Girton College Chapel 3rd May: ‘Hallowed be Thy Name’

Girton Choir and Brass in the chapel

Welcome back to Girton College Chapel for the second of our virtual Sunday Evensongs, we have all been greatly encouraged that so many of you attended last week. This week we continue our reflection on The Lord’s Prayer and I share with you a sermon and a sonnet on its first petition: Hallowed be thy Name. The choir continue to assist and lift our worship, and once more the music features the original work of our own community, with ‘The KCL Responses’ composed by our director of chapel music Gareth Wilson. Many of us will enjoy and participate in this service together, through the medium of this page, at our usual time of 5:30pm (BST) so join us then if you can, but equally feel free to use this page as an aid to your devotions at any time of your choosing. I’m grateful to Liliana Janik and Jeremy West for the lovely glimpses of Girton their photographs provide.

Now to usher us into worship we hear the opening responses The KCL Preces (Wilson)

V:O Lord, open thou our lips.
R:And our mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
V:O God, make speed to save us.
R:O Lord, make haste to help us.

V: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
R: .As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
V: Praise ye the Lord.
R:The Lord’s Name be praised.

 

Today’s psalm, 113 sets out the theme, taken up in The Lord’s Prayer, of hallowing God’s Holy Name. Do say the psalm aloud if you can and perhaps share the verses with others in your household:

Psalm 113.Laudate, pueri

Praise the Lord, ye servants : O praise the Name of the Lord.

Blessed be the Name of the Lord : from this time forth for

evermore.

The Lord’s Name is praised : from the rising up of the sun

unto the going down of the same.

The Lord is high above all nations : and his glory above the

heavens.

Who is like unto the Lord our God, that hath his dwelling so

high : and yet humbleth himself to behold the things that are in

heaven and earth?

He taketh up the simple out of the dust : and lifteth the poor

out of the mire;

That he may set him with the princes : even with the princes

of his people.

He maketh the barren woman to keep house : and to be a joyful

mother of children.

a glimpse through Girton windows photo Lila Janik

The Old Testament Reading is taken from the Book of Exodus, and is read for us by our Bursar James Anderson

Exodus 3:1-15

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

  There the angel of the Lord appeared to him 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.

Then the Lord said, ‘I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings,

  and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

  The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.

  So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.’

  But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’

  He said, ‘I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.’

But Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your ancestors has sent me to you”, and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to them?’

  God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ He said further, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “I am has sent me to you.” ’

  God also said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you”:
This is my name for ever,
and this my title for all generations.

Photo by Jeremy West

For the Magnificat we continue to feature the work of Cardoso, this time with his Magnificat Quinti Toni:

Luke 1

MY soul doth magnify the Lord :
and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For he hath regarded :
the lowliness of his hand-maiden.

For behold, from henceforth :
all generations shall call me blessed.

For he that is mighty hath magnified me :
and holy is his Name.

And his mercy is on them that fear him :
throughout all generations.

He hath shewed strength with his arm :
he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat :
and hath exalted the humble and meek.

He hath filled the hungry with good things :
and the rich he hath sent empty away.

He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel :
as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, for ever.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
world without end. Amen.

Our New Testament reading is the great Hymn to Christ’s self-emptying, or Kenosis, read for us by the Vice-Mistress Karen Lee

Philippians 2:5-11

 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
  but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
    he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.

  Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
    so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
    and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

In place the Nunc Dimmitis this Sunday we are going to hear Gareth Wilson’s beautiful setting of Ave Maris Stella

Now we turn to God in Prayer with Gareth Wilson’s setting of the responses

V:The Lord be with you.
R:And with thy spirit.
V:Let us pray.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.

OUR Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. Amen.

V:O Lord, shew thy mercy upon us.
R:And grant us thy salvation.
V:O Lord, save the Queen.
R:And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee.
V:Endue thy Ministers with righteousness.
R:And make thy chosen people joyful.
V:O Lord, save thy people.
R:And bless thine inheritance.
V:Give peace in our time, O Lord.
R:Because there is none other that fighteth for us, but only thou, O God.
V:O God, make clean our hearts within us.
R:And take not thy Holy Spirit from us.

Sermon: ‘Hallowed by they Name’ a reflection and a sonnet by the chaplain:

The text of the poem:

Hallowed be thy name

There’s something in the sound of the word hallow;

A haunting sense of everything we’ve lost

Amidst the trite, the trivial, the shallow,

Where nothing lingers, nothing seems to last.

But Hallowed,summons up our fear and wonder,

And summons us to stand on holy ground.

To sense the mystery that stands just under

Familiar things we’ll never understand.

 

Hallowed be thy name: the name unspoken,

The name from which all other names arise,

The name that heals the sick and binds the broken,

Whose living glory calls the dead to rise.

You make this prayer my rising and my rest

That I might bless the name by which I’m blessed.

‘my rising and my rest’, a peaceful seat in the fellows garden Photo by Jeremy West

 

Our Anthem this evening is Laudata Sion by Ingegneri, a rennasance composer re-discovered by Gareth Wilson and featured on the choir’s new CD  (You can find the choir’s CDs Here)

 

Now here, as always is the blessing which concludes our service:

A Blessing from the Chaplain:

The peace of God, which passeth all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his son Jesus Christ our lord, and the blessing of God almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be with you and remain with you and those whom you hold in your hearts, this day and always, Amen

Blossoms in our beautiful orchard. Photo by Lila Janek