Cantica Gaudia

Season of Easter: Saturday Evening Prayer

Opening: Stay with us, Christ, for it is evening. Make your Church bright with your radiance.

Canticle: 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.

Psalm: Happy is the one
Who trusts you for help
Whose hope rests with you

Who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all it holds
Whose truth is endless
Who brings justice to the oppressed
Bread to the hungry
Who frees the bound
Teaches the blind to see
Lifts up the bent over
Who loves the upright
Guards the stranger
Protects the orphan and widow
And provides the heedless with the trouble they need

Glory to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and shall be always.

Reading: As my love and my faith and my interest in the inner grew, the darkness diminished, within and without, and Lalla lost herself in that light.

The Lord’s Prayer: Holy One,
We honor your name.
Let the world know your justice
Here as everywhere.
Give us the food we need
For both the body and the soul.
Forgive us the wrongs we do
As we forgive the wrongs of others.
Keep us safe from the evil
At large or of our own making.
We trust you for you made us and
We are yours, now and always.  Amen.

Prayer: Almighty and everlasting God, let our prayer in your sight be as incense, the lifting up of our hands as the evening sacrifice. Give us grace to behold you, present in your word and sacraments, and to recognize you in the lives of those around us. Stir up in us the flame of that love which burned in the heart of your Son as he bore his passion, and let it burn in us to eternal life and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Collect: Lord, we cup our hands to gather the pieces of heaven you shower upon us. Help us to open our hands with generous spirits and scatter your divine love in the darkest places. Amen.

Going Forth: Christ is risen! Alleluia, alleluia!