Order of Service

Today's services

Evensong, 17:00
Westminster Abbey

Wednesday, 18th May 2022

17:00

Evening Prayer

Please join in saying the words printed in bold type.

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Order of Service


All stand as the clergy enter


The officiant says a sentence of Scripture


All remain standing as the officiant introduces a general Confession

Beloved, we are come together in the presence of Almighty God and of the whole company of heaven to offer unto him through our Lord Jesus Christ our worship and praise and thanksgiving; to make confession of our sins; to pray, as well for others as for ourselves, that we may know more truly the greatness of God's love and show forth in our lives the fruits of his grace; and to ask on behalf of all people such things as their well-being doth require. Wherefore let us kneel and keep silence, and remember God's presence with us now.


All kneel or sit to say together

O God, our Father, we have sinned against thee in thought, word, and deed; we have not loved thee with all our heart; we have not loved our neighbour as ourselves. Have mercy upon us, we beseech thee; cleanse us from our sins; and help us to overcome our faults; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


The officiant gives the Absolution

May the almighty and merciful Lord grant unto you pardon and remission of all your sins, time for amendment of life, and the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit. Amen.


All stand to say the Responses

O Lord, open thou our lips
and our mouth shall shew 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.

 

All sit to say Psalm 44

We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us :
what thou hast done in their time of old;
how thou hast driven out the heathen with thy hand, and planted them in :
how thou hast destroyed the nations, and cast them out.
For they gat not the land in possession through their own sword :
neither was it their own arm that helped them;
but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance :
because thou hadst a favour unto them.
Thou art my King, O God :
send help unto Jacob.
Through thee will we overthrow our enemies :
and in thy name will we tread them under, that rise up against us.
For I will not trust in my bow :
it is not my sword that shall help me;
but it is thou that savest us from our enemies :
and puttest them to confusion that hate us.
We make our boast of God all day long :
and will praise thy name for ever.
But now thou art far off, and puttest us to confusion :
and goest not forth with our armies.
Thou makest us to turn our backs upon our enemies :
so that they which hate us spoil our goods.
Thou lettest us be eaten up like sheep :
and hast scattered us among the heathen.
Thou sellest thy people for nought :
and takest no money for them.
Thou makest us to be rebuked of our neighbours :
to be laughed to scorn, and had in derision of them that are round about us.
Thou makest us to be a by-word among the heathen :
and that the people shake their heads at us.
My confusion is daily before me :
and the shame of my face hath covered me;
For the voice of the slanderer and blasphemer :
for the enemy and avenger.
And though all this be come upon us, yet do we not forget thee :
nor behave ourselves frowardly in thy covenant.
Our heart is not turned back :
neither our steps gone out of thy way;
No, not when thou hast smitten us into the place of dragons :
and covered us with the shadow of death.
If we have forgotten the name of our God, and holden up our hands to any strange god :
shall not God search it out? For he knoweth the very secrets of the heart.
For thy sake also are we killed all the day long :
and are counted as sheep appointed to be slain.
Up, Lord, why sleepest thou :
awake, and be not absent from us for ever.
Wherefore hidest thou thy face :
and forgettest our misery and trouble?
For our soul is brought low, even unto the dust :
our belly cleaveth unto the ground.
Arise, and help us :

and deliver us for thy mercy's sake.

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.


All remain seated for the first Lesson, Hosea 13: 4–14

I have been the Lord your God
   ever since the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,
   and besides me there is no saviour.
It was I who fed you in the wilderness,
   in the land of drought.
When I fed them, they were satisfied;
   they were satisfied, and their heart was proud;
   therefore they forgot me.
So I will become like a lion to them,
   like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs,
   and will tear open the covering of their heart;
there I will devour them like a lion,
   as a wild animal would mangle them.

I will destroy you, O Israel;
   who can help you?
Where now is your king, that he may save you?
   Where in all your cities are your rulers,
of whom you said,
   'Give me a king and rulers'?
I gave you a king in my anger,
   and I took him away in my wrath.

Ephraim's iniquity is bound up;
   his sin is kept in store.
The pangs of childbirth come for him,
   but he is an unwise son;
for at the proper time he does not present himself
   at the mouth of the womb.

Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
   Shall I redeem them from Death?
O Death, where are your plagues?
   O Sheol, where is your destruction?
   Compassion is hidden from my eyes.


All stand to say Magnificat

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.


All sit for the second Lesson, 1 Corinthians 15: 50–end

What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:
'Death has been swallowed up in victory.'
'Where, O death, is your victory?
   Where, O death, is your sting?'
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.

 

All stand to say Nunc dimittis

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.


All face east to say together 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.


The Lord be with you.
And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

All kneel or sit for the Lesser Litany, the Lord's Prayer, and the Responses

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, shew thy mercy upon us.
And grant us thy salvation.

O Lord, save The Queen.
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.


The officiant says the Collects; of the day, for peace, and for aid against all perils

O almighty God, who alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men; grant unto thy people, that they may love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise; that so, among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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.

Lighten our darkness we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.


The officiant says the Prayers; for the Royal Family, and for the members of the Order of the Bath

Almighty God, the fountain of all goodness, we humbly beseech thee to bless our most gracious Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth, Charles Prince of Wales, and all the Royal Family: endue them with thy Holy Spirit; enrich them with thy heavenly grace; prosper them with all happiness; and bring them to thine everlasting kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

God save our Gracious Sovereign, and all the Brotherhood of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath living and departed. Amen.


All remain kneeling or seated for the Intercessions, at the end of which all say

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen.


All stand as the clergy depart


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