Matins is an early morning worship service, and is the first of the canonical hours. The name comes from the Latin matutinus “pertaining to the morning.” It is one of the canonical hours, which developed as dedicated times, or hours, for prayer and devotion. Matins, sometimes spelled “mattins,” was the longest of the services of the breviary. It consisted chiefly of three sets of psalms and lessons. It was a vigil service, begun several hours before dawn. In the Rule of St. Benedict of Nursia, matins was typically at 2 a.m. Thomas Cranmer combined portions of matins, lauds, and prime to form his English Mattins in the 1549 BCP. This service became Morning Prayer.
On this site associated with Saint Patrick, God has been worshipped through the prayers and praises of countless generations. We welcome you here today to share in this worship. Much of today’s service is sung by the Choir, allowing you space to reflect and freedom to participate in a silent, but equally direct, way.
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
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 ABSOLUTION is pronounced by the Priest, to which the People respond Amen.
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
PSALM 119 vv 105–112
Lucerna pedibus meis.
Thy word is a lantern unto my feet: and a light unto my paths. I have sworn, and am steadfastly purposed: to keep thy righteous judgements. I am troubled above measure: quicken me, O Lord, according to thy word. Let the free-will offerings of my mouth please thee, O Lord: and teach me thy judgements. My soul is alway in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law. The ungodly have laid a snare for me: but yet I swerved not from thy commandments. Thy testimonies have I claimed as mine heritage for ever: and why? they are the very joy of my heart. I have applied my heart to fulfil thy statutes alway: even unto the end.
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
Genesis 2: 15–17; 3: 1–7
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Please stand as the Choir sings
The Lamentations of Jeremiah
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
Matthew 4: 1–11
4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’[b]”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[c]”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[d]”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’[e]”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
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.
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 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
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.
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.
Kenneth Leighton (1929–88)
Please sit as the Choir sings the
ANTHEM
Insanæ et vanæ curæ invadunt mentes nostras, sæpe furore replent corda, privata spe. Quid prodest O mortalis conari pro mundanis si cœlos negligas. Sunt fausta tibi cuncta, si Deus est pro te.
(Distracted with care and anguish, when hearts despairing languish, madly they seek for comfort where it doth n’er abide. For us no rest remaineth, if earth our love retaineth, and heav’n we cast aside. Relief he only gaineth, and peace at last attaineth, whom God vouchsafes to guide.)
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809
Please sit for the
Sermon
Preacher: The Very Reverend N. J. Sloane, B.A., M.Phil., M.A., Chancellor
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. 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
Please remain standing as the Choir and Clergy depart.
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 at your seat for the duration of the