The Evening Sacrifice

LET me be mindful of Thy Name,

O Lord, in the night,

And keep Thy law.

Let our evening prayer ascend to Thee,

and Thy Mercy descend to us;

Thou That givest songs in the night;

That makest the outgoings of the morning

and evening to praise Thee;

That givest to Thy beloved the sleep of health.

AN HOROLOGY

O Thou, That hast put in Thine Own Power

the Times and the Seasons,

give us grace that we may pray to Thee

in a convenient and opportune season;

and deliver us.

Thou, That for us men and for our salvation,

wast born in the depth of night,

grant us to be renewed daily by the Holy Ghost,

until Christ Himself be formed in us,

to a perfect man;

and deliver us.

Thou, That very early in the morning,

at the rising of the sun,

didst rise again from the dead,

raise us also daily to newness of life,

suggesting to us, for Thou knowest them,

methods of penitence;

and deliver us.

Thou, That at the third hour didst send down

Thy Holy Ghost

on the Apostles,

take not that same Holy Spirit from us,

but renew Him every day in our hearts;

and deliver us.

Thou, That at the sixth hour of the sixth day

didst nail together with Thyself upon the Cross

the sins of the world,

blot out the handwriting of our sins

that is against us,

and, taking it away, deliver us.

Thou, That at the sixth hour didst let down

a great sheet from Heaven to earth,

the symbol of Thy Church,

receive into it us sinners of the Gentiles,

and with it receive us into Heaven;

and deliver us.

Thou, That at the ninth hour for us sinners

and for our sins,

didst taste of death,

mortify our members which are upon earth,

and whatsoever is contrary to Thy Will;

and deliver us.

Thou, That didst will the ninth hour to be

the hour of prayer,

hear us while we pray at the hour of prayer,

and grant unto us that which we pray for and desire;

and deliver us.

Thou, That at eventide wast pleased to be taken down

from the Cross,

and laid in the grave,

take away from us, and bury in Thy Sepulchre,

our sins,

covering whatever evil we have committed

with good works;

and deliver us.

Thou, That late in the night, by breathing

on Thine Apostles,

didst bestow on them the power

of the remission and retention of sins,

give unto us to experience that power

for their remission, O Lord, not for their retention;

and deliver us.

Thou, That at midnight didst raise David Thy Prophet,

and Paul Thine Apostle, that they should praise Thee,

give us also songs in the night,

and to be mindful of Thee upon our beds;

and deliver us.

Thou, That with Thine own mouth hast declared,

at midnight the Bridegroom shall come,

grant that the cry may ever sound in our ears,

Behold! the Bridegroom cometh

that we may never be unprepared to go forth

and meet Him;

and deliver us.

Thou, That by the crowing of the cock didst

admonish Thine Apostle,

and didst cause him to return to repentance,

grant that we, at the same warning, may follow his

example,

may go forth and weep bitterly,

for the things in which we have sinned against Thee;

and deliver us.

Thou That at the seventh hour didst command the

fever to leave the nobleman’s son,

if there be any fever in our hearts,

if any sickness, remove it from us also,

and deliver us.

Thou, That at the tenth hour didst grant unto

Thine Apostle

to discover Thy Son,

and to cry out with great gladness, We have found

the Messiah,

grant unto us also, in like manner, to find the same

Messiah,

and having found Him, to rejoice in like manner;

and deliver us.

Thou, That didst, even at the eleventh hour of the day,

of Thy goodness send into Thy vineyard

those that had stood all the day idle,

promising them a reward,

give us the like grace,

and though it be late, even as it were

about the eleventh hour,

favourably receive us who return unto Thee;

and deliver us.

Thou, That at the sacred hour of the Supper,

wert pleased to institute

the Mysteries of Thy Body and Blood,

render us mindful and partakers of the same,

yet never to condemnation, but to the remission of sin,

and to the acquiring the promises

of the New Testament;

and deliver us.

Thou, That hast foretold Thy coming to Judgment

in a day when we think not, and in an hour

when we are not aware,

grant that every day and every hour

we may be prepared, and waiting Thy Advent;

and deliver us.

Thou, That sendest forth the light, and

createst the morning,

and makest Thy sun to rise upon the evil

and the good,

illuminate the blindness of our minds by the

knowledge of truth,

lift Thou up the light of Thy Countenance upon us,

that in Thy light we may see light,

and at length in the light of Grace the light of Glory.

Thou, That givest food to all flesh.

That feedest the young ravens when they call

upon Thee,

And hast led us from our youth up until now,

fill our hearts with food and gladness,

and stablish our souls by Thy grace.

Thou, That hast made the evening the end

of the day,

so that Thou mightest bring the evening of life

to our minds,

grant us always to reflect

that our life passeth away like a day:

to remember the days of darkness,

that they are many:

that the night cometh

wherein no man can work;

by good works to prevent the darkness,

lest we be cast out into outer darkness;

and continually to cry unto Thee,

Tarry with us, O Lord,

for it draweth towards evening, and the day of our life

is now far spent.

The work of the Creator is Justice;

of the Redeemer, Pity;

of the Holy Ghost, holy inspiration:

[Who is] the other Comforter;

the Unction;

the Seal;

the Earnest.

Andrewes, L. (1865). The Private Devotions of Dr. Lancelot Andrewes, Part II (J. M. Neale, Trans.; A New Edition, pp. 27–34). John Henry and James Parker. (Public Domain)