NONES
3rd Sunday after Easter
Introduction
All stand
Processional “Salve festa dies”. (Optional)Silence
Main Reader ~ “This is God’s Court, the place of peace and rest.”
All ~ “The poor with Solomon’s own wealth are blest.”
Main Reader ~ “Our hearts were made for God and they are restless until they rest in Him. Oh God come to our aid.” [St. Augustine of Hippo]
All ~ “Oh Lord make haste to help us.”
Main Reader ~ “Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.”
All ~ “As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.”
Hymn
We love the place, O God,
Wherein Thine honour dwells;
The joy of Thine abode
All earthly joy excels.
We love the word of life,
The word that tells of peace,
Of comfort in the strife,
And joys that never cease.
We love to sing below
For mercies freely given,
But O, we long to know
The triumph song of heaven..
Lord Jesus, give us grace
On earth to love Thee more
In heaven to see Thy face
And with Thy saints adore.
All ~ ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA.
All sit: Acts 10 v. 34-43 (King James version)
All stand (These following Psalms (126,127) were said at the first Nones, May 1998, and thereafter always repeated.)
Main Reader ~ “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.”
All ~ “Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”
Main Reader ~ “When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.”
All ~ “Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing:”
Main Reader ~ “Then said they among the heathen, the Lord hath done great things for them.”
All ~ “The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad.”
Main Reader ~ “Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south.”
All ~ “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”
Main Reader ~ “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.”
All ~ “Except the Lord keep the city the watchman waketh but in vain.”
All ~ ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA.
Hymn
The head that once was crowned with thorns
Is crowned with glory now:
A royal diadem adorns
The mighty victor’s brow.
The highest place that Heaven affords
Is His, is His by right,
The King of kings and Lord of lords
And Heaven’s eternal light.
The joy of all who dwell above,
The joy of all below,
To whom He manifests His love,
And grants His name to know.
To them the Cross with all its shame
With all its grace is given:
Their name an everlasting name
Their joy the joy of Heaven.
They suffer with their Lord below,
They reign with Him above,
Their profit and their joy to know
The mystery of His love.
The Cross He bore is life and health,
Though shame and death to Him;
His people’s hope, His people’s wealth.
Their everlasting theme.
All sit: 2 Chronicles 6
1 Then said Solomon….
2 I have built an house of habitation for Thee,…..
11 And in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, that he made with thee, children of Israel.
12 And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands…..13 ….toward heaven, 14 And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like Thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and showest mercy unto Thy servants that walk before Thee with all their hearts ….
19 Have respect therefore to the prayer of Thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before Thee:
20 That Thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof Thou hast said that Thou wouldest put Thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which Thy servant prayeth toward this place.
21 hear Thou from Thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when Thou hearest, forgive.
32 Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of Thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for Thy great name’s sake, and Thy mighty hand, and Thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house; 33 Then hear Thou from the heavens….. and do according to all that the stranger calleth to Thee for; that all people of the earth may know Thy name, and fear Thee…..
38 and may return to Thee with all their heart and with all their soul…toward the house which I have built for Thy name.
39 Then hear Thou from the heavens, even from Thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive Thy people which have sinned against Thee. 40 Now, my God, let, I beseech Thee, Thine eyes be open, and let Thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
41 Now therefore arise, O LORD God……. Thou, and the ark of Thy strength: let Thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let Thy saints rejoice in goodness.
42 O LORD God, turn not away the face of Thine anointed: remember the mercies of David Thy servant.
All stand
Main Reader ~ “ The Lord is my portion and cup, it is Thou who mark out my lot. Lord God who called our forefathers to the admirable light of the Gospel through the preaching of the founder, Gilbert the Norman, and Canons of St. Mary’s Priory, Merton, grant that by their intercession we may grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, who lives and reigns with Thee and the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.”
All ~ “God of power and love, look kindly on the tasks we have begun, and at this afternoon hour renew Thy grace within us, make good our defects and bring our work to that fulfilment which accords with Thy will; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
All sit: 1 Peter 2 v. 19-25
Hymn (John Newton 1725-1807)
How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.
It makes the wounded spirit whole.
And calms the troubled breast;
‘Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary rest.
Dear Name! the rock on which I build,
My shield and hiding-place,
My never-failing treasury filled
With boundless stores of grace.
Jesus! My Shepherd, Husband, Friend,
My Prophet, Priest, and King,
My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
Accept the praise I bring.
Weak is the effort of my heart
And cold my warmest thought
But when I see Thee as Thou art
I’ll praise Thee as I ought.
All stand: John 10 v. 1-10
Hymn (15th century hymn to a tune by R. Vaughan Williams)
Come down, O Love, divine,
Seek Thou this soul of mine
And visit it with Thine own ardour glowing;
O Comforter, draw near,
Within my heart appear,
And kindle it, Thy holy flame bestowing.
O let it freely burn
Till earthly passions turn
To dust and ashes in its heat consuming;
And let Thy glorious light
Shine ever on my sight,
And clothe me round, the while my path illuming.
Let holy charity
Mine outward vesture be,
And lowliness become my inner clothing
True lowliness of heart,
Which takes the humbler part
And o’er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.
And so the yearning strong,
With which the soul will long,
Shall far outpass the power of human telling;
For none can guess its grace,
Till he become the place
Wherein the Holy Spirit makes his dwelling.
The Blessing
Main Reader ~ “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
[Hebrews 13 v. 20-21.]
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Remembering Lionel Green, Sr Mary Kitchingham ( Sister of the Holy Family), Rev. Ernest Chapman (Church of Scotland), Tom Newman (St. Leonard’s, Sherfield-on-Loddon) and Robert Millar. All were supporters of this service.
This is the 23rd Nones since the Dissolution said (formerly in the Chapter House ruins) in memory of the Canons of Merton Priory. 3pm Sunday 3rd May 2020. This Nones will be said at “daughter” priories, churches dedicated to St Thomas a Becket, Augustinian foundations and many of the churches originally cared for by Merton Priory.
N.B. “Salve festa dies” was sung at the first Nones, 3rd May 1117.
This verse is to be remembered at every Nones – Micah 6 v.8 “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”
For more information please email:- mertonpri@aol.com
