Cantica Gaudia

Season of Lent: Tuesday Evening Prayer

Opening: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

Canticle: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
For he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
In every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
He has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
And has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
For he has remembered this promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our forbears,
To Abraham and his children for ever.

Psalm: Hear this, all you peoples, hearken, all you who dwell in the world,
You of high degree and low, rich and poor together.
My mouth shall speak of wisdom,
And my heart shall meditate on understanding.
I will incline my ear to a proverb
And set forth my riddle upon the harp.
Why should I be afraid in evil days,
When the wickedness of those at my heels surrounds me,
The wickedness of those who put their trust in their goods,
And boast of their great riches?
We can never ransom ourselves,
Or deliver to God the price of our life;
For the ransom of our life is so great,
That we should never have enough to pay it,
In order to live for ever,
And never see the grave.

Glory to God, who created us, bears our pain, and loves us now and forever.

Reading: I find you in all the things of this world
that I love calmly, like a brother;
in things no one cares for, you brood like a seed;
and to powerful things you give an immense power.

Strength plays such a marvelous game—
it moves through the things of the world like a servant,
groping out in roots, tapering in trunks,
and in the treetops like a rising from the dead.

The Lord’s Prayer: Ground of all being, Mother of life, Father of the universe,
Your name is sacred, beyond speaking.
May we know your presence.
May your longings be our longings
in heart and in action.
May there be food for the human family today
and for the whole earth community.
Forgive us the falseness of what we have done
as we forgive those who are untrue to us.
Do not forsake us in our time of conflict
but lead us into new beginnings.
For the light of life, the vitality of life, and the glory of life
are yours now and for ever.
Amen.

Prayer: Look kindly on our world, our God, as we suffer and struggle with one another. Look kindly on your Church, driven by the same necessity; and may the light we have seen in Jesus illuminate and brighten all the world. Amen.

Collect: Lord, you bring us into being and let our lives touch your heart: may the fragrance of our worship draw us closer to your open heart and free us from our clinging to the things we can control; theough Jesus Christ, the passion of God. Amen.

Blessing: Comfort us with your light, Holy Spirit, as shadows deepen, and keep us safe in your warm embrace.