Join us this week for our service of Organ Vespers live from Christ Church Cathedral at 4pm (ET). This week we feast on God’s message of hope and prosperity as we mark the official ‘birthday’ of the universal church, with a selection of early Baroque organ music on themes for the day, including Nicolas de Grigny’s monumental suite based on Veni creator interspersed through the service.
You can hear the service broadcast live on Radio Ville Marie, and a video recording of the service will be available on this page shortly thereafter. Our continuing mission to the Christian community in Montreal and around the world remains our top priority during these difficult times, but much of this only remains possible through the extraordinary generosity of our congregation, friends, and supporters around the world. If you feel able to make an offering to our work, you can do so securely here on our website.
Organ Vespers for the Feast of Pentecost
Officiant: Very Rev Bertrand Olivier, Dean of Montreal
Organist: Nicholas Capozzoli, Assistant Organist
- Prelude: Veni creator, Nicolas de Grigny (1672-1703)
- Plein jeu
- Fugue à 5
- 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 67
- GOD be merciful unto us, and bless us : and shew us the light of his countenance, and be merciful unto us:
- That thy way may be known upon earth : thy saving health among all nations.
- Let the people praise thee, O God : yea, let all the people praise thee.
- O let the nations rejoice and be glad : for thou shalt judge the folk righteously, and govern the nations upon earth.
- Let the people praise thee, O God : let all the people praise thee.
- Then shall the earth bring forth her increase : and God, even our own God, shall give us his blessing.
- God shall bless us : and all the ends of the world shall fear him.
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: Ave maris stella, Nicolas de Grigny
- Plein jeu
- Fugue à 5
- First Lesson: Joel 2:21-32
Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call. - Magnificat: Magnificat Secundi Toni, Samuel Scheidt (1587-1624)
- 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: Acts 2:14-38
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.
Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. - Organ Reflection: Ave maris stella, Nicolas de Grigny
- Duo
- Dialogue sur les Grands Jeux
- Prayers
- Blessing
- Postlude: Veni creator, Nicolas de Grigny
- Duo
- Récit de Cromorne
- Dialogue sur les Grands Jeux