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 Matins 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.

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 Choir 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 officiant says a Sentence of Scripture

The officiant and choir sing the Responses

Music: Richard Ayleward (1626–69)

All sit. The choir sings Venite exultemus Domino

All remain seated. The choir sings Psalm 107: 1–15

O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is gracious : and his mercy endureth for ever.
Let them give thanks whom the Lord hath redeemed : and delivered from the hand of the enemy;
and gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west : from the north, and from the south.
They went astray in the wilderness out of the way : and found no city to dwell in;
hungry and thirsty : their soul fainted in them.
So they cried unto the Lord in their trouble : and he delivered them from their distress.
He led them forth by the right way : that they might go to the city where they dwelt.
O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness : and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men.
For he satisfieth the empty soul : and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
Such as sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death : being fast bound in misery and iron;
because they rebelled against the words of the Lord : and lightly regarded the counsel of the most Highest;
he also brought down their heart through heaviness : they fell down, and there was none to help them.
So when they cried unto the Lord in their trouble : he delivered them out of their distress.
For he brought them out of darkness, and out of the shadow of death : and brake their bonds in sunder.
O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness : and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men.

All stand

Chant: Edward Bairstow (1874–1946)

All sit for the first Lesson, Isaiah 45: 9–22

Woe to you who strive with your Maker,
   earthen vessels with the potter!
Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, 'What are you making?'
   or 'Your work has no handles'?
Woe to anyone who says to a father, 'What are you begetting?'
   or to a woman, 'With what are you in labour?'
Thus says the Lord,
   the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:
Will you question me about my children,
   or command me concerning the work of my hands?
I made the earth,
   and created humankind upon it;
it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
   and I commanded all their host.
I have aroused Cyrus in righteousness,
   and I will make all his paths straight;
he shall build my city
   and set my exiles free,
not for price or reward,
   says the Lord of hosts.
Thus says the Lord:
The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia,
   and the Sabeans, tall of stature,
shall come over to you and be yours,
   they shall follow you;
   they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying,
   'God is with you alone, and there is no other;
   there is no god besides him.'
Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
   O God of Israel, the Saviour.
All of them are put to shame and confounded,
   the makers of idols go in confusion together.
But Israel is saved by the Lord
   with everlasting salvation;
you shall not be put to shame or confounded
   to all eternity.

For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
   (he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
   (he established it;
he did not create it a chaos,
   he formed it to be inhabited!):
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I did not speak in secret,
   in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
   'Seek me in chaos.'
I the Lord speak the truth,
   I declare what is right.

Assemble yourselves and come together,
   draw near, you survivors of the nations!
They have no knowledge—
   those who carry about their wooden idols,
and keep on praying to a god
   that cannot save.
Declare and present your case;
   let them take counsel together!
Who told this long ago?
   Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the Lord?
   There is no other god besides me,
a righteous God and a Saviour;
   there is no one besides me.

Turn to me and be saved,
   all the ends of the earth!
   For I am God, and there is no other.

Here ends the first lesson.

All stand. The choir sings Te Deum laudamus

Short Service, Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625) Organist of Westminster Abbey 1623–25

All sit for the second Lesson, Revelation 14: 1–5

I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the one hundred forty-four thousand who have been redeemed from the earth. It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins; these follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from humankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found; they are blameless.

Here ends the second lesson.

All stand. The choir sings Jubilate Deo

O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands.
   Serve the Lord with gladness;
   and come before his presence with a song.

Be ye sure that the Lord he is God.
   It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
   we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving,
   and into his courts with praise.
   Be thankful unto him, and speak good of his name.

For the Lord is gracious;
   his mercy is everlasting,
   and his truth endureth from generation to generation.

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.

Chant: James Turle (1802–82) Organist of Westminster Abbey 1831–82

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, for Grace:

Lord, we pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good works; 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.

Music: Richard Ayleward

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

Music after the service

Fugue in F minor BWV 534ii, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)

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