good evening and welcome to our last service of the day the service of compline on this sunday the 26th of july a month beginning to end and this sunday beginning to end i'm going to begin our reflections with the beginning of the last verses of little gidding we'll when we've got our candlelight at the end and have that meditation i'll finish the poem but there's a verse before that which always reminds me of a particular hymn and i'm going to read them one after the other the dove descending breaks the air with flame of incandescent terror of which the tongues declare the one discharge from sin and error the only hope or else despair lies in the choice of pyre or pyre to be redeemed from fire by fire and the hymn come down o love divine seek thou this soul of mine and visit it with thine own ardor glowing oh comforter draw near within my heart appear and kindle it thy holy flame bestowing oh let it freely burn till earthly passions turn to dust and ashes in its heat consuming and let thy glorious light shine ever on my sight and clothe me round the while my path illuming the lord almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour whom resist steadfast in the faith [Music] but thou o lord have mercy upon us thanks be to god our help is in the name of the lord who has made heaven and earth we confess to god almighty the father the son and the holy ghost before the whole company of heaven that we have sinned exceedingly in thought word and deed through our fault our own fault our own grievous fault therefore we pray god to have mercy upon us almighty god have mercy upon us forgive us all our sins and bring us to everlasting life amen turn us oh god our savior and let thine anger cease from us oh god make speed to save us o lord make haste to help us 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 say psalm 4 and psalm 134 hear me when i call oh god of my righteousness thou has set me at liberty when i was in trouble have mercy upon me and hearken unto my prayer o ye sons of men how long will he blaspheme mine honour and have such pleasure in vanity and seek after leasing know this also that the lord has chosen to himself the man that is godly when i call upon the lord he will hear me stand in awe and sin not commune with your own heart and in your chamber and be still offer the sacrifice of righteousness and put your trust in the lord there be many that say who will show us any good lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us thou has put gladness in my heart since the time that their corn and wine and oil increased i will lay me down in peace and take my rest for it is thou lord only that maketh me dwell in safety 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 behold now praise the lord all you servants of the lord ye that by night stand in the house of the lord even in the courts of the house of our god lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the lord the lord that made heaven and earth give the blessing out of zion 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 thou o lord art in the midst of us and we are called by thy name leave us not o lord our god thanks be to god into thy hands o lord i commend my spirit for thou hast redeemed me o lord thou god of truth i commend my spirit glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost into thy hands o lord i commend my spirit so we say tonight the compline hymn before the ending of the day creator of the world we pray that with thy won'ted favor thou wouldst be our guard and keeper now from all ill dreams defend our eyes from nightly fears and fantasies tread underfoot our ghostly foe that no pollution we may know oh father that we ask be done through jesus christ thine only son who with the holy ghost and thee doth live and reign eternally amen keep me o lord as the apple of an eye hide me under the shadow of thy wings so at this point we light a candle for all those whom we remember who have died those whom we've loved and those who have shown us christ's light by their own lives we remember to all those who have died this week those who have died from the pandemic also those whom we may know ourselves we commend them to god's loving care [Music] rest eternal grant unto them lord and let light perpetual shine upon them save us our lord while waking and guard us while sleeping that awake we may watch with christ and asleep we may rest in peace lord now let us thy thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou has prepared before the face of all people to be a light to lighten the gentiles and to be the glory of thy people israel 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 save us our lord while waking and guard us while sleeping that awake we may watch with christ and asleep we may rest in peace let us pray lord have mercy upon us christ have mercy upon us lord have mercy upon us we say the prayer our savior taught us in whichever language we normally use our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on 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 forever and ever amen we will lay us down in peace and take our rest let us bless the father and the son and the holy ghost let us praise and exalt him above all forever blessed art thou o lord in the firmament of heaven and to be praised and glorified and exalted above all forever the almighty and merciful lord guard us and give us his blessing amen vouchsafe o lord to keep us this night without sin oh lord have mercy upon us have mercy upon us o lord let thy mercy lighten upon us as our trust is in thee oh lord hear our prayer and let our cry come unto thee visit we beseech thee oh lord our homes and drive far from them all snares of the enemy let thy holy angels dwell therein to preserve us in peace and may thy blessing be upon us ever more through jesus christ our lord amen the lord who by triumphing over the power of darkness did prepare our place in the new jerusalem grant us who have this day given thanks for thy resurrection to praise thee in the eternal city whereof thou art the light where with the father and the holy ghost thou livest and rainist one god world without end amen be present o merciful god and protect us through the silent hours of this night so that we who are wearied by the changes and chances of this fleeting world may repose upon thy eternal changelessness through jesus christ our lord our men so we keep silence for a moment and commend into god's hands all whom we love all whom we know to need our prayers on this sunday evening and also ourselves asking for god's grace for each day of this coming week watch thou dear lord with those who wake or watch or weep tonight and give thine angels charge over those who sleep tend thy sick ones o lord christ rest thy weary ones bless thy dying ones sooth thy suffering ones pity thine afflicted ones and all for thy love's sake amen the peace of god which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of god and if his son jesus christ our lord the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and would pray for this night and always amen the closing sections of little getting by t.s eliot what we call the beginning is often the end and to make an end is to make a beginning the end is where we start from and every phrase and sentence that is right where every word is at home taking its place to support the others the word neither diffident nor ostentatious an easy commerce of the old and the new the common word exact without vulgarity the formal word precise but not pedantic the complete consort dancing together every phrase and every sentence is an end and a beginning every poem and epitaph and any action is a step to the block to the fire down the sea's throat or to an illegible stone and that is where we start we die with the dying see they depart and we go with them [Music] we are born with the dead see they return and bring us with them the moment of the rose and the moment of the yew tree are of equal duration a people without history is not redeemed from time for history is a pattern of timeless moments so while the light fails on a winter's afternoon in a secluded chapel history is now and england with the drawing of this love and the voice of this calling we shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time through the unknown remembered gate when the last of earth left to discover is that which was the beginning that the source of the longest river the voice of the hidden waterfall and the children in the apple tree not known because not looked for but heard half heard in the stillness between two waves of the sea quick now here now always a condition of complete simplicity costing not less than everything and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well when the tongues of flame are enfolded into the crowned knot of fire and the fire and the rose are won so so so so oh oh foreign [Music] so and