Cantica Gaudia

Season of Lent: Friday Evening Prayer

Opening: My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for morning, more than those who watch for morning.

Canticle: My soul rejoices in the Lord,
My spirit leaps before my God and savior,
Who favors his waiting servant.
Listen!
From now on, everyone will call me happy!
For the heavens did great things unto me,
Holy is his name
From this time and forever,
Mercy flows to those who fear him.
His strong arm spread,
He scatters the thoughts of arrogant hearts,
He snatches the powerful from high places
And lifts up the empty.
The hungry are fed delicious food
And the rich sent away with nothing.
His child Israel is clothed in forgiveness,
Just as he spoke to our fathers,
Abraham and his seed forever.

Psalm: How dear to me is your dwelling, O Lord of hosts!
My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.
The sparrow has found her a house and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young;
By the side of your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
Happy are they who dwell in your house!
They will always be praising you.
Happy are the people whose strength is in you!
Whose hearts are set on the pilgrims’ way.
Those who go through the desolate valley will find it a place of springs,
For the early rains have covered it with pools of water.
They will climb from height to height,
And the God of gods will reveal himself in Zion.
Lord God of hosts, hear my prayers;
Hearken, O God of Jacob.
Behold our defender, O God;
And look upon the face of your Anointed.
For one day in your courts is better than a thousand in my own room,
And to stand at the threshold of the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.
For the Lord God is both sun and shield;
He will give grace and glory;
No good thing will the Lord withhold
From those who walk with integrity.
O Lord of hosts,
Happy are they who put their trust in you!

Glory to God, our Creator, to God’s most Holy Word, and to the Spirit, indwelling; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.

Reading: We are like grain, and life, the mill.  The mill has no grudge.  The moving stone never wishes us harm.

It just does its job of making all more digestible and consummate.

When you have become golden in the fields from swaying with light, the sickle moon will turn its gaze in your direction and harvest you some holy day.

Then his attendants will put you in sacks, and from ports the Ocean made,  you might travel around the globe, offering alms.

The Lord’s Prayer: Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be your 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,
And the power and the glory,
For ever and ever.  Amen.

Prayer: In the quiet of the night
may we know your presence, O God.
At the ending of the day
may our soul be alive to your nearness.
Amidst the tiredness that overcomes our body
and the tensions  that linger in our mind,
amidst the uncertainties and fears
that haunt us in the darkness of the night,
let us know your presence, O God,
let our soul be alive to your nearness.

Collect: Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake. Amen.

Blessing:  God's blessings of peace and mercy be upon us and those we love, now and forever.