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12.01pm on Wednesday 12 August 2026

Evening Prayer (Evensong) in Traditional Language

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    Evening Prayer from
    The Book of Common Prayer
    Thursday, 13 August 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 69

  
 

  
1
 Save me, O God *
 for the waters are come in, even unto my soul.
  
 
  
2
 I stick fast in the deep mire, where no ground is *
 I am come into deep waters, so that the floods run over me.
  
 
  
3
 I am weary of crying; my throat is dry *
 my sight faileth me for waiting so long upon my God.
  
 
  
4
 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head *
 they that are mine enemies, and would destroy me guiltless, are mighty.
  
 
  
5
 I paid them the things that I never took *
 God, thou knowest my simpleness, and my faults are not hid from thee.
  
 
  
6
 Let not them that trust in thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my cause *
 let not those that seek thee be confounded through me, O Lord God of Israel.
  
 
  
7
 And why? for thy sake have I suffered reproof *
 shame hath covered my face.
  
 
  
8
 I am become a stranger unto my brethren *
 even an alien unto my mother’s children.
  
 
  
9
 For the zeal of thine house hath even eaten me *
 and the rebukes of them that rebuked thee are fallen upon me.
  
 
  
10
 I wept, and chastened myself with fasting *
 and that was turned to my reproof.
  
 
  
11
 I put on sackcloth also *
 and they jested upon me.
  
 
  
12
 They that sit in the gate speak against me *
 and the drunkards make songs upon me.
  
 
  
13
 But, Lord, I make my prayer unto thee *
 in an acceptable time.
  
 
  
14
 Hear me, O God, in the multitude of thy mercy *
 even in the truth of thy salvation.
  
 
  
15
 Take me out of the mire, that I sink not *
 O let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
  
 
  
16
 Let not the water-flood drown me, neither let the deep swallow me up *
 and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
  
 
  
17
 Hear me, O Lord, for thy loving-kindness is comfortable *
 turn thee unto me according to the multitude of thy mercies.
  
 
  
18
 And hide not thy face from thy servant, for I am in trouble *
 O haste thee, and hear me.
  
 
  
19
 Draw nigh unto my soul, and save it *
 O deliver me, because of mine enemies.
  
 
  
20
 Thou hast known my reproof, my shame, and my dishonour *
 mine adversaries are all in thy sight.
  
 
  
21
 Thy rebuke hath broken my heart; I am full of heaviness *
 I looked for some to have pity on me, but there was no man, neither found I any to comfort me.
  
 
  
22
 They gave me gall to eat *
 and when I was thirsty they gave me vinegar to drink.
  
 
  
23
 Let their table be made a snare to take themselves withal *
 and let the things that should have been for their wealth be unto them an occasion of falling.
  
 
  
24
 Let their eyes be blinded, that they see not *
 and ever bow thou down their backs.
  
 
  
25
 Pour out thine indignation upon them *
 and let thy wrathful displeasure take hold of them.
  
 
  
26
 Let their habitation be void *
 and no man to dwell in their tents.
  
 
  
27
 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten *
 and they talk how they may vex them whom thou hast wounded.
  
 
  
28
 Let them fall from one wickedness to another *
 and not come into thy righteousness.
  
 
  
29
 Let them be wiped out of the book of the living *
 and not be written among the righteous.
  
 
  
30
 As for me, when I am poor and in heaviness *
 thy help, O God, shall lift me up.
  
 
  
31
 I will praise the Name of God with a song *
 and magnify it with thanksgiving.
  
 
  
32
 This also shall please the Lord *
 better than a bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
  
 
  
33
 The humble shall consider this, and be glad *
 seek ye after God, and your soul shall live.
  
 
  
34
 For the Lord heareth the poor *
 and despiseth not his prisoners.
  
 
  
35
 Let heaven and earth praise him *
 the sea, and all that moveth therein.
  
 
  
36
 For God will save Sion, and build the cities of Judah *
 that men may dwell there, and have it in possession.
  
 
  
37
 The posterity also of his servants shall inherit it *
 and they that love his Name shall dwell therein.
  
 

Psalm 70

  
 

  
1
 Haste thee, O God, to deliver me *
 make haste to help me, O Lord.
  
 
  
2
 Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul *
 let them be turned backward and put to confusion that wish me evil.
  
 
  
3
 Let them for their reward be soon brought to shame *
 that cry over me, There, there.
  
 
  
4
 But let all those that seek thee be joyful and glad in thee *
 and let all such as delight in thy salvation say alway, The Lord be praised.
  
 
  
5
 As for me, I am poor and in misery *
 haste thee unto me, O God.
  
 
  
6
 Thou art my helper, and my redeemer *
 O Lord, make no long tarrying.
  
 
     
    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: Jeremiah 44.1-14

 

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein,
 Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers.
 Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.
 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.
 Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.
 Therefore now thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain;
 In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
 Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?
 They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.
 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.
 And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by the sword and by the famine: they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine: and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.
 For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:
 So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return but such as shall escape.

       
  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: Mark 4.1-20

 

And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.

And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine,
 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
 And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
 And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.
 And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
 And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.
 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
 And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?
 The sower soweth the word.
 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.
 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

     
  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  
     
    Let thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of thy humble servants; and that they may obtain their petitions make them to ask such things as shall please thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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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