Choral Evensong will be livestreamed and available on our YouTube channel from 6.25pm Sunday 1st February at: https://www.youtube.com/live/gT9hWwqZlHE
PRELUDE:
Introit: O Nata Lux (Tallis)
O nata lux de lumine, Jesu redemptor saeculi, Dignare clemens supplicum
Laudes precesque summere. Qui carne quondam contegi Dignatus es pro
perditis, Mos membra confer effici Tui beati corporis.
O Light born of Light, Jesus, redeemer of the world, with loving-kindness deign to
receive suppliant praise and prayer. Thou who once deigned to be clothed in flesh
for the sake of the lost, grant us to be members of thy blessed body.
CONFESSION
Dearly beloved brethren, I pray and beseech you, as many as are here present, to accompany me with a pure heart and humble voice unto the throne of the heavenly grace, saying after me:
Almighty and most merciful Father
We have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep,
We have followed too much the devices
and desires of our own hearts,
We have offended against thy holy laws,
We have left undone those things which
we ought to have done,
And we have done those things
which we ought not to have done,
And there is no health in us:
But thou, O Lord, have mercy
upon us miserable offenders;
Spare thou them, O God, which confess their faults,
Restore thou them that are penitent,
According to thy promises declared unto mankind
in Christ Jesu our Lord:
And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake,
That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous,
and sober life,
To the glory of thy holy Name. Amen.
ABSOLUTION
Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who desireth not the death of a sinner,
but rather that he may turn from his wickedness and live;
and hath given power, and commandment, to his ministers,
to declare and pronounce to his people, being penitent,
the absolution and remission of their sins:
he pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent
and unfeignedly believe his holy gospel.
Wherefore let us beseech him to grant us true repentance,
and his Holy Spirit, that those things may please him which we do at this present;
and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure and holy;
so that at the last we may come to his eternal joy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
PRECCES AND RESPONSES Smith
O Lord, open thou our lips.
And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.
O God, make speed to save us;
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
Praise ye the Lord.
The Lord's Name be praised.
OFFICE HYMN NEH 157 Hail to the Lord who comes (Old 120th) (omit verse 4)
1 Hail to the Lord who comes,
Comes to his temple gate!
Not with his angel host,
Not in his kingly state:
No shouts proclaim him nigh,
No crowds his coming wait;
2 But borne upon the throne
Of Mary's gentle breast,
Watched by her duteous love,
In her fond arms at rest;
Thus to his Father's house
He comes, the heavenly Guest.
3 There Joseph at her side
In reverent wonder stands;
And, filled with holy joy,
Old Simeon in his hands
Takes up the promised child,
The glory of all lands.
5 O Light of all the earth,
Thy children wait for thee:
Come to thy temples here,
That we, from sin set free,
Before thy Father's face
May all presented be.
PSALM: 84 (double, Martin in Ab)
1 O how amiable are thy dwellings,
thou Lord of hosts!
2 My soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the | courts of • the | Lord :
my heart and my flesh re-| joice • in the | liv-ing | God.
3 Yea the sparrow hath found her an house,
and the swallow a nest,
where she may lay her young :
even thy altars O Lord of hosts my King and my God.
4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house :
they will be alway praising thee.
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee :
in whose heart are thy ways.
6 Who going through the vale of misery use it for a well :
and the pools are fill’d with water.
7 They will go from strength to strength :
and unto the God of Gods appeareth ev’ry one of them in Sion.
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer :
hearken O God of Jacob.
9 Behold O God our defender :
and look upon the face of thine Anointed.
10 For one day in thy courts :
is better than a thousand.
11 I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God :
than to dwell in the tents of ungodliness.
12 For the Lord God is a light and defence :
the Lord will give grace and worship,
and no good thing shall he
withhold from them that live a godly life.
13 O Lord God of hosts :
blessed is the man that putteth his trust in thee.
Glory be to the Father :
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost .
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
world without end, Amen.
FIRST READING
MAGNIFICAT: Short Service (Gibbons)
My soul doth magnify the Lord:
and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded : the lowliness of his hand-maiden.
For behold, from henceforth :
all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath magnified me :
and holy is his Name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him :
throughout all generations.
He hath shewed strength with his arm :
he hath scattered the proud
in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat :
and hath exalted the humble and meek.
He hath filled the hungry with good things :
and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel :
as he promised to our forefathers,
Abraham and his seed for ever.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
and to the Holy Ghost:
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
world without end. Amen
SECOND READING:
NUNC DIMITTIS: Short Service (Gibbons)
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace :
according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen: thy salvation;
Which thou hast prepared: before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles:
and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
world without end. Amen.
THE APOSTLES CREED
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
Born of the Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, dead, and buried:
He descended into hell;
The third day he rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
And sitteth on the right hand
of God the Father Almighty;
From thence he shall come to judge
the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
The holy Catholic Church;
The Communion of Saints;
The Forgiveness of sins;
The Resurrection of the body,
And the Life everlasting.
Amen.
VERSICLES AND RESPONSES Smith
The Lord be with you;
And with thy spirit.
Let us pray.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done,
in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.
O Lord, show thy mercy upon us.
And grant us thy salvation.
O Lord, save the King.
And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee.
Endue thy Ministers with righteousness.
And make thy chosen people joyful.
O Lord, save thy people.
And bless thine inheritance.
Give peace in our time, O Lord.
Because there is none other that fighteth for us,
But only thou, O God
O God, make clean our hearts within us.
And take not thy Holy Spirit from us.
COLLECT OF THE DAY
COLLECT FOR PEACE
O God, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed: Give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give; that both our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments, and also that by thee we being defended from the fear of our enemies may pass our time in rest and quietness; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour: Amen.
COLLECT AGAINST ALL PERILS
Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of the night; for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
ANTHEM: O Radiant Dawn (MacMillan)
O Radiant Dawn, Splendour of eternal Light, Sun of Justice: Come, shine
on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. Isaiah had
prophesied, The people who walked in darkness have seen the great light
upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone. Amen.
THE PRAYERS
A PRAYER FOR THE KING'S MAJESTY
O Lord of our fathers, who rulest the nations of the earth; Most heartily we beseech thee with thy favour to bless our Sovereign Lord, King Charles, his ministers and parliaments, and all who are set in authority throughout his dominions and the world; that they may order all things in wisdom and righteousness, to the honour of thy Holy Name and the good of all thy people; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
A PRAYER OF ST JOHN CHYSOSTOM
Almighty God, who hast given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee; and dost promise that when two or three are gathered together in thy Name thou wilt grant their requests: Fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of thy servants, as may be most expedient for them; granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. Amen.
HYMN NEH 52 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (Was Lebet) (omit v. 2)
1 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
bow down before him, his glory proclaim;
with gold of obedience, and incense of lowliness,
kneel and adore him, the Lord is his name!
3 Fear not to enter his courts in the slenderness
of the poor wealth thou wouldst reckon as thine:
truth in its beauty, and love in its tenderness,
these are the offerings to lay on his shrine.
4 These, though we bring them in trembling and fearfulness,
he will accept for the name that is dear;
mornings of joy give for evenings of tearfulness,
trust for our trembling and hope for our fear.
5 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
bow down before him, his glory proclaim;
with gold of obedience, and incense of lowliness,
kneel and adore him, the Lord is his name!
BLESSING
Voluntary: