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. At choral Evensong most of the service is sung by the choir on our behalf. We participate through our presence and our listening, that the words and the music might become a prayer within us and lift us to contemplate God's beauty and glory.

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.

The service is sung by the Lay Vicars of Westminster Abbey.

Following the service, a collection will be taken; the money from today's services will be divided equally between St George's College Jerusalem and the work of the Abbey. St George's College Jerusalem is the Anglican centre for pilgrimage, education, hospitality, and reconciliation in the Holy Land.

Order of Service

All stand as the choir and clergy enter

The choir sings the Introit

Lucis Creator optime
Lucem dierum proferens,
Primordiis lucis novae,
Mundi parans originem:

Qui mane iunctum vesperi
Diem vocari praecipis:
Tetrum chaos illabitur,
Audi preces cum fletibus.

Ne mens gravata crimine,
Vitae sit exsul munere,
Dum nil perenne cogitat,
Seseque culpis illigat.

Praesta, Pater piissime,
Patrique compar Unice,
Cum Spiritu Paraclito
Regnans per omne saeculum.
   Amen.

Blest Creator of light, bringing forth the light of the days, the beginning of the new light, preparing the origin of the world.

You command the morning joined to the evening to be called day: the gloomy chaos will creep in; hear our prayers with tears.

Lest the mind be burdened with guilt, let it be an exile of life, while it thinks of nothing forever, and binds itself with guilt.

Most pious Father, Godhead coequal in Unity, reigning with the Spirit Paraclete through all the ages. Amen.

Words: office hymn at vespers on Sundays in Ordinary Time
Music: plainsong

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 sit or 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 say together the Lord's Prayer

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.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

All stand. The officiant and choir sing the Responses

Music: plainsong

All sit. The choir sings Psalm 119: 65–80

O Lord, thou hast dealt graciously with thy servant : according unto thy word.
O learn me true understanding and knowledge : for I have believed thy commandments.
Before I was troubled, I went wrong : but now have I kept thy word.
Thou art good and gracious : O teach me thy statutes.
The proud have imagined a lie against me : but I will keep thy commandments with my whole heart.
Their heart is as fat as brawn : but my delight hath been in thy law.
It is good for me that I have been in trouble : that I may learn thy statutes.
The law of thy mouth is dearer unto me : than thousands of gold and silver.

Thy hands have made me and fashioned me : O give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.
They that fear thee will be glad when they see me : because I have put my trust in thy word.
I know, O Lord, that thy judgements are right : and that thou of very faithfulness hast caused me to be troubled.
O let thy merciful kindness be my comfort : according to thy word unto thy servant.
O let thy loving mercies come unto me, that I may live : for thy law is my delight.
Let the proud be confounded, for they go wickedly about to destroy me : but I will be occupied in thy commandments.
Let such as fear thee, and have known thy testimonies : be turned unto me.
O let my heart be sound in thy statutes : that I be not ashamed.

All stand

Chants: plainsong

All sit for the first Lesson, Lamentations 3: 34–48

When all the prisoners of the land
   are crushed under foot,
when human rights are perverted
   in the presence of the Most High,
when one's case is subverted
   —does the Lord not see it?

Who can command and have it done,
   if the Lord has not ordained it?
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
   that good and bad come?
Why should any who draw breath complain
   about the punishment of their sins?

Let us test and examine our ways,
   and return to the Lord.
Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands
   to God in heaven.
We have transgressed and rebelled,
   and you have not forgiven.

You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
   killing without pity;
you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
   so that no prayer can pass through.
You have made us filth and rubbish
   among the peoples.

All our enemies
   have opened their mouths against us;
panic and pitfall have come upon us,
   devastation and destruction.
My eyes flow with rivers of tears
   because of the destruction of my people.

Here ends the first lesson.

All stand. The choir sings Magnificat

The First Service, John Sheppard (c 1515–58)

All sit for the second Lesson, Romans 7: 14–end

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin.

Here ends the second lesson.

All stand. The choir sings Nunc dimittis

The First Service, John Sheppard

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. The officiant and choir sing 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 sings the Collects; of the day, for peace, and for aid against all perils

Almighty and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command; 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.

Music: plainsong

All sit. The choir sings the Anthem

I give you a new commandment: that ye love one another e'en as I have loved you. By this all men shall know that ye are my disciples.

Words: John 13: 34–35
Music: John Sheppard

All kneel or remain seated for the Intercessions

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

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 choir and clergy depart

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

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Common Worship (Church House Publishing, 2000), material from which is included in this service, is copyright © The Archbishops' Council. Scripture Readings are from the New Revised Standard Version.