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.
ORDER OF SERVICE
Hymn
1. Light’s glittering morn bedecks the sky;
Heaven thunders forth its victor-cry:
Alleluia!
The glad earth shouts her triumph high,
And groaning hell makes wild reply:
Alleluia!
2. While he, the King, the mighty King,
Despoiling death of all its sting,
Alleluia!
And trampling down the powers of night,
Brings forth his ransomed saints to light.
Alleluia!
3. His tomb of late the threefold guard
Of watch and stone and seal had barred;
Alleluia!
But now, in pomp and triumph high,
He comes from death to victory.
Alleluia!
4. The pains of hell are loosed at last,
The days of mourning now are past;
Alleluia!
An angel robed in light hath said,
‘The Lord is risen from the dead’.
Alleluia!
5. O Lord of all, with us abide
In this our joyful Eastertide;
Alleluia!
From every weapon death can wield
Thine own redeemed for ever shield.
Alleluia!
6. All praise be thine, O risen Lord,
From death to endless life restored;
Alleluia!
All praise to God the Father be
And Holy Ghost eternally.
Alleluia!
Latin, tr. John Neale (1818–66)
Arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958)
The Acclamation
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
The Celebrant lights the Paschal Candle and says
Alleluia! Blessed are you, Lord Jesus Christ, Conqueror of death.
You are the Light of the world. Alleluia!
The Gathering of God’s People
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
The COLLECT FOR PURITY
Almighty God to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name: through Christ our Lord. Amen.
The PRAYERS OF PENITENCE
Christ our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed for us. Let us therefore rejoice by putting away all malice and evil and confessing our sins with a sincere and true heart.
A short time of silence is kept for self examination
Like Mary at the empty tomb, we fail to grasp the wonder of your presence.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Like the disciples behind locked doors, we are afraid to be seen as your followers.
Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Like Thomas in the upper room, we are slow to believe.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
The Celebrant pronounces the
ABSOLUTION
The Choir sings
Gloria in Excelsis
Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those of good will. We praise you, we bless you, we worship you, we glorify you. We give thanks to you for your great glory. O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty. O Lord the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, you who take away the sins of the world have mercy on us. You who take away the sins of the world receive our prayer. You are seated at the Father’s right hand, have mercy on us. For you alone are holy, you alone are the Lord,
You alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God
The Celebrant prays the
COLLECT OF THE DAY
Almighty God, through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ you have overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that, as by your grace going before us you put into our minds good desires, so by your continual help we may bring them to good effect; through Jesus Christ our risen Lord who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
PROCLAIMING AND RECEIVING THE WORD
Please be seated for the
Colossians 3: 1–4
So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The Choir sings
O be joyful in the Lord all ye lands: serve the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with a song. Be ye sure that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and speak good of his Name. For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting: and his truth endureth from generation to generation. 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.
Psalm 100
William Walton (1902–83)
Please stand for the
Gospel
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Hear the Gospel of our Saviour Christ according to…
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
John 20: 1–18
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”’ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Please be seated for the
Sermon
Preacher: The Very Reverend W. W. Morton, B.Th., M.A., Ph.D., M.Mus., D.Litt., Dean and Ordinary
Please stand to say the
Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
The Prayers of the People
The Leader says
Let us pray.
Please kneel or sit according to your custom
Each petition ends
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
The prayers may conclude
Merciful Father, accept these our prayers for the sake of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Please stand for
The Peace
The Celebrant introduces the Peace and says
The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.
Please remain standing to sing
The Offertory Hymn
During this hymn a collection of money is made for charity. If you would like to donate online, click here.
1. Glorious things of thee are spoken
Sion, city of our God;
He whose word cannot be broken
Form’d thee for his own abode:
On the Rock of Ages founded,
What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded,
Thou may’st smile at all thy foes.
2. See, the streams of living waters,
Springing from eternal love,
Well supply thy sons and daughters,
And all fear of want remove:
Who can faint, while such a river
Ever flows their thirst to assuage?
Grace, which like the Lord the giver,
Never fails from age to age.
3. Saviour, if of Sion’s city
I through grace a member am,
Let the world deride or pity,
I will glory in thy name:
Fading is the worldling’s pleasure,
All his boasted pomp and show;
Solid joys and lasting treasure
None but Sion’s children know.
John Newton (1725–1807)
Cyril Taylor (1907–91)
CELEBRATING AT THE LORD’S TABLE
Please remain standing
The Lord is here.
His Spirit is with us.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
The Celebrant prays the
PREFACE
concluding
Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven we proclaim your great and glorious name, for ever praising you and saying:
The Choir sings
Sanctus & Benedictus
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Sanctus Dominus, Deus Sabaoth,
Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Benedictus qui venit
in nomine Domine.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Please remain standing as the
EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
continues, concluding
… through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, with whom and in whom, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we worship you, Father almighty, in songs of never-ending praise:
The Choir sings
Blessing and honour and glory and power are yours for ever and ever. Amen.
The Celebrant invites the People to pray
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.
The Celebrant breaks the bread and says
The bread which we break is a sharing in the body of Christ.
We, being many, are one body, for we all share in the one bread.
The Celebrant invites the People to receive Communion.
Saint Patrick’s Cathedral is the National Cathedral of the Church of Ireland, a member church of the Anglican (Episcopalian) Communion. Members of all Christian Church denominations are welcome to receive Holy Communion here.
Holy Communion will be distributed at the crossing and in the nave.
You will be directed to your appropriate location: please follow the stewards’ directions.
While the People receive Communion the Choir sings
AGNUS DEI
Agnus Dei qui tollis
peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Lamb of God who takes away
the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Agnus Dei qui tollis
peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.
Lamb of God who takes away
the sins of the world, give us peace.
Motet
My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
Patrick Hadley (1899–1973)
GOING OUT AS GOD’S PEOPLE
When all have received Communion, the Celebrant says
Let us pray.
Please kneel
The seasonal POST-COMMUNION PRAYER is said, and this prayer
Almighty God, we thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food of the body and blood of your Son Jesus Christ. Through him we offer you our souls and bodies to be a living sacrifice. Send us out in the power of your Spirit to live and work to your praise and glory. Amen.
Please stand to sing
HYMN
1. Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son,
Endless is the victory thou o’er death hast won;
Angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
Kept the folded grave-clothes where thy body lay:
Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son,
Endless is the victory thou o’er death hast won.
2. Lo, Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;
Lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom;
Let the Church with gladness hymns of triumph sing,
For her Lord now liveth, death hath lost its sting:
3. No more we doubt thee, glorious Prince of Life;
Life is nought without thee: aid us in our strife;
Make us more than conquerors through thy deathless love;
Bring us safe through Jordan to thy home above:
Edmond Budry (1854–1932)
G. F. Handel (1685–1759)
The Celebrant says the
BLESSING
After which, all say Amen.
The Deacon and Choir sing the
Dismissal
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. In the name of Christ. Amen.