The choir of St. Mary of the Hills Episcopal Church will present choral evensong Sunday afternoon, May 17, at 3:30 p.m. in the nave of the church. Service music will include the Noble setting of the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis and the Clucas Preces and Responses, including Stone’s Lord’s Prayer. The Introit will be the wonderful and introspective Behold the tabernacle by Willen, and the anthem will be Like as the hart by Howells. 
The choir of St. Mary’s sings Evensong one Sunday each month through October, and everyone is welcome. Donations support the Choral Scholarship program at St. Mary of the Hills, which provides financial support to students and budding young singers. The choir is currently preparing for it’s biennial sojourn in the U.K. where it will be the choir in residence at Durham Cathedral for a week this summer, singing daily evensong and Sunday morning services.
The service of Evensong or Evening Prayer combines elements of two services, Vespers and Compline, which were part of the seven-service daily cycle of prayer in monasteries. It is said or sung every day in the cathedrals and collegiate churches of England, as well as in this country since 1785. The service is a fragment of the worship offered to God by christian people at every hour, in every part of the world. The form of the service has changed little since the 16th Century, but the content dates back much earlier – to the Psalms, the hymnbook of the Jewish temple, and the Canticles (Magnificat and Nunc dimittis), which are taken from the New Testament. The service is a lovely, quiet way to end your weekend.
For more information on this service, please contact St. Mary of the Hills at 828-295-7323.
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