Welcome to Westminster Abbey. Daily prayer has been offered in this place for over a thousand years, and your participation in today's service is warmly welcomed.

The service always includes one or more psalms. These ancient prayers, taken from the Old Testament, reflect the full range of human emotions and experiences; from the depths of anger, resentment, and abandonment to the heights of ecstatic joy and praise. They were used by Jesus, and have always been at the heart of the Church's daily prayer.

The canticles Magnificat (Luke 1: 46–55) and Nunc dimittis (Luke 2: 29–32) reflect two responses to the Incarnation (God becoming fully human in Jesus Christ). Both speak of the fulfilment of God's promises, not just to 'Abraham and his seed', but also 'to be a light to lighten the Gentiles' (all nations). With their themes of fulfilment and completion, these texts have been given central place for many centuries in the Church's prayers for the evening and at the end of the day.

Please join in saying the words printed in bold type.

The church is served by a hearing loop. Users should turn their hearing aid to the setting marked T.

Photography, filming, and sound recording are not allowed in the Abbey during services. Please ensure that mobile telephones and other electronic devices are silent.

Following the service, a collection will be taken; the money from today's services will be divided equally between The King's Trust and the work of the Abbey. The King's Trust helps young people from disadvantaged communities and those facing the greatest adversity by supporting them to build the confidence and skills to live, learn, and earn.

Order of Service

All stand as the clergy enter

The officiant says a sentence of Scripture

All remain standing as the officiant introduces the 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 sit or 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

All sit to say Psalms 45 and 46

My heart is inditing of a good matter :
I speak of the things which I have made unto the King.
My tongue is the pen :
of a ready writer.
Thou art fairer than the children of men :
full of grace are thy lips, because God hath blessed thee for ever.
Gird thee with thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou most mighty :
according to thy worship and renown.
Good luck have thou with thine honour :
ride on, because of the word of truth, of meekness, and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.
Thy arrows are very sharp, and the people shall be subdued unto thee :
even in the midst among the King's enemies.
Thy seat, O God, endureth for ever :
the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.
Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity :
wherefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
All thy garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia :
out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.
Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women :
upon thy right hand did stand the queen in a vesture of gold, wrought about with divers colours.
Hearken, O daughter, and consider, incline thine ear :
forget also thine own people, and thy father's house.
So shall the King have pleasure in thy beauty :
for he is thy Lord God, and worship thou him.
And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift :
like as the rich also among the people shall make their supplication before thee.
The King's daughter is all glorious within :
her clothing is of wrought gold.
She shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needle-work :
the virgins that be her fellows shall bear her company, and shall be brought unto thee.
With joy and gladness shall they be brought :
and shall enter into the King's palace.
Instead of thy fathers thou shalt have children :
whom thou mayest make princes in all lands.
I will remember thy name from one generation to another :
therefore shall the people give thanks unto thee, world without end.

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.

Here ends the first lesson.

All stand to say Magnificat

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.

Here ends the second lesson.

All stand to say Nunc dimittis

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.

Let us pray.

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

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.

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 Lord King Charles, Queen Camilla, William Prince of Wales, the Princess 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 Members 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

If you attend worship at the Abbey regularly, you may like to add this page to your home screen for easy access to our orders of service.

Common Worship (Church House Publishing, 2000), material from which is included in this service, is copyright © The Archbishops' Council. Scripture Readings are from the New Revised Standard Version.