Preces and Responses
General information
The Preces and Responses are a set of versicles and responses used at Morning and Evening Prayer in the Church of England. Many composers have set the preces and responses to music, specifically for use in services. Some such settings have been contributed to CPDL (see below).
- See the Wikipedia article for a versicle
- or for the Preces
Text
English text
From the Book of Common Prayer, 1662
First, the Preces are said/sung:
- Priest. O Lord, open thou our lips.
- Answer. And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.
- Priest. O God, make speed to save us.
- Answer. O Lord, make haste to help us.
- Priest. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
- Answer. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
- Priest. Praise ye the Lord.
- Answer. The Lord's Name be praised.
After the Creed is said, the Responses:
- Priest. The Lord be with you.
- Answer. And with thy spirit.
- Minister. Let us pray. Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us.
- [All.] 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. Amen.
- Priest: O Lord, shew thy mercy upon us.
- Answer. And grant us thy salvation.
- Priest. O Lord, save the Queen.
- Answer. And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee.
- Priest. Endue thy Ministers with righteousness.
- Answer. And make thy chosen people joyful.
- Priest. O Lord, save thy people.
- Answer. And bless thine inheritance.
- Priest. Give peace in our time, O Lord.
- Answer. Because there is none other that fighteth for us, but only thou, O God.
- Priest. O God, make clean our hearts within us.
- Answer. And take not thy Holy Spirit from us.
Then follow the collects which are intoned, on one note, by the priest. The choir responds "Amen" to each. On some festivals, four collects are used but usually, there are three, the first of which is changes every day and the second and third of which are always the same.
Settings by composers
See Category:Preces and Responses for an unordered list.
of the Preces and Responses
- Michael Gibson
- Denis Mason (for Dundee)
- Denis Mason (for Oakville Singers)
- Denis Mason, according to the Book of Common Prayer
- Denis Mason (for Penwith Deanery Choir)
- Tim Pratt
- Tim Pratt (Church in Wales version)
- William Smith (of Durham)
- William Smith (of Durham), as set for the Church in Wales
- Thomas Tomkins
of the Lord's Prayer
- Robert Stone
- Graeme Martin for various voices: SATB, ATB and SSAA
of the Final Responses
External links
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