University of Exeter Alumni
CHRISTMAS CAROL SERVICE
2012
St Mary Woolnoth
Thursday 6th December
6.15 pm
Welcome to this, the first Carol Service for alumni of the University of Exeter. It is hoped
that with your support this might become an annual event.
We are fortunate to be able to hold this service in the magnificent church of St Mary
Woolnoth. The first church at St Mary Woolnoth dates back to at least 1191, though it has
been a place of worship for nearly two millennia. The present building was erected in 1716,
its distinctive baroque style a design of celebrated British architect Nicholas Hawksmoor.
Our thanks go to the Revd Jeremy Crossley for allowing us to use the church.
The Service is conducted by
The Reverend Dr Paul Hamlet
University of Exeter, MEd, 1996
Choir directed by
Richard Brain
University of Exeter, History, 2011
Postgraduate Choral Conductor, Royal Academy of Music
Organist
Richard Harker
Postgraduate Choral Conductor, Royal Academy of Music
The congregation stands
Opening Carol
Solo
Once in royal David's city
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her baby
In a manger for his bed:
Mary was that Mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little Child.
Choir only
He came down to earth from heaven
Who is God and Lord of all,
And his shelter was a stable,
And his cradle was a stall:
With the poor and mean and lowly,
Lived on earth our Saviour holy.
All
And through all his wondrous childhood
Day by day like us he grew,
He was little, weak and helpless,
Tears and smiles like us he knew:
And he feeleth for our sadness,
And he shareth in our gladness.
And our eyes at last shall see him
Through his own redeeming love,
For that Child so dear and gentle,
Is our Lord in heaven above:
And he leads his children on
To the place where he is gone.
Not in that poor lowly stable,
With the oxen standing by,
We shall see him: but in heaven,
Set at God's right hand on high,
Where like stars his children crowned,
All in white shall wait around.
Music: H. J. Gauntlett (1805–1876)
harmonised by A. H. Mann (1850– 1929)
descant by David Willcocks (b. 1919)
Words: Mrs C. F. Alexander (1818–1895)
Remain standing
Bidding
Beloved in Christ, be it this Christmastide our care and delight to
prepare ourselves to hear again the message of the angels, and in
heart and mind to go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is
come to pass, and the Babe lying in a manger.
Therefore let us read and mark in Holy Scripture the tale of the loving
purposes of God from the first days of our disobedience unto the
glorious Redemption brought us by this Holy Child; and let us make
this place glad with our carols of praise.
But first, let us pray for the needs of the whole world; for peace and
goodwill over all the earth; for unity and brotherhood within the
Church he came to build, and especially in the dominions of our
sovereign lady Queen Elizabeth.
And because this of all things would rejoice his heart, let us at this
time remember, in his name, the poor and the helpless, the cold, the
hungry and the oppressed; the sick and them that mourn, the lonely
and the unloved, the aged and the little children; all those who know
not the Lord Jesus, or who love him not, or who by sin have grieved
his heart of love.
Lastly, let us remember before God all those who rejoice with us,
but upon another shore, and in a greater light, that multitude which no
man can number, whose hope was in the Word made flesh,
and with whom in the Lord Jesus we for evermore are one.
These prayers and praises let us humbly offer up to the Throne of
Heaven, in the words which Christ himself hath taught us:
All
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 them that 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.
The Almighty God bless us with his grace;
Christ give us the joy of everlasting life,
and unto the fellowship of the citizens above
may the King of Angels bring us all.
All
Amen.
The congregation sits
Choir
Adam Lay ybounden
Adam lay ybounden,
Bounden in a bond;
Four thousand winter
Thought he not too long.
And all was for an apple,
An apple that he took,
As clerkës finden
Written in their book.
Ne had the apple taken been,
The apple taken been,
Then had never Our Lady
A-been heaven’s queen.
Blessed be the time
That apple taken was.
Therefore we may singen
Deo gratias!
Music: Boris Ord (1897 – 1961)
Words: Anon (15th cent.)
First Lesson
The prophet Isaiah foretells the coming of the Saviour.
Isaiah 9:2, 6-7
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in
a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his
name will be called "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace." Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be
no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to
uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for
evermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
Choir
Gabriel’s Message
The angel Gabriel from Heaven came
His wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flame
“All hail” said he “thou lowly maiden Mary
Most highly favoured lady”
Gloria
“For know a blessed mother thou shalt be
All generations laud and honour thee
Thy son shall be Emmanuel, by seers foretold
Most highly favoured lady”
Gloria
Then gentle Mary meekly bowed her head
“To me be as it pleaseth God” she said
“My soul shall laud and magnify his holy name”
Most highly favoured lady
Gloria
Of her Emmanuel, the Christ was born
In Bethlehem all on a Christmas morn
And Christian folk throughout the world shall ever say
“Most highly favoured lady
Gloria!”
Music: Arr. Edgar Pettman (1866-1943)
Words: Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-1924)
Second Lesson
The angel Gabriel salutes the Blessed Virgin Mary
Luke 1.26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee
named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the
house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said,
"Hail, O favoured one, the Lord is with you!" But she was greatly troubled at
the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And
the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with
God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you
shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the
Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will
be no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no
husband?" And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be
born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, your kinswoman
Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month
with her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible." And
Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to
your word." And the angel departed from her.
The congregation stands
Carol
It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold;
“Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From Heaven’s all gracious King.”
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.
Still through the cloven skies they come
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats
O’er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains,
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever over its Babel sounds
The blessèd angels sing.
Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
The love-song which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife
And hear the angels sing.
For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophet-bards foretold,
When with the ever circling years
Comes round the age of gold;
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing.
Music: Arr Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842 – 1900)
Words: Edmund Sears (1810–1876)
The congregation sits
Third Lesson
An angel appears to Joseph
Matthew 1.18-25
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary
had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be
with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and
unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he
considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream,
saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that
which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you
shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this
took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, a virgin
shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel"(which
means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the
Lord commanded him; he took his wife, but knew her not until she had borne a
son; and he called his name Jesus.
Choir
Sans day carol
Now the holly bears a berry as white as the milk,
And Mary bore Jesus, who was wrapped up in silk:
And Mary bore Jesus Christ our Saviour for to be,
And the first tree in the greenwood, it was the holly.
Holly! Holly!
And the first tree in the greenwood, it was the holly!
Now the holly bears a berry as green as the grass,
And Mary bore Jesus, who died on the cross:
Refrain
Now the holly bears a berry as black as the coal,
And Mary bore Jesus, who died for us all:
Refrain
Now the holly bears a berry, as blood is it red,
Then trust we our Saviour, who rose from the dead:
Refrain
Music: John Rutter (b 1945)
Fourth Lesson
St Luke tells of the birth of Jesus
Luke 2.1-7
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should
be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of
Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And Joseph also went
up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which
is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be
enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were
there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born
son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because
there was no place for them in the inn.
The congregation stands
Carol
O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
O morning stars together
Proclaim the holy birth
And praises sing to God the King
And Peace to men on earth
For Christ is born of Mary
And gathered all above
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love
How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.
O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born to us today
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel
Music: English traditional hymn tune
Words: Philip Brooks (1825 – 1893)
The congregation sits
Fifth Lesson
The shepherds are told of the birth of Jesus
Luke 2.8-19
And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over
their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory
of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel
said to them, "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy
which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of
David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you
will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And
suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God
and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with
whom he is pleased!" When the angels went away from them into heaven, the
shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing
that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with
haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when
they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning
this child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But
Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.
The congregation stands
Carol
While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
All seated on the ground,
The angel of the Lord came down,
And glory shone around.
‘Fear not,’ said he (for mighty dread
Had seized their troubled mind);
‘Glad tidings of great joy I bring
To you and all mankind.’
‘To you in David’s town this day
Is born of David’s line
A Saviour, who is Christ the Lord,
And this shall be the sign:’
‘The heavenly Babe you there shall find
To human view displayed,
All meanly wrapped in swathing bands,
And in a manger laid.’
Thus spake the Seraph; and forthwith
Appeared a shining throng
Of angels praising God, who thus
Addressed their joyful song:
‘All glory be to God on high,
And to the earth be peace;
Goodwill henceforth from heaven to men
Begin and never cease.’
Music: Este’s Psalter, 1592
Words: Nahum Tate (1652 – 1715)
The congregation sits
Sixth Lesson
The wise men are led by the star to Jesus
Matthew 2.1-11
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king,
behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he who
has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have
come to worship him." When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and
all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the
people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, "In
Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet: `And you, O Bethlehem,
in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from
you shall come a ruler who will govern my people Israel.'" Then Herod
summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star
appeared; and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for
the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come
and worship him." When they had heard the king they went their way; and lo,
the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest
over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced
exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with
Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their
treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being
warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by
another way.
Choir
In the Bleak Midwinter
In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.
Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him
Nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty,
Jesus Christ.
Enough for Him, whom cherubim
Worship night and day,
A breastful of milk
And a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
Which adore.
What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give Him,
Give my heart.
Music: Harold Darke (1888 – 1976)
Words: Christina Rossetti (1830 – 1894)
The congregation stands
Seventh Lesson St John unfolds the great mystery of the Incarnation
John 1.1-14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and
without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life
was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not
overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came
for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him.
He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. The true light that
enlightens every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the
world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own
home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who
believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were
born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we
have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.
Remain standing
Carol
O come, all ye faithful,
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold him
Born the King of Angels:
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
God of God,
Light of Light,
Lo! he abhors not the Virgin's womb;
Very God,
Begotten, not created.
Sing, choirs of Angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above;
Glory to God
In the Highest.
Yea, Lord, we greet thee,
Born that happy morning,
Jesu, to thee be glory giv’n;
Word of the Father,
Now in flesh appearing.
Music: Unknown (18th cent.)
arr. David Willcocks
Words: Latin (18th cent.)
Tr. Frederick Oakeley (1802–1880) and others
The congregation kneels
The Collect for Christmas Eve
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 Ghost,
one God, world without end.
All
Amen.
Blessing
May the humility of the shepherds, the faith of the wise men,
the joy of the angels, and the peace of the Christ Child, be
God’s gift to you this Christmastide,
And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit, come down upon you and remain with you
always.
All
Amen.
The congregation stands
Final Carol
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the new-born King;
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled:
Joyful all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies,
With the angelic host proclaim,
Christ is born in Bethlehem:
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the new-born King.
Christ, by highest heaven adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
Late in time behold him come
Offspring of a Virgin's womb!
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail the incarnate Deity!
Pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel:
Hail the heaven-born Prince of peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings;
Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth:
Music: Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847)
descant and organ part by David Willcocks
Words: Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
A retiring collection will be taken in aid of St Mary Woolnoth.
All are warmly invited to stay for refreshments which will be served in the
Church after the service.