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Week 25 of Ordinary Time

Evening Prayer · Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

Monday, September 21, 2026

Prayer Reading Mode: Prayer Space

Hours Depth: Medium

About today

Matthew was sitting at the tax booth when Jesus said, “Follow me.” He rose and followed, and the Church received a Gospel that begins with a genealogy of mercy: sinners and foreigners in the line of the Messiah. His feast is 21 September, a tax collector set among the apostles. Ask today for the grace to leave the table where we count our own, and to write with our lives the good news that Christ came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

Original – Prayer on Fire.

Saint Matthew, Apostle and EvangelistChoose how you want to pray this hour:

Opening

God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me.

Hymn

Servants of the Servant, lead us Where the lowly paths still run. Not for glory, not for power— Only love until day is done. Christ our strength, our joy, our portion, Keep us faithful, keep us free. Make our lives a living offering Poured in quiet charity.

Original, Prayer on Fire

Psalm I

Antiphon

Foundation stones of the Church, pray that we may be faithful.

Psalm 67 (66):2–4

Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)

Psalm

May God have mercy on us and bless us. May he shine his countenance upon us, and may he have mercy on us. So may we know your way upon the earth, your salvation among all nations. Let the peoples confess to you, O God. Let all the peoples confess to you.

Glory Be

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Antiphon

Foundation stones of the Church, pray that we may be faithful.

Psalm II

Antiphon

Sent by the Lord, we go without fear, carrying only your name.

Psalm 72 (71):1–2, 12–13

Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)

Psalm

Give your judgment, O God, to the king, and your justice to the king’s son, to judge your people with justice and your poor with judgment. For he will free the poor from the powerful, and the poor one who has no helper. He will spare the poor and the indigent, and he will bring salvation to the souls of the poor.

Glory Be

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Antiphon

Sent by the Lord, we go without fear, carrying only your name.

Silence

Hold the psalm a little longer.

Reading of the feast

Ephesians 4:1–6

Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)

And so, as a prisoner in the Lord, I beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the vocation to which you have been called: with all humility and meekness, with patience, supporting one another in charity. Be anxious to preserve the unity of the Spirit within the bonds of peace. One body and one Spirit: to this you have been called by the one hope of your calling: one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all.

Responsory

The Lord is wonderful in his saints. Blessed be God in his gifts. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Magnificat

Antiphon

My soul is quiet enough now to magnify the Lord.

Luke 1:46–55

Catholic Public Domain Version (public domain)

Canticle

And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord. And my spirit leaps for joy in God my Savior. For he has looked with favor on the humility of his handmaid. For behold, from this time, all generations shall call me blessed. For he who is great has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is from generation to generations for those who fear him. He has accomplished powerful deeds with his arm. He has scattered the arrogant in the intentions of their heart. He has deposed the powerful from their seat, and he has exalted the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has taken up his servant Israel, mindful of his mercy, just as he spoke to our fathers: to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

Glory Be

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Antiphon

My soul is quiet enough now to magnify the Lord.

Intercessions

For the Church, that we may witness with courage and gentleness on this holy day.

R. Lord, have mercy.

For those who seek the Lord with tears, that they may hear their name spoken in love.

R. Lord, have mercy.

For the poor and the forgotten, that Christ’s friends may serve them with joy.

R. Lord, have mercy.

For our household and those we carry in prayer.

R. Lord, have mercy.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Closing prayer

God our Father, you give the Church this day of Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. Let the grace of this Hour stay with us in work and rest. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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An original Prayer on Fire offering for the hours of the day