Thursday after Proper 16
Evening Prayer
August 26, 2021
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Evening Prayer
Enriching Our Worship 1 and Book of Common Prayer
Jesus said, "I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
[John 8:12; BCP, p. 116]
Confession & Absolution
[EOW1, pp. 19-20]
Let us confess our sins to God.
Silence may be kept.
God of all mercy,
we confess that we have sinned against you,
opposing your will in our lives.
We have denied your goodness in each other,
in ourselves, and in the world you have created.
We repent of the evil that enslaves us,
the evil we have done,
and the evil done on our behalf.
Forgive, restore, and strengthen us
through our Savior Jesus Christ,
that we may abide in your love
and serve only your will. Amen.
A Bishop or Priest says:
Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through the grace of Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen.
[A Deacon or Lay Person says:]
[Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through the grace of Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.]
The Invitatory and Psalter
[EOW1, p. 20]
V: O God, be not far from us. R: Come quickly to help us, O God.
Praise to the holy and undivided Trinity, one God:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Alleluia!
O Gracious Light (Phos hilaron)
[BCP, p. 118]
O gracious light, pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven, O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!
Now as we come to the setting of the sun, and our eyes behold the vesper light, we sing your praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices, O Son of God, O Giver of life, and to be glorified through all the worlds.
The Psalm or Psalms Appointed
Psalm 18:21-50 (Part II)
[BCP, p. 604]
21 The LORD rewarded me because of my righteous dealing; *
because my hands were clean he rewarded me;
22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD *
and have not offended against my God;
23 For all his judgments are before my eyes, *
and his decrees I have not put away from me;
24 For I have been blameless with him *
and have kept myself from iniquity;
25 Therefore the LORD rewarded me according to my
righteous dealing, *
because of the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
26 With the faithful you show yourself faithful, O God; *
with the forthright you show yourself forthright.
27 With the pure you show yourself pure, *
but with the crooked you are wily.
28 You will save a lowly people, *
but you will humble the haughty eyes.
29 You, O LORD, are my lamp; *
my God, you make my darkness bright.
30 With you I will break down an enclosure; *
with the help of my God I will scale any wall.
31 As for God, his ways are perfect;
the words of the LORD are tried in the fire; *
he is a shield to all who trust in him.
32 For who is God, but the LORD? *
who is the Rock, except our God?
33 It is God who girds me about with strength *
and makes my way secure.
34 He makes me sure-footed like a deer *
and lets me stand firm on the heights.
35 He trains my hands for battle *
and my arms for bending even a bow of bronze.
36 You have given me your shield of victory; *
your right hand also sustains me;
your loving care makes me great.
37 You lengthen my stride beneath me, *
and my ankles do not give way.
38 I pursue my enemies and overtake them; *
I will not turn back till I have destroyed them.
39 I strike them down, and they cannot rise; *
they fall defeated at my feet.
40 You have girded me with strength for the battle; *
you have cast down my adversaries beneath me;
you have put my enemies to flight.
41 I destroy those who hate me;
they cry out, but there is none to help them; *
they cry to the LORD, but he does not answer.
42 I beat them small like dust before the wind; *
I trample them like mud in the streets.
43 You deliver me from the strife of the peoples; *
you put me at the head of the nations.
44 A people I have not known shall serve me;
no sooner shall they hear than they shall obey me; *
strangers will cringe before me.
45 The foreign peoples will lose heart; *
they shall come trembling out of their strongholds.
46 The LORD lives! Blessed is my Rock! *
Exalted is the God of my salvation!
47 He is the God who gave me victory *
and cast down the peoples beneath me.
48 You rescued me from the fury of my enemies;
you exalted me above those who rose against me; *
you saved me from my deadly foe.
49 Therefore will I extol you among the nations, O LORD, *
and sing praises to your Name.
50 He multiplies the victories of his king; *
he shows loving-kindness to his anointed,
to David and his descendants for ever.
Praise to the holy and undivided Trinity, one God:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
The Lessons
A Reading from Mark (14:12-26)
On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?" So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there." So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me." They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, "Surely, not I?" He said to them, "It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born." While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body." Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people.
Thanks be to God.
Canticle J: A Song of Judith
[EOW1, p. 35; Judith 16:13-16]
I will sing a new song to my God, *
for you are great and glorious, wonderful in strength, invincible.
Let the whole creation serve you, *
for you spoke and all things came into being.
You sent your breath and it formed them, *
no one is able to resist your voice.
Mountains and seas are stirred to their depths, *
rocks melt like wax at your presence.
But to those who fear you, *
you continue to show mercy.
No sacrifice, however fragrant, can please you, *
but whoever fears the Lord shall stand in your sight for ever.
Praise to the holy and undivided Trinity, one God:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
A Reading from Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018
August 27: Thomas Gallaudet and Henry Winter Syle, Priests, d. 1902 and 1890 [p. 369]
Ministry to the deaf in the Episcopal Church begins with Thomas Gallaudet and his protégé, Henry Winter Syle. Without Gallaudet’s genius and zeal for the spiritual well-being of deaf persons, it is improbable that a history of ministry to the deaf in the Episcopal Church could be written. He has been called “The Apostle to the Deaf.”
Gallaudet was born June 3rd, 1822, in Hartford. He was the eldest son of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, founder of the West Hartford School for the Deaf, and his wife, Sophia, who was deaf.
After graduating from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, Thomas announced his desire to become a priest in the Episcopal Church. His father, who was a Congregationalist minister, prevailed upon him to postpone a final decision, and to accept a teaching position in the New York Institution for Deaf-Mutes. There he met and married a deaf woman named Elizabeth Budd.
Gallaudet was ordained as a deacon in 1850 and served his diaconate at St. Stephen’s Church, where he established a Bible class for deaf persons. Ordained as a priest in 1851, Gallaudet became Assistant Rector at St. Ann’s Church, where he conceived a plan for establishing a church that would be a spiritual home for deaf people. This became a reality the following year, with the founding of St. Ann’s Church for Deaf-Mutes. The congregation was able to purchase a church building in 1859, and it became a center for missionary work to the deaf continuing into its merger with the parish of Calvary-St. George in 1976. As a result of this ministry, mission congregations were established in many cities. Gallaudet died on August 27th, 1902.
One fruit of Gallaudet’s ministry was Henry Winter Syle. Born in China, he had lost his hearing as a young child as the result of scarlet fever. Educated at Trinity College, Hartford; St. John’s College, Cambridge, England; and Yale University, Syle was a brilliant student, who persisted in his determination to obtain an education in spite of his deafness and fragile health. He was encouraged by Gallaudet to offer himself for ordination as a priest, and was supported in that call by Bishop William Bacon Stevens of Pennsylvania, against the opposition of many who believed that the impairment of one of the senses was an impediment to ordination. Syle was ordained as a deacon in 1876, the first deaf person to be ordained in this church, and later ordained as a priest in 1883. In 1888, he built All Souls Church for the Deaf in Philadelphia, the first Episcopal church constructed especially for deaf persons. He died on January 6th, 1890.
Canticle S: A Song of Our True Nature
[EOW1, p. 40; St. Julian of Norwich]
Christ revealed our frailty and our falling, *
our trespasses and our humiliations.
Christ also revealed his blessed power, *
his blessed wisdom and love.
He protects us as tenderly and as sweetly when we are in greatest need; *
he raises us in spirit
and turns everything to glory and joy without ending.
God is the ground and the substance, the very essence of nature; *
God is the true father and mother of natures.
We are all bound to God by nature, *
and we are all bound to God by grace.
And this grace is for all the world, *
because it is our precious mother, Christ.
For this fair nature was prepared by Christ
for the honor and nobility of all, *
and for the joy and bliss of salvation.
Praise to the holy and undivided Trinity, one God:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
The Apostles' Creed
[EOW1, p. 41]
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Prayers
[EOW1, p. 42; BCP, p. 121]
V: God be with you. R: And also with you. Let us pray.
Our 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.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.
Suffrages B
[BCP, p. 122]
That this evening may be holy, good, and peaceful, We entreat you, O Lord.
That your holy angels may lead us in paths of peace and goodwill, We entreat you, O Lord.
That we may be pardoned and forgiven for our sins and offenses, We entreat you, O Lord.
That there may be peace to your Church and to the whole world, We entreat you, O Lord.
That we may depart this life in your faith and fear, and not be condemned before the great judgment seat of Christ, We entreat you, O Lord.
That we may be bound together by your Holy Spirit in the communion of [________ and] all your saints, entrusting one another and all our life to Christ, We entreat you, O Lord.
Collect of the Day: Proper 16
[BCP, 232]
Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Collect of the Day: Thomas Gallaudet and Henry Winter Syle, Priests, d. 1902 and 1890
[Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018, p. 370]
O Loving God, whose will it is that everyone should come to you and be saved: We bless your holy Name for your servants Thomas Gallaudet and Henry Winter Syle, and we pray that you will continually move your church to respond in love to the needs of all people; through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
A Collect for the Presence of Christ
[BCP, p. 124]
Lord Jesus, stay with us, for evening is at hand and the day is past; be our companion in the way, kindle our hearts, and awaken hope, that we may know you as you are revealed in Scripture and the breaking of bread. Grant this for the sake of your love. Amen.
Prayer for Mission
[BCP, p. 125]
O God, you manifest in your servants the signs of your presence: Send forth upon us the spirit of love, that in companionship with one another your abounding grace may increase among us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Offer your own intercessions and thanksgivings.
The General Thanksgiving
[BCP, p. 125]
Almighty God, Father of all mercies,
we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks
for all your goodness and loving-kindness
to us and to all whom you have made.
We bless you for our creation, preservation,
and all the blessings of this life;
but above all for your immeasurable love
in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ;
for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.
And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies,
that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise,
not only with our lips, but in our lives,
by giving up our selves to your service,
and by walking before you
in holiness and righteousness all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.
A Prayer of St. Chrysostom
[BCP, p. 126]
Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen.
The Dismissal
[BCP, p. 126]
Let us bless the Lord. Thanks be to God.
May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. [Romans 15:13]
Credits: This service is drawn from The Book of Common Prayer (1979), Enriching Our Worship 1 (1997), and other liturgical resources of The Episcopal Church and the scriptures are reprinted from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.