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.

Please join in saying the words and singing the hymns 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 USPG and the work of the Abbey. USPG is an Anglican mission agency that partners with churches worldwide in God's mission to enliven faith, strengthen relationships, unlock potential, and champion justice.

Order of Service

All stand as the clergy enter

The officiant says a Sentence of Scripture

All remain standing for the Responses

O Lord, open thou our lips
and our mouth shall shew 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.

All sing the Hymn

All sit to say Venite exultemus Domino

All remain seated to say Psalm 31

In thee, O Lord, have I put my trust :
let me never be put to confusion, deliver me in thy righteousness.
Bow down thine ear to me :
make haste to deliver me.
And be thou my strong rock, and house of defence :
that thou mayest save me.
For thou art my strong rock, and my castle :
be thou also my guide, and lead me for thy name's sake.
Draw me out of the net that they have laid privily for me :
for thou art my strength.
Into thy hands I commend my spirit :
for thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, thou God of truth.
I have hated them that hold of superstitious vanities :
and my trust hath been in the Lord.
I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy :
for thou hast considered my trouble, and hast known my soul in adversities.
Thou hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy :
but hast set my feet in a large room.
Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble :
and mine eye is consumed for very heaviness; yea, my soul and my body.
For my life is waxen old with heaviness :
and my years with mourning.
My strength faileth me, because of mine iniquity :
and my bones are consumed.
I became a reproof among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours :
and they of mine acquaintance were afraid of me; and they that did see me without conveyed themselves from me.
I am clean forgotten, as a dead man out of mind :
I am become like a broken vessel.
For I have heard the blasphemy of the multitude :
and fear is on every side, while they conspire together against me, and take their counsel to take away my life.
But my hope hath been in thee, O Lord :
I have said, Thou art my God.
My time is in thy hand; deliver me from the hand of mine enemies :
and from them that persecute me.
Shew thy servant the light of thy countenance :
and save me for thy mercy's sake.
Let me not be confounded, O Lord, for I have called upon thee :
let the ungodly be put to confusion, and be put to silence in the grave.
Let the lying lips be put to silence :
which cruelly, disdainfully, and despitefully, speak against the righteous.
O how plentiful is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee :
and that thou hast prepared for them that put their trust in thee, even before the sons of men!
Thou shalt hide them privily by thine own presence from the provoking of all men :
thou shalt keep them secretly in thy tabernacle from the strife of tongues.
Thanks be to the Lord :
for he hath shewed me marvellous great kindness in a strong city.
And when I made haste, I said :
I am cast out of the sight of thine eyes.
Nevertheless, thou heardest the voice of my prayer :
when I cried unto thee.
O love the Lord, all ye his saints :
for the Lord preserveth them that are faithful, and plenteously rewardeth the proud doer.
Be strong, and he shall establish your heart :
all ye that put your trust in the Lord.

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.

All remain seated for the first Lesson, Song of Solomon 2

I am a rose of Sharon,
   a lily of the valleys.

As a lily among brambles,
   so is my love among maidens.

As an apple tree among the trees of the wood,
   so is my beloved among young men.
With great delight I sat in his shadow,
   and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
He brought me to the banqueting house,
   and his intention towards me was love.
Sustain me with raisins,
   refresh me with apples;
   for I am faint with love.
O that his left hand were under my head,
   and that his right hand embraced me!
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
   by the gazelles or the wild does:
do not stir up or awaken love
   until it is ready!

The voice of my beloved!
   Look, he comes,
leaping upon the mountains,
   bounding over the hills.
My beloved is like a gazelle
   or a young stag.
Look, there he stands
   behind our wall,
gazing in at the windows,
   looking through the lattice.
My beloved speaks and says to me:
'Arise, my love, my fair one,
   and come away;
for now the winter is past,
   the rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
   the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtle-dove
   is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth its figs,
   and the vines are in blossom;
   they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my fair one,
   and come away.
O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
   in the covert of the cliff,
let me see your face,
   let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
   and your face is lovely.
Catch us the foxes,
   the little foxes,
that ruin the vineyards—
   for our vineyards are in blossom.'

My beloved is mine and I am his;
   he pastures his flock among the lilies.
Until the day breathes
   and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle
   or a young stag on the cleft mountains.

Here ends the first lesson.

All stand to say Te Deum laudamus

We praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting.
To thee all angels cry aloud, the heavens and all the powers therein.
To thee Cherubin and Seraphin continually do cry,
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth;
heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory.
The glorious company of the apostles praise thee.
The goodly fellowship of the prophets praise thee.
The noble army of martyrs praise thee.
The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee,
the Father, of an infinite majesty;
thine honourable, true, and only Son,
also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.

Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ;
thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.
When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb.
When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge.
We therefore pray thee, help thy servants, whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with thy saints, in glory everlasting.

O Lord, save thy people, and bless thine heritage.
Govern them and lift them up for ever.
Day by day we magnify thee,
and we worship thy name ever world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin.
O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us.
O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us, as our trust is in thee.
O Lord, in thee have I trusted; let me never be confounded.

All sit for the second Lesson, 1 Peter 4: 7–14

The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in so far as you are sharing Christ's sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.

Here ends the second lesson.

All stand to say 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 hands 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.

All face east to say together the Apostles' Creed

The Lord be with you.
And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

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

Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.

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.

O Lord, shew thy mercy upon us.
And grant us thy salvation.

O Lord, save The King.
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 officiant says the Collects; of the day, for Peace, and for Grace

Grant to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as be rightful; that we, who cannot do any thing that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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.

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.

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 say

All stand to sing the Hymn

Father, hear the prayer we offer:
   not for ease that prayer shall be,
but for strength that we may ever
   live our lives courageously.

Not for ever in green pastures
   do we ask our way to be;
but the steep and rugged pathway
   may we tread rejoicingly.

Not for ever by still waters
   would we idly rest and stay;
but would smite the living fountains
   from the rocks along our way.

Be our strength in hours of weakness,
   in our wanderings be our guide;
through endeavour, failure, danger,
   Father, be thou at our side.

Words: 'Aspiration', after Psalm 23, Love Maria Willis (1824–1908)
Tune: 'Sussex' 357 NEH, traditional English melody

All remain standing for the Blessing, to which all respond Amen.

Those who wish to may sit for the remainder of the organ voluntary