Choral Evensong will be livestreamed and available on our YouTube channel from 6.25pm Sunday 1st March at: https://www.youtube.com/live/iuUknFiWc30
PRELUDE:
Introit: Like as the Hart (Howells)
Like as the hart desireth the waterbrooks :
so longeth my soul after thee, O God.
My soul is athirst for God, yea, even for the living God :
when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?
My tears have been my meat day and night :
while they daily say unto me, Where is now thy God?
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 60 O kind Creator, bow thine ear (Jesu Corona) (omit verse 4)
1 O kind Creator, bow thine ear
To mark the cry, to know the tear
Before thy throne of mercy spent
In this thy holy fast of Lent.
2 Our hearts are open, Lord, to thee:
Thou knowest our infirmity;
Pour out on all who seek thy face
Abundance of thy pardoning grace.
3 Our sins are many, this we know;
Spare us, good Lord, thy mercy show;
And for the honour of thy name
Our fainting souls to life reclaim.
5 We pray thee, Holy Trinity,
One God, unchanging Unity,
That we from this our abstinence
May reap the fruits of penitence. Amen.
PSALM: 51:1-13
1 Have mercy upon me O God,
after thy great goodness :
according to the multitude of thy mercies, do away mine offences.
2 Wash me throughly from my wickedness :
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknow-ledge my faults :
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee only have I sinn’d,
and done this evil in thy sight :
that thou mightest be justifi’d in thy saying,
and clear when thou art judg’d.
5 Behold, I was shapen in wickedness :
and in sin hath my mother conceiv’d me.
6 But lo, thou requirest truth in the inward parts :
and shalt make me to understand wisdom secretly.
7 Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean :
thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness :
that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9 Turn thy face from my sins :
and put out all my misdeeds.
10 Make me a clean heart O God :
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence :
and take not thy holy Spirit from me.
12 O give me the comfort of thy help again :
and stablish me with thy free Spirit.
2nd part
13 Then shall I teach thy ways unto the wicked :
and sinners shall be converted unto 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 Genesis 12:1-9
MAGNIFICAT: Dorian Service (Tallis)
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: Matthew 8: 1-13
NUNC DIMITTIS: Dorian Service (Tallis)
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: Lord, let me know mine end (Greene)
Lord, let me know mine end, and the number of my days,
that I may be certified how long I have to live.
Behold, thou hast made my days as it were a span long,
and mine age is even as nothing in respect of thee;
And verily every man living is altogether vanity.
For man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain;
he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them.
And now, Lord, what is my hope? truly my hope is even in thee.
Hear my prayer, 0 Lord, and with thine ears consider my calling;
hold not thy peace at my tears.
O spare me a little, that I may recover my strength,
before I go hence, and be no more seen.
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 251 Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear (Abends) (omit verse 4)
1 Sun of my soul, my Saviour dear,
it is not night if You are near;
O may no earth-born cloud arise
to hide You from Your servant's eyes.
2 When the soft dews of kindly sleep
my wearied eyelids gently steep,
be my last thought, how sweet to rest
for ever on my Saviour's breast!
3 Abide with me from morn till eve,
for without thee I cannot live;
abide with me when night is nigh,
for without thee I dare not die.
5 Watch by the sick; enrich the poor
with blessings from thy boundless store;
be every mourner's sleep tonight,
like infant's slumbers, pure and light.
6 Come near and bless us when we wake,
ere through the world our way we take;
till in the ocean of thy love
we lose ourselves in heaven above.
BLESSING
Voluntary: Master Tallis's Testament (Howells)