Cantica Gaudia

Ordinary Time, Fall: Sunday Evening Prayer

Opening:  Open our lips, O Lord, and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Canticle: O Gracious Light
pure brightness of the everlasting 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 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.

Psalm: Teach me your path
And I will walk firmly in your truth
Let my heart be undivided in awe of your namelessness
And I will thank you with all my heart
And will honor your unsayableness forever
For your kindness toward me is great
You have saved my soul from the deep

Glory to God, who made us, who bears our pain, and who loves us,
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.

Reading: Happy are those who meditate on wisdom and reason intelligently, who reflect in their hearts on her ways and ponder her secrets, pursuing her like a hunter, and lying in wait on her paths;

Who peer through her windows and listen at her doors; who camp near her house and fasten their tent pegs to her walls; who pitch their tents near her and so occupy an excellent lodging place;

Who place their children under her shelter, and lodge under her boughs; who are sheltered by her from the heat, and dwell in the midst of her glory.

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: For the sun and the dawn, which we did not create;
For the moon and the evening, which we did not make.

For food that we plant, but cannot grow;
For friends and loved ones we have not earned and cannot buy

For this gathered company that welcomes us as we are from wherever
we have come;
For all our free churches, synagogues and mosques that keep us
human and encourage us in our quest for beauty, truth and love

For all things that come to us as gifts of being from sources beyond
ourselves … gifts of life and love and friendship …
We lift up our hearts in thanks this day.

Collect: Source of life and blessing, of garden, orchard and field: root us in obedience to you and nourish us by your ever-flowing Spirit that, perceiving only the good we might do, our lives may be fruitful, our labor productive, and our service useful, in communion with Jesus, our brother. Amen.

Going Forth: May the warmth of God's holy love and the light of God's wisdom keep us through this night.