Dad, this one's for you

“All
 shall

 be 
well,

and 
all shall 

be well, &

all manner 

of thing 
shall 
be well.” 

                   Julian of Nowich 14th century  

                  English anchoraess and Mystic 

                  who lived at the time of the Black Death 

Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) Apologist and spiritual writer. And the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F Kennedy (1917-1960)

                                                                   Revelation 22:13, 16

I am 

the Alpha 

& the 

Omega, 

the first 

&

the last, 

the begin-ning and the end ... I am the root and descendant of David, the bight morning star. 

                               

Surprise us also 

with your joy 

and draw us 

into that new 

and abundant life 

which is ours 

in Jesus Christ…. 

(Collect)

Evening Prayer, with the sky clearing a little at sunset

                                                               Phos hileron 

Now as we come to the setting of the sun & our eyes behold the vesper light, 
we sing your praises, 
O God: Father, Son & Hoy Spirit...

William Byrd (1623) John Merbeck (1585) Thomas Tallis (1585)

                                              Antiphon on Part One of Psalm 105

Sing 
to the 
Lord, 
and  
re-member the marvels he has done, hallelujah.   

Grant, we pray, 

to all who are touched by the power of music such glimpses of eternity that they may be ready to ... behold your glory unveiled

Collect of the Day 

Edmund, King of East Anglia, martyred in 870

                                                                   II Corinthians 13:14

The grace 

of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, the love of Gd and the fellowship 
of the Holy Spirit be with all all evermore. 

"During Edmund's reign, Danish attacks on the east coast o England became increasingly  frequent. In 869 the 28 year old king led his troops in battle agains the raiders and was defeated in battle. The Danes offered peace on the 2 conditions that Edmund give them half his wealth and become a vassal prince. Edmund was willing to comply with the first, but he refused to become a vassal prince unless his overlord became a Christian”.  It was a costly choice. On November 20 in 870 “the Danish chieftain ordered him to be scourged, tied to a tree and used as a living target for his archers, and finally beheaded.” (Hence, the arrows or archers in many of the images of him.) 

Tuesday Evening Prayer (This one's for Amy, Barbara and John)

                                     Psalm 94:19

              
                    
                    
                    When 

                    many
                    cares 

                    fill 

                    my 

                    mind, 

                    your 

                    consolations cheer my soul. 

Tuesday

                                                                        Psalm 100:2

Know 
this:

the 

Lord 
himself 
is God; 
he himself 
has made us and we are his.

Hilda (618-680) Abbess of Whitby

                                                            Psalm 89:1 

Your 

love, 

O Lord, 

forever will I sing; from age to age 

my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.

Hilda, depicted here in 14th century stained glass, in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. 

The Synod of Whitby, held in 664, “was convened to settle the questions dividing the followers of the Celtic traditions and followers of the Roman practices. The Synod resulted int he union of the Roman and Celtic missions in England.”  This resulted in the disappearance, at least institutionally, of Celtic Christianity, such as the existence of “double houses,” monasteries of men and woman such as the one at Whitby in North Yorkshire, over which Hilda presided as Abbess. 

The Sister Fidelma mysteries by Peter Tremayne (which can be found in our St Davdi's library) are set int his historical period and depict the tension between the two traditions, the Celtic and the Roman. He, like Hilda herself, favors the former. 

   

Sunday night

                                                                     Psalm 19:1

The heavens declare the glory 
of 
God and the firmament declares his handwork. 

Second to the last Sunday of the church year!

                                                   Collect of the Day 

grant 

us so

to hear, read, mark, learn, 

& in-wardly digest (holy Scripture) that we may embrace 
and ever hold fast the blessed hope 

of everlasting life, which you 

have given us…. 
                         that we may ever embrace 

                                    and ever hold fast to hope

Margaret Queen of Scotland ( c.1045-1093) One of the last members of the Anglo-Saxon British royal family.

Psalm 87:6b 

all 

my 

fresh 

springs 

are 

in 

you 

“O God,you gave your 

servant Margaret of Scotland 

a special love for the poor. 

Give us, we pray that 

same love, that we may 

be signs of your 

goodness....”

Evening Prayer

                                                                           Matthew 16: 15

"But 
who 
do
 you say that I am?” 

Friday night

                                                 Antiphon: Psalm 92: 1a, 2 

It is a good thing... to tell
of your loving-kindness in the morning, O Lord, and of your faithfulness in the night season.

St Hugh Bishop of Lincoln ca.1140-1200 (who is celebrated on the 17th of the month in the Episcopal calendar along with Robert Grosseteste who was elected Bishop of Lincoln in 1235)

                                      Friday Collect  

Grant that we, walk-ing 

in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace. 

“Hugh, elected Bisho of Lincoln in 1186, spent much of his early life as a Carthusian in France. At age 40 he was invited to found a monastery in England. When he discovered that the monastery would displace scores of peasants, he refused to have anything to do with it until these people were justly compensated by the king.“  The way of the cross is always a daily choice in the midst of daily living. 

I don’t know whether this is a swan or a goose here and I don’t know why, but it is, and in many of the images of St Hugh it is often pictured flapping its wings. Even Google doesn’t help me here. Anybody know? I do know that in Celtic spirituality the wild goose is symbolic of the Holy Sprit, which gives a whole new meaning to 
going on a wild goose chase.... 

Evening

                                   Psalm 85:18

I will listen to what the Lord God is saying, for he is 

speaking peace to his faithful people 

and to those who turn their hearts to him. 

The Consecration of Samuel Seabury as the first American Episcopal Bishop, in 1784 inAberdeen, Scotland because he refused to swear allegiance to the British Monarch

                                                            Psalm 83: 18

       
       
       you 

       whose 

       Name 

       is 

       YAHWEH, 

       you alone 

       are 
       the Most High, over all the earth. 

Midweek

                                                       Psalm 119:116 

Sustain me acc-ording to your promise that 
I may live 
and let me not 

be disappointed in my hope.

Soren Kirkegaard (1813-1855) Danish born theologian and the father of modern existentialism.

                                                                Psalm 78:14

God 
led 
them 
with a 
cloud
by day 
and all 
night through with a glow of fire. 

Pray this day

“For courage 

to search our souls and know ourselves.

For courage 

to reject false security in the search for truth. 

For courage 

to risk all for the sake of Christ.” 

Veterans Day and Martin of Tours, 397 Soldier, Christian, Bishop, Saint

                                    Absolution of sin 

  
  Strengthen 

  us in all 

  goodness. 

Legend has it that Martin, while still a soldier and as yet unbaptized, though a catechumen, cut his cavalryman’s cloak in half to give half to a beggar. Later in a dream Jesus wearing the half cloak... Leaving the Army, Martin eventually became became a Bishop and “one of the founders of the Celtic Church, which spread the gospel to the British Isles, Germany and the Low Counties.”

Pray for peace in out world,for ”a spirit of generosity to the poor, for the hungry and the homeless... and for all who serve in the military forces.” 

Rest Peacefully, Mary Butler (Ma-RI-a)

                                                                          Psalm 34:10  

Those 
who 

seek 

the 

Lord 

lack nothing that is good.  

Proper (= Sunday readings) 27 OF only 29!!

                                                                Psalm 96:2 

Sing
to the Lord  & bless his Name; pro-claim the good news 
of his salvation from day to day. 

Saturday late afternoon

                                                          Matthew 14:17

Jesus 

spoke 

to 

them 

and 

said 

“Take heart, it is I- do not be afraid.” 

St Elizabeth of the Trinity, Carmelite mystic (1880-1906)

Saturday antiphon on the Benedicte 

God

 saw 

every-
thing 

he 

had 

made 

and 

behold, 

it 

was

very 

 good. 

                                       “We 

                                        carry 

                                       our 

                                       heaven 

                                       within 

                                       us...” 

Friday evening

                                                             Psalm 73:24

You will guid me by your counsel and afterward receive
me with glory. 

Friday

Psalm 69:34b 

you 

who 

seek 

God, 

your 

heart 

will 

live 

                   even in the hard times.

Thursday

    Psalm 71:31

You 
strengthen 
me 
more & 
more, 
you 
enfold &
comfort me.

               Gordon Buck

        November 7, 1934-

            April 21, 2008 

            You too, 

           sweetheart 

                     

William Temple (1881-1942) “philosopher, theologian, social teacher, educational reformer and leader in the ecumenical movement” served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1942 until his death in 1944. He was the son of Frederick Temple who was also Archbishop, from 1897-1902.

Psalm 119:76

Let 

your 

loving-

kindness 

be my 

comfort 

William Temple  (1881-1944) “philosopher, theologian, social teacher, educational reformer and leader in the ecumenical movement” served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1942 until his death in 1944. He was the son of Frederick Temple who was also 
Archbishop, from 1897-1902.

The first Archbishop of Canterbury was Augustine, who was sent to the Anglo Saxons by Pope Gregory. Hence the group working and praying for unity is the Society of “Augustine and Gregory”. Musta been set up by an Anglican or it would have been “Gregory and Augustine!” Or maybe they agreed to go alphabetically...  The history of Archbishops of Canterbury is divided into 3 periods: Anglo-Saxon, After the Norman Conquest and After the Elizabethan Settlement.

There’s only one Archbishop whose name I don’t recognize following WilliamTemple, (1942-1944) that being 
Randall Davidson (1945-1961) 

From then on, the names are all familiar to me: 

 Michael Ramsey (1961-1974) 

Danald Coggan (1974-1980)

Robert Runcie ( 1980-1991) I think it was he who, when asked him      how he was to be addressed, quipped, You can just call me           "Your Amazing Grace!”) 

George Carey (1991-2002)

Rowan Williams and the newest one, 

Justin Welby (2013-)

It daily becomes more apparent that God’s respect for the freedom of our affections, thoughts and purposes is complete. It is part of that freedom that He never forces upon us His own gifts. He offers them, but unless we actively accept them, they remain ineffective as far as we are concerned.  “Behold, I stand at the door and knock “ - that is always the relation of Gd our Redeemer to our souls. ...  He never breaks down the door. He stands and knocks. And this is true not only of His first demand for admission to the mansions of our soul; it is also true of every room within that mansion…   Williams Temple’s Personal Religion and the Life of Fellowship  

“Prayers are suggested for teachers of the faith of the church, for an increased passion for social justice, for broadened horizons of social responsibility  and for the unity of the church.” 

 

Archbishop Justin Welby. Latest in a line dating back to 604.

Zechariah and Elizabeth. parents of John the Baptist

     Psalm 62:1a

For 

God 

alone 

my 

soul 

in 

silence 

waits 

Elizabeth, “kinswoman” to Mary  and her husband Zechariah, were faithful, elderly and childless Jews. One evening when it was his turn to offer incense  in the temple the Angel Gabriel appeared to him a and told him that his wife would conceive and have a son whom he would name John  and he would be the forerunner of the Messiah. Zechariah said “How can that be? I am old and Elizabeth’s no spring chicken herself.” At this, he was struck dumb and remained speechless until the child was born.  When they asked what the child’s name was,

 Elizabeth said “Zechariah” but the father, motioning for a pad to write on. wrote “His name is John.’  With that, his tongue was freed and the pent us silence of 9 months gushed forth in a song of praise we call  “The Song of Zechariah” or Canticle 16. The whole story is in the first chapter of the Gospel of St Luke chapter 1: 5-25, 57-79