Advent Carol Service Sunday 29 November 2020 1730 This service is based on the seven ‘Great O’ Antiphons, sung to plainsong, which are traditionally used in Advent. They depict Christ in images taken from the Old Testament, and look forward to his final coming in glory. The first part of the service starts in darkness. As each ‘O’ Antiphon is sung, a series of seven candles are lit and the cathedral lights are turned on in stages - symbolising the dawning light of Christ whom the world awaits, and whom we wait to welcome once again into our lives. The organ music before the service includes settings of the Lutheran chorale melody ‘Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland’ (‘Now come, Saviour of the Gentiles’) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Then follows a period of silence. 1 With the Cathedral in darkness and only the Choir candles lit, the Cathedral Consort sings the Advent Matins Responsory. I look from afar: and lo, I see the power of God coming and a cloud covering the whole earth. Go ye out to meet him, and say: Tell us, art thou he that should come to reign over thy people Israel? High and low, rich and poor, one with another; go ye out to meet him and say: Hear, O thou Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep. Tell us, art thou he that should come? Stir up thy strength, O Lord, and come to reign over thy people Israel. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. I look from afar... Words: Advent Sunday Matins Responsory Music: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c1525-1594) THE BIDDING PRAYER led by the Dean. At the start of this Advent season, as we prepare again to celebrate the good news Christ came to bring, let us ask God to rekindle in us the hope to which we are called. Let us reflect on the coming of Christ who brings light to the world, that we may leave behind the darkness of sin and follow him more closely, as we await his coming in glory at the last. And as we turn towards the light, let us have on our hearts all for whom this present is a time especially of darkness and despair. We pray for those whose lives are overshadowed by sickness, anxiety or loss, that they too may be illumined by Christ who is our light. We pray with confidence as he 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, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. 2 The first candle of seven is lit as the soloist sings the first ‘O’ antiphon. ANTIPHON O Sapientia O Wisdom, which camest out of the mouth of the Most High, and reachest from one end to another, mightily, and sweetly ordering all things: come and teach us the way of prudence. FIRST READING Ecclesiasticus 24.3-9 ‘I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, and covered the earth like a mist. I dwelt in the highest heavens, and my throne was in a pillar of cloud. Alone I compassed the vault of heaven and traversed the depths of the abyss. Over waves of the sea, over all the earth, and over every people and nation I have held sway. Among all these I sought a resting-place; in whose territory should I abide? Then the Creator of all things gave me a command, and my Creator chose the place for my tent. He said, “Make your dwelling in Jacob, and in Israel receive your inheritance.” Before the ages, in the beginning, he created me, and for all the ages I shall not cease to be.’ All Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Please join in singing the hymn. O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free thine own from Satan’s tyranny; from depths of hell thy people save, and give them victory o’er the grave: Rejoice..! 3 O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer our spirits by thine advent here; disperse the gloomy clouds of night and death’s dark shadows put to flight: Rejoice..! O come, thou Key of David, come, and open wide our heavenly home; make safe the way that leads on high, and close the path to misery: Rejoice..! O come, O come, thou Lord of Might, who to thy tribes on Sinai’s hight, in ancient times didst give the law in cloud and majesty and awe: Rejoice..! Words: based on the Advent Antiphons tr. J. M. Neale (1818-1866) Music: VENI EMMANUEL arr. Andrew Carter (b.1939) PRAYER Bishop God of truth, whose Wisdom set her table and invited us to eat the bread and drink the wine of the kingdom: help us to lay aside all foolishness and to live and walk in the way of insight, that we may come to the eternal feast of heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. All Amen. The second candle is lit as the soloist sings the antiphon. SECOND ANTIPHON O Adonai O Adonai, and Leader of the house of Israel, who appearedst in the bush to Moses in a flame of fire and gavest him the law in Sinai: come and deliver us with an outstretched arm. 4 SECOND READING Exodus 3.2-6 The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, ‘I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.’ When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then he said, ‘Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ He said further, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. All Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The Choir sings. Regis regum rectissimi King of kings and lords most high: prope est dies Domini, comes his day of judgement nigh; dies iræ et vindictæ, day of shadows and vengeance stark, tenebrarum et nebulæ. day of wrath and cloudy dark. Regis regum rectissimi King of kings and of lords most high: diesque mirabilium thunder shall rend that day apart, tonitruorum fortium, wonder amaze each fearful heart. dies quoque angustiæ, anguish and pain and deep distress mæroris ac tristitiæ. shall mark that day of bitterness. Regis regum rectissimi King of kings and of lords most high: in quo cessabit mulierum that day the pangs of lust will cease, amor et desiderium, each longing heart shall be at peace; nominumque contentio then shall the great no more contend mundi hujus et cupido. and worldly fame be at an end. Words: attributed to St Columba (521-597) Music: Benjamin Britten (1913-76) PRAYER Bishop O God, whose beauty is beyond our imagining and whose power we cannot comprehend: show us your glory as far as we can grasp it, and shield us from knowing more than we can bear until we may look upon you without fear; through Jesus Christ our Saviour. All Amen. 5 The third candle is lit as the soloist sings the antiphon. THIRD ANTIPHON O Radix Jesse O Root of Jesse, which standest for an ensign of the people; at whom kings shall shut their mouths, to whom the gentiles shall seek: come and deliver us, and tarry not. THIRD READING Isaiah 11.1-4a A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; All Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The Choir sings. A tender shoot hath started up from a root of grace as ancient seers imparted, from Jesse’s holy race, it blooms without blight, blooms in the cold bleak winter turning darkness into light. This shoot Isaiah taught us from Jesse’s root should spring, the Virgin Mary brought us: the branch of which we sing, our God of endless might gave her this child to save us turning darkness into light. Words: anonymous C16 tr. William Bartholomew (1793–1867) Music: Otto Goldschmidt (1829-1907) 6 RESPONSORY Bishop Now it is time to awake out of sleep, All for the night is far spent and the day is at hand. Now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed, All for the night is far spent. Let us therefore cast off the words of darkness and put on the armour of light All for the day is at hand.