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 St John's Hospice and the work of the Abbey. St John's Hospice is committed to celebrating and amplifying life, enabling people to live well for as long as possible.

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 109

Hold not thy tongue, O God of my praise :
for the mouth of the ungodly, yea, the mouth of the deceitful is opened upon me.
And they have spoken against me with false tongues :
they compassed me about also with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause.
For the love that I had unto them, lo, they take now my contrary part :
but I give myself unto prayer.
Thus have they rewarded me evil for good :
and hatred for my good will.
Set thou an ungodly man to be ruler over him :
and let Satan stand at his right hand.
When sentence is given upon him, let him be condemned :
and let his prayer be turned into sin.
Let his days be few :
and let another take his office.
Let his children be fatherless :
and his wife a widow.
Let his children be vagabonds, and beg their bread :
let them seek it also out of desolate places.
Let the extortioner consume all that he hath :
and let the stranger spoil his labour.
Let there be no man to pity him :
nor to have compassion upon his fatherless children.
Let his posterity be destroyed :
and in the next generation let his name be clean put out.
Let the wickedness of his fathers be had in remembrance in the sight of the Lord :
and let not the sin of his mother be done away.
Let them alway be before the Lord :
that he may root out the memorial of them from off the earth.
And that, because his mind was not to do good :
but persecuted the poor helpless man, that he might slay him that was vexed at the heart.
His delight was in cursing, and it shall happen unto him :
he loved not blessing, therefore shall it be far from him.
He clothed himself with cursing, like as with a raiment :
and it shall come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.
Let it be unto him as the cloke that he hath upon him :
and as the girdle that he is alway girded withal.
Let it thus happen from the Lord unto mine enemies :
and to those that speak evil against my soul.
But deal thou with me, O Lord God, according unto thy name :
for sweet is thy mercy.
O deliver me, for I am helpless and poor :
and my heart is wounded within me.
I go hence like the shadow that departeth :
and am driven away as the grasshopper.
My knees are weak through fasting :
my flesh is dried up for want of fatness.
I became also a reproach unto them :
they that looked upon me shaked their heads.
Help me, O Lord my God :
O save me according to thy mercy.
And they shall know, how that this is thy hand :
and that thou, Lord, hast done it.
Though they curse, yet bless thou :
and let them be confounded that rise up against me; but let thy servant rejoice.
Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame :
and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a cloke.
As for me, I will give great thanks unto the Lord with my mouth :
and praise him among the multitude.
For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor :
to save his soul from unrighteous judges.

All remain seated for the first Lesson, Isaiah 43: 14–end

Thus says the Lord,
   your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
For your sake I will send to Babylon
   and break down all the bars,
   and the shouting of the Chaldeans will be turned to lamentation.
I am the Lord, your Holy One,
   the Creator of Israel, your King.
Thus says the Lord,
   who makes a way in the sea,
   a path in the mighty waters,
who brings out chariot and horse,
   army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
   they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
Do not remember the former things,
   or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
   now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
   and rivers in the desert.
The wild animals will honour me,
   the jackals and the ostriches;
for I give water in the wilderness,
   rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
   the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.

Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;
   but you have been weary of me, O Israel!
You have not brought me your sheep for burnt-offerings,
   or honoured me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings,
   or wearied you with frankincense.
You have not bought me sweet cane with money,
   or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins;
   you have wearied me with your iniquities.

I, I am He
   who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
   and I will not remember your sins.
Accuse me, let us go to trial;
   set forth your case, so that you may be proved right.
Your first ancestor sinned,
   and your interpreters transgressed against me.
Therefore I profaned the princes of the sanctuary,
   I delivered Jacob to utter destruction,
   and Israel to reviling.

Here ends the first lesson.

All stand to say Magnificat

All sit for the second Lesson, Hebrews 3: 1–15

Brothers and sisters, holy partners in a heavenly calling, consider that Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses also 'was faithful in all God's house.' Yet Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honour than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken later. Christ, however, was faithful over God's house as a son, and we are his house if we hold firm the confidence and the pride that belong to hope.

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
'Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
   as on the day of testing in the wilderness,
where your ancestors put me to the test,
   though they had seen my works for forty years.
Therefore I was angry with that generation,
and I said, "They always go astray in their hearts,
   and they have not known my ways."
As in my anger I swore,
   "They will not enter my rest."'

Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today', so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partners of Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end. As it is said,
'Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.'

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, for peace, and for aid against all perils

Almighty Father, who hast given thine only Son to die for our sins, and to rise again for our justification; grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may alway serve thee in pureness of living and truth; through the merits of the same thy Son 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.