Opening Sentence

Let my prayer be set forth in your sight as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Psalm 141:2

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 9 Confitebor tibi

1

I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with my whole heart; *
I will tell of all your marvelous works.

2

I will be glad and rejoice in you; *
I will sing to your Name, O Most High.

3

When my enemies are driven back, *
they will stumble and perish at your presence.

4

For you have maintained my right and my cause; *
you sit upon your throne judging right.

5

You have rebuked the ungodly and destroyed the wicked; *
you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.

6

As for the enemy, they are finished, in perpetual ruin, *
their cities plowed under, the memory of them perished;

7

But the LORD is enthroned for ever; *
he has set up this throne for judgment.

8

It is he who rules the world with righteousness; *
he judges the peoples with equity.

9

The LORD will be a refuge for the oppressed, *
a refuge in time of trouble.

10

Those who know your Name will put their trust in you, *
for you never forsake those who seek you, O LORD.

11

Sing praise to the LORD who dwells in Zion; *
proclaim to the peoples the things he has done.

12

The Avenger of blood will remember them; *
he will not forget the cry of the afflicted.

13

Have pity on me, O LORD; *
see the misery I suffer from those who hate me,
O you who lift me up from the gate of death;

14

So that I may tell of all your praises
and rejoice in your salvation *
in the gates of the city of Zion.

15

The ungodly have fallen into the pit they dug, *
and in the snare they set is their own foot caught.

16

The LORD is known by his acts of justice; *
the wicked are trapped in the works of their own hands.

17

The wicked shall be given over to the grave, *
and also all the people that forget God.

18

For the needy shall not always be forgotten, *
and the hope of the poor shall not perish for ever.

19

Rise up, O LORD, let not the ungodly have the upper hand; *
let them be judged before you.

20

Put fear upon them, O LORD; *
let the ungodly know they are but mortal.

Psalm 15 Domine, quis habitabit?

1

LORD, who may dwell in your tabernacle? *
who may abide upon your holy hill?

2

Whoever leads a blameless life and does what is right, *
who speaks the truth from his heart.

3

There is no guile upon his tongue;
he does no evil to his friend; *
he does not heap contempt upon his neighbor.

4

In his sight the wicked is rejected, *
but he honors those who fear the LORD.

5

He has sworn to do no wrong *
and does not take back his word.

6

He does not give his money in hope of gain, *
nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

7

Whoever does these things *
shall never be overthrown.

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.

Gospel

Matthew 11:16-24 (NRSV)

16 "But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,
17 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.'
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon'; 19 the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds." 20 Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done, because they did not repent. ²¹ "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum,
will you be exalted to heaven?
No, you will be brought down to Hades.
For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you that on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you."

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Canticle 15 The Song of Mary
Magnificat Luke 1:46-55

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 his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.

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.

In the 1600's, Jesuits of French origin did considerable missionary work among the Indians of North America, chiefly in what is now Quebec and in upper New York State. Some of them were killed. They are remembered collectively on 19 October.

Antony Daniel was born at Dieppe, France, in 1601. He joined the Jesuits, and was sent to Canada. From 1637 to 1648 he taught in the Georgian Bay area. He was stationed in the Huron village of Teanaustaye, near Hillsdale, Ontario, when it was attacked by the Iroquois, and he chose to stay with his flock. He was shot, and his body burned with his church. He died 4 July 1648.

Charles Garnier was born in Paris in 1606. He joined the Jesuits and was sent to Canada in 1636. In 1649 the Huron village of Saint Jean, Quebec, where he was stationed, was attacked by the Iroquois. He was shot down while assisting his flock to escape. He struggled to his feet and attempted to reach a dying Huron to give him absolution, but an Iroquois struck him dead with a tomohawk. He died 7 December 1649.

Noel Chabanel was born in France in 1613. He joined the Jesuits and was sent to Quebec in 1643 to work with Charles Garnier. He found the Huron language difficult to learn, and the Huron way of life distasteful, and he suffered from depression. As a precaution against temptation, he took a vow not to leave his post. At the time when Garnier was killed, he had just gone to another village to preach, and was never seen again. Later, a Huron who had been baptized but returned to paganism revealed that he had ambushed Chabanel and killed him out of hostility for the Christian religion. He died somewhere around 7 December 1649.

Isaac Jogues was born in Orleans in 1607, became a Jesuit in 1624 and was sent to Canada in 1636, where he worked among the Mowhawks, travelling as far inland as Lake Superior. Assisting him were two laymen, Rene Goupil and John Lalande (the latter like Daniel a native of Dieppe). Goupil, who had studied surgery, had been unable to enrol as a Jesuit because of bad health, so he came to Canada at his own expense and there volunteered to help with the Indian mission. In 1642 Jogues and Goupil were captured by the Iroquois and kept prisoners at Ossernenon, now Auriesville, New York, during which time they were tortured and Jogues lost the use of his hands. On 29 September 1642 Goupil was tomahawked for making the sign of the cross over the head of an Indian child. After a year of captivity, Jogues escaped, with the help of some Dutchmen from Fort Orange, but three years later returned to Ossernenon as a missionary. When there was an outbreak of sickness, and a failure of the crops, Jogues was accused of witchcraft. He and Lalande were seized, beaten and slashed with knives. That evening (18 October 1646), Jogues was tomahawked, and Lalande was tomahawked the next day.

John de Brebeuf was born in Normandy in 1593. He was one of the first three Jesuits assigned to the Canadian mission. He preached among the Hurons, beginning in 1625, at first with no success. In 1633, he made another attempt, which lasted for nearly sixteen years, and was slightly more successful. In 1648 he was joined by Gabriel Lalemant. Lalemant had been born in Paris in 1610, and joined the Jesuits in 1630, but because of bad health was not sent to Canada until 1646. After two years in Quebec, he joined de Brebeuf on the Huron Mission in 1648, the following spring, the two priests were captured in an Iroquois raid and taken to what is now the village of Saint-Ignace in Ontario, where they were horribly tortured. De Brebeuf survived only a few hours, and died 16 March 1649. His frailer companion, Lalemont, lived through the night and died the following day. A contemporary wrote, "There was no part of his body that was not burnt, even his eyes, for the villains had forced burning embers into the sockets."

Two remarks by way of historical background.

1. Many of the Indian tribes were hereditary enemies of one another. An early French expedition, headed by Samuel de Champlain, founder of Quebec City, "Father of New France," was with a group of Huron Indians when they were attacked by an Iroquois war party. Champlain and his men, using their muskets, drove off the Iroquois, killing many, and from that time on the Iroquois were anti-French (and therefore, when the occasion arose, pro-British), while most other tribes of the area became pro-French and anti-British. This was relevant in subsequent struggles between the British and the French, and later between the British crown and the American colonists.
2. Many of the Indian tribes placed extreme value on courage and hardihood, as demonstrated by the ability to endure pain without flinching; and so the practice of torturing prisoners taken from other tribes was a kind of competition, in which a prisoner upheld his tribal honor by showing no sign of pain, deriding the tortures that he was undergoing, scorning his captors for a lack of imagination, and assuring them that his discomforts were mere fleabites compared with the tortures which his tribe had invented, and stood ready to inflict on his captors once the tables were turned.

Anglicans who have visited St. Gregory's Abbey in Three Rivers, Michigan, will remember that the high altar there contains relics of two of the martyrs mentioned above.

written by James Kiefer

 Prayer

O Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyrs Antony Daniel, Charles Garnier, Gabriel Lalemant, Isaac Jogues, John de Brebeuf, John Lalande, Noel Chabanel, and Rene Goupil triumphed over suffering and were faithful even to death: Grant us, who now remember them in thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He 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,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He 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.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy 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.

Suffrages A

Show us your mercy, O Lord;

And grant us your salvation.

Clothe your ministers with righteousness;

Let your people sing with joy.

Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;

For only in you can we live in safety.

Lord, keep this nation under your care;

And guide us in the way of justice and truth.

Let your way be known upon earth;

Your saving health among all nations.

Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;

Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.

Create in us clean hearts, O God;

And sustain us with your Holy Spirit.

Collect of the Day: Pentecost, proper 24

Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

A Collect for Peace

Most holy God, the source of all good desires, all right judgments, and all just works: Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, so that our minds may be fixed on the doing of your will, and that we, being delivered from the fear of all enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through the mercies of Christ Jesus our Savior. Amen.

For Mission

O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

World Cycle of Prayer

Burma Daily

Ecumenical Cycle of Prayer

We pray for our sisters and brothers, members of the Cook Islands Christian Church.

The Cook Islands Christian Church

For the Right Use of God's Gifts

For Knowledge of God's Creation

For the Care of Children

A Prayer of Self-Dedication

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. Alleluia. Alleluia.

Thanks be to God. Alleluia. Alleluia.