Treasures of Evensong

It was love at first sight.

Or...sound...I suppose is more accurate.   I had my first serious post-college job - as dean's assistant at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.   And as part of that job, every Wednesday night, we held a service of Choral Evensong in the nave of that beautiful old Gothic building followed by a community supper and evening classes/small groups/choir rehearsal.

But it was Evensong itself that captured my imagination.

As the sun set behind the stained-glass windows, candles were kindled and the choir processed in to an organ prelude.   We sat, as the congregation, in two sets of chairs facing one another across the length of the cathedral. At one end of the nave was the choir.  At the other end was a lectern for the readings.

Evensong is an Anglican treasure — in my opinion perhaps the most beautiful liturgical gift that the Anglican tradition has given to Christianity. The service itself comes from the earliest Book of Common Prayer in 1549 during the English Reformation. Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer, who assembled that Book, crafted twin services of Morning and Evening Prayer out of the traditional medieval monastic hours. The monks traditionally chanted and recited these "offices" eight times, in Latin, during the day or night. Cranmer simplified these down to two daily services, in English. Morning Prayer became known as Mattins. Evening Prayer as Evensong.

Evensong is a service of psalms and canticles, Scripture and prayers chanted by the choir as the day winds down.  Occasionally there is a sermon but not always.  It is a feast of Scripture and poetry presented largely in musical form. But it isn't a concert — it is an invitation to contemplation.

The thing I love most about Evensong is that it doesn't require much of you. There's very little for the congregation to say or sing (usually the Creed and one hymn). Even less for you to do. Instead you are invited to listen. To pay attention. To sit in silence in God's presence and let the music and the words and the evening quiet wash over you.

This summer, the St. Elisabeth's Choir will offer our first service of Choral Evensong. I warmly welcome you to join us as we give it a try on Sunday, August 10, beginning at 4:30 p.m. Take your seat. Close your eyes. And let the music wash over you as the grace of God does continually in all the days of our lives, in the morning and the evening.

"Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice." -Psalm 141:2

Faithfully, The Rev. Adam Spencer, Rector