‘Evening Prayer’ to be held March 27 at St. Colman

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On Sunday, March 27 — the fourth Sunday of Lent — a service of Psalms and other Scripture with choir, accompanied by organ and strings, is planned as a devotion for Lent.

The Evening Prayer will begin at 3 p.m. at St. Colman Church, located at 219 S. North St., Washington Court House. (The church is two blocks north and one block east of the Fayette County Court House. There is ample free parking).

The Choir of St. Colman, with soloist Joey Pace accompanied by string quartet, will be providing the service. Pace is a graduate of Temple University and choral director of Washington High School.

Craig Jaynes is the director of music and organist. Fr. C. M. Haddad is pastor.

The prayer service, known formally as Evening Prayer and sometimes called Vespers or Evensong, is one of the oldest in western Christendom.

It is actually ordered for daily use, the Sunday version of it often being made more elaborate with music. It is known in some form or another throughout most Christian denominations and is highly suited for ecumenical participation.

St. Colman has made a tradition of presenting a special treatment of the service for the fourth Sunday of Lent, one of two Sundays in the liturgical year designated as a ‘Rose’ Sunday, that being the liturgical color specified for the day.

It is of a less somber tone than the usual color of purple and reflects the more joyful nature of the day (because it’s more than halfway through the season). It is also the only Sunday in Lent when the use of flowers is permitted.

One of the primary scriptures for the day is from the Letter of Peter, and it quotes from the prophet Isaiah concerning the Messiah. Those words are paraphrased in the second part of Handel’s “Messiah” and for that reason, the first section of that work will used as the special music of the day and will be accompanied by the strings and organ.

This is in addition to the chanted Psalms, a Magnificat (The Song of Mary) by the late Canadian composer Healey Willan, the ‘Evening Hymn’ of John Gardiner as well as hymns, all to be performed by the choir.

Admission is free to all, although a free will offering is taken to help support the music program at St. Colman.

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