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 Tariro and the work of the Abbey. Tariro UK funds projects for young people in need in Zimbabwe; helping them to learn, to develop, and to grow.

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 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 stand to say the Responses

All sit to say Psalm 69

Save me, O God :
for the waters are come in, even unto my soul.
I stick fast in the deep mire, where no ground is :
I am come into deep waters, so that the floods run over me.
I am weary of crying; my throat is dry :
my sight faileth me for waiting so long upon my God.
They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head :
they that are mine enemies, and would destroy me guiltless, are mighty.
I paid them the things that I never took :
God, thou knowest my simpleness, and my faults are not hid from thee.
Let not them that trust in thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my cause :
let not those that seek thee be confounded through me, O Lord God of Israel.
And why? for thy sake have I suffered reproof :
shame hath covered my face.
I am become a stranger unto my brethren :
even an alien unto my mother's children.
For the zeal of thine house hath even eaten me :
and the rebukes of them that rebuked thee are fallen upon me.
I wept, and chastened myself with fasting :
and that was turned to my reproof.
I put on sackcloth also :
and they jested upon me.
They that sit in the gate speak against me :
and the drunkards make songs upon me.
But, Lord, I make my prayer unto thee :
in an acceptable time.
Hear me, O God, in the multitude of thy mercy :
even in the truth of thy salvation.
Take me out of the mire, that I sink not :
O let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
Let not the water-?ood drown me, neither let the deep swallow me up :
and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
Hear me, O Lord, for thy loving-kindness is comfortable :
turn thee unto me according to the multitude of thy mercies.
And hide not thy face from thy servant, for I am in trouble :
O haste thee, and hear me.
Draw nigh unto my soul, and save it :
O deliver me, because of mine enemies.
Thou hast known my reproof, my shame, and my dishonour :
mine adversaries are all in thy sight.
Thy rebuke hath broken my heart; I am full of heaviness :
I looked for some to have pity on me, but there was no man, neither found I any to comfort me.
They gave me gall to eat :
and when I was thirsty they gave me vinegar to drink.
Let their table be made a snare to take themselves withal :
and let the things that should have been for their wealth be unto them an occasion of falling.
Let their eyes be blinded, that they see not :
and ever bow thou down their backs.
Pour out thine indignation upon them :
and let thy wrathful displeasure take hold of them.
Let their habitation be void :
and no man to dwell in their tents.
For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten :
and they talk how they may vex them whom thou hast wounded.
Let them fall from one wickedness to another :
and not come into thy righteousness.
Let them be wiped out of the book of the living :
and not be written among the righteous.
As for me, when I am poor and in heaviness :
thy help, O God, shall lift me up.
I will praise the name of God with a song :
and magnify it with thanksgiving.
This also shall please the Lord :
better than a bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
The humble shall consider this, and be glad :
seek ye after God, and your soul shall live.
For the Lord heareth the poor :
and despiseth not his prisoners.
Let heaven and earth praise him :
the sea, and all that moveth therein.
For God will save Sion, and build the cities of Judah :
that men may dwell there, and have it in possession.
The posterity also of his servants shall inherit it :
and they that love his name shall dwell therein.

All remain seated for the first Lesson, Isaiah 58: 6–end

Is not this the fast that I choose:
   to loose the bonds of injustice,
   to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
   and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
   and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
   and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
   and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
   the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
   you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you,
   the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
if you offer your food to the hungry
   and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
   and your gloom be like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you continually,
   and satisfy your needs in parched places,
   and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
   like a spring of water,
   whose waters never fail.
Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
   you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
   the restorer of streets to live in.

If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,
   from pursuing your own interests on my holy day;
if you call the sabbath a delight
   and the holy day of the Lord honourable;
if you honour it, not going your own ways,
   serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs;
then you shall take delight in the Lord,
   and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob,
   for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Here ends the first lesson.

All stand to say Magnificat

All sit for the second Lesson, Matthew 25: 31–end

Jesus said, 'When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me." Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?" And the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." Then he will say to those at his left hand, "You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me." Then they also will answer, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?" Then he will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me." And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.'

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

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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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.