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.

Please join in saying the words and singing the hymns 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 Combat Stress and the work of the Abbey. Combat Stress provides clinical treatment and support for veterans from the British Armed Forces.

Order of Service

All stand as the clergy enter

The officiant says a Sentence of Scripture

All remain standing for 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 sing the Hymn

Ye servants of the Lord
   each for your Master wait,
observant of his heavenly word,
   and watchful at his gate.

Let all your lamps be bright,
   and trim the golden flame;
gird up your loins as in his sight,
   for aweful is his name.

Watch! 'tis your Lord's command,
   and while we speak, he's near;
mark the first signal of his hand,
   and ready all appear.

O happy servant he,
   in such a posture found!
He shall his Lord with rapture see,
   and be with honour crowned.

Christ shall the banquet spread
   with his own royal hand,
and raise that faithful servant's head
   amidst the angelic band.

Words: 'The Active Christian' Philip Doddridge (1702–51) after Luke 7: 35–38
Tune: 'Narenza' 18 NEH, from Johannes Leisentritt's 'Catholicum Hymnologium Germanicum' 1584, adapted by William Henry Havergal (1793–1870)

All sit to say Venite exultemus Domino

All remain seated to say Psalm 76

In Jewry is God known :
his name is great in Israel.
At Salem is his tabernacle :
and his dwelling in Sion.
There brake he the arrows of the bow :
the shield, the sword, and the battle.
Thou art of more honour and might :
than the hills of the robbers.
The proud are robbed, they have slept their sleep :
and all the men whose hands were mighty have found nothing.
At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob :
both the chariot and horse are fallen.
Thou, even thou art to be feared :
and who may stand in thy sight when thou art angry?
Thou didst cause thy judgement to be heard from heaven :
the earth trembled, and was still,
when God arose to judgement :
and to help all the meek upon earth.
The fierceness of man shall turn to thy praise :
and the fierceness of them shalt thou refrain.
Promise unto the Lord your God, and keep it, all ye that are round about him :
bring presents unto him that ought to be feared.
He shall refrain the spirit of princes :
and is wonderful among the kings of the earth.

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, Micah 4: 1–7

In days to come
   the mountain of the Lord's house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
   and shall be raised up above the hills.
Peoples shall stream to it,
   and many nations shall come and say:
'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
   to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
   and that we may walk in his paths.'
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
   and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples,
   and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
   and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
   neither shall they learn war any more;
but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,
   and no one shall make them afraid;
   for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

For all the peoples walk,
   each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
   for ever and ever.

On that day, says the Lord,
   I will assemble the lame
and gather those who have been driven away,
   and those whom I have afflicted.
The lame I will make the remnant,
   and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion
   now and for evermore.

Here ends the first lesson.

All stand to say Benedicite omnia opera

O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye angels of the Lord, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye heavens, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye waters that be above the firmament, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O all ye powers of the Lord, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye sun, and moon, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye stars of heaven, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye showers, and dew, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye winds of God, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye fire and heat, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye winter and summer, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye dews, and frosts, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye frost and cold, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye ice and snow, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye nights, and days, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye light and darkness, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye lightnings, and clouds, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O let the earth bless the Lord : yea, let it praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye mountains, and hills, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O all ye green things upon the earth, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye wells, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye seas, and floods, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye whales, and all that move in the waters, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
All ye fowls of the air, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O all ye beasts, and cattle, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye children of men, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O let Israel bless the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye priests of the Lord, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye servants of the Lord, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye spirits and souls of the righteous, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O ye holy and humble men of heart, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.
O Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him 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 Thessalonians 5: 1–11

Concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, 'There is peace and security', then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labour pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then, let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

Here ends the second lesson.

All stand to say Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he hath visited, and redeemed his people;
and hath raised up a mighty salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets,
which have been since the world began,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hands of all that hate us;
to perform the mercy promised to our forefathers,
and to remember his holy covenant,
to perform the oath which he sware to our forefather Abraham,
that he would give us,
that we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him
all the days of our life.
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest;
for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation unto his people
for the remission of their sins.
Through the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us,
to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

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

The Lord be with you.
And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

All kneel or sit to say 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 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.

The officiant says the Collects; of the day, for Peace, and for Grace

Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.

O God, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom; defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in thy defence, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O Lord, our heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God, who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day; defend us in the same with thy mighty power; and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger; but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance, to do always that is righteous in thy sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 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 say

All stand to sing the Hymn

The Lord will come and not be slow,
   his footsteps cannot err;
before him righteousness shall go,
   his royal harbinger.

Truth from the earth, like to a flower,
   shall bud and blossom then;
and justice, from her heavenly bower,
   look down on mortal men.

Rise, God, judge thou the earth in might,
   this wicked earth redress;
for thou art he who shalt by right
   the nations all possess.

The nations all whom thou hast made
   shall come, and all shall frame
to bow them low before thee, Lord,
   and glorify thy name.

For great thou art, and wonders great
   by thy strong hand are done:
thou in thy everlasting seat
   remainest God alone.

Words: John Milton (1608–74), paraphrases on verses from Psalms 85, 82, 86
Tune: 'St Stephen' 15 NEH, William Jones (1726–1800)

All remain standing for the Blessing, to which all respond Amen.

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

A Service to celebrate Christian Witness in Advent

11.15 am on Wednesday 10th December 2025.

This service will be attended by Church leaders and their communities in the United Kingdom. Doors open at 9.30 am and the Service will last for forty-five minutes.

To apply for tickets please click on the link: https://ChristianWitnessService.eventbrite.co.uk

Sunday Lunch

Come and join us for Sunday lunch at the Cellarium

Enjoy a traditional lunch with a selection of starters and desserts. Open from noon. From £20.00 per person.

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.

Hymns 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.