Rite One

The Officiant begins the service with one or more of the following sentences of Scripture, or with the versicle O God, make speed to save us.

Let my prayer be set forth in thy sight as the incense, and let the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacrifice. Ps. 141:2

Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Phil. 1:2

O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; let the whole earth stand in awe of him. Ps. 96:9

Thine is the day, O God, thine also the night; thou hast established the moon and the sun. Thou hast fixed all the boundaries of the earth; thou hast made summer and winter. Ps. 74:15, 16

I will bless the Lord who giveth me counsel; my heart teacheth me, night after night. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not fall. Ps. 16:7, 8

Seek him that made the Pleiades and Orion, that turneth deep darkness into the morning, and darkeneth the day into night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his Name. Amos 5:8

If I say, "Surely the darkness will cover me, and the light around me turn to night," darkness is not dark to thee, O Lord; the night is as bright as the day; darkness and light to thee are both alike. Ps. 139:10, 11

Jesus said, "I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12