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Chapter 16HolyLiving.1.16

Evening Prayer.

A Prayer for Pardon and Renewal

The petitioner approaches God to confess daily sins and seek the grace necessary to turn from vanity toward a holy life.

O eternal God, great Father of people and angels, who have set the heavens and the earth in a wonderful order, making day and night follow one another: I come humbly before your Divine Majesty, asking you for mercy and protection this night and always. O Lord, pardon all my sins—my frivolous and rash words, the vanity and irreverence of my thoughts, my unjust and unloving actions, and whatever I have done against you this day, or at any time before.1 Look, O God: my soul is troubled at the memory of my sins, at the frailty and sinfulness of my flesh—exposed to every temptation, and of itself unable to resist any. Lord God of mercy, I earnestly ask you to give me a great measure of your grace—enough, and strong enough, to put to death all my sins, vanities, and disorders—so that as I once served my own appetites and unworthy desires, I may now give myself wholly to your service and to the practice of a holy life.23

Walking in the Presence of God

A petition for a constant awareness of God's mercy and a life oriented toward the coming of Christ.

Blessed Lord, teach me to remember my sins often and with sorrow; and be pleased to remember them no more. Let me never forget your mercies, and still remember to do me good.✦✦ Teach me to walk always as in your presence: ennoble my soul with deep measures of love for you, and mark my spirit with deep fear, religious reverence, and veneration of your holy name and laws, so that the great work of my whole life may be to serve you, to advance your glory, and to root out all the cursed habits of sin; so that in holiness of life, in humility, in charity, in chastity, and in all the ornaments of grace, I may wait with patience for the coming of our Lord Jesus.✦✦456 Amen.

Preparation for the Final Hour

A prayer for wisdom, angelic protection, and a peaceful departure from this life in the unity of the Church.

Teach me, O Lord, to number my days, that I may apply my heart to wisdom; always to remember my last end, that I may not dare to sin against you.✦ Let your holy angels always be present with me, to keep me in all my ways from the malice and violence of the spirits of darkness, from evil company, and from the occasions and opportunities of evil, from perishing under common judgments, from all the ways of sinful shame, from the hands of all my enemies, from a sinful life, and from despair in the day of my death.✦7 Then, O brightest Jesus, shine gloriously upon me; let your mercies and the light of your face sustain me in all my agonies, weaknesses, and temptations. Give me the opportunity of a wise and spiritual guide, and of receiving the Holy Sacrament; and let your loving Spirit so guide me in the ways of peace and safety that, with the testimony of a good conscience and the sense of your mercies and refreshment, I may leave this life in the unity of the Church, in the love of God, and with a sure hope of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord and most blessed Savior.✦8 Amen.

The Lord's Prayer

The concluding recitation of the prayer taught by Christ.

Our Father...✦

Read the original Latin

O eternal God, great Father of men and angels, who hast established the heavens and the earth in a wonderful order, making day and night to succeed each other; I make my humble address to thy Divine Majesty, begging of thee mercy and protection this night and ever. O Lord, pardon all my sins, my light and rash words, the vanity and impiety of my thoughts, my unjust and uncharitable actions, and whatsoever I have transgressed against thee this day, or at any time before. Behold, O God, my soul is troubled in the remembrance of my sins, in the frailty and sinfulness of my flesh, exposed to every temptation, and of itself not able to resist any. Lord God of mercy, I earnestly beg of thee to give me a great portion of thy grace, such as may be sufficient and effectual for the mortification of all my sins and vanities and disorders, that as I have formerly served my list and unworthy desires, so now I may give myself up wholly to thy service and the studies of a holy life.

Blessed Lord, teach me frequently and sadly to remember my sins; and be thou pleased to remember them no more: let me never forget thy mercies, and do thou still remember to do me good. Teach me to walk always as in thy presence: ennoble my soul with great degrees of love to thee, and consign my spirit with great fear, religion, and veneration of thy holy name and laws; that it may become the great employment of my whole life to serve thee, to advance thy glory, to root out all the accursed habits of sin; that in holiness of life, in humility, in charity, in chastity, and all the ornaments of grace, I may be patience wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus. Amen.

Teach me, O Lord, to number my days, that I may apply my heart unto wisdom; ever to remember my last end, that I may not dare to sin against thee. Let thy holy angels be ever present with me, to keep me in all my ways from the malice and violence of the spirits of darkness, from evil company, and the occasions and opportunities of evil, from perishing in popular judgments, from all the ways of sinful shame, from the hands of all mine enemies, from a sinful life, and from despair in the day of my death. Then, O brightest Jesus, shine gloriously upon me, let thy mercies and the light of thy countenance sustain me in all my agonies, weaknesses, and temptations. Give me opportunity of a prudent and spiritual guide, and of receiving the holy sacrament; and let thy loving spirit so guide me in the ways of peace and safety, that, with the testimony of a good conscience, and the sense of thy mercies and refreshment, I may depart this life in the unity of the church, in the love of God, and a certain hope of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord, and most blessed Saviour. Amen.

Our Father, etc.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Jer.31.34;Heb.8.12;Isa.43.25 — No longer will they teach one another, each saying to his neighbor and each to his brother, 'Know the LORD,' for all of them shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. Heb.8.12 — for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins I will remember no more. Isa.43.25 — I, I am the one who blots out your transgressions for my sake, and your sins I will not remember.
  2. ↩Ps.103.2;Ps.25.6-Ps.25.7 — Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Ps.25.6 — Remember your compassions, LORD, and your covenant-loves, for they are from eternity. Ps.25.7 — Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O LORD.
  3. ↩Gen.17.1;Ps.16.8 — When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.' Ps.16.8 — I have set the LORD before me always; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
  4. ↩1Thess.1.10;1Cor.1.7;Titus.2.13 — and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead: Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. 1Cor.1.7 — so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ Titus.2.13 — while we wait for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
  5. ↩Ps.90.12 — Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
  6. ↩Ps.91.11 — For he will command his angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.
  7. ↩Luke.1.79 — to shine on those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
  8. ↩Matt.6.9-Matt.6.13;Luke.11.2-Luke.11.4 — Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Matt.6.10 — Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matt.6.11 — Give us today our daily bread. Matt.6.12 — And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Matt.6.13 — And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Luke.11.2 — He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come." Luke.11.3 — Give us each day our daily bread. Luke.11.4 — and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not bring us into temptation.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Source 'light ... words' rendered as 'frivolous' (careless, empty speech), not as luminous.
  2. 2 ↩Source 'list' is archaic for inclination/pleasure/self-will; rendered as 'appetites' with 'unworthy desires' to keep the paired sense of self-serving craving.
  3. 3 ↩Source 'mortification' kept in sense as putting sin to death ('put to death'); not emotional self-abasement.
  4. 4 ↩Source ends 'I may be patience wait for the coming'; most plausible intended sense is 'I may with patience wait' / 'I may patiently wait'.
  5. 5 ↩'religion' here is 17th-c. pious reverence toward God's name and laws, not institutional religion; rendered 'religious reverence'.
  6. 6 ↩'consign my spirit with' taken as dedicate/mark the spirit with fear, reverence, and veneration.
  7. 7 ↩Source “popular judgments” rendered as “common judgments” (public calamities or judgments that fall on the many), not popular opinion; sense remains slightly open.
  8. 8 ↩Source “prudent and spiritual guide” rendered “wise and spiritual guide” for natural contemporary English while keeping pastoral-discernment force.

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