Welcome
God has been worshipped in this place through the prayers and praises of countless generations. Worship lies at the heart of our life as Christians and we express our theology and belief through our liturgy. It is through these liturgical patterns of words and actions that we are formed and transformed.
Should you wish to translate this order of service into another language, please choose your language in the bottom right. There is a guest wireless network available within the Cathedral for those without a mobile data connection.
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What is Choral Matins?
Choral Matins at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral is the first service in our daily pattern of worship. As Christians, we know that God is with us at all times and in all places. Morning and evening are times set aside to pray. This morning prayer service brings us closer to God in three ways: through the singing of songs of praise, reading the Bible, and praying for ourselves and others.
Everyone present participates by being with God in worship, using silence and adoration, words and music. The ways in which we participate in this service may feel strange at first – as it invites us to use much more of ourselves than our voices. Each person has his or her individual part to offer. Some words are said by the ministers, some are sung by the choir; everyone is asked to pray them with heart and mind and strength.
You are invited to say the text in bold in English.
Please stand as the Minister, at the West End of the Cathedral, sings
Let us pray.
Please remain standing to sing the
Hymn
1. Forty days and forty nights
Thou wast fasting in the wild;
Forty days and forty nights
Tempted, and yet undefiled.
2. Sunbeams scorching all the day;
Chilly dewdrops nightly shed;
Prowling beasts about thy way;
Stones thy pillow, earth thy bed.
3. Let us thine endurance share,
And awhile from joys abstain,
With thee watching unto prayer,
Strong with thee to suffer pain.
4. And if Satan, vexing sore,
Flesh or spirit should assail,
Thou, his vanquisher before,
Grant we may not faint nor fail.
5. So shall we have peace divine;
Holier gladness ours shall be;
Round us too shall angels shine,
Such as ministered to thee.
6. Keep, O keep us, Saviour dear,
Ever constant by thy side;
That with thee we may appear
At the eternal Eastertide.
George Smyttan (1822–70); Nürnbergisches Gesangbuch (1676)
The Minister welcomes the People, and introduces the
General Confession
Let us kneel, humbly to confess our sins unto almighty God:
Please kneel or sit, according to your custom
Almighty and most merciful Father; We have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those things which we ought not to have done; And there is no health in us. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou them, O God, which confess their faults. Restore thou them that are penitent; According to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake; That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, To the glory of thy holy Name. Amen.
The Priest pronounces the
Absolution
The People respond
Amen.
Please remain standing whilst the Minister and Choir sing the
Preces & Responses
O Lord, open thou our lips.
And our mouth shall show 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.
Kenneth Leighton (1929–88)
Please sit as the Choir sings the
Psalm
PSALM 46 vv 1–7
Deus noster refugium.
God is our hope and strength: a very present help in trouble. Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be moved: and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea. Though the waters thereof rage and swell: and though the mountains shake at the tempest of the same. There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God: the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most Highest. God is in the midst of her, therefore shall she not be removed: God shall help her, and that right early. The nations make much ado, and the kingdoms are moved: but God hath shewed his voice, and the earth shall melt away. The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Please stand for
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.
Please sit for the
First Lesson
Deuteronomy 26: 1–11
Please stand as the Choir sings
The Lamentations of Jeremiah (Part One)
How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people, how is she become as a widow! She that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary! She weepeth sore in the night and her tears are on her cheeks; among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her. The ways of Sion do mourn because none come to the solemn assembly: all her gates are desolate and she herself is in bitterness. The Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy. All they that go by clap their hands at her. They hiss, and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying: Is this the city that men called the perfection of beauty: the joy of the whole earth? Jerusalem, Jerusalem, return unto the Lord thy God.
Edward Bairstow (1874–1946)
Please sit for the
Second Lesson
Luke 4: 1–13
Please stand as the Choir sings
Benedictus
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 hand 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.
Service in D; George Dyson (1883–1964)
Please remain standing to say 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 Minister and Choir sing the
Suffrages & Responses
The Lord be with you.
And with thy spirit.
Let us pray.
Please kneel or sit, according to your custom
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
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. Amen.
O Lord, shew thy mercy upon us.
And grant us thy salvation.
O Lord, guide and defend our rulers.
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 Minister intones the
Collect of the Day
O Lord, who for our sake didst fast forty days and forty nights; Give us grace to use such abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to the Spirit, we may ever obey thy godly motions in righteousness, and true holiness, to thy honour and glory, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for Peace
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.
Collect for Grace
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.
Please sit as the Choir sings the
Anthem
Wash me throughly from my wickedness, and forgive me all my sin. For I acknowledge my faults, and my sin is ever before me.
Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810–76)
Please stand whilst the Preacher moves to the Pulpit for the
Sermon
Preacher: The Most Reverend M. G. St A. Jackson, M.A., Ph.D., D.Phil. Prebendary of Cualaun; and Visitor
Please be seated for the Sermon. At the end, the Preacher will conclude with a prayer, during which the congregation will stand.
The Minister says
Let us pray.
Please kneel or remain seated for the
Prayers
At the end, 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.
Please stand to sing the
Hymn
During the hymn, a collection of money is made. You can donate online by tapping the Support Us button in the bottom right.
1. Soldiers of Christ, arise,
And put your armour on,
Strong in the strength which God supplies
Through his eternal Son;
2. Strong in the Lord of Hosts,
And in his mighty power:
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts
Is more than conqueror.
3. Stand then, in his great might,
With all his strength endued;
And take, to arm you for the fight,
The panoply of God.
4. Leave no unguarded place,
No weakness of the soul:
Take every virtue, every grace,
And fortify the whole.
5. From strength to strength go on,
Wrestle and fight and pray;
Tread all the powers of darkness down,
And win the well-fought day;
6. That, having all things done,
And all your conflicts past,
Ye may o’ercome, through Christ alone,
And stand complete at last.
Charles Wesley (1707–88); William Monk (1823–89)
Please remain standing for the
Blessing
The Minister and Choir sing the
Dismissal
The Lord be with you.
And with thy spirit.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Please remain standing as the Choir and Clergy depart.
Please remain at your seat for the duration of the
Organ Voluntary
Acknowledgements
Developed by the Saint Patrick’s Cathedral Education Department: Clark Brydon (Education & Safeguarding Officer).
Material in this service is reproduced from The Book of Common Prayer, © RCB 2004.
Translations are provided automatically by Google Translate. Saint Patrick’s Cathedral is not responsible for automatically generated content or for content on external websites.
To report a problem or to send feedback and suggestions, please email: education@stpatrickscathedral.ie
