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. At choral Evensong most of the service is sung by the choir on our behalf. We participate through our presence and our listening, that the words and the music might become a prayer within us and lift us to contemplate God's beauty and glory.

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 and singing the hymn 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 St Andrew's Youth Club and the work of the Abbey. Established over 150 years ago, St Andrew's provides a sense of belonging, fun, and informal education to over 500 members each year.

Visiting Choirs

When the Abbey Choirs are on holiday, the Abbey welcomes visiting choirs, upholding the Abbey's pattern of choral services. This is an important aspect of worship at Westminster Abbey, and choirs are received both at the invitation of the Minor Canons and Music Departments and via online applications. More information and details on how to apply can be found here. Today, the Abbey is pleased to welcome the Willan Singers who are singing this service.

Order of Service

All stand as the choir and clergy enter

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 say together the Lord's Prayer

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.

All stand. The officiant and choir sing the Responses

Music: Martin Neary (b 1940) Organist of Westminster Abbey 1988–98

All sit. The choir sings Psalm 72

Give the King thy judgements, O God : and thy righteousness unto the King's son.
Then shall he judge thy people according unto right : and defend the poor.
The mountains also shall bring peace : and the little hills righteousness unto the people.
He shall keep the simple folk by their right : defend the children of the poor, and punish the wrong doer.
They shall fear thee, as long as the sun and moon endureth : from one generation to another.
He shall come down like the rain into a fleece of wool : even as the drops that water the earth.
In his time shall the righteous flourish : yea, and abundance of peace, so long as the moon endureth.
His dominion shall be also from the one sea to the other : and from the flood unto the world's end.
They that dwell in the wilderness shall kneel before him : his enemies shall lick the dust.
The kings of Tharsis and of the isles shall give presents : the kings of Arabia and Saba shall bring gifts.
All kings shall fall down before him : all nations shall do him service.
For he shall deliver the poor when he crieth : the needy also, and him that hath no helper.
He shall be favourable to the simple and needy : and shall preserve the souls of the poor.
He shall deliver their souls from falsehood and wrong : and dear shall their blood be in his sight.
He shall live, and unto him shall be given of the gold of Arabia : prayer shall be made ever unto him, and daily shall he be praised.
There shall be an heap of corn in the earth, high upon the hills : his fruit shall shake like Libanus, and shall be green in the city like grass upon the earth.
His name shall endure for ever; his name shall remain under the sun among the posterities : which shall be blessed through him; and all the heathen shall praise him.
Blessed be the Lord God, even the God of Israel : which only doeth wondrous things;
and blessed be the name of his majesty for ever : and all the earth shall be filled with his majesty. Amen, Amen.

All stand

Chant: Ivor Atkins (1869–1953)

All sit for the first Lesson, Proverbs 8: 22–31

The Lord created me at the beginning of his work,
   the first of his acts of long ago.
Ages ago I was set up,
   at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
   when there were no springs abounding with water.
Before the mountains had been shaped,
   before the hills, I was brought forth—
when he had not yet made earth and fields,
   or the world's first bits of soil.
When he established the heavens, I was there,
   when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
when he made firm the skies above,
   when he established the fountains of the deep,
when he assigned to the sea its limit,
   so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
   then I was beside him, like a master worker;
and I was daily his delight,
   rejoicing before him always,
rejoicing in his inhabited world
   and delighting in the human race.

Here ends the first lesson.

All stand. The choir sings Magnificat

Evening Service in A, Samuel Arnold (1740–1802) Organist of Westminster Abbey 1793–1802

All sit for the second Lesson, John 19: 23–27

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, 'Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.' This was to fulfil what the scripture says,
'They divided my clothes among themselves,
   and for my clothing they cast lots.'
And that is what the soldiers did.

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, 'Woman, here is your son.' Then he said to the disciple, 'Here is your mother.' And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

Here ends the second lesson.

All stand. The choir sings Nunc dimittis

Evening Service in A, Samuel Arnold

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 officiant and choir sing the Lesser Litany; the Lord's Prayer and the Responses

Let us pray.

All kneel or sit

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 sings the Collects; of the day, for peace, and for aid against all perils

O almighty and everlasting God, who stooped to raise fallen humanity through the child-bearing of blessed Mary: grant that we, who have seen thy glory revealed in our human nature and thy love made perfect in our weakness, may daily be renewed in thine image and conformed to the pattern of thy Son, the same 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.

Music: Martin Neary

All sit. The choir sings the Anthem

   Diffusa est gratia in labiis tuis,
   propterea benedixit te Deus in aeternum.
Myrha et gutta et casia a vestimentis tuis;
   a domibus eburneis ex quibis te delectaverunt.
Filiae regum in honore tuo.

Full of grace are your lips, for God has blest you forever. All your garments are fragrant with myrrh, aloes, and cassia; from ivory palaces, whereby they have made you glad. King's daughters are among your honourable women.

Words: Psalm 45: 2b, 8–9a
Music: Giovanni Maria Nanino (c 1543–1607)

All kneel or remain seated for the Intercessions

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 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 to sing the Hymn

For Mary, Mother of the Lord
   God's holy name be praised,
who first the Son of God adored
   as on her child she gazed.

The angel Gabriel brought the word
   she should Christ's mother be;
our Lady, handmaid of the Lord,
   made answer willingly.

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.

She gave her body for God's shrine,
   her heart to piercing pain,
and knew the cost of love divine
   when Jesus Christ was slain.

Dear Mary, from your lowliness
   and home in Galilee
there comes a joy and holiness
   to every family.

Hail, Mary, you are full of grace,
   above all women blest;
blest in your Son, whom your embrace
   in birth and death confessed.

Words: John Peacey (1896–1971)
Tune: 'St Botolph' 385 NEH, Gordon Slater (1896–1979)

All remain standing as the choir and clergy depart

Those who wish to may sit for the remainder of the organ voluntary

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.

Hymn covered by Christian Copyright Licensing (International) Ltd are reproduced under CCL no 1040271 and MRL no 1040288. 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.