Category: Choral Evensong

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Choral Evensong

Sunday 5th 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 It may sound old-fashioned, but its meaning is not out of date.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. Firmly I believe and truly
God is Three, and God is One;
And I next acknowledge duly
Manhood taken by the Son.

2. And I trust and hope most fully
In that Manhood crucified;
And each thought and deed unruly
Do to death, as he has died.

3. Simply to his grace and wholly
Light and life and strength belong,
And I love supremely, solely,
Him the holy, him the strong.

4. And I hold in veneration,
For the love of him alone,
Holy Church as his creation,
And her teachings as his own.

5. Adoration ay be given,
With and through the angelic host,
To the God of earth and heaven,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

St John Henry Newman (1801–90)

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.

Kenneth Leighton (1929–88)

Please sit as the Choir sings the 

PSALM 29
Afferte Domino.
Ascribe unto the Lord, O ye mighty: ascribe unto the Lord worship and strength. Ascribe unto the Lord the honour due unto his Name: worship the Lord with holy worship. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: it is the glorious God, that maketh the thunder. It is the Lord that ruleth the sea; the voice of the Lord is mighty in operation: the voice of the Lord is a glorious voice. The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedar-trees: yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Libanus. He maketh them also to skip like a calf: Libanus also, and Sirion, like a young unicorn. The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire; the voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness: yea, the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to bring forth young, and strippeth bare the forests: in his temple doth every thing speak of his honour. The Lord sat as King above the Flood: and the Lord remaineth a King for ever. The Lord shall give strength unto his people: the Lord shall give his people the blessing of peace.

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

Please stand as the Choir sings 

MAGNIFICAT

Service in D minor; Thomas Attwood Walmisley (1814–56)

Please sit for the 

Please stand as the Choir sings 

NUNC DIMITTIS

Service in D minor; Thomas Attwood Walmisley (1814–56)

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 

Almighty God, who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves; Keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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.

Kenneth Leighton (1929–88)

Please sit as the Choir sings the

THE SERMON IN MUSIC

Introduced by the Dean’s Vicar

Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us; consider, and behold our reproach. Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities. The joy of our heart is ceased, and our dance is turned into mourning. For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim. Thou, O Lord, remainest for ever; thy throne is from generation to generation.

Thomas Attwood Walmisley (1814–56)

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 Strength and Stay, upholding all creation,
Who ever dost thyself unmoved abide,
Yet day by day the light in due gradation
From hour to hour through all its changes guide;

2. Grant to life’s day a calm, unclouded ending,
An eve untouched by shadows of decay;
The brightness of a holy deathbed blending
With dawning glories of the eternal day.

3. Hear us, O Father, gracious and forgiving,
Through Jesus Christ, thy co-eternal Word,
Who, with the Holy Ghost, by all things living
Now and to endless ages art adored.

Saint Ambrose (d.397)

John Dykes (1823–76)

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

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