A Festival of Advent Lessons and Carols 6 December 2020 Sunday Morning at 10:30 O’Clock St
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A Festival of Advent Lessons and Carols 6 December 2020 Sunday Morning at 10:30 o’clock St. Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church 1 A Festival of Advent Lessons and Carols Organ Voluntary Sleepers Wake! A Voice is Calling Johann Sebastian Bach Hymn Come, thou long expected Jesus Stuttgart Words: Charles Wesley (1707-1788) Music: Stuttgart, melody from Psalmodia Sacra, oder Andächtige und Schöne Gesange, 1715; adapt. and harm. William Henry Havergal (1793-1870), alt. A Bidding Prayer Beloved in Christ, in this season of Advent, let it be our care and delight to prepare ourselves to hear again the message of the Angels, and in heart and mind to go even unto Bethlehem, to see the Babe lying in a manger. Let us read and mark in Holy Scripture the tale of the loving purposes of God from the first days of our disobedience unto the glorious Redemption brought us by his holy Child; and let us look forward to the yearly remembrance of his birth with hymns and songs of praise. 2 But first, let us pray for the needs of the whole world; for peace and goodwill over all the earth; for the mission and unity of the Church, for which he died, and especially in this country and within this city. And because this of all things would rejoice his heart, let us at this time remember in his name the poor and the helpless; the hungry and the oppressed; the sick and those who mourn; the lonely and the unloved; the aged and the little children; and all those who know not the Lord Jesus, or who love him not, or who by sin have grieved his heart of love. Lastly, let us remember before God his pure and lowly Mother, and all those who rejoice with us, but upon another shore and in a greater light, that multitude which no one can number, whose hope was in the Word made flesh, and whom, in this Lord Jesus, we for evermore are one. These prayer and praises let us humbly offer up to the throne of heaven, in the words which Christ himself has taught us: 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, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. The Almighty God bless us with his grace; Christ give us the joys of everlasting life; and unto the fellowship of the citizens above may the King of Angels bring us all. Amen. 3 Antiphon: O Emmanuel (choir and congregation) Lesson I Genesis 1:1–5 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. John 1:1–5, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 4 Organ Meditation on Savior of the Nations Come Johann Sebastian Bach Savior of the nations, come! Virgin’s Son, make here your home. Marvel now, both heaven and earth, that the Lord chose such a birth. Wondrous birth! Oh, wondrous child of the Virgin undefiled! Mighty God and Mary’s son, eager now his race to run! Thus on earth the Word appears, gracing his created spheres; hence to death and hell descends, then the heavenly throne ascends. Come, O Father’s saving Son, who o’er sin the victory won. Boundless shall your kingdom be; grant that we its glories see. Martin Luther (1483-1546) after Ambrose of Milan (340-397); tr. William M. Reynolds (1812-1876) and James Waring McCrady (b. 1938) Antiphon: O Sapientia (choir and congregation) 5 Lesson II Isaiah 61:1–3 The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory. Luke 4:16–21 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 6 Carol What Sweeter Music Ralph Vaughan Williams What sweeter music can we bring Than a carol for to sing the birth of this our heav'nly King? We see him come, and know him ours, Who with his sunshine and his showers Turns all the patient ground to flowers. So we will see him, and bequeath This holly and this ivy wreath, to do him honour, who's our King, And Lord of all this revelling. Dark and dull night, fly hence away, And give the honour to this day That sees December turn'd to May. The darling of the world is come, And fit it is to find a room To welcome him. The nobler part Of all the house here is the heart. arr. Mark Schweizer Antiphon: O Adonai (choir and congregation) 7 Lesson III Isaiah 40:1–11 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry. And he said, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. Matthew 3:1–7, 11 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, ‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” ’ Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.