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 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.

The service is sung by the Lay Vicars of Westminster Abbey.

Following the service, a collection will be taken; the money from today's services will be divided equally between Christian Aid and the work of the Abbey. Christian Aid Week is our shared moment to come together, across churches, communities, and households, to stand alongside people living in poverty.

Order of Service

All stand as the choir and clergy enter

The choir sings the Introit

Ad coenam Agni providi,
Stolis salutis candidi,
Post transitum maris Rubri
Christo canamus principi.

Cuius corpus sanctissimum
In ara crucis torridum,
Sed et cruorem roseum
Gustando, Deo vivimus.

Consurgit Christus tumulo,
Victor redit de barathro,
Tyrannum trudens vinculo
Et paradisum reserans.

Iesu, tibi sit gloria,
Qui morte victa praenites,
Cum Patre et almo Spiritu,
In sempiterna saecula.
   Amen.

Prepared for the supper of the Lamb, clothed in the white garments of salvation, after the crossing of the Red Sea, let us sing to Christ our leader.

His most holy body was offered on the altar of the cross, and by tasting his red blood we live in God.

Christ rises from the tomb, returns victorious from the depths, drives the tyrant away in chains, and opens paradise again.

Jesus, glory be to you, you who shine forth after conquering death, with the Father and the life-giving Spirit, for everlasting ages. Amen.

Words: Office hymn at Vespers in Eastertide
Music: plainsong

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: plainsong

All sit. The choir sings Psalm 31

In thee, O Lord, have I put my trust : let me never be put to confusion, deliver me in thy righteousness.
Bow down thine ear to me : make haste to deliver me.
And be thou my strong rock, and house of defence : that thou mayest save me.
For thou art my strong rock, and my castle : be thou also my guide, and lead me for thy name's sake.
Draw me out of the net that they have laid privily for me : for thou art my strength.
Into thy hands I commend my spirit : for thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, thou God of truth.
I have hated them that hold of superstitious vanities : and my trust hath been in the Lord.
I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy : for thou hast considered my trouble, and hast known my soul in adversities.
Thou hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy : but hast set my feet in a large room.
Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble : and mine eye is consumed for very heaviness; yea, my soul and my body.
For my life is waxen old with heaviness : and my years with mourning.
My strength faileth me, because of mine iniquity : and my bones are consumed.
I became a reproof among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours : and they of mine acquaintance were afraid of me; and they that did see me without conveyed themselves from me.
I am clean forgotten, as a dead man out of mind : I am become like a broken vessel.
For I have heard the blasphemy of the multitude : and fear is on every side, while they conspire together against me, and take their counsel to take away my life.
But my hope hath been in thee, O Lord : I have said, Thou art my God.
My time is in thy hand; deliver me from the hand of mine enemies : and from them that persecute me.
Shew thy servant the light of thy countenance : and save me for thy mercy's sake.
Let me not be confounded, O Lord, for I have called upon thee : let the ungodly be put to confusion, and be put to silence in the grave.
Let the lying lips be put to silence : which cruelly, disdainfully, and despitefully, speak against the righteous.
O how plentiful is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee : and that thou hast prepared for them that put their trust in thee, even before the sons of men!
Thou shalt hide them privily by thine own presence from the provoking of all men : thou shalt keep them secretly in thy tabernacle from the strife of tongues.
Thanks be to the Lord : for he hath shewed me marvellous great kindness in a strong city.
And when I made haste, I said : I am cast out of the sight of thine eyes.
Nevertheless, thou heardest the voice of my prayer : when I cried unto thee.
O love the Lord, all ye his saints : for the Lord preserveth them that are faithful, and plenteously rewardeth the proud doer.
Be strong, and he shall establish your heart : all ye that put your trust in the Lord.

All stand

Chant: plainsong

All sit for the first Lesson, Proverbs 4: 1–13

Listen, children, to a father's instruction,
   and be attentive, that you may gain insight;
for I give you good precepts:
   do not forsake my teaching.
When I was a son with my father,
   tender, and my mother's favourite,
he taught me, and said to me,
'Let your heart hold fast my words;
   keep my commandments, and live.
Get wisdom; get insight: do not forget, nor turn away
   from the words of my mouth.
Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
   love her, and she will guard you.
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
   and whatever else you get, get insight.
Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
   she will honour you if you embrace her.
She will place on your head a fair garland;
   she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.'

Hear, my child, and accept my words,
   that the years of your life may be many.
I have taught you the way of wisdom;
   I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
When you walk, your step will not be hampered;
   and if you run, you will not stumble.
Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
   guard her, for she is your life.

Here ends the first lesson.

All stand. The choir sings Magnificat

Evening Service in E, Herbert Howells (1892–1983)

All sit for the second Lesson, Philippians 2: 1–11

If there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
   did not regard equality with God
   as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
   taking the form of a slave,
   being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
   he humbled himself
   and became obedient to the point of death—
   even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him
   and gave him the name
   that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
   every knee should bend,
   in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
   that Jesus Christ is Lord,
   to the glory of God the Father.

Here ends the second lesson.

All stand. The choir sings Nunc dimittis

Evening Service in E, Herbert Howells

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 Lord, from whom all good things do come; grant to us thy humble servants, that by thy holy inspiration we may think those things that be good, and by thy merciful guiding may perform the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ. 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: plainsong

All sit. The choir sings the Anthem

Christ rising again from the dead now dieth not; death from henceforth hath no power upon him. For in that he died, he died but once to put away sin, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. And likewise count yourselves dead unto sin but living unto God, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Alleluia!

Christ is risen again, the first fruits of them that sleep. For seeing that by man came death, by man also commeth the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all men do die, so by Christ shall all men be restored to life. Alleluia!

Words: Romans 6: 9–11; 1 Corinthians 15: 20–22
Music: John Sheppard (c 1515–c 58)

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 as the choir and clergy depart

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

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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.