A Service of Lessons AND Carols for Christmas Eve December 24, 2020 at Four O’ Clock in the Afternoon The Episcopal Church of the Messiah P.O. Box 248, Rhinebeck NY 12572 www.rhinebeck-episcopal.org A Note about this service Our service of Lessons and Carols finds its history within the Cathedral tradition of Anglican liturgy and church music. At Christmas Eve in 1880, the Bishop of the Diocese of Truro (England), the Rt. Rev. E.W. Benson, conducted a service he had composed of nine lessons and carols. The lessons were read by various officers of the Cathedral, ranking from lowest to highest, ending with a reading, not surprisingly, by the Bishop himself. This format was adapted in 1918 by the Dean of King’s College, Cambridge, Dr. Eric Milner- White. The Dean took the ‘Truro Lessons and Carols’, composed a Bidding Prayer (the same used this afternoon, with slight variation for custom and the times), and added it to the liturgy. This format has been sung in the College Chapel every year but one since the end of the First World War. In 1954, it received its first broadcast on English television, and since the 1960s has been broadcast every Christmas. It, along with the annual Christmas message from the Queen, has become a well-beloved tradition of the English people and of those living in the British Commonwealth. This service has also become a seasonal tradition in other parts of the Anglican Communion, the Episcopal Church being part of that Communion. While our service today is a wonderful meeting of word and music, Dr. Milner-White’s intention with his ‘liturgical composition’ was truly to proclaim the word of God. He wrote this about the service: Its liturgical order and pattern is the strength of the service; the main theme is the development of the loving purposes of God, from the Creation to the Incarnation, through the windows and words of the Bible: the scriptures, not the carols, are the backbone. A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols for Christmas Eve December 24, 2020 at Four o'clock in the Afternoon Voluntaries: In the bleak midwinter Gustav Holst, arr. Andrew Burton El Tutu/Saltarello Italian Carol/ Italian medieval dance tune Three English Carols arr. Joy Plaisted Good King Wenceslas Piae Cantiones 1582, arr. Kim Robertson Joy Plaisted, Harp Hymn O Come All Ye Faithful Adeste fideles Welcome Father Richard The Bidding Prayer Reverend Gwyneth Dear People of God: As we celebrate Christmas, it is our responsibility and joy to prepare ourselves to hear once more the message of the Angels, to go to Bethlehem and see the Son of God lying in a manger. Let us hear and heed in Holy Scripture the story of God’s loving purpose from the time of our rebellion against God until the glorious redemption brought to us by the holy Child Jesus, and let us look forward to the yearly remembrance of his birth with hymns and songs of praise. But first, let us pray for the needs of the whole world, for peace and justice on earth, for the unity and mission of the Church for which he died, and especially for our country and the communities where we live. And because he particularly loves them, let us remember in his name the poor and helpless, the cold, the hungry and the oppressed, the sick and those who mourn, the lonely and unloved, the aged and little children, as well as for all of us who live under the threat of violence, war or illness. Finally, let us remember before God his pure and lowly Mother, and that whole multitude which no one can number, whose hope was in the Word made flesh, and with whom, in Jesus, we are one for evermore. And now, to sum up all these petitions, let us pray in the words which Christ himself has taught us, saying: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by 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. 3 Officiant: The Lord be with you. People: And with thy Spirit. Officiant: Let us pray: O God, who makest us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of thy only son, Jesus Christ: Grant that as we joyfully receive him for our redeemer, so we may with sure confidence behold him, when he shall come to be our judge; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. The First Lesson: Genesis 3: 8-15, 17-19 God tells sinful Adam that he has lost the life of Paradise and that his seed will bruise the serpent's head. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And God said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. And unto Adam God said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Reader: Here ends the First Lesson. Carol: Remember, O thou man (Melismata, 1611) Thomas Ravenscroft Remember, O thou man O thou man, O thou man Remember, O thou man Thy time is spent Remember, O thou man How thou cam’st to me then, And I did what I can, Therefore repent. 4 Remember God’s goodness O thou man, O thou man Remember God’s goodness And promise made. Remember God’s goodness How his only son he sent, Our sins for to redress: Be not afraid. To Bethlehem they did go O thou man, O thou man To Bethlehem they did go, This thing to see, To Bethlehem they did go, To see whether it was so, Whether Christ was born or no, To set us free. In Bethlehem was he born O thou man, O thou man, In Bethlehem was he born, For mankind dear. In Bethlehem was he born For us that were forlorn, And therefore took no scorn, Our sins to bear. The Second Lesson: Genesis 22: 15-18 God promises to faithful Abraham that in his seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. Reader: Here ends the Second Lesson. Voluntary: Veni Emmanuel 15th Century French melody 5 The Third Lesson: Isaiah 9: 2; 6-7 The prophet foretells the coming of the Savior. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.