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 WaterAid and the work of the Abbey. WaterAid works to reach everyone with clean water, decent toilets, and good hygiene.

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 Psalm 69

Save me, O God :
for the waters are come in, even unto my soul.
I stick fast in the deep mire, where no ground is :
I am come into deep waters, so that the floods run over me.
I am weary of crying; my throat is dry :
my sight faileth me for waiting so long upon my God.
They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head :
they that are mine enemies, and would destroy me guiltless, are mighty.
I paid them the things that I never took :
God, thou knowest my simpleness, and my faults are not hid from thee.
Let not them that trust in thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my cause :
let not those that seek thee be confounded through me, O Lord God of Israel.
And why? for thy sake have I suffered reproof :
shame hath covered my face.
I am become a stranger unto my brethren :
even an alien unto my mother's children.
For the zeal of thine house hath even eaten me :
and the rebukes of them that rebuked thee are fallen upon me.
I wept, and chastened myself with fasting :
and that was turned to my reproof.
I put on sackcloth also :
and they jested upon me.
They that sit in the gate speak against me :
and the drunkards make songs upon me.
But, Lord, I make my prayer unto thee :
in an acceptable time.
Hear me, O God, in the multitude of thy mercy :
even in the truth of thy salvation.
Take me out of the mire, that I sink not :
O let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
Let not the water-?ood drown me, neither let the deep swallow me up :
and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
Hear me, O Lord, for thy loving-kindness is comfortable :
turn thee unto me according to the multitude of thy mercies.
And hide not thy face from thy servant, for I am in trouble :
O haste thee, and hear me.
Draw nigh unto my soul, and save it :
O deliver me, because of mine enemies.
Thou hast known my reproof, my shame, and my dishonour :
mine adversaries are all in thy sight.
Thy rebuke hath broken my heart; I am full of heaviness :
I looked for some to have pity on me, but there was no man, neither found I any to comfort me.
They gave me gall to eat :
and when I was thirsty they gave me vinegar to drink.
Let their table be made a snare to take themselves withal :
and let the things that should have been for their wealth be unto them an occasion of falling.
Let their eyes be blinded, that they see not :
and ever bow thou down their backs.
Pour out thine indignation upon them :
and let thy wrathful displeasure take hold of them.
Let their habitation be void :
and no man to dwell in their tents.
For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten :
and they talk how they may vex them whom thou hast wounded.
Let them fall from one wickedness to another :
and not come into thy righteousness.
Let them be wiped out of the book of the living :
and not be written among the righteous.
As for me, when I am poor and in heaviness :
thy help, O God, shall lift me up.
I will praise the name of God with a song :
and magnify it with thanksgiving.
This also shall please the Lord :
better than a bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
The humble shall consider this, and be glad :
seek ye after God, and your soul shall live.
For the Lord heareth the poor :
and despiseth not his prisoners.
Let heaven and earth praise him :
the sea, and all that moveth therein.
For God will save Sion, and build the cities of Judah :
that men may dwell there, and have it in possession.
The posterity also of his servants shall inherit it :
and they that love his name shall dwell therein.

All remain seated for the first Lesson, Jeremiah 9: 17–22

Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Consider, and call for the mourning-women to come;
   send for the skilled women to come;
let them quickly raise a dirge over us,
   so that our eyes may run down with tears,
   and our eyelids flow with water.
For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
   'How we are ruined!
   We are utterly shamed,
because we have left the land,
   because they have cast down our dwellings.'

Hear, O women, the word of the Lord,
   and let your ears receive the word of his mouth;
teach to your daughters a dirge,
   and each to her neighbour a lament.
'Death has come up into our windows,
   it has entered our palaces,
to cut off the children from the streets
   and the young men from the squares.'
Speak! Thus says the Lord:
'Human corpses shall fall
   like dung upon the open field,
like sheaves behind the reaper,
   and no one shall gather them.'

Here ends the first lesson.

All stand to say Magnificat

All sit for the second Lesson, Luke 13: 31–35

Some Pharisees came and said to Jesus, 'Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.' He said to them, 'Go and tell that fox for me, "Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem." Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord."'

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, of Lent, for peace, and for aid against all perils

We beseech thee, almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people; that by thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all them that are penitent; create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; 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.