Category: Choral Evensong

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Choral Evensong

Sunday 19th March 2023 – 15:15

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Choral Evensong at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral is a tiny fragment of something else: it is part of the worship which is offered to God by people every hour of the day and night, in every corner of the world. When you come to Evensong here, it is as if you are dropping in on a conversation already in progress – a conversation between God and his people. So do not be surprised or concerned if there are some parts that you do not understand straight away.

Evensong is drawn almost entirely from the Bible. Much of the language spoken and sung in this service is that spoken by worshippers more than four hundred years ago. It may sound old-fashioned, but its meaning is not out of date. We invite you to allow the music and words to speak to you in the beauty and peace of this place.

You are invited to say the text in bold in English.

Order of Service

Please stand as the Minister sings

Let us pray.

Please remain standing whilst the Choir and Clergy enter the stalls

Please remain standing to sing the

Hymn

1. It is a thing most wonderful,
Almost too wonderful to be,
That God’s own Son should come from heaven,
And die to save a child like me.

2. And yet I know that it is true;
He chose a poor and humble lot,
And wept and toiled and mourned and died,
For love of those who loved him not.

3. But even could I see him die,
I could but see a little part
Of that great love, which, like a fire,
Is always burning in his heart.

4. It is most wonderful to know
His love for me so free and sure;
But ’tis more wonderful to see
My love for him so faint and poor.

5. And yet I want to love thee, Lord;
O light the flame within my heart,
And I will love thee more and more,
Until I see thee as thou art.

William How (1823–97)

Trad. English, arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958)

Please remain standing.

The Minister and Choir sing the

Preces and 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.

Thomas Tallis (d.1585)

Please sit as the Choir sings the 

PSALM 98

Cantate Domino.

O sing unto the Lord a new song: for he hath done marvellous things.  With his own right hand, and with his holy arm: hath he gotten himself the victory.  The Lord declared his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.  He hath remembered his mercy and truth toward the house of Israel: and all the ends of the world have seen the salvation of our God.  Shew yourselves joyful unto the Lord, all ye lands: sing, rejoice, and give thanks.  Praise the Lord upon the harp: sing to the harp with a psalm of thanksgiving. With trumpets also, and shawms: O shew yourselves joyful before the Lord the King.  Let the sea make a noise, and all that therein is: the round world, and they that dwell therein.  Let the floods clap their hands, and let the hills be joyful together before the Lord: for he is come to judge the earth.  With righteousness shall he judge the world: and the people with equity.

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

Micah 7

Please stand as the Choir sings 

MAGNIFICAT

Tone IV; Orlando Lassus (1532–94)

Please sit for the 

John 2: 13–22

Please stand as the Choir sings 

NUNC DIMITTIS

Plainsong

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 AND 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 

Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve to be punished, by the comfort of thy grace may mercifully be relieved; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

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.

Thomas Tallis (d.1585)

Please sit as the Choir sings the

THE SERMON IN MUSIC

Introduced by the Dean

Media vita in morte sumus: quem quærimus adiutorum, nisi te, Domine? Qui pro peccatis nostris iuste irasceris. Sancte Deus, sancta fortis, sancta et misericors Salvator noster, amaræ morti ne tradas nos.

(In the midst of life we are in death. Whom shall we seek as a help, if not you O Lord, who for our sins rightly grow angry? Holy God, holy Almighty, and our merciful Saviour, do not hand us over to a bitter death.)

Nicholas Gombert (d.1550)

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

Hymn

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1. O sacred head, sore wounded
Defiled and put to scorn;
O kingly head, surrounded
With mocking crown of thorn:
What sorrow mars thy grandeur?
Can death thy bloom deflower?
O countenance whose splendour
The hosts of heaven adore.

2. In thy most bitter passion,
My heart to share doth cry,
With thee for my salvation,
Upon the Cross to die.
O keep my heart thus movèd
To stand thy Cross beneath,
To mourn thee, well-belovèd,
Yet thank thee for thy death.

3. My days are few, O fail not,
With thine immortal power,
To hold me, that I quail not
In death’s most fearful hour:
That I may fight befriended,
And see in my last strife
To me thine arms extended
Upon the Cross of life.

Latin, 14th cent.,

tr. Robert Bridges (1844–1930)

arr. J. S. Bach (1685–1750)

Please remain standing for

The Blessing

Please stand as the Choir and Clergy depart. 

 

Please remain at your seat for the duration of the 

ORGAN VOLUNTARY

Prelude in E minor   J. S. Bach (1685–1750)

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