and the sound of the horn ♦
sound praises before the Lord, the King. R

8 Let the sea thunder and all that fills it, ♦
the world and all that dwell upon it.

9 Let the rivers clap their hands ♦
and let the hills ring out together before the Lord,
for he comes to judge the earth.

10 In righteousness shall he judge the world ♦
and the peoples with equity.

Refrain: The Lord has made known his salvation.

Lord God, just and true,
you make your salvation known in the sight of the nations;
tune the song of our hearts to the music of creation
as you come among us to judge the earth;
through our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Psalm 99

1 The Lord is king: let the peoples tremble; ♦
he is enthroned above the cherubim: let the earth shake.

2 The Lord is great in Zion ♦
and high above all peoples.

3 Let them praise your name, which is great and awesome; ♦
the Lord our God is holy.

4 Mighty king, who loves justice,
you have established equity; ♦
you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.

5 Exalt the Lord our God; ♦
bow down before his footstool, for he is holy.

6 Moses and Aaron among his priests
and Samuel among those who call upon his name, ♦
they called upon the Lord and he answered them.

7 He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud; ♦
they kept his testimonies and the law that he gave them.

8 You answered them, O Lord our God; ♦
you were a God who forgave them
and pardoned them for their offences.

9 Exalt the Lord our God
and worship him upon his holy hill, ♦
for the Lord our God is holy.

Lord God, mighty king,
you love justice and establish equity;
may we love justice more than gain
and mercy more than power;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 100

Refrain: The Lord is gracious; his steadfast love is everlasting.

1 O be joyful in the Lord, all the earth; ♦
serve the Lord with gladness
and come before his presence with a song.

2 Know that the Lord is God; ♦
it is he that has made us and we are his;
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. R

3 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise; ♦
give thanks to him and bless his name.

4 For the Lord is gracious; his steadfast love is everlasting, ♦
and his faithfulness endures from generation to generation.

Refrain: The Lord is gracious; his steadfast love is everlasting.

O Christ, door of the sheepfold,
may we enter your gates with praise
and go from your courts to serve you
in the poor, the lost and the wandering,
this day and all our days.

Each psalm or group of psalms may end with

AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

If there are two Scripture readings, the first may be read here, or both may be read after the canticle.

Numbers 12

While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had indeed married a Cushite woman); and they said, ‘Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?’ And the Lord heard it. Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than anyone else on the face of the earth. Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, ‘Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.’ So the three of them came out. Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the entrance of the tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward. And he said, ‘Hear my words:
When there are prophets among you,
   I the Lord make myself known to them in visions;
   I speak to them in dreams.
Not so with my servant Moses;
   he is entrusted with all my house.
With him I speak face to face—clearly, not in riddles;
   and he beholds the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?’ And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.

When the cloud went away from over the tent, Miriam had become leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron turned towards Miriam and saw that she was leprous. Then Aaron said to Moses, ‘Oh, my lord, do not punish us for a sin that we have so foolishly committed. Do not let her be like one stillborn, whose flesh is half consumed when it comes out of its mother’s womb.’ And Moses cried to the Lord, ‘O God, please heal her.’ But the Lord said to Moses, ‘If her father had but spat in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp for seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.’ So Miriam was shut out of the camp for seven days; and the people did not set out on the march until Miriam had been brought in again. After that the people set out from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

Canticle

A Song of Faith, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 60 (page 618) or number 74 (page 632), may be said

Refrain:

AllGod raised Christ from the dead,
the Lamb without spot or stain. Alleluia.

1Blessed be the God and Father ♦
of our Lord Jesus Christ!

2By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope ♦
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

3Into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, ♦
kept in heaven for you,

4Who are being protected by the power of God through faith, ♦
for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

5You were ransomed from the futile ways of your ancestors ♦
not with perishable things like silver or gold

6But with the precious blood of Christ ♦
like that of a lamb without spot or stain.

7Through him you have confidence in God,
who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, ♦
so that your faith and hope are set on God.

1 Peter 1.3-5, 18, 19, 21

AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

AllGod raised Christ from the dead,
the Lamb without spot or stain. Alleluia.

Scripture Reading

One or more readings appointed for the day are read.

The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence.

Luke 5.12-26

Once, when he was in one of the cities, there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground and begged him, ‘Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.’ Then Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, ‘I do choose. Be made clean.’ Immediately the leprosy left him. And he ordered him to tell no one. ‘Go’, he said, ‘and show yourself to the priest, and, as Moses commanded, make an offering for your cleansing, for a testimony to them.’ But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad; many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray.

One day, while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting nearby (they had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem); and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. Just then some men came, carrying a paralysed man on a bed. They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus; but finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus. When he saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven you.’ Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, ‘Who is this who is speaking blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ When Jesus perceived their questionings, he answered them, ‘Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, “Your sins are forgiven you”, or to say, “Stand up and walk”? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he said to the one who was paralysed—‘I say to you, stand up and take your bed and go to your home.’ Immediately he stood up before them, took what he had been lying on, and went to his home, glorifying God. Amazement seized all of them, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, ‘We have seen strange things today.’

A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow

The Lord is my strength and my song:
he has become my salvation.
AllThe Lord is my strength and my song:
he has become my salvation.
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the Lord.
AllHe has become my salvation.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
AllThe Lord is my strength and my song:
he has become my salvation.

from Psalm 118

Gospel Canticle

The Magnificat (The Song of Mary) is normally said,
or Great and Wonderful (page 629) may be said

Refrain:

AllThe stone which the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone. Alleluia.

1My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; ♦
he has looked with favour on his lowly servant.

2From this day all generations will call me blessed; ♦
the Almighty has done great things for me
and holy is his name.

3He has mercy on those who fear him, ♦
from generation to generation.

4He has shown strength with his arm ♦
and has scattered the proud in their conceit,

5Casting down the mighty from their thrones ♦
and lifting up the lowly.

6He has filled the hungry with good things ♦
and sent the rich away empty.

7He has come to the aid of his servant Israel, ♦
to remember his promise of mercy,

8The promise made to our ancestors, ♦
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Luke 1.46-55

AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

Refrain:

AllThe stone which the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone. Alleluia.

Prayers

Thanksgiving may be made for the day.

Intercessions are offered
¶ for peace
¶ for individuals and their needs

Prayers may include the following concerns from the cycle on pages 364–365

¶ The people of God, that they may proclaim the risen Lord
¶ God’s creation, that the peoples of the earth may meet their responsibility to care
¶ Those in despair and darkness, that they may find the hope and light of Christ
¶ Those in fear of death, that they may find faith through the resurrection
¶ Prisoners and captives

A form of prayer found on page 382 may be used.

These responses may be used

Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer

(or)

Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.

Silence may be kept.

The Collect of the day is said

Almighty God,
who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ
have overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life:
grant that, as by your grace going before us
      you put into our minds good desires,
so by your continual help
we may bring them to good effect;
through Jesus Christ our risen Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
AllAmen.

The Lord’s Prayer is said

Rejoicing in God’s new creation,
as our Saviour taught us, so we pray

AllOur Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

(or)

Rejoicing in God’s new creation,
let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us

AllOur 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.

The Conclusion

May the risen Christ grant us the joys of eternal life.
AllAmen.

Let us bless the Lord. Alleluia, alleluia.
AllThanks be to God. Alleluia, alleluia.