St. Giles’ Cathedral 

 

Morning Service at 11am 

 

2nd Sunday in Lent 

 

Sunday 25th February 2024 

 

Organ Music 

 

Camille Saint-Saëns Improvisation on Pro Martyribus  

Sigfrid Karg-Elert Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr 

 

Introit 

 

Jesu, the very thought of thee 

 

Jesus, the very thought of Thee 
With sweetness fills my breast; 
But sweeter far Thy face to see, 
And in Thy presence rest. 

 

Text: Edward Caswall 1814-1878 

Music: Edward Bairstow 1874-1946 

 

Processional Hymn 

 

New every morning is the love 

our wakening and uprising prove; 

through sleep and darkness safely brought, 

restored to life, and power, and thought. 

 

New mercies, each returning day, 

hover around us while we pray; 

new perils past, new sins forgiven, 

new thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven. 

 

If on our daily course, our mind 

be set to hallow all we find, 

new treasures still, of countless price, 

God will provide for sacrifice. 

 

The trivial round, the common task, 

will furnish all we ought to ask, 

room to deny ourselves, a road 

to bring us daily nearer God. 

 

Prepare us, Lord, in your dear love 

for perfect life with you above; 

and help us, this and every day, 

to live more nearly as we pray. 

 

Text: John Keble 1792-1866 

Music: Melcombe CH4 214 (ii) Melody by Samuel Webbe 1740-1816 

 

Scripture Sentences 

 

The Preces 

O Lord open thou our lips 

 

John Reading 1685-1764 

 

Bidding 

 

Prayer 

 

Collect 

 

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified; mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

 

First Lesson Genesis 17  1-17, 15-16 

 

The Choir sings the Psalm 22  23-31 

 

Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. 

For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. 

My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. 

The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. 

All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. 

For the kingdom is the Lord’s: and he is the governor among the nations. 

All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. 

A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. 

They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this. 

 

 

Second Lesson St Mark 8  31-38 

 

Hymn 

 

Father of heaven, whose love profound 

a ransom for our souls has found, 

before thy throne we sinners bend: 

to us your pardoning love extend. 

 

Almighty Son, Incarnate Word, 

our Prophet, Priest, Redeemer, Lord, 

before your throne we sinners bend: 

to us your saving grace extend. 

 

Eternal Spirit, by whose breath 

our souls are raised from sin and death, 

before your throne we sinners bend: 

to us your quickening power extend. 

 

Jehovah-Father, Spirit, Son- 

mysterious Godhead, Three in One, 

before your throne we sinners bend: 

grace, pardon, life to us extend. 

 

Text: Edward Cooper 1770-1833 

Music: Rivaulx CH4 483 J.B.Dykes 1823-1876 

 

Sermon 

 

Anthem 

 

Justorum animae 

 

The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God, and the torment of malice shall not touch them: 
They seem in the eyes of the foolish to be dead, but they are at peace.  

 

Text: Wisdom 3  1-3 

Music: Charles Villiers Stanford 1852-1924  

 

 

The Offering 

 

Prayer 

 

The Lord’s Prayer 

 

Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who 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. 

 

Hymn  

 

Join all the glorious names 

of wisdom, love, and power, 

that ever mortals knew, 

that angels ever bore: 

all are too mean to speak his worth, 

too mean to set my Saviour forth. 

 

Great Prophet of my God, 

my tongue would bless thy name; 

by thee the joyful news 

of our salvation came: 

the joyful news of sins forgiven, 

of hell subdued, and peace with heaven. 

 

Jesus my great High-Priest 

offered his blood and died; 

my guilty conscience seeks 

no sacrifice beside: 

his powerful blood did once atone, 

and now it pleads before the throne. 

 

My dear almighty Lord, 

my Conqueror and my King, 

your sceptre and your sword, 

your reigning grace, I sing; 

yours is the power: behold I sit 

in willing service at your feet. 

 

Now let my soul arise, 

and tread the tempter down; 

my Captain leads me forth 

to conquest and a crown. 

a feeble saint shall win the day, 

though death and hell obstruct the way. 

 

Text: Isaac Watts 1674-1748 

Music: Croft’s 136th CH4 460 Melody by William Croft 1678-1727 

 

Benediction 

 

Organ Voluntary 

César Franck Pièce Heroïque 

 

CCL Licence No 980930 

Streaming Licence 57837 

The service was conducted by The Rev Dr George J Whyte