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 The Anglican Centre in Rome and the work of the Abbey. The Anglican Centre in Rome promotes Christian unity and encounter between Anglicans and Roman Catholics through their presence in Rome. This year is the Centre's sixtieth anniversary.

Order of Service

All stand as the choir and clergy enter

The choir sings the Introit

Deus tuorum militum
Sors et corona, praemium
Laudes canentes Martyris
Absolve nexu criminis.

Hic nempe mundi gaudia
Et blanda fraudum pabula
Imbuta felle deputans,
Pervenit ad caelestia.

Poenas cucurrit fortiter
Et sustulit viriliter
Fundensque pro te sanguinem
Aeterna dona possidet.

Ob hoc precatu supplici
Te poscimus piissime
In hoc triumpho Martyris
Dimitte noxam servulis.

Laus et perennis gloria
Patri sit atque Filio
Sancto simul Paraclito
in sempiterna saecula.
   Amen.

God, your soldiers' destiny, crown, and reward, absolve those singing in praise of the martyrs from the bonds of sin.

He assuredly condemned the joys of the world and the alluring fruits of sin as having been steeped in galls, and he came to heaven.

He has run through hardships bravely and endured them manfully, and, pouring out for you his blood, he possesses eternal gifts.

By this most humble prayer we beg you, most Holy One on this your Martyr's triumphant day, that you should forgive your servants' sin.

Praise and perpetual glory be to the Father and the Son and also to the Holy Comforter for eternal ages. Amen.

Words: anonymous, c 6th century; hymn at vespers, common of one martyr
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 90

Lord, thou hast been our refuge : from one generation to another.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made : thou art God from everlasting, and world without end.
Thou turnest man to destruction : again thou sayest, Come again, ye children of men.
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday : seeing that is past as a watch in the night.
As soon as thou scatterest them they are even as a sleep : and fade away suddenly like the grass.
In the morning it is green, and groweth up : but in the evening it is cut down, dried up, and withered.
For we consume away in thy displeasure : and are afraid at thy wrathful indignation.
Thou hast set our misdeeds before thee : and our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
For when thou art angry all our days are gone : we bring our years to an end, as it were a tale that is told.
The days of our age are threescore years and ten; and though men be so strong that they come to fourscore years : yet is their strength then but labour and sorrow; so soon passeth it away, and we are gone.
But who regardeth the power of thy wrath : for even thereafter as a man feareth, so is thy displeasure.
So teach us to number our days : that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Turn thee again, O Lord, at the last : and be gracious unto thy servants.
O satisfy us with thy mercy, and that soon : so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.
Comfort us again now after the time that thou hast plagued us : and for the years wherein we have suffered adversity.
Shew thy servants thy work : and their children thy glory.
And the glorious majesty of the Lord our God be upon us : prosper thou the work of our hands upon us, O prosper thou our handy-work.

All stand

Chant: plainsong

All sit for the first Lesson, Proverbs 22: 17–end

   The words of the wise:

Incline your ear and hear my words,
   and apply your mind to my teaching;
for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
   if all of them are ready on your lips.
So that your trust may be in the Lord,
   I have made them known to you today—yes, to you.
Have I not written for you thirty sayings
   of admonition and knowledge,
to show you what is right and true,
   so that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?

Do not rob the poor because they are poor,
   or crush the afflicted at the gate;
for the Lord pleads their cause
   and despoils of life those who despoil them.
Make no friends with those given to anger,
   and do not associate with hotheads,
or you may learn their ways
   and entangle yourself in a snare.
Do not be one of those who give pledges,
   who become surety for debts.
If you have nothing with which to pay,
   why should your bed be taken from under you?
Do not remove the ancient landmark
   that your ancestors set up.
Do you see those who are skilful in their work?
   They will serve kings;
   they will not serve common people.

Here ends the first lesson.

All stand. The choir sings Magnificat

The Second Service, Philip Moore (b 1943)

All sit for the second Lesson, 2 Corinthians 12: 1–10

It is necessary to boast; nothing is to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows— was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat. On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me, even considering the exceptional character of the revelations. Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.' So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

Here ends the second lesson.

All stand. The choir sings Nunc dimittis

The Second Service. Philip Moore

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

Lord, we beseech thee, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee the only God; 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.

Music: plainsong

All sit. The choir sings the Anthem

Justorum animae in manu Dei sunt,
et non tanget illos tormentum malitiae.
Visi sunt oculis insipientium mori,
illi autem sunt in pace.

The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, but they are in peace.

Words: Wisdom 3: 1–2a, 3b
Matthew Martin (b 1976)

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.