Join us once again for our contemplative service of Organ Vespers, live from the Cathedral on Radio Ville Marie, and now available through the video link below.
Organ Vespers for Ascension Sunday
Officiant: Very Rev Bertrand Olivier, Dean of Montreal
Organist: Nicholas Capozzoli, Assistant Organist
- Prelude: Toccata In te Domine speravi, Samuel Scheidt (1587-1624)
- Welcome from Very Rev Bertrand Olivier
- Responses (Plainsong)
V: O Lord open thou our lips
R: And our mouth shall shew forth thy praise
V: O God make speed to save us
R: O Lord make haste to help us
V: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost
R: As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen
V: Praise ye the Lord
R: The Lord’s name be praised - Psalm 47
- O CLAP your hands together, all ye people : O Sing unto God with the voice of melody.
- For the Lord is high, and to be feared : he is the great King upon all the earth.
- He shall subdue the people under us : and the nations under our feet.
- He shall choose out an heritage for us : even the worship of Jacob whom he loved.
- God is gone up with a merry noise : and the Lord with the sound of the trump.
- O sing praises, sing praises unto our God :O sing praises, sing praises unto our King.
- For God is the King of all the earth : sing ye praises with understanding.
- God reigneth over the heathen : God sitteth upon his holy seat.
- The princes of the people are joined unto the people of the God of Abraham : for God, which is very high exalted, doth defend the earth, as it were with a shield.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the Holy Ghost
As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be : world without end. Amen.
- Organ Reflection: Modus ludendi pleno organo pedaliter, Samuel Scheidt
- First Lesson: 2 Samuel 23:1-5
Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. - Magnificat: Magnificat Primi Toni, Samuel Scheidt
- My soul doth Magnify the Lord : and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
- For he hath regarded : the lowliness of his handmaiden.
- For behold from henceforth : all generations shall call me blessed
- For He that is mighty hath magnified me : and holy is His name
- And his mercy is on them that fear him : throughout all generations
- He hath shewn strength with his arm : He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts
- He hath put down the mighty from their seat : and hath exalted the humble and meek
- He hath filled the hungry with good things : and the rich He hath sent empty away
- He remembering his mercy : hath holpen His servant Israel
- As He promised to our forefather : Abraham and his seed for ever
- Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the Holy Ghost
- As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be : world without end. Amen.
- Second Lesson: Ephesians 1:15-23
Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. - Organ Reflection: Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, Samuel Schmidt
- Prayers
- Blessing
- Postlude: Vita Sanctorum, Samuel Scheidt
If you would like to make a free-will offering to support the work of the Cathedral during these difficult times, you can find full details of how to do so securely here.