Opening Sentence

Seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning, and darkens the day into night; who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the surface of the earth: The Lord is his name. Amos 5:8

Confession

Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.

Invitatory

O God, make speed to save us.

O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

O Gracious Light Phos hilaron

O gracious light,
pure brightness of the everliving 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 your 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 136 Confitemini

1

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, *
for his mercy endures for ever.

2

Give thanks to the God of gods, *
for his mercy endures for ever.

3

Give thanks to the Lord of lords, *
for his mercy endures for ever.

4

Who only does great wonders, *
for his mercy endures for ever;

5

Who by wisdom made the heavens, *
for his mercy endures for ever;

6

Who spread out the earth upon the waters, *
for his mercy endures for ever;

7

Who created great lights, *
for his mercy endures for ever;

8

The sun to rule the day, *
for his mercy endures for ever;

9

The moon and the stars to govern the night, *
for his mercy endures for ever.

10

Who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, *
for his mercy endures for ever;

11

And brought out Israel from among them, *
for his mercy endures for ever;

12

With a mighty hand and a stretched-out arm, *
for his mercy endures for ever;

13

Who divided the Red Sea in two, *
for his mercy endures for ever;

14

And made Israel to pass through the midst of it, *
for his mercy endures for ever;

15

But swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea, *
for his mercy endures for ever;

16

Who led his people through the wilderness, *
for his mercy endures for ever.

17

Who struck down great kings, *
for his mercy endures for ever;

18

And slew mighty kings, *
for his mercy endures for ever;

19

Sihon, king of the Amorites, *
for his mercy endures for ever;

20

And Og, the king of Bashan, *
for his mercy endures for ever;

21

And gave away their lands for an inheritance, *
for his mercy endures for ever;

22

An inheritance for Israel his servant, *
for his mercy endures for ever.

23

Who remembered us in our low estate, *
for his mercy endures for ever;

24

And delivered us from our enemies, *
for his mercy endures for ever;

25

Who gives food to all creatures, *
for his mercy endures for ever.

26

Give thanks to the God of heaven, *
for his mercy endures for ever.

Gloria Patri

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Mark 7:1-23

¹ Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him,

² they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them.

³ (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders;

⁴ and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles. )

⁵ So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?"

⁶ He said to them, "Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me;

⁷ in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.'

⁸ You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition."

⁹ Then he said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition!

¹⁰ For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.'

¹¹ But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, 'Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban' (that is, an offering to God )

¹² then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother,

¹³ thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this."

¹⁴ Then he called the crowd again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand:

¹⁵ there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile."

¹⁷ When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable.

¹⁸ He said to them, "Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile,

¹⁹ since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

²⁰ And he said, "It is what comes out of a person that defiles.

²¹ For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder,

²² adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly.

²³All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

Canticle 17 The Song of Simeon
Nunc Dimittis Luke 2:29-32

Eudokia the Samaritan came from Helioupolis, which lies in the district of Libanesia in Phoenicia, and lived during the reign of king Trajan in 160.

She was an unbeliever and a pagan. At the beginning she led a life of promiscuity and vice and, because she attracted many lovers with her beauty, she laid aside a lot of money. Then she believed in Christ through a monk, Germanus by name, whom she had heard reading edifying homilies about piety and repentance. Having believed in the divine revelations, which she had been made worthy to see, she was baptised by bishop Theodotos. Indeed, having been guided by a divine angel, she fell into a trance and she thought that she rose to heaven and that she saw the holy angels, who were rejoicing for her return. But she also saw a black and most ugly one who was gnashing his teeth and crying that he would be wronged if anybody took her from his hands. So, having come to her senses, she distributed to the poor all her sinfully gathered wealth and went to a monastery, where she became a nun. She had been accused by her former lovers for being a Christian but, because she performed a miracle and raised the king's son, she attracted the king to Christ's faith.

The Korean American Presbyterian Church

For Sound Government

O Lord our Governor, bless the leaders of our land, that we may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth.

Lord, keep this nation under your care.

To all who have executive authority and to all who have administrative authority, grant wisdom and grace in the exercise of their duties.

Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

To those who make our laws give courage, wisdom, and foresight to provide for the needs of all our people, and to fulfill our obligations in the community of nations.

Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

To the Judges and officers of our Courts give understanding and integrity, that human rights may be safeguarded and justice served.

Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

For yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Amen.

For Schools and Colleges

O Eternal God, bless all schools, colleges, and universities, that they may be lively centers for sound learning, new discovery, and the pursuit of wisdom; and grant that those who teach and those who learn may find you to be the source of all truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For the Harvest of Lands and Waters

O gracious Father, who open your hand and fills all living things: Bless the lands and waters, and multiply the harvests of the world; let your Spirit go forth, that it may renew the face of the earth; show your loving-kindness, that our land may give her increase; and save us from selfish use of what thou give , that men and women everywhere may give you thanks; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer Attributed to St. Francis

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

General Thanksgiving

A Prayer of St. Chrysostom

Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen.

Benediction

Let us bless the Lord.

Thanks be to God.