St. Francis The Episcopal Church In Potomac

Our current Book of Common Prayer provides a wealth of liturgies for use in the Episcopal Church. Two such orders come from the daily monastic evening “offices” (think “liturgies”) of the early Christian church and still are practiced today.

   The first is Vespers, somewhat clumsily called An Order of Worship for the Evening in our BCP, found on page 108. The second is An Order for Compline — or simply, Compline (pronounced KOM-plin) — on page 127. It was from these two offices that Thomas Cranmer (1489 – 1556) beautifully distilled and crafted our most Anglican of liturgies, Evening Prayer (p. 61), or Evensong as it has come to be known when sung. He understood the structural value of these offices and knew a service of practical use needed for the worship life of the newly formed Church of England could be patterned effectively after these ancient models.

    You may recall that we followed the order of Evensong for All Saints’ last November, that of Vespers in March, and we will follow the order for Compline on Ascension Day, Thursday, May 13th at 8:00 pm. The Saint Francis Choir will lead us with seasonal music in the parish church as we commemorate the ascension of Christ into heaven. A reception follows in the undercroft. Please come and join us for this Music at Eventide event.