Evening
O Gladsome Light: Evening Hymns
“Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.”Psalm 140:2 (141:2)
Reflection
As the sun goes down, the Church sings. At every Vespers she prays Psalm 140, with its line about prayer rising like incense, and then sings “O Gladsome Light,” one of the oldest Christian hymns still in use, greeting Christ as the true light at the hour when the lamps are lit. Below are that hymn; three short verses from Great Compline that hand the coming night to God, beginning “The day is past”; and the Song of Simeon, which comes near the end of Vespers: the old man holding the infant Christ and saying that now he can depart in peace. You can pray all of this in a few minutes at dusk, perhaps with a candle or lamp lit before an icon. Text from Isabel Hapgood's Service Book (1906), lightly modernized; “the light of even” is given as “the light of evening.”
A prayer
O gladsome radiance of the holy glory of the Father immortal, heavenly, holy, blessed, Jesus Christ! In that we now are come unto the setting of the sun, and behold the light of evening, we hymn you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God. For meet is it that at all times you should be magnified by voices propitious, O Son of God, who bestow life. For which cause all the world glorifies you. The day is past; I thank you, O Lord. Grant me, I entreat you, that this evening and this night I fall into no sin; and save me, O my Saviour. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. The day is past; I sing praises unto you, O Master. Grant, I entreat you, that this evening and this night I may be without guile; and save me, O Saviour. Now, and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. The day is past; I hymn you, O Holy One. Grant, I entreat you, that this evening and this night I may be assailed by no temptation; and save me, O Saviour. Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all people: to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of your people Israel.
Carry this with you
What light did God give you today, in a person, a word, or a small mercy? Thank him for it.