Comfortable Words
The King James Bible of 1611, a model of straightforward English made for reading aloud.
The King James Bible of 1611, a model of straightforward English made for reading aloud.
A deep and mysterious poem from the fourth century, describing what cannot be seen at the communion service.
This ancient hymn, sung in place of the Cherubic Hymn on certain days of the year, sets out to remind us of what cannot be seen during the communion service, as heaven’s glory spills over into our world, and Jesus Christ comes with his angel host.
The Song of Simeon, or ‘Nunc Dimittis’, which Simeon sang as he took the infant Jesus in his arms.
When Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple at Jerusalem, as the law required, to present him to God as their firstborn, old Simeon saw in the tiny baby the fulfilment of all his hopes. The translation is from the Book of Common Prayer, first published in 1549.
The Virgin Mary’s spontaneous hymn of praise when she told her cousin about the angel Gabriel.
When the Virgin Mary told her cousin Elizabeth about the visit she had received from the angel Gabriel, she suddenly burst into this song, a very clever weaving together of Old Testament prophecies. This translation is taken from the English Book of Common Prayer, which first appeared in 1549.
A prayer that has been sung daily at Mattins since the fourth century.
This prayer, which comes from the Eastern churches, became part of daily Matins in the fourth century. The text given here is based on the Book of Common Prayer of 1549, a translation from the Latin of St Hilary of Poitiers (?300-368). Hilary spent time in the East in 359-360, and may have come across the prayer then. The Latin differs slightly from the Greek, but the differences are not particularly significant.
Jesus Christ’s own example of how to pray, in English translations going back beyond the Norman Conquest.
The Lord’s Prayer is an ancient compilation from two Biblical prayers given by Jesus Christ, in the Gospels of St Matthew and St Luke. The translation below is from the Book of Common Prayer of 1662. Beneath it, there is a translation into Old English given by Elfric, Abbot of Eynsham (955-1010), which he read out in the course of a sermon on the Lord’s Prayer.
A short collection of prayers by the eight-century monk from the monastery of St Peter and St Paul.
In his day, St Bede (?672-735) was one of Europe’s most celebrated scholars, and was the first Englishman to write a history of our nation. These prayers, translated from the Latin, may be found among the works traditionally attributed to him.