Welcome to Westminster Abbey. Daily prayer has been offered in this place for over a thousand years, and your participation in today's service is warmly welcomed.

The service always includes one or more psalms. These ancient prayers, taken from the Old Testament, reflect the full range of human emotions and experiences; from the depths of anger, resentment, and abandonment to the heights of ecstatic joy and praise. They were used by Jesus, and have always been at the heart of the Church's daily prayer.

The canticles Magnificat (Luke 1: 46–55) and Nunc dimittis (Luke 2: 29–32) reflect two responses to the Incarnation (God becoming fully human in Jesus Christ). Both speak of the fulfilment of God's promises, not just to 'Abraham and his seed', but also 'to be a light to lighten the Gentiles' (all nations). With their themes of fulfilment and completion, these texts have been given central place for many centuries in the Church's prayers for the evening and at the end of the day.

Please join in saying the words printed in bold type.

The church is served by a hearing loop. Users should turn their hearing aid to the setting marked T.

Photography, filming, and sound recording are not allowed in the Abbey during services. Please ensure that mobile telephones and other electronic devices are silent.

Following the service a collection will be taken; the money from today's services will be divided equally between The Connection at St Martin-in-the-Fields and the work of the Abbey. The Connection works with people who are rough sleeping to move away from, and stay off, the streets of London.

Order of Service

All stand as the clergy enter

The officiant says a sentence of Scripture

All remain standing as the officiant introduces the Confession

Beloved, we are come together in the presence of Almighty God and of the whole company of heaven to offer unto him through our Lord Jesus Christ our worship and praise and thanksgiving; to make confession of our sins; to pray, as well for others as for ourselves, that we may know more truly the greatness of God's love and show forth in our lives the fruits of his grace; and to ask on behalf of all people such things as their well-being doth require. Wherefore let us kneel and keep silence, and remember God's presence with us now.

All kneel or sit to say together

O God, our Father,
we have sinned against thee
in thought, word, and deed;
we have not loved thee with all our heart;
we have not loved our neighbour as ourselves.
Have mercy upon us, we beseech thee;
cleanse us from our sins;
and help us to overcome our faults;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

The officiant gives the Absolution

May the almighty and merciful Lord grant unto you pardon and remission of all your sins, time for amendment of life, and the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

All stand to say the Responses

All sit to say Psalm 37

Fret not thyself because of the ungodly :
neither be thou envious against the evil-doers.
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass :
and be withered even as the green herb.
Put thou thy trust in the Lord, and be doing good :
dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Delight thou in the Lord :
and he shall give thee thy heart's desire.
Commit thy way unto the Lord, and put thy trust in him :
and he shall bring it to pass.
He shall make thy righteousness as clear as the light :
and thy just dealing as the noon-day.
Hold thee still in the Lord, and abide patiently upon him :
but grieve not thyself at him whose way doth prosper, against the man that doeth after evil counsels.
Leave off from wrath, and let go displeasure :
fret not thyself, else shalt thou be moved to do evil.
Wicked doers shall be rooted out :
and they that patiently abide the Lord, those shall inherit the land.
Yet a little while, and the ungodly shall be clean gone :
thou shalt look after his place, and he shall be away.
But the meek-spirited shall possess the earth :
and shall be refreshed in the multitude of peace.
The ungodly seeketh counsel against the just :
and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
The Lord shall laugh him to scorn :
for he hath seen that his day is coming.
The ungodly have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow :
to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as are of a right conversation.
Their sword shall go through their own heart :
and their bow shall be broken.
A small thing that the righteous hath :
is better than great riches of the ungodly.
For the arms of the ungodly shall be broken :
and the Lord upholdeth the righteous.
The Lord knoweth the days of the godly :
and their inheritance shall endure for ever.
They shall not be confounded in the perilous time :
and in the days of dearth they shall have enough.
As for the ungodly, they shall perish; and the enemies of the Lord shall consume as the fat of lambs :
yea, even as the smoke, shall they consume away.
The ungodly borroweth, and payeth not again :
but the righteous is merciful, and liberal.
Such as are blessed of God shall possess the land :
and they that are cursed of him shall be rooted out.
The Lord ordereth a good man's going :
and maketh his way acceptable to himself.
Though he fall, he shall not be cast away :
for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.
I have been young, and now am old :
and yet saw I never the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread.
The righteous is ever merciful, and lendeth :
and his seed is blessed.
Flee from evil, and do the thing that is good :
and dwell for evermore.
For the Lord loveth the thing that is right :
he forsaketh not his that be godly, but they are preserved for ever.
The unrighteous shall be punished :
as for the seed of the ungodly, it shall be rooted out.
The righteous shall inherit the land :
and dwell therein for ever.
The mouth of the righteous is exercised in wisdom :
and his tongue will be talking of judgement.
The law of his God is in his heart :
and his goings shall not slide.
The ungodly seeth the righteous :
and seeketh occasion to slay him.
The Lord will not leave him in his hand :
nor condemn him when he is judged.
Hope thou in the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall promote thee, that thou shalt possess the land :
when the ungodly shall perish, thou shalt see it.
I myself have seen the ungodly in great power :
and flourishing like a green bay-tree.
I went by, and lo, he was gone :
I sought him, but his place could no where be found.
Keep innocency, and take heed unto the thing that is right :
for that shall bring a man peace at the last.
As for the transgressors, they shall perish together :
and the end of the ungodly is, they shall be rooted out at the last.
But the salvation of the righteous cometh of the Lord :
who is also their strength in the time of trouble.
And the Lord shall stand by them, and save them :
he shall deliver them from the ungodly, and shall save them, because they put their trust in him.

All remain seated for the first Lesson, Proverbs 2: 1–15

My child, if you accept my words
   and treasure up my commandments within you,
making your ear attentive to wisdom
   and inclining your heart to understanding;
if you indeed cry out for insight,
   and raise your voice for understanding;
if you seek it like silver,
   and search for it as for hidden treasures—
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
   and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom;
   from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
   he is a shield to those who walk blamelessly,
guarding the paths of justice
   and preserving the way of his faithful ones.
Then you will understand righteousness and justice
   and equity, every good path;
for wisdom will come into your heart,
   and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
prudence will watch over you;
   and understanding will guard you.
It will save you from the way of evil,
   from those who speak perversely,
who forsake the paths of uprightness
   to walk in the ways of darkness,
who rejoice in doing evil
   and delight in the perverseness of evil;
those whose paths are crooked,
   and who are devious in their ways.

Here ends the first lesson.

All stand to say Magnificat

All sit for the second Lesson, Colossians 1: 9b–20

We have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Here ends the second lesson.

All stand to say Nunc dimittis

All face east to say together 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.

Let us pray.

All kneel or sit for the Lesser Litany; the Lord's Prayer and the Responses

Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done,
in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.

The officiant says the Collects; of the day, for peace, and for aid against all perils

Keep, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy Church with thy perpetual mercy: and, because the frailty of man without thee cannot but fall, keep us ever by thy help from all things hurtful, and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 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.

The officiant says the Prayers; for the Royal Family, and for the Members of the Order of the Bath

Almighty God, the fountain of all goodness, we humbly beseech thee to bless our most gracious Sovereign Lord King Charles, Queen Camilla, William Prince of Wales, the Princess of Wales, and all the Royal Family: endue them with thy Holy Spirit; enrich them with thy heavenly grace; prosper them with all happiness; and bring them to thine everlasting kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

God save our Gracious Sovereign, and all the Members of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath living and departed. Amen.

All remain kneeling or seated for the Intercessions, at the end of which 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.

All stand as the clergy depart

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