9.17.21 National Cathedral Morning Prayer

[Music] [Music] good morning i'm jan coat provost to the cathedral and it's my joy to welcome you to our service this morning on friday september 17th it is the feast day of hildegard of bingham who was a visionary who died on this day in 1179 more about her to come let us pray lord god you've brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your mighty power that we may not fall into sin nor be overcome by adversity and in all we do direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose through jesus christ our lord amen the collect for this feast day god of all times and seasons give us grace that we after the example of your servant hildegard may both know and make known the joy and jubilation of being part of your creation and show forth your glory in the world through jesus christ our savior who lives and reigns with you in the holy spirit one god forever and ever amen the scripture appointed for today is from the gospel of john the third chapter beginning at the 16th verse for god so loved the world that he gave his only son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life indeed god did not send the son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him those who believe in him are not condemned but those who do not believe are condemned already because they've not believed in the name of the only son of god and this is the judgment that the light has come into the world and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil for all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light so that their deeds may not be exposed but those who do what is true come to the light so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in god those who do what is true come to the light so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in god that is a perfect framework for the life of hildegard whom we remember today hildegard was the daughter of a knight and she was born in the lush rhineland valley she was as is recorded in our memories of the saints a mystic poet composer dramatist doctor and scientist she was obviously busy she was the 10th child of her parents and they literally tithed her to the church as the tenth child at the age of eight she was raised by the anchor as trudeau in a cottage near benedictine monastery over time other women came to be drawn to silence and prayer and they were drawn to the freedom to pursue and develop their intellectual gifts which was very rare at that time so many women found this so appealing that they formed a convent and judah was the fir jetta was the first abbess when she died hildegard was called to be the abbess of the convent at the ripe old age of 38. from childhood hildegard experienced dazzling visions and at the age of 42 she heard a voice presumably the voice of god telling her to write down what she was seeing and what she was experiencing and these extraordinary original writings in the illustrations that accompanied them became wildly popular hildegard if you can imagine it became sort of a rock star in her time kings and queens and archbishops and the pope and every sort of person flocked to hildegard to get her take on things on spiritual matters just seeking her wisdom and so she was quite the thing in her time she practiced medicine wrote a drama published on natural science and philosophy and i guess in her copious spare time also managed to compose music it makes one wonder what time she had left over to oversee her monastery but apparently she did she died at the age of 81 a very long and productive life and of course her contributions live on to this day and they've inspired generations of christians across the ages i love one of the quotes of some of her writings that speak and i think refer back to that last verse you heard from the gospel of john she wrote all living creatures are sparks from the radiation of god's brilliance emerging from god like the rays of the sun must have been just sort of a glimpse of the types of visions that this extraordinary woman servant of god who was tithed to the church from the age of eight gave to the people of her time and continues on to this day how are we using the gifts god has given us and who is being influenced and inspired by our lives always good questions to ask so on this day we give thanks for the life of hildegard and how she continues to inspire you and me amen a prayer for the beauty of the earth in honor of hildegard we give you thanks most gracious god for the beauty of the earth and sky and sea for the richness of mountains plains and rivers for the songs of birds and the loveliness of flowers we praise you for these good gifts and pray that we may safeguard them for our posterity grant that we may continue to grow in our grateful enjoyment of your abundant creation to the honor and glory of your name now and forever amen and now i invite you to join me in the prayer our savior christ taught us 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 and the power and the glory forever and ever amen glory to god whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine glory to god from generation to generation in the church and in christ jesus forever and ever amen the lord bless you and keep you the lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you the lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace this day and always in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen [Music] you

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Length: 11min 39sec (699 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 17 2021