Choral Eucharist for 15th March, will be livestreamed and available online at Holy Trinity’s YouTube site from 10.55am on Sunday at https: https://www.youtube.com/live/8HiT11dGxf8
Prelude:
WELCOME
Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
OPENING HYMN (NEH 186 Tell out, my soul (Woodlands))
1 Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord!
Unnumbered blessings, give my spirit voice;
tender to me the promise of his word;
in God my Saviour shall my heart rejoice.
2 Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his Name!
Make known his might, the deeds his arm has done;
his mercy sure, from age to age the same;
his holy Name, the Lord, the Mighty One.
3 Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his might!
Powers and dominions lay their glory by.
Proud hearts and stubborn wills are put to flight,
the hungry fed, the humble lifted high.
4 Tell out, my soul, the glories of his word!
Firm is his promise, and his mercy sure.
Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord
to children's children and for evermore!
APPROACH TO GOD
Call to remembrance your compassion and mercy, O Lord;
your loving kindness, which you gave us of old.
To you O Lord I lift up my soul;
my God I trust in you; do not let me be confounded.
The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Be strong and do not fear;
for God is our refuge and strength.
INVITATION TO CONFESSION
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son Jesus Christ
to save us from our sin, to be our advocate in heaven,
and to bring us to eternal life.
So let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.
Silence
Almighty and merciful God,
we have strayed from your ways like lost sheep.
We have followed too much the desires of our own hearts.
We have left undone what we ought to have done;
we have done what we ought not to have done.
We are in need of health and restoration.
But you, O Lord, are merciful to sinners.
Restore us, and grant that we may live in peace and love
to the glory of your holy name. Amen.
KYRIE
THE ABSOLUTION
May God, who is the strength of love,
through the gift of Christ his son,
heal and strengthen us by his spirit,
that, being crucified with Christ in his death,
we may rise with him to new life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
COLLECTS:
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
FIRST READING Ephesians 5:8-14
A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians
For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light— for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
‘Sleeper, awake!
Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.’
ends with:
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
GRADUAL HYMN (NEH 161 For Mary, Mother of the Lord (Kilmarnock) (omit vv. 4 & 5) )
1 For Mary, Mother of our Lord
God’s holy name be praised,
who first the Son of God adored,
as on her child she gazed.
2 The angel Gabriel brought the word
she should Christ’s mother be;
Our Lady, handmaid of the Lord,
made answer willingly.
3 The heav’nly call she thus obeyed,
and so God’s will was done;
the second Eve love’s answer made
which our redemption won.
6 Hail, Mary, you are full of grace,
above all women blest;
and blest your Son, whom your embrace
in birth and death confessed.
GOSPEL Luke 1: 39-56
When the Gospel is announced:
Glory to Christ our Saviour.
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’
And Mary said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’
And Mary remained with her for about three months and then returned to her home.
At the end:
Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious Gospel
Praise to Christ our Lord.
SERMON
ANTHEM AFTER SERMON: Je vous salue, Marie, comblée de grâce (Fr. Jean-Batiste de la Sainte Familie)
Je vous salue, Marie, comblée de grâce. Le Seigneur est avec vous. Vous êtes bénie entre toutes les femmes,
Et Jésus, votre enfant, est béni. Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu, Priez pour nous, pauvres pécheurs, Maintenant et à l’heure de notre mort. Amen Amen Alléluia
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death, Amen.
THE NICENE CREED
We believe in one God,
the Father, the almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one substance with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and was made human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father,
who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
INTERCESSIONS
PEACE
Christ is our peace.
He has reconciled us to God in one body by the cross.
We meet in Christ’s name.
Let us share his peace.
OFFERTORY HYMN (NEH 185 Sing we of the blessèd mother (Abbot's Leigh) )
1 Sing we of the blessèd Mother
Who received the angel's word,
And obedient to his summons
Bore in love the infant Lord;
Sing we of the joys of Mary
At whose breast that child was fed
Who is Son of God eternal
And the everlasting Bread.
2 Sing we, too, of Mary's sorrows,
Of the sword that pierced her through,
When beneath the cross of Jesus
She His weight of suffering knew,
Looked upon her Son and Saviour
Reigning high on Calvary's tree,
Saw the price of man's redemption
Paid to set the sinner free.
3 Sing again the joys of Mary
When she saw the risen Lord,
And in prayer with Christ's apostles,
Waited on his promised word:
From on high the blazing glory
Of the Spirit's presence came,
Heavenly breath of God's own being,
Manifest through wind and flame.
4 Sing the chiefest joy of Mary
When on earth her work was done,
And the Lord of all creation
Brought her to his heavenly home:
Virgin Mother, Mary blessèd,
Raised on high and crowned with grace,
May your Son, the world's redeemer,
Grant us all to see his face.
PRAYERS OF OFFERING
Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies,
it remains alone.
But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Almighty God, as these gifts of bread and wine
were once scattered over the hills as wheat and grape,
but gathered together became one mass,
so let your people, scattered and divided by sin,
be one in your eternal Kingdom.
Blessed be God for ever.
THE EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.
Worship and praise belong to you,
maker of light and darkness.
Your wisdom draws beauty from chaos,
brings a harvest out of sorrow
and leads the exiles home.
In Christ your Son enemies are reconciled,
debts forgiven
and strangers made welcome.
Your Spirit frees us
to live as sons and daughters
in our Father's house.
We who by Christ's power follow the way of the Cross,
sharing the joy of his obedience,
now offer you our praise,
with angels and archangels
and the whole company of heaven
singing the hymn of your unending glory:
SANTCUS
Glory and thanksgiving be to you, most loving Father,
for Christ in whom the world is reconciled.
Lifted on the Cross,
his suffering and forgiveness
spanned the gulf our sins had made.
Through that dark struggle
death was swallowed up in victory,
that life and light might reign.
Before he was given up to suffering and death,
recalling the night of Israel's release,
the night in which the sons of Egypt died,
your Chosen One, himself the First-Born,
freely offered his life.
At supper with his disciples he took bread
and offered you thanks.
He broke the bread, and gave it to them, saying:
“Take, eat. This is my Body: it is broken for you.”
After supper, he took the cup, he offered you thanks,
and gave it to them saying:
“Drink this, all of you.
This is my Blood of the new covenant;
it is poured out for you, and for all,
that sins may be forgiven.
Do this in remembrance of me.”
We now obey your Son's command.
We recall his blessed passion and death,
his glorious resurrection and ascension;
and we look for the coming of his Kingdom.
Made one with him, we offer you these gifts
and with them ourselves,
a single, holy, living sacrifice.
Hear us, most merciful Father,
and send your Holy Spirit upon us
and upon this bread and this wine,
that, overshadowed by your Spirit’s life-giving power,
they may be the Body and Blood of your Son,
and we may be kindled with the fire of your love
and renewed for the service of your Kingdom.
Help us, who are baptised into the
fellowship of Christ's Body
to live and work to your praise and glory;
may we grow together in unity and love
until at last, in your new creation,
we enter into our heritage
in the company of the Virgin Mary,
the apostles, and prophets,
and of all our brothers and sisters
living and departed.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
with whom, and in whom,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all honour and glory be to you,
Lord of all ages,
world without end. Amen.
THE FRACTION
The living bread is broken for the life of the world.
Lord, unite us in this sign.
As our Saviour Christ has commanded and taught us,
we are bold to say;
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.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory
For ever and ever. Amen.
AGNUS DEI
INVITATION
We do not presume to come to this your holy table merciful God,
because we are strong, but because we are weak.
Nor because we are good, but because we need mercy and help.
We come because we love you and seek to love you more.
We come because you love us, and Christ gave himself for us.
Holy things for holy people. Broken bread for broken people. Amen.
Post Communion hymn: (NEH 302 O thou, who at thy Eucharist didst pray (Song 1) (omit v. 3))
1 O thou, who at thy eucharist didst pray
that all thy church might be for ever one,
grant us at every eucharist to say
with longing heart and soul, 'Thy will be done:'
O may we all one bread, one body be,
one through this sacrament of unity.
2 For all thy Church, O Lord, we intercede;
make thou our sad divisions soon to cease;
draw us the nearer each to each, we plead,
by drawing all to thee, O Prince of peace:
thus may we all one bread, one body be,
one through this sacrament of unity.
4 So, Lord, at length when sacraments shall cease,
may we be one with all thy Church above,
one with thy saints in one unbroken peace,
one with thy saints in one unbounded love:
more blessèd still, in peace and love to be
one with the Trinity in Unity.
THANKSGIVING AND SENDING OUT
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is gracious.
And his mercy endures for ever.
POST-COMMUNION PRAYER
Almighty God, by the cross and passion of your Son, Jesus Christ,
you saved and redeemed your people.
May we, who have shared this day in holy things,
find within ourselves the grace
to take up our cross and follow him.
This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
BLESSING: From Ash Wednesday
Now may Christ give us grace to grow in holiness,
deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him;
and the blessing of God Almighty,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
be with you, and those for whom you pray,
now and Always. Amen.
BLESSING: During Passiontide
Now may Christ Crucified draw you to Himself,
that you may find in him a sure ground for faith,
a firm support for hope,
and the assurance of sins forgiven;
and the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit,
be with you and remain with you always. Amen.
DISMISSAL
Let us go in peace, to love and serve the Lord.
In the Name of Christ. Amen.
FINAL HYMN (NEH 413 Now thank we all our God (Nun Danket)
1 Now thank we all our God,
with hearts and hands and voices,
who wondrous things hath done,
in whom his world rejoices;
who from our mothers' arms
hath blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love,
and still is ours today.
2 O may this bounteous God
through all our life be near us,
with ever joyful hearts
and blessèd peace to cheer us;
and keep us in his grace,
and guide us when perplexed,
and free us from all ills
in this world and the next.
3 All praise and thanks to God
the Father now be given,
the Son, and him who reigns
with them in highest heaven,
the one eternal God,
whom earth and heaven adore,
for thus it was, is now,
and shall be evermore.
ORGAN VOLUNTARY