Ember Saturday Vigil in Advent

Ember Saturday Vigil in Advent

This service on the day before the third Sunday of Advent, is a traditional time for Ordinations and Admission of Lay Ministers.  

The Introit Psalm 90. Domine, refugium.

    LORD, thou hast been our refuge, * from one generation to another.
    2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made, * thou art God from everlasting, and world without end.
    3 Thou turnest man to destruction; * again thou sayest, Come again, ye children of men.

    4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, * and as a watch in the night.
    5 As soon as thou scatterest them they are even as a sleep; * and fade away suddenly like the grass.
    6 In the morning it is green, and groweth up; * but in the evening it is cut down, dried up, and withered.
    7 For we consume away in thy displeasure, * and are afraid at thy wrathful indignation.
    8 Thou hast set our misdeeds before thee; * and our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
    9 For when thou art angry all our days are gone: * we bring our years to an end, as it were a tale that is told.
    10 The days of our age are threescore years and ten; and though men be so strong that they come to fourscore years, * yet is their strength then but labour and sorrow; so soon passeth it away, and we are gone.

    11 But who regardeth the power of thy wrath? * or feareth aright thy indignation?
    12 So teach us to number our days, * that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
    13 Turn thee again, O LORD, at the last, * and be gracious unto thy servants.
    14 O satisfy us with thy mercy, and that soon: * so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.
    15 Comfort us again now after the time that thou hast plagued us; * and for the years wherein we have suffered adversity.
    16 Show thy servants thy work, * and their children thy glory.
    17 And the glorious majesty of the LORD our God be upon us: * prosper thou the work of our hands upon us; O prosper thou our handy-work.

The service shall begin as usual until right before the reading of the epistle. Then shall be used the following.

The First Reading  Isa 19:20-22

It shall be for a sign, and for a testimony to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. For they shall cry to the Lord because of the oppressor, and he shall send them a Saviour and a defender to deliver them. And the Lord shall be known by Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall worship him with sacrifices and offerings: and they shall make vows to the Lord, and perform them. And the Lord shall strike Egypt with a scourge, and shall heal it, and they shall return to the Lord, and he shall be pacified towards them, and heal them.

The First Gradual Psalm 14. Dixit insipiens.

    THE fool hath said in his heart, * There is no God.
    2 They are corrupt, and become abominable in their doings; * there is none that doeth good, no not one.
    3 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, * to see if there were any that would understand, and seek after God.
    4 But they are all gone out of the way, they are altogether become abominable; * there is none that doeth good, no not one.
    5 Have they no knowledge, that they are all such workers of mischief, * eating up my people as it were bread, and call not upon the LORD?
    6 There were they brought in great fear, even where no fear was; * for God is in the generation of the righteous.
    7 As for you, ye have made a mock at the counsel of the poor; * because he putteth his trust in the LORD.
    8 Who shall give salvation unto Israel out of Sion? * When the LORD turneth the captivity of his people, then shall Jacob rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

The First Collect

Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we who are bowed down under the yoke of the ancient bondage of sin, may by the expected new Birth of Thy only-begotten Son be set free. Who livest and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

Then shall be held the Admission of Ushers and other such lay ministers.

The Second Reading  Isa 35:1-7

The land that was desolate and impassable shall be glad, and the wilderness shall rejoice, and shall flourish like the lily. It shall bud forth and blossom, and shall rejoice with joy and praise: the glory of Libanus is given to it: the beauty of Carmel, and Saron, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the beauty of our God. Strengthen ye the feeble hands, and confirm the weak knees. Say to the fainthearted: Take courage, and fear not: behold your God will bring the revenge of recompense: God himself will come and will save you. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be free: for waters are broken out in the desert, and streams in the wilderness. And that which was dry land, shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water. In the dens where dragons dwell before, shall rise up the verdure of the reed and the bulrush.

The Second Gradual  Psalm 19. Caeli enarrant.

    THE heavens declare the glory of God; * and the firmament showeth his handy-work.
    2 One day telleth another; * and one night certifieth another.
    3 There is neither speech nor language; * but their voices are heard among them.
    4 Their sound is gone out into all lands; * and their words into the ends of the world.
    5 In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun; * which cometh forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant to run his course.
    6 It goeth forth from the uttermost part of the heaven, and runneth about unto the end of it again; * and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
    7 The law of the LORD is an undefiled law, converting the soul; * the testimony of the LORD is sure, and giveth wisdom unto the simple.
    8 The statutes of the LORD are right, and rejoice the heart; * the commandment of the LORD is pure, and giveth light unto the eyes.
    9 The fear of the LORD is clean, and endureth for ever; * the judgments of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
    10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; * sweeter also than honey, and the honeycomb.
    11 Moreover, by them is thy servant taught; * and in keeping of them there is great reward.
    12 Who can tell how oft he offendeth? * O cleanse thou me from my secret faults.
    13 Keep thy servant also from presumptuous sins, lest they get the dominion over me; * so shall I be undefiled, and innocent from the great offence.
    14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be alway acceptable in thy sight, * O LORD, my strength and my redeemer.

The Second Collect

Grant to us, O Lord, Thy unworthy servants, that we who are cast down by the guilt of our own deeds, may be gladdened by the coming of Thy only-begotten Son. Who livest and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

Then shall be held the Admission of Lectors.

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The Third Reading  Isa 40:9-11

 Get thee up upon a high mountain, thou that bringest good tidings to Sion: lift up thy voice with strength, thou that bringest good tidings to Jerusalem: lift it up, fear not. Say to the cities of Juda: Behold your God: Behold the Lord God shall come with strength, and his arm shall rule: Behold his reward is with him and his work is before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather together the lambs with his arm, and shall take them up in his bosom, and he himself shall carry them that are with young.

The Third Gradual Psalm 80:7-10

    7 Turn us again, thou God of hosts; * show the light of thy countenance, and we shall be whole.
    8 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt; * thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
    9 Thou madest room for it; * and when it had taken root, it filled the land.
    10 The hills were covered with the shadow of it, * and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedar-trees.

The Third Collect

Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that the approaching solemnity of Thy Son may both heal us in this present life and reward us eternally. Through the same Jesus Christ or Lord who livest and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, unto the ages of ages. Amen. 

Then shall be held the Admission of Lay Ministers of Healing of mind, body, or spirit

The Fourth Reading  Isa 45:1-8

Thus saith the Lord to my anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of, to subdue nations before his face, and to turn the backs of kings, and to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut. I will go before thee, and will humble the great ones of the earth: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and will burst the bars of iron. And I will give thee hidden treasures, and the concealed riches of secret places: that thou mayest know that I am the Lord who call thee by thy name, the God of Israel. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have made a likeness of thee, and thou hast not known me. I am the Lord, and there is none else: there is no God, besides me: I girded thee, and thou hast not known me: That they may know who are from the rising of the sun, and they who are from the west, that there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is none else: I form the light, and create darkness, I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord that do all these things. Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just: let the earth be opened, and bud forth a saviour: and let justice spring up together: I the Lord have created him. Woe to him that gainsayeth his maker, a sherd of the earthen pots: shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it: What art thou making, and thy work is without hands? Woe to him that saith to his father: Why begettest thou? and to the woman: Why dost thou bring forth? Thus saith the Lord the Holy One of Israel, his maker: Ask me of things to come, concerning my children, and concerning the work of my hands give ye charge to me.

The Fourth Gradual Ps 80:14-19

    14 Turn thee again, thou God of hosts, look down from heaven, * behold, and visit this vine;
    15 And the place of the vineyard that thy right hand hath planted, * and the branch that thou madest so strong for thyself.
    16 It is burnt with fire, and cut down; * and they shall perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
    17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, * and upon the son of man, whom thou madest so strong for thine own self.
    18 And so will not we go back from thee: * O let us live, and we shall call upon thy Name.
    19 Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts; * show the light of thy countenance, and we shall be whole.

The Fourth Collect

O Lord, we beseech Thee favourably to hear the prayers of Thy people: that we who are justly punished for our offences, by the visitation of Thy goodness may be comforted. Who livest and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen. 

Then shall be held the Admission of Acolytes, Altar Guild Members etc.

The Fifth Reading  The Prayer of Azariah 24-28 being Dan 3:47-51

So that the flame streamed forth above the furnace forty and nine cubits. And it passed through, and burned those Chaldeans it found about the furnace. But the angel of the Lord came down into the oven together with Azarias and his fellows, and smote the flame of the fire out of the oven; And made the midst of the furnace as it had been a moist whistling wind, so that the fire touched them not at all, neither hurt nor troubled them. Then the three, as out of one mouth, praised, glorified, and blessed, God in the furnace, saying,

The Fifth Gradual The Prayer of Azariah 29-34 being Dan 3:51-56

Blessed art thou, O Lord God of our fathers: and to be praised and exalted above all for ever.

And blessed is thy glorious and holy name: and to be praised and exalted above all for ever. Blessed art thou in the temple of thine holy glory: and to be praised and glorified above all for ever.

Blessed art thou that beholdest the depths, and sittest upon the cherubims: and to be praised and exalted above all for ever.

Blessed art thou on the glorious throne of thy kingdom: and to be praised and glorified above all for ever.

Blessed art thou in the firmament of heaven: and above ail to be praised and glorified for ever.

Here shall be prayed the collect of the day and the customary memorials.

Then shall be held the Admission of Deaconesses and Sub Deacons, and the profession of religious.

The Epistle 2 Thess 2:1-8

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Here if a bishop be present may be held the ordination of deacons.

The Gradual Ps 80:1-3

    HEAR, O thou Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; * show thyself also, thou that sittest upon the Cherubim.
    2 Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, * stir up thy strength, and come and help us.
    3 Turn us again, O God; * show the light of thy countenance, and we shall be whole.

The Gospel Luke 3:1-6

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

Here if a bishop be present may be held the ordination of Priests

Then shall be given the sermon after which the Holy Communion resumes its normal order.