Compline and Address

Wednesday of Holy Week

31 April 2021 7.00pm Welcome to Southwark Cathedral Set on the south bank of the River Thames in one of the most vibrant and diverse communities in London, this building has been a constant witness in a place of change. The first church was built on this site around the year 606. First a convent, then a monastery, it became in 1106 the Augustinian Priory of St Mary Overie. With Westminster Abbey and St Bartholomew the Great in Smithfield it is one of the three remaining great monastic churches of London. At the Reformation the Priory became a parish church and it remains so for the people of Bankside. In 1905, as south London was rapidly expanding, the church was consecrated as the cathedral for the new Diocese of Southwark. As well as a place of constant witness to our faith in Jesus Christ, this church has a momentous and proud history and has had links with many famous and influential characters including St Thomas Becket, Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. In the 20th century this cathedral was at the heart of the new movement in theology termed ‘South Bank Religion’. This movement asked challenging questions of people about faith in the modern age which continue to be explored at Southwark Cathedral which describes itself as ‘inclusive: faithful: radical’. Whatever has brought you here today, you are most welcome.Become part of the life here if you can; it will change your life as you encounter with us our living God.

PLEASE BELIEVE THESE DAYS WILL PASS by Mark Titchner, 2006 nominee for the Turner Prize, is our selected work to mark the season of Lent this year. A glimpse of it can be seen on the front cover of this order of service. Regrettably, due to the national lockdown it will not be on public display before the summer.

Please visit us between 2 June and 22 July to see the Lent Art Installation in place in the Cathedral. The monastic day was shaped by a pattern of prayer. Those in the community would gather for Offices throughout the day, the last of which was called Compline. The name is derived from the Latin word completorium which means completion. The Office therefore completes the day and prepares us for the night that will follow.

At the time of the Reformation in England, the Office of Compline disappeared as a service in its own right, although Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, in preparing the services for the Book of Common Prayer, included elements of the old offices of Vespers and Compline to create Evensong as we know it.

Compline was revised in Anglican usage in the 1928 Prayer Book and has been much used subsequently especially as an office in Lent and during retreats and quiet days. Common Worship has brought the office back as an authorised service of the church.

During Compline on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week, there will incorporated into the service an address and some storytelling by our Holy Week preacher, Dr Paula Gooder, Canon Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral based on characters from the Passion narratives, as we continue in our journey through the Passion.

4 All stand.

Preparation

The Lord almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end. All Amen.

Our help is in the name of the Lord All who made heaven and earth.

The Officiant introduces a time of reflection as the day draws to a close, and invites us to call to mind and confess our sins.

All Most merciful God, we confess to you, before the whole company of heaven and one another, that we have sinned in thought, word and deed and in what we have failed to do. Forgive us our sins, heal us by your Spirit and raise us to new life in Christ. Amen.

O God, make speed to save us. All O Lord, make haste to help us.

5 All Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.

The Word of God

All sit.

Psalmody Psalm 45

Antiphon Behold our defender, O God,and look upon the face of your anointed.

1 My heart is astir with gracious words; ◊ as I make my song for the king, my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

2 You are the fairest of men; ◊ full of grace are your lips, for God has blest you for ever.

3 Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one; ◊ gird on your majesty and glory.

6 4 Ride on and prosper in the cause of truth ◊ and for the sake of humility and righteousness.

5 Your right hand will teach you terrible things; ◊ your arrows will be sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies, so that peoples fall beneath you.

6 Your throne is God’s throne, for ever; ◊ the sceptre of your kingdom is the sceptre of righteousness.

7 You love righteousness and hate iniquity; ◊ therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.

8 All your garments are fragrant with myrrh, aloes and cassia; ◊ from ivory palaces the music of strings makes you glad.

9 Kings’ daughters are among your honourable women; ◊ at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

10 Hear, O daughter; consider and incline your ear; ◊ forget your own people and your father’s house.

11 So shall the king have pleasure in your beauty; ◊ he is your lord, so do him honour.

7 12 The people of Tyre shall bring you gifts; ◊ the richest of the people shall seek your favour.

13 The king’s daughter is all glorious within; ◊ her clothing is embroidered cloth of gold.

14 She shall be brought to the king in raiment of needlework; ◊ after her the virgins that are her companions.

15 With joy and gladness shall they be brought ◊ and enter into the palace of the king.

16 ‘Instead of your fathers you shall have sons, ◊ whom you shall make princes over all the land.

17 ‘I will make your name to be remembered through all generations; ◊ therefore shall the peoples praise you for ever and ever.’

All Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.

8 Antiphon (All) Behold our defender, O God, and look upon the face of your anointed.

Scripture Reading Mark 14. 3–9

While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. But some were there who said to one another in anger, ‘Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.’ And they scolded her. But Jesus said, ‘Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.’

This is the word of the Lord. All Thanks be to God.

9 Address Dr Paula Gooder, Canon Chancellor, St Paul’s Cathedral

There follows a period of silence.

A Song of Lamentation

1 Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? ◊ Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,

2 Which was brought upon me, ◊ which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger.

3 For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears; ◊ for a comforter is far from me, one to revive my courage.

4 Remember my affliction and my bitterness, ◊ the wormwood and the gall!

5 But this I call to mind, ◊ and therefore I have hope:

6 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, ◊ his mercies never come to an end;

10 7 They are new every morning; ◊ great is your faithfulness.

8 ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ◊ ‘therefore I will hope in him.’

9 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, ◊ to the soul that seeks him.

10 It is good that we should wait quietly ◊ for the salvation of the Lord.

11 For the Lord will not reject for ever; ◊ though he causes grief, he will have compassion,

12 According to the abundance of his steadfast love; ◊ for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone.

All Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.

Story Dr Paula Gooder, Canon Chancellor, St Paul’s Cathedral

There follows a period of silence.

11 Responsory

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. All Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

For you have redeemed me, Lord God of truth. All I commend my spirit.

Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. All Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

Keep me as the apple of your eye. All Hide me under the shadow of your wings.

All stand.

Gospel Canticle

Antiphon Christ himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, All that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

1 Now, Lord, you let your servant go in peace: ◊ your word has been fulfilled.

2 My own eyes have seen the salvation ◊ which you have prepared in the sight of every people;

12 3 A light to reveal you to the nations ◊ and the glory of your people Israel.

All Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.

Antiphon (All) Christ himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

All sit.

Prayers

The Officiant leads the prayers of intercession concluding with

Almighty God, as we stand at the foot of the cross of your Son, help us to see and know your love for us, so that in humility, love and joy we may place at his feet all that we have and all that we are; through Jesus Christ our Saviour. All Amen.

13 Visit this place, O Lord, we pray, and drive far from it the snares of the enemy; may your holy angels dwell with us and guard us in peace, and may your blessing be always upon us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. All Amen.

Standing at the foot of the cross, as our Saviour has taught us, so we pray,

All Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever. Amen.

14 The Conclusion

In peace we will lie down and sleep; All for you alone, Lord, make us dwell in safety.

Abide with us, Lord Jesus, All for the night is at hand and the day is now past.

As the night watch looks for the morning, All so do we look for you, O Christ.

Come with the dawning of the day All and make yourself known in the breaking of the bread.

May God bless us, that in us may be found love and humility, obedience and thanksgiving, discipline, gentleness and peace. All Amen.

The congregation departs in silence via the north-west doors and the Millennium Courtyard.

15 Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England, material from which is included in this service, is copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2000.

All songs covered by the Christian Copyright Licensing have been reproduced under CCL licence no. 223439.

The Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches in the USA: Scripture quotations from The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible © 1989 The Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Southwark Cathedral London Bridge London SE1 9DA 020 7367 6700 southwarkcathedral.org.uk