On Tuesday October 2 at 6:00 p.m. the first of this seasons Choral Evensongs will be offered by our Boy and Girl Junior Choristers. This lovely evening office lasts 30 minutes and will conclude at 6:30. It will take place in the Chantry.
Evensong was born when the Anglican Church came into existence in the age of Henry VIII. The great architects of the new English Protestant Church put the two evening offices of the old monastic/cathedral tradition together for their new prayer book. The two offices were Vespers and Compline.
Each of the monastic offices had particular biblical songs associated with them.
For the evening it was Magnificat (Song of Mary) and Nunc dimittis (Song of Simeon). These became the core “Canticles” offered at this service.
The offices can trace their form back to the Temple in Jerusalem and very ancient worship. They are based on a series of prayers (The Preces and Responses), Bible Readings in a cycle, the Canticles and the Closing Prayers or Collects.
The oldest Canticle in the Bible is thought to be the Song of Miriam or Song of Moses which celebrates the freedom of Israel from the slavery of Egypt.
Come and support the choristers and find out about this very special evening discipline.