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6.59am on Friday 13 November 2026

Evening Prayer (Evensong) in Traditional Language

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    Evening Prayer from
    The Book of Common Prayer
    Saturday, 14 November 2026
  The introduction to the service is used on Sundays, and may be used on any occasion. If the Introduction is not used, the service begins with the opening responses.
  Introduction
   
  The minister may use a seasonal sentence before using one or more of the penitential sentences.
   
  The minister introduces the service
     
    Dearly beloved [brethren],
    the Scripture moveth us in sundry places to acknowledge
       and confess our manifold sins and wickedness;
     
    [and that we should not dissemble nor cloak them before
       the face of almighty God our heavenly Father;
    but confess them with an humble, lowly, penitent and
       obedient heart;
    to the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same
       by his infinite goodness and mercy.
    And although we ought at all times humbly to acknowledge
       our sins before God;
    yet ought we most chiefly so to do,
    when we assemble and meet together
    to render thanks for the great benefits that we have
       received at his hands,
    to set forth his most worthy praise,
    to hear his most holy word,
    and to ask those things which are requisite and necessary,
    as well for the body as the soul.]
     
    Wherefore I pray and beseech you,
    as many as are here present,
    to accompany me with a pure heart, and humble voice,
    unto the throne of the heavenly grace, saying [after me]:
     
    (or)
     
    Beloved, we are come together in the presence of almighty God and of the whole company of heaven to offer unto him through our Lord Jesus Christ our worship and praise and thanksgiving; to make confession of our sins; to pray, as well for others as for ourselves, that we may know more truly the greatness of God's love and shew forth in our lives the fruits of his grace; and to ask on behalf of all men such things as their well-being doth require.
     
    Wherefore let us kneel in silence, and remember God's presence with us now.
   
All
   Almighty and most merciful Father,
    we have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep.
    We have followed too much the devices and desires
       of our own hearts.
    We have offended against thy holy laws.
    We have left undone those things
       which we ought to have done;
    and we have done those things
         which we ought not to have done;
    and there is no health in us.
    But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders.
    Spare thou them, O God, which confess their faults.
    Restore thou them that are penitent;
    according to thy promises declared unto mankind
       in Christ Jesu our Lord.
    And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake,
    that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life,
    to the glory of thy holy name.
  Amen.
   
  A priest says
     
    Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
    who desireth not the death of a sinner,
    but rather that he may turn from his wickedness and live;
    and hath given power, and commandment, to his ministers
    to declare and pronounce to his people, being penitent,
    the absolution and remission of their sins:
    he pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent
       and unfeignedly believe his holy gospel.
    Wherefore let us beseech him to grant us true repentance,
       and his Holy Spirit,
    that those things may please him which we do at this present;
    and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure and holy;
    so that at the last we may come to his eternal joy;
    through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All
   Amen.
   
  or other ministers may say
     
    Grant, we beseech thee, merciful Lord,
    to thy faithful people pardon and peace,
    that they may be cleansed from all their sins,
    and serve thee with a quiet mind;
    through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All
   Amen.
   
All
   Our Father, which art in heaven,
    hallowed be thy name;
    thy kingdom come;
    thy will be done,
    in earth as it is in heaven.
    Give us this day our daily bread.
    And forgive us our trespasses,
  as we forgive them that 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.
  Evening Prayer
     
    The introduction to the service is used on Sundays, and may be used on any occasion. If the Introduction is not used, the service begins with the opening responses.
     
    These responses are used
     
    O Lord, open thou our lips
All
   and our mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
     
    O God, make speed to save us.
All
   O Lord, make haste to help us.
     
    Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
    and to the Holy Ghost;
All
   as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
    world without end. Amen.
     
    Praise ye the Lord.
All
   The Lord's name be praised.
     
  Psalmody  
   

Psalm 73

  
 

  
1
 Truly God is loving unto Israel *
 even unto such as are of a clean heart.
  
 
  
2
 Nevertheless, my feet were almost gone *
 my treadings had well-nigh slipt.
  
 
  
3
 And why? I was grieved at the wicked *
 I do also see the ungodly in such prosperity.
  
 
  
4
 For they are in no peril of death *
 but are lusty and strong.
  
 
  
5
 They come in no misfortune like other folk *
 neither are they plagued like other men.
  
 
  
6
 And this is the cause that they are so holden with pride *
 and overwhelmed with cruelty.
  
 
  
7
 Their eyes swell with fatness *
 and they do even what they lust.
  
 
  
8
 They corrupt other, and speak of wicked blasphemy *
 their talking is against the most High.
  
 
  
9
 For they stretch forth their mouth unto the heaven *
 and their tongue goeth through the world.
  
 
  
10
 Therefore fall the people unto them *
 and thereout suck they no small advantage.
  
 
  
11
 Tush, say they, how should God perceive it *
 is there knowledge in the most High?
  
 
  
12
 Lo, these are the ungodly, these prosper in the world, and these have riches in possession *
 and I said, Then have I cleansed my heart in vain, and washed mine hands in innocency.
  
 
  
13
 All the day long have I been punished *
 and chastened every morning.
  
 
  
14
 Yea, and I had almost said even as they *
 but lo, then I should have condemned the generation of thy children.
  
 
  
15
 Then thought I to understand this *
 but it was too hard for me,
  
 
  
16
 Until I went into the sanctuary of God *
 then understood I the end of these men;
  
 
  
17
 Namely, how thou dost set them in slippery places *
 and castest them down, and destroyest them.
  
 
  
18
 O how suddenly do they consume *
 perish, and come to a fearful end!
  
 
  
19
 Yea, even like as a dream when one awaketh *
 so shalt thou make their image to vanish out of the city.
  
 
  
20
 Thus my heart was grieved *
 and it went even through my reins.
  
 
  
21
 So foolish was I, and ignorant *
 even as it were a beast before thee.
  
 
  
22
 Nevertheless, I am alway by thee *
 for thou hast holden me by my right hand.
  
 
  
23
 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel *
 and after that receive me with glory.
  
 
  
24
 Whom have I in heaven but thee *
 and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee.
  
 
  
25
 My flesh and my heart faileth *
 but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
  
 
  
26
 For lo, they that forsake thee shall perish *
 thou hast destroyed all them that commit fornication against thee.
  
 
  
27
 But it is good for me to hold me fast by God, to put my trust in the Lord God *
 and to speak of all thy works in the gates of the daughter of Sion.
  
 

Psalm 74

  
 

  
1
 O God, wherefore art thou absent from us so long *
 why is thy wrath so hot against the sheep of thy pasture?
  
 
  
2
 O think upon thy congregation *
 whom thou hast purchased, and redeemed of old.
  
 
  
3
 Think upon the tribe of thine inheritance *
 and mount Sion, wherein thou hast dwelt.
  
 
  
4
 Lift up thy feet, that thou mayest utterly destroy every enemy *
 which hath done evil in thy sanctuary.
  
 
  
5
 Thine adversaries roar in the midst of thy congregations *
 and set up their banners for tokens.
  
 
  
6
 He that hewed timber afore out of the thick trees *
 was known to bring it to an excellent work.
  
 
  
7
 But now they break down all the carved work thereof *
 with axes and hammers.
  
 
  
8
 They have set fire upon thy holy places *
 and have defiled the dwelling-place of thy Name, even unto the ground.
  
 
  
9
 Yea, they said in their hearts, Let us make havock of them altogether *
 thus have they burnt up all the houses of God in the land.
  
 
  
10
 We see not our tokens, there is not one prophet more *
 no, not one is there among us, that understandeth any more.
  
 
  
11
 O God, how long shall the adversary do this dishonour *
 how long shall the enemy blaspheme thy Name, for ever?
  
 
  
12
 Why withdrawest thou thy hand *
 why pluckest thou not thy right hand out of thy bosom to consume the enemy?
  
 
  
13
 For God is my King of old *
 the help that is done upon earth he doeth it himself.
  
 
  
14
 Thou didst divide the sea through thy power *
 thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
  
 
  
15
 Thou smotest the heads of Leviathan in pieces *
 and gavest him to be meat for the people in the wilderness.
  
 
  
16
 Thou broughtest out fountains and waters out of the hard rocks *
 thou driedst up mighty waters.
  
 
  
17
 The day is thine, and the night is thine *
 thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
  
 
  
18
 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth *
 thou hast made summer and winter.
  
 
  
19
 Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy hath rebuked *
 and how the foolish people hath blasphemed thy Name.
  
 
  
20
 O deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the multitude of the enemies *
 and forget not the congregation of the poor for ever.
  
 
  
21
 Look upon the covenant *
 for all the earth is full of darkness, and cruel habitations.
  
 
  
22
 O let not the simple go away ashamed *
 but let the poor and needy give praise unto thy Name.
  
 
  
23
 Arise, O God, maintain thine own cause *
 remember how the foolish man blasphemeth thee daily.
  
 
  
24
 Forget not the voice of thine enemies *
 the presumption of them that hate thee increaseth ever more and more.
  
 
     
    At the end of each psalm these words are said or sung
     
    Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
    and to the Holy Ghost;
    as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
    world without end. Amen.
     
    Old Testament Reading  
 
   

First Reading: Isaiah 8.16 - 9.7

Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
 And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
 Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.
 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?
 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.
 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.

 

Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
 For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.
 For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.
 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

       
  Magnificat  
     
    Either the Magnificat (as follows) or Cantate Domino (Psalm 98) is said or sung.
     
1
   My soul doth magnify the Lord :
    and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
     
2
   For he hath regarded :
    the lowliness of his handmaiden.
     
3
   For behold, from henceforth :
    all generations shall call me blessed.
     
4
   For he that is mighty hath magnified me :
    and holy is his Name.
     
5
   And his mercy is on them that fear him :
    throughout all generations.
     
6
   He hath shewed strength with his arm :
    he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
     
7
   He hath put down the mighty from their seat :
    and hath exalted the humble and meek.
     
8
   He hath filled the hungry with good things :
    and the rich he hath sent empty away.
     
9
   He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel :
    as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed for ever.
   
Luke 1.46-55
     
    Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
    and to the Holy Ghost;
    as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
    world without end. Amen.
     
  New Testament Reading  
 
   

Second Reading: Matthew 6.19-end

Jesus said to the multitudes, Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
     
  Nunc dimittis  
     
    Either the Nunc dimittis (as follows) or Deus misereatur (Psalm 67) is said or sung.
     
1
   Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace :
    according to thy word.
     
2
   For mine eyes have seen :
    thy salvation;
     
3
   Which thou hast prepared :
    before the face of all people;
     
4
   To be a light to lighten the Gentiles :
    and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
   
Luke 2.29-32
     
    Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
    and to the Holy Ghost;
    as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
    world without end. Amen.
     
  The Apostles' Creed  
     
All
   I believe in God the Father almighty,
    maker of heaven and earth:
    and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,
    who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
    born of the Virgin Mary,
    suffered under Pontius Pilate,
    was crucified, dead, and buried.
    He descended into hell;
    the third day he rose again from the dead;
    he ascended into heaven,
    and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty;
    from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
    I believe in the Holy Ghost;
    the holy catholic Church;
    the communion of saints;
    the forgiveness of sins;
    the resurrection of the body,
    and the life everlasting.
    Amen.
     
  Prayers  
     
    The Lord be with you.
All
   And with thy spirit.
     
    Let us pray.
     
    Lord, have mercy upon us.
All
   Christ, have mercy upon us.
    Lord, have mercy upon us.
     
All
   Our Father, which art in heaven,
    hallowed be thy name;
    thy kingdom come;
    thy will be done,
    in earth as it is in heaven.
    Give us this day our daily bread.
    And forgive us our trespasses,
    as we forgive them that trespass against us.
    And lead us not into temptation;
    but deliver us from evil. Amen.
     
    O Lord, shew thy mercy upon us.
All
   And grant us thy salvation.
     
    O Lord, save the King.
All
   And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee.
     
    Endue thy ministers with righteousness.
All
   And make thy chosen people joyful.
     
    O Lord, save thy people.
All
   And bless thine inheritance.
     
    Give peace in our time, O Lord.
All
   Because there is none other that fighteth for us,
    but only thou, O God.
     
    O God, make clean our hearts within us.
All
   And take not thy Holy Spirit from us.
     
    Three Collects are said.
     
  The Collect of the Day  
     
    O Lord, we beseech thee, absolve thy people from their offences; that through thy bountiful goodness we may all be delivered from the bands of those sins, which by our frailty we have committed: Grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, our blessed Lord and Saviour.
All
   Amen.
     
     
  The Collect for Peace  
     
    O God, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels,
         and all just works do proceed;
    give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give;
    that both, our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments,
    and also that, by thee,
    we being defended from the fear of our enemies
    may pass our time in rest and quietness;
    through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour.
All
   Amen.
     
  The Collect for Aid against all Perils  
     
    Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord;
    and by thy great mercy defend us
         from all perils and dangers of this night;
    for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
All
   Amen.
     
    The order for the end of the service may include:
     
    hymns or anthems
       a sermon
    further prayers (which may include prayers from here)
     
    This prayer may be used to conclude the service
     
    The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
    and the love of God,
    and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost,
    be with us all evermore.
All
   Amen.
     
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