Order of Service
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.
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You are invited to say the text in bold in English.
Please stand for
The Prayer
When the Clergy arrive at their places, a Minister says
The Lord is my light and my salvation:
The Lord my God shall make my darkness to be light.
The light and peace of Jesus Christ be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.
Please kneel or sit according to your custom.
Blessed are you, Sovereign God, our light and our salvation,
to you be glory and praise for ever!
Your light springs up for the righteous
and all the peoples have seen your glory.
You gave the Christ as a light to the nations,
and through the anointing of the Spirit
you established us as a royal priesthood.
As you call us into your marvellous light,
may our lives bear witness to your truth
and our lips never cease to proclaim your praise.
Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:
Blessed be God for ever.
Seeking the salvation of the world, let us pray as our Saviour has taught us:
All say
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.
At the end of the Prayers, all say
The Grace
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.
The Minister continues:
The Almighty God bless us with his grace; Christ give us the joys of everlasting life; and unto the fellowship of the citizens above may the King of angels bring us all. Amen.
Please sit for
A Ceremony of Carols
Music by Benjamin Britten(1913–76)
1. Procession
Hodie Christus natus est,
hodie Salvator apparuit.
hodie in terra canunt angeli,
laetantur archangeli;
exsultant justi dicentes
gloria in excelsis Deo,
Alleluia!
(Today Christ is born,
today the Saviour has appeared
Today angels sing on earth,
archangels rejoice;
the righteous exult, saying
Glory to God in the highest,
Alleluia!)
2. Wolcum Yole!
Wolcum be thou hevenè king
Wolcum, born in one morning,
Wolcum for whom we sall sing!
Wolcum be ye, Stevene and Jon
Wolcum, innocentes every one,
Wolcum, Thomas marter one.
Wolcum be ye, good Newe Yere,
Wolcum, Twelfth Day, both in fere,
Wolcum seintes lefe and dere.
Wolcum be ye, Candelmesse,
Wolcum be ye, Quene of bliss,
Wolcum bothe to more and lesse.
Wolcum be ye that are here,
Wolcum alle and make good cheer,
Wolcum alle another yere.
Wolcum Yole. Wolcum!
14th-century carol
3. There is no rose
There is no rose of such vertu
as is the rose that bare Jesu:
Alleluia
For in this rose conteinèd was
heaven and earth in litel space,
Res miranda.
(A wonderful thing)
By that rose we may well see
there be one God in persons three,
Pares forma.
(Equal in nature)
The aungels sungen the shepherds to:
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
(Glory to God in the highest)
Gaudeamus.
(Let us rejoice)
Leave we all this werldly mirth,
and follow we this joyful birth.
Transeamus.
(Let us go across)
Early 15th-century carol
4a. That yongë child
That yongë child when it gan weep
With song she lulled him asleep:
That was so sweet a melody
It passèd alle minstrelsy.
The nightingalë sang also;
Her song is hoarse and nought thereto:
Whoso attendeth to her song
And leaveth the first, then doth he wrong.
14th-century carol
4b. Balulalow
O my dear heart, young Jesu sweit,
Prepare thy creidil in my spreit,
And I sall rock thee to my hert
And never mair from thee depart.
But I sall praise thee evermoir
With sanges sweit unto thy gloir;
The knees of my hert sall I bow,
And sing that richt Balulalow!
James, John and Robert Wedderburn, (1548), 1561
5. As dew in Aprille
I sing of a maiden
that is makèless:
King of all kings
to her son she ches.
He came also stille
there his moder was,
as dew in Aprille
that falleth on the grass.
He came also stille
to his moder’s bour,
as dew in Aprille
that falleth on the flour.
He came also stille
there his moder lay,
as dew in Aprille
that falleth on the spray.
Moder and mayden
was never none but she:
Well may such a lady
Goddes moder be.
Anonymous 15th-century carol
6. This little Babe
This little Babe so few days old
is come to rifle Satan’s fold;
All hell doth at his presence quake,
though he himself for cold do shake;
For in this weak unarmèd wise
the gates of hell he will surprise.
With tears he fights and wins the field,
his naked breast stands for a shield;
His battering shot are babish cries,
his arrows, looks of weeping eyes,
His martial ensigns, Cold and Need,
and feeble flesh his warrior’s steed.
His camp is pitchèd in a stall,
his bulwark but a broken wall;
The crib his trench, haystalks his stakes;
of shepherds he his muster makes;
And thus, as sure his foe to wound,
the angels’ trumps alarum sound.
My soul, with Christ join thou in fight;
stick to the tents that he hath pight.
Within his crib is surest ward;
this little Babe will be thy guard.
If thou wilt foil thy foes with joy,
then flit not from this heavenly Boy.
From a poem by Robert Southwell (1561–95)
7. Interlude
Harp solo
8. In freezing winter night
Behold, a silly tender babe,
in freezing winter night,
in homely manger trembling lies —
alas, a piteous sight!
The inns are full; no man will yield
this little pilgrim bed,
but forced he is with silly beasts
in crib to shroud his head.
This stable is a Prince’s court,
this crib his chair of State,
the beasts are parcel of his pomp,
the wooden dish his plate.
The persons in that poor attire
his royal liveries wear;
the Prince himself is come from heaven;
this pomp is prizèd there.
With joy approach, O Christian wight,
do homage to thy King;
and highly praise his humble pomp
which he from heaven doth bring.
From a poem by Robert Southwell (1561–95)
9. Spring Carol
Pleasure it is
to hear, iwis,
the birdès sing,
the deer in the dale,
the sheep in the vale,
the corn springing.
God’s purveyance
for sustenance,
it is for man.
Then we always
to him give praise,
and thank him than.
A poem by William Cornish (d.1523)
10. Deo gratias
Adam lay i-bounden,
bounden in a bond;
four thousand winter
thought he not too long.
And all was for an appil,
an appil that he tok,
as clerkès finden
written in their book.
Ne had the appil takè ben,
the appil takè ben,
ne haddè never our lady
a-ben hevenè quene.
Blessèd be the time
that appil takè was.
Therefore we moun singen,
Deo gracias!
(Thanks be to God!)
15th-century carol
11. Recession
Hodie Christus natus est,
hodie Salvator apparuit.
hodie in terra canunt angeli,
laetantur archangeli;
exsultant justi dicentes
gloria in excelsis Deo,
Alleluia!
(Today Christ is born,
today the Saviour has appeared
Today angels sing on earth,
archangels rejoice;
the righteous exult, saying
Glory to God in the highest,
Alleluia!)
After the carols, a time of silence is kept before
The Dismissal
Lord Jesus Christ, the Light of lights, hidden from all eternity,
shine at last on your people, free us from the darkness of sin, and fill our lives with your joy.
Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Please stand as the clergy process from their places.
A retiring collection is made.
Acknowledgements
Developed by Clark Brydon (Education & Safeguarding Officer).
n.b.: Translations are provided automatically by Google Translate. Saint Patrick’s Cathedral is not responsible for automatically generated content or for content on external websites.
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