Voice of Praise service for Holy Week

The Passion of Christ, a service for Holy Week will be sung by Voice of Praise Chamber Choir, directed by Denham Pereira, on Wednesday, 17th April at 6pm at the Church of St. Michael and All Angels, Polwatte.

At the heart of the service, led by the Venerable Chrisantha Mendis, is a sequence of the Stations of the Cross, recalling the medieval custom of processing to the images of Christ’s Passion. The Order of Service will lead the congregation in song, word, prayer and silence, through meditation on the cross, betrayal, sacrifice and death of Christ to a glimpse of his resurrection.

The worship service will be aided by readings from scripture and other works of poetry and prose.. Among these are extracts from ‘ The Coming’ by R. S. Thomas, ‘ If this is a man’ by Primo Levi and ‘ Resurrection’ by Rowan Williams. The Music will include popular and lessheard works for both choir and organ.. The choral works include ‘ Crucifixus’ by Antonio Lotti, ‘ Surely He hath borne our griefs’ from Handel’s Messiah, and O Vos Omnes by Pablo Casals. Popular hymns such as ‘All Glory Laud and Honour’, ‘ When I Survey the Wondrous Cross’ and ‘ My Song is Love Unknown’ are also included in the order of service. Organ solos before and after the service include Works by Peter Hurford and J. S. Bach.

Voice of Praise is a chamber choir which specializes in sacred choral music. The group has been singing together in worship for over a decade, under the guidance of its Director, Denham Pereira. Pereira is also the Director of Music at the Church of St. Michael and All Angels and Bishop’s College.

The Service is open to all and entrance is free.