Evening Prayer (Evensong) in Contemporary Language

¶ Evening Prayer on Saturday
Saturday, 27 June 2026
Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, Teacher of the Faith, 444 [Commemoration]
Ember Day

Preparation

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

The Blessing of Light (page 110) may replace the Preparation at Evening Prayer on any occasion.

One or more of the following is said or sung:

A prayer of thanksgiving (page 110),

Blessed are you, Lord God, creator of day and night:
to you be praise and glory for ever.
As darkness falls you renew your promise
to reveal among us the light of your presence.
By the light of Christ, your living Word,
dispel the darkness of our hearts
that we may walk as children of light
and sing your praise throughout the world.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
AllBlessed be God for ever.

or a suitable hymn,

or A Song of God’s Light

1The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom then shall I fear? ♦
The Lord is the strength of my life;
of whom then shall I be afraid?

2Though a host encamp against me,
my heart shall not be afraid, ♦
and though there rise up war against me,
yet will I put my trust in him.

3One thing have I asked of the Lord
and that alone I seek: ♦
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,

4To behold the fair beauty of the Lord ♦
and to seek his will in his temple.

5For in the day of trouble
he shall hide me in his shelter; ♦
in the secret place of his dwelling shall he hide me
and set me high upon a rock.

6Therefore will I offer in his dwelling an oblation
with great gladness; ♦
I will sing and make music to the Lord.

Psalm 27.1, 3-6, 8

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.

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 81

Refrain: O come, let us sing to the Lord.

1 Sing merrily to God our strength, ♦
shout for joy to the God of Jacob.

2 Take up the song and sound the timbrel, ♦
the tuneful lyre with the harp.

3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, ♦
as at the full moon, upon our solemn feast day.

4 For this is a statute for Israel, ♦
a law of the God of Jacob,

5 The charge he laid on the people of Joseph, ♦
when they came out of the land of Egypt. R

6 I heard a voice I did not know, that said: ♦
‘I eased their shoulder from the burden;
their hands were set free from bearing the load.

7 ‘You called upon me in trouble and I delivered you; ♦
I answered you from the secret place of thunder
and proved you at the waters of Meribah.

8 ‘Hear, O my people, and I will admonish you: ♦
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!

9 ‘There shall be no strange god among you; ♦
you shall not worship a foreign god.

10 ‘I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt; ♦
open your mouth wide and I shall fill it.’ R

11 But my people would not hear my voice ♦
and Israel would not obey me.

12 So I sent them away in the stubbornness of their hearts, ♦
and let them walk after their own counsels.

13 O that my people would listen to me, ♦
that Israel would walk in my ways!

14 Then I should soon put down their enemies ♦
and turn my hand against their adversaries.

15 Those who hate the Lord would be humbled before him, ♦
and their punishment would last for ever.

16 But Israel would I feed with the finest wheat ♦
and with honey from the rock would I satisfy them.

Refrain: O come, let us sing to the Lord.

Father of mercy,
keep us joyful in your salvation
and faithful to your covenant;
and, as we journey to your kingdom,
ever feed us with the bread of life,
your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Psalm 84

Refrain: Blessed are they who dwell in your house.

1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! ♦
My soul has a desire and longing to enter the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.

2 The sparrow has found her a house
and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young: ♦
at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

3 Blessed are they who dwell in your house: ♦
they will always be praising you. R

4 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, ♦
in whose heart are the highways to Zion,

5 Who going through the barren valley find there a spring, ♦
and the early rains will clothe it with blessing.

6 They will go from strength to strength ♦
and appear before God in Zion. R

7 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; ♦
listen, O God of Jacob.

8 Behold our defender, O God, ♦
and look upon the face of your anointed.

9 For one day in your courts ♦
is better than a thousand. R

10 I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God ♦
than dwell in the tents of ungodliness.

11 For the Lord God is both sun and shield;
he will give grace and glory; ♦
no good thing shall the Lord withhold
from those who walk with integrity.

12 O Lord God of hosts, ♦
blessed are those who put their trust in you.

Refrain: Blessed are they who dwell in your house.

Lord God,
sustain us in this vale of tears
with the vision of your grace and glory,
that, strengthened by the bread of life,
we may come to your eternal dwelling place;
in the power of Jesus Christ our Lord.

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.

Nehemiah 2

In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was served to him, I carried the wine and gave it to the king. Now, I had never been sad in his presence before. So the king said to me, ‘Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This can only be sadness of the heart.’ Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, ‘May the king live for ever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my ancestors’ graves, lies waste, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?’ Then the king said to me, ‘What do you request?’ So I prayed to the God of heaven. Then I said to the king, ‘If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favour with you, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestors’ graves, so that I may rebuild it.’ The king said to me (the queen also was sitting beside him), ‘How long will you be gone, and when will you return?’ So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a date. Then I said to the king, ‘If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may grant me passage until I arrive in Judah; and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, directing him to give me timber to make beams for the gates of the temple fortress, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.’ And the king granted me what I asked, for the gracious hand of my God was upon me.

Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent officers of the army and cavalry with me. When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.

So I came to Jerusalem and was there for three days. Then I got up during the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal I took was the animal I rode. I went out by night by the Valley Gate past the Dragon’s Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool; but there was no place for the animal I was riding to continue. So I went up by way of the valley by night and inspected the wall. Then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing; I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest that were to do the work.

Then I said to them, ‘You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burnt. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we may no longer suffer disgrace.’ I told them that the hand of my God had been gracious upon me, and also the words that the king had spoken to me. Then they said, ‘Let us start building!’ So they committed themselves to the common good. But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they mocked and ridiculed us, saying, ‘What is this that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?’ Then I replied to them, ‘The God of heaven is the one who will give us success, and we his servants are going to start building; but you have no share or claim or historic right in Jerusalem.’

Canticle

A Song of God’s Love, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 53 (page 606), may be said

Refrain:

AllGod’s love was revealed among us
so that we might live through Jesus. Alleluia.

1Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God; ♦
everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

2Whoever does not love does not know God, ♦
for God is love.

3In this the love of God was revealed among us, ♦
that God sent his only Son into the world,
so that we might live through him.

4In this is love,
not that we loved God but that he loved us, ♦
and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins.

5Beloved, since God loved us so much, ♦
we ought also to love one another.

6For if we love one another, God abides in us, ♦
and God’s love will be perfected in us.

1 John 4.7-11, 12b

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’s love was revealed among us
so that we might live through Jesus. Alleluia.

Scripture Reading

One or more readings appointed for the day are read.

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

Romans 14.1-12

Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarrelling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgement on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgement on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honour of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honour of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honour of the Lord and give thanks to God.

We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

Why do you pass judgement on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgement seat of God. For it is written,
‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
   and every tongue shall give praise to God.’
So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

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

Your salvation is near to those who fear you;
that glory may dwell in our land.
AllYour salvation is near to those who fear you;
that glory may dwell in our land.
Mercy and truth have met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
AllThat glory may dwell in our land.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit.
AllYour salvation is near to those who fear you;
that glory may dwell in our land.

from Psalm 85

Gospel Canticle

The Magnificat (The Song of Mary) is normally said,
or A Song of Praise (page 627) may be said

Refrain:

AllYou have looked with favour on your lowly servant,
from this day all generations will call her blessed.

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:

AllYou have looked with favour on your lowly servant,
from this day all generations will call her blessed.

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 362–363

¶ Our homes, families, friends and all whom we love
¶ Those whose time is spent caring for others
¶ Those who are close to death
¶ Those who have lost hope
¶ The worship of the Church

One of the forms of prayer found on pages 362–371 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

O God, the protector of all who trust in you,
without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:
increase and multiply upon us your mercy;
that with you as our ruler and guide
we may so pass through things temporal
that we lose not our hold on things eternal;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake,
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

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)

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

All The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with us all evermore.
Amen.

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