Friday 30th July, 2010
The Eighth Sunday After Trinity
Evensong
The Second Reading1
Then a lesson of the New Testament, as it is appointed.
Matthew 15:21-38
(15v22) And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord,
(15v23) But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
(15v24) But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
(15v25) Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
(15v26) But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast
(15v27) And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
(15v28) Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great
(15v29) And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there.
(15v30) And great multitudes came unto him, having with them
(15v32) Then Jesus called his disciples
(15v33) And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? (15v34) And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.
(15v35) And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.
(15v36) And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake
(15v37) And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken
(15v38) And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children.
Nunc Dimittis
And after that2 Nunc dimittis3 (or the Song of Simeon) in English, as followeth.
Nunc Dimittis. S. Luke 2. 29.
LORD, now
lettest thou thy servant de'part in ' peace :
ac' cording ' to thy ' word
Lk 2:26
Mk 9:1. |
Nunc Dimittis (Second Service)
Deus Misereatur
Or else this Psalm: Except it be on the twelfth day of the month.4
Deus misereatur.5
Psalm lxvii.
GOD be merciful unto ' us,
and ' bless us : and shew us the light of his
countenance, and be ' merciful ' unto ' us:
2. That thy way may be ' known upon
' earth : thy saving ' health a'mong all ' nations.
3. Let the people ' praise
thee, O ' God : yea, let '
all the ' people ' praise thee.
4. O let the nations
re'joice and be ' glad :
for thou shalt judge the folk righteously, and govern
the ' nations ' upon ' earth.
5. Let the people ' praise thee, O ' God :
let ' all the
' people ' praise thee.
6. Then shall the earth bring ' forth her ' increase : and
God, even our own ' God, shall ' give us his ' blessing.
(2nd pt) 7. God ' shall ' bless us
: and all the ' ends of the ' world shall ' fear him.
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. ' A'men.
Footnotes
1 "Second Reading". The Rubric from Morning Prayer, that the second reading is to be read "in like manner" to the first, is not repeated; but its force still applies. The Rubric for the first reading at Mattins runs:
Then shall be read distinctly with an audible voice the First Lesson, taken out of the Old Testament, as is appointed in the Calendar, except there be proper Lessons assigned for that day: He that readeth so standing and turning himself, as he may best be heard of all such as are present.
"Read in an audible voice" allows for ordinary spoken words, but includes the tradition of chanting the readings in a simple tone, which was ordered by the 1552 Book. "Audible" is a warning against using over-complicated chants that obscure rather than project the words.
The Reader is instructed to "turn himself" because worship is normally conducted facing the altar. When the congregation is addressed, the reader must turn round and face west, down the church.
The Reader is also instructed to announce the reading like this:
Note, That before every Lesson the Minister shall say, Here beginneth such a Chapter, or Verse of such a Chapter, of such a Book : And after every Lesson, Here endeth the First, or the Second Lesson.
2 "After that". There is a strong connection between the Second Reading and the Canticle that follows it, Nunc Dimittis or the Song of Simeon.
IN our Liturgy it is judiciously placed after the second Lesson at Evening Prayer, which is always taken out of the writings of the Apostles. In their Epistles Christ is manifested to us likewise. We do not, indeed, like Simeon, see him with our bodily eyes, but we behold him with the eye of faith, and therefore adopt the language of Simeon in our thanksgiving for the same salvation.
AND why may not we after the reading of a part of the New Testament, say, "Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace," as well as old Simeon? For in that Scripture, by the eye of faith, we see that salvation which he then saw, and more clearly revealed. We have then the same reason to say it that old Simeon had, and we should have the same spirit to say it with.
AND though we cannot see our Saviour with our bodily eyes as he [Simeon] did, yet he is by the writings of the Apostles daily presented to the eyes of our faith: and therefore if we were much concerned for heaven, and as loose from the love of the world as old Simeon was, and we ought to be; we might, upon the view of Christ in his holy word, be daily ready to sing this Hymn, which is taken into the services of all christian churches in the world, Greek, Roman, and Reformed, and was formerly very frequently sung by Saints and Martyrs a little before their deaths.
3 "Nunc Dimittis". This is the Song of Simeon, the aged prophet who waited in the Temple at Jerusalem for the revealing of Israel's Messiah, the one 'Anointed' by God (as a King in the line of David) to restore his Chosen People's fortunes.
THE "Song of Simeon" is another Canticle in praise of the manifestation of the Incarnate Word. It has been used at Compline or at Vespers throughout the Church from the earliest ages, being mentioned in the Apostolical Constitutions (written in the early part of the fifth century, at the latest) as an Evening Canticle. ...
The Nunc Dimittis is so singularly fitted for Evensong, as to seem as if written for the purpose. Like the words of David, "I will lay me down in peace and take my rest, for it is Thou, Lord, only that makest me to dwell in safety;" it is the aspiration of that faith which can behold Christ lightening the darkness of all night, and fulfilling the words of the prophet, "It shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light." As the Gospels of the Morning Lessons reveal to us the "Day-spring" from on high "visiting us," so the Epistles of the Evening Lessons reveal the Light of Christ's glory enlightening the Gentile as well as the Jewish world.
THIS Hymn was early employed in private devotion, as a matter of consolation to Christians at the point of death, and even by martyrs in their expiring agonies. At what period it was introduced into the public Service of the Church has not been ascertained; but we find it adopted by the Greek, Roman, and reformed Churches.
In our Liturgy it is judiciously placed after the second Lesson at Evening Prayer, which is always taken out of the writings of the Apostles. In their Epistles Christ is manifested to us likewise. We do not, indeed, like Simeon, see him with our bodily eyes, but we behold him with the eye of faith, and therefore adopt the language of Simeon in our thanksgiving for the same salvation.
Shepherd gives us the example of Mary of Egypt (5th century). "In the life of Mary of Egypt, it is said, that a little before her death she received the Sacrament, repeated the Creed and the Lord's Prayer, and then sung Nunc dimittis servant tuam in pace.
4 "Except &c.". On the twelfth day of the month, this Psalm occurs in the Psalms for the Evening, so it is best not to say it twice.
5 "Deus Misereatur". An alternative Pslam, originally one of the fixed Psalms in the morning office of Lauds.
THIS Psalm was inserted, like the Cantate Domino, in 1552, but was familiar in the older services, being the fourth fixed Psalm at Lauds on Sundays. It was also part of the Office of Bidding Prayers which was used every Sunday. Although of a more jubilant character than the Nunc Dimittis, it has several features in common with it, ... it praises God for the extension of the Gospel: and as Simeon offers thanksgiving that his eyes have seen the salvation of God, so David in this Psalm prays that the Light of His countenance may be shown to us, and His saving health known among all nations.
Occasions may arise when this Canticle is peculiarly appropriate: but for ordinary Evensong (and especially for the later of two services) it is better always to keep to the ancient spirit and practice of the Church, and use the Nunc Dimittis.
This Psalm, like the Nunc Dimittis, is closely related to the Readings that precede it.
ADMITTING this Psalm to be prophetical of the Gospel dispensation, we shall discover a close affinity between it and the preceding Hymn. The Psalm prays for that "saving health," which Simeon rejoiced to see; for the conversion of the Gentiles, and for evangelical blessings. It likewise foretells the joy and gladness that shall accompany the more general diffusion of the knowledge of the Gospel of Christ.
These predictions are in part fulfilled; and the Christian Church may with propriety continue the use of this Psalm in the daily Offices, till "the fulness of the Gentiles is come in, and the conversion of the Jews completed; till the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea; and till Christ shall appear the second time, finally to accomplish our salvation."— This salvation is made known to us by the voices of the Apostles, which are universally heard in our Churches every Sabbath Day: and after we have learnt from the Epistles, how "the grace of God that bringeth salvation, appeared unto all men," and what it requires of us to become objects of this grace, the Psalm Deus misereatur is a very seasonable form of prayer and praise.
