Saturday evening May 14
Preparation
Opening response
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Send your Holy Spirit upon us,
and clothe us with power from on high. Alleluia.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,
to you be glory and praise forever.
Raised to your right hand on high
the ascended Christ shows the prints of love
and bestows on us the gifts of grace.
As your Spirit renews the face of the earth,
may we bring forth the fruit of the Spirit
and reveal your glory in all the world.
Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.
Hymn
A Stranger in the World Below
Charles Wesley
A stranger in the world below,
I calmly sojourn here;
Nor can its happiness or woe
Provoke my hope or fear;
Its evils in a moment end;
Its joys as soon are past;
But O, the bliss to which I tend
Eternally shall last!
To that Jerusalem above,
With singing I repair;
While in the flesh, my hope and love,
My heart and soul are there.
There my exalted Savior stands,
My merciful High Priest;
And still extends his wounded hands
To take me to his breast.
Confession of sin
When we cry out to the Lord in our distress,
he will save us from our desperate circumstances.
God will bring us out of darkness
and out of the shadow of death.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
May the Father forgive us
by the death of his Son
and strengthen us
to live in the power of the Spirit
all our days.
Amen.
Let us thank the Lord for his faithful love,
and his wondrous works for all people.
Let us offer thanksgiving sacrifices
and declare what God has done in songs of joy.
cf Psalm 107
The Word of God
Psalm 48
Refrain:
God, we dwell on your faithful love.
In the city belonging to our God,
the Lord is great and so worthy of praise!
His holy mountain is a beautiful summit,
the joy of the whole world.
Mount Zion, in the far north,
is the city of the great king.
God is in its fortifications,
revealing himself as a place of safety.
Look: the kings assembled themselves,
advancing all together—
when they saw it, they were stunned;
they panicked and ran away frightened.
Trembling took hold of them right there—
like a woman giving birth,
or like the east wind when it smashes
the ships of Tarshish.
Just like we had heard,
now we’ve seen it for ourselves
in the city of the Lord of heavenly forces,
in the city of our God.
May God make it secure forever!
We dwell on your faithful love, God,
in your temple.
Your praise, God, just like your reputation,
extends to the far corners of the earth.
Your strong hand is filled with righteousness.
Let Mount Zion be glad;
let the towns of Judah rejoice
because of your acts of justice!
Walk around Zion;
go all the way around it;
count its towers.
Examine its defenses closely;
tour its fortifications
so that you may tell future generations:
“This is God,
our God, forever and always!
He is the one who will lead us
even to the very end.”
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen.
Refrain:
God, we dwell on your faithful love.
Psalm prayer
Father of lights,
raise us with Christ to your eternal city,
that, with kings and nations,
we may wait in the midst of your temple
and see your glory forever and ever.
Old Testament reading
Deuteronomy 16:9-15
Count out seven weeks, starting the count from the beginning of the grain harvest. At that point, perform the Festival of Weeks for the Lord your God. Offer a spontaneous gift in precise measure with the blessing the Lord your God gives you. Then celebrate in the presence of the Lord your God—you, your sons, your daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites who live in your cities, the immigrants, the orphans, and the widows who are among you—in the location the Lord your God selects for his name to reside. Remember how each of you was a slave in Egypt, so follow these regulations most carefully.
Once you have collected the food and drink you need, perform the Festival of Booths for seven days. Celebrate your festival: you, your sons, your daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites, the immigrants, the orphans, and the widows who live in your cities. Seven days you must perform the festival for the Lord your God in the location the Lord selects because the Lord your God will bless you in all you do and in all your work. You will be overjoyed.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
John 7:37-39
On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted,
“All who are thirsty should come to me!
All who believe in me should drink!
As the scriptures said concerning me,
Rivers of living water will flow out from within him.”
Jesus said this concerning the Spirit. Those who believed in him would soon receive the Spirit, but they hadn’t experienced the Spirit yet since Jesus hadn’t yet been glorified.
Silence may be kept.
Gospel canticle
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Refrain:
How excellent is your name in all the world; you have set your glory above the heavens. Alleluia.
With all my heart I glorify the Lord!
In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.
He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.
Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored
because the mighty one has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
He shows mercy to everyone,
from one generation to the next,
who honors him as God.
He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.
He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty-handed.
He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
remembering his mercy,
just as he promised to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.
Luke 1:46-55
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen.
Refrain:
How excellent is your name in all the world; you have set your glory above the heavens. Alleluia.
Brief silence
The Apostle’s Creed
Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his 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,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and 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.
Prayers
Thanksgiving and intercession
Thanksgiving may be made for the day.
Intercessions are offered
for peace
for individuals and their needs
Response
In faith we pray
We pray to you, our God.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
God, who as at this time
taught the hearts of your faithful people
by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit:
grant us by the same Spirit
to have a right judgment in all things
and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort;
through the merits of Christ Jesus our Savior,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Being made one by the power of the Spirit,
as our Savior taught us, so we 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.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Amen.
Conclusion
May the Spirit kindle in us the fire of God’s love.
Amen.