Morning Prayer – Monday, 4th October 2021 | Canterbury Cathedral

good morning and welcome to the deanery garden on this monday morning the 4th of october it's the feast day of saint francis of assisi and it's also world animal day and it's been pouring with rain for the last probably hour uh we'd planned a very different kind of service this morning but everything has run for cover we spoke yesterday of the great storm on saturday which drenched us across the garden as we because the wind was very high as well and did great damage to plants but at the same time getting everyone under cover and in shelter was quite a task on saturday afternoon before i'm going across for coral even song well we brought winnie and clemmy across the lawns then and fletcher had quite a job getting them in the rain because they didn't like rain a great deal but they are now here in this garden and they're in the dry shed and they went under the straw and we've hardly seen them since in the warm they've come out to eat things but i don't think they'll they'll come out while the rain's lasting in fact the rain is just going off a little bit so in a moment maybe i can get the umbrella down what it has done over the last two days is beaten down all this foliage and and all the flowers you were used to which is part of the progress towards what we were talking about when we were sitting in the compost heap the other day the the way in which the earth replenishes itself as autumn begins to take leaves and foliage into the ground again but i think uh winnie and kemi will help this process now they're back in the walled garden and of course we're here with the chickens making their eggs egg song sounds we've put the covers up a little bit so that you can see them but i think later we shall put the covers down again there's blue sky appearing i wonder if i dare take the umbrella down and see how it is yes not too bad at all we'll we'll do this for a bit i don't think it'll last long uh i wanted to say that as we pray this morning we're praying for the city of melbourne in australia because they have now taken the record it's not a very good record to have of having that been the the world city which has been in lockdown for the longest time they took over from buenos aires this is the 246th day of lockdown for the people of melbourne and we we pray for them in that lockdown we also pray for the people of la palma where the volcano is still erupting and sending lava down into the sea and and it's been a a great crisis situation for that island pray for the people of japan as their new prime minister fumio kishida takes over today this is a day when the newspapers are full of animals because of the the way andy the did the news on television because this is world animal day because of saint francis and just to to capture one or two of those stories uh there's a lovely story of a seal off the coast of northumbria here in uh england making friends with a diver that doesn't surprise us at all with seals it would wouldn't surprise us with a dolphin either some creatures are unnaturally friendly in that particular way it's also fat bear week in alaska where they have a competition to find the most portly and hibernation ready bear ready and prepared for hibernation with lots of fat on them having eaten food for the winter there's a story about five zebras who've escaped from a farm in maryland and are proving very difficult indeed to catch because zebras are very fast they're easy to see because of their stripes but they're very fast and no one yet has succeeded in catching them which is given a story but also some fun i think for the citizens of uh of that town in maryland and then wally the walrus who's had an enormous journey uh and has been on the coast around here not coast of ireland has now reached iceland we hope on his way back to the arctic to find a mate in his natural uh area of of uh being as a walrus but he's had quite a journey quite a little pilgrimage and adventure all these things for animal day at uh on saint francis day but at the same time we remember and i've read this story several times that there's been a survey done of the way in which animals and named plants are disappearing from novels and earlier on uh in the early 20th century many children's books were very much animal based but at the same time in novels it was it was easy to find animals and named plants and trees now it seems they're disappearing from stories it's a tree might be named but it'll just be called a tree or a plant might be named just a plant and not so many animals in in those stories well to have them there is when you're reading a story is to remind you of the landscape and remind you of the way the creatures actually do relate to us all those things we say at the beginning of our worship on saint francis day yesterday we had our annual pet service and lots of people brought their pets to be blessed on the oaks here it had been pouring with rain the day before and we've been wondering what on earth we would do if it was raining yesterday at a tea time yesterday by four o'clock it was pouring with rain again but at two o'clock we had a blessed oasis of bright sunshine and the pets came and were blessed and they the the proud owners with lots of smiles and lots of fun and lots of children presented themselves with their pets and we asked their names each of us standing um blessing in the middle of a service where we sang hymns like all things bright and beautiful and for the beauty of the earth uh and as the pets came forward the first thing that the the the priest who was blessing would say was what's the name of your pet and then generally with a smile they say quite often it was the the the the little boy or little girl who was who was holding or leading the pet who would say the name and then putting our hands on the pet we would say we give thanks for and bless and then molly or whatever the name of the pet was it's a cheerful and wonderful service to have last year we were in lockdown ourselves and couldn't have it but yesterday in that oasis of sunshine we were able to hold the annual pet service on the nearest sunday to saint francis day here we are on saint francis day itself october the 4th oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise your faithful servants bless you they make known the glory of your kingdom blessed are you sovereign god ruler and judge of all do you be praise and glory forever in the darkness of this age that is passing away may the light of your presence which the saints enjoy surround our steps as we journey on may we reflect your glory this day and so be made ready to see your face in the heavenly city where night shall be no more blessed be god father son and holy spirit blessed be god forever the night has passed and the day lies open before us let us pray with one heart and mind does we rejoice in the gift of this new day say may the light of your presence o god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen i've always thought that it's a lovely thing that saint francis of assisi's day being the 4th of october gets the psalm for the fourth morning of the month and it's psalm 19 which we will read now which reminds us of the canticle of the sun which francis himself created in his own umbrian language and dialect which we will read later on in the service but here's psalm 19 this morning psalm and you'll know it well the heavens are telling the glory of god and the firmament proclaims his handiwork one day pours out its song to another and one night unfolds knowledge to another they have neither speech nor language and their voices are not heard yet their sound has gone out into all lands and their words to the ends of the world in them has he set a tabernacle for the sun that comes forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber and rejoices as a champion to run his course it goes forth from the end of the heavens and runs to the very end again and there is nothing hidden from its heat the law of the lord is perfect reviving the soul the testimony of the lord is sure and gives wisdom to the simple the statutes of the lord are right and rejoice the heart the commandment of the lord is pure and gives light to the eyes the fear of the lord is clean and endures forever the judgments of the lord are true and righteous altogether more to be desired are they than gold more than much fine gold sweeter also than honey dripping from the honeycomb by them also is your servant taught and in keeping them there is great reward who can tell how often they offend oh cleanse me from my secret faults keep your servant also from presumptuous sins lest they get dominion over me so shall i be undefiled and innocent of great offence let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight o lord my strength and my redeemer beautiful sound for saint francis day and a special lesson this morning we'll return to genesis tomorrow morning but for today i'm going to the first chapter of the letter to the corinthians and you will quite quickly see why when you think of the character of francis and his embracing of the vocation and especially the cross of jesus remember that's in francis himself at the end of his life received the stigmata in hands and feet inside so i'm starting at verse 18 of chapter one of the first letter to the corinthians for the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of god for it is written i will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning i will thwart where is the one who is wise where is the scribe where is the debater of this age has not god made foolish the wisdom of this world for since in the wisdom of god the world did not know god through wisdom it pleased god through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe for jews demand signs and greeks seek wisdom but we preach christ crucified a stumbling block to jews and folly to gentiles but to those who are called both jews and greeks christ the power of god and the wisdom of god for the foolishness of god is wiser than human wisdom and the weakness of god is stronger than human strength for consider your calling brothers and sisters not many of you were wise according to worldly standards not many were powerful not many were of noble birth but god chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise god chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong god chose what is low and despised in the world even things that are not to bring to nothing things that are so that no human being might boast in the presence of god and because of him you are in christ jesus who became to us wisdom from god righteousness and sanctification and redemption so that as it is written let the one who boasts boast in the lord and i when i came to you brothers and sisters did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of god with lofty speech and wisdom for i decided to know nothing among you except jesus christ and him crucified and i was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of humanity but in the power of god i preached jesus and him crucified and that is exactly what francis found himself wanting to do if we focus ourselves on this one of the most popular saints in the whole christian calendar canonized just two years after his death in assisi and that holy place too we can reflect on together some of you will have been there and been blessed as i have been blessed in going to assisi and finding its gift and it's the gift of the vocation of francis himself francis who as you know and artists have portrayed this in so many different ways right from the times the earliest times after his life and ministry and death in so many wall paintings in the basilicas of assisi themselves but at the same time in pictures and paintings and also in stories and in films i went there first because of reading a book called god's fool and i was ready for that at that time i've read you before from my assisi diary the passage which was the 24th of may in 1986 when i found myself sitting beyond the wall of san dimieno and looking out across the umbrian landscape at the river torto shining in the morning sunshine going down to that place where first of all francis and his little community lived in huts just there but before that of course francis had been a noteworthy citizen of assisi as a young man not because of himself but because of the wealth of his father and his father and mother are crucial in the story his father because he never really accepted france's vocation and was very cruel to him in the beginning he wanted his son by dressing his son in armor and sending him off to war first against perugia in one of the interminable wars of the italian city-states at that time but sending him off and all that armor and splendor was look at my son francis has he not got better armor than all the other young men for they didn't come from a noble family and his father was trying to make his way by climbing the ladder of wealth and the way in which the prestige of this rich merchant was held in the city of assisi and we remember we we can't spend too long telling the story of saint francis this morning but you will remember that that it was as a soldier not going to perugia but the next campaign that he received that vision which sent him back to assisi in a completely different way having given away his expensive military armor and to the horror of his father who at one stage locked him in but he was released again by his mother and he made his way to san damiano and as he went there he had that vision there from the crucifix in the ruined church there saying francis go and build up my church which as you see is falling into ruins and francis for a while took that location very literally and began to to mend first that church and then other little churches especially the portuguese down below on the plane um began to mend with stones he would go around asking for stones and stones were thrown at him by jeering village children and young men who called him padzo madsman madman and threw stones at him which he thanked them for saw everyone as a blessing and built them into the walls of the church until eventually he found that this wasn't the vocation that was for him it was a stepping stone to it but it was a much bigger vocation that was being asked of him and it was the church throughout the world that was being spoken of francis go and build up my church extraordinary that the poverello the little poor man of of uh the the legends and the stories which have been passed down from age to age should be chosen as the vehicle for building up the church yet so it was when he went to rome with then 11 followers really in total poverty and presenting themselves in a fairly disreputable way already in a scene in assisi he had cast off the rest of the clothes that his father had had had given him as a sign of his own pride his father's pride in his son casting off those clothes and in nakedness the bishop of of assisi closed him with his own cope in order to to to to cover him as he returned himself to the naked state that he felt was offering himself to god and then was clothed in the rough costume of a pauper at that time well with his brothers off he went to rome walking there and meeting bishop guido in rome by chance and being introduced to someone who said yes we will get to an audience with the pope he and his his brothers 11 of them went and stood before the most powerful pope in medieval history innocent the third whose political dealings with england with king john and all of that um we we know all about but on this occasion he was presented with this group of young men in poor clothes but wearing the tonsha their heads at the top shaven as a sign of obedience to the church and france is asking that a simple rule of life might be recognized for his little order and asking the pope for permission and they were sent away and you remember how the um how the the story goes that that night innocent iii in a dream saw this little poor man stepping forward as the lateran basilica began to topple in his dream and the little poor man coming and holding it up and making it secure and the next day the pope asked for those little brothers to come back in all their poverty and stand before him and to the astonishment of the the papal court he gave permission for that simple order of life to be recognized and given authority and back when francis to assisi to begin a ministry which soon grew and grew and grew with the orders of uh the friars miner and then the poor claires and then the third order and then of course there's the anglican uh order of the society of saint francis as well i found myself on saturday afternoon in the middle of all that pouring rain uh really really hard pouring rain and wind walking down to the little churches in peter where the third order of of the society of saint francis here was having its annual meeting and i was asked to speak to them before that and could easily tell stories of going to assisi in 1986 and finding that everything that had been promised in all the the the legends the tales the history real history of saint francis as i walked the streets of assisi and joined in the worship of the basilica and enjoyed everything there but the best times in assisi were always when all the tourists went over to perugia um in order to find better hotels over there and the coaches left and assisi went back to the people who'd come as pilgrims and young people sat on steps singing songs to guitars so many of them singing make me a channel of your peace where there is hatred let me show love where there is injury a pardon and all of that going on around in the music of assisi but going up onto the slopes of mount sebastiao and looking at it there the basilica with the sun setting behind it and worshiping down there with the the pictures of saint francis painted on the wall going even farther on a very hot down remember walking right up to the karchery and finding that the hiding places that francis and his brothers loved to go to and then right down onto the plane where the little port siencola his chapel that he built up and knew a larger vocation in and that was was one of his favorite places to worship now not standing in the weather but covered by an enormous basilica santa maria daily angeli and all of that many of you will know but assisi never disappoints it gives the the sense of that that little poor man god's fool as the book called him and the grace of his nature and the understanding of why people were so drawn to him when all he was doing was attempting without any equipment to and with the simplest of rules to follow in the footsteps of jesus simplicity is very hard when an order grows bigger and bigger and bigger and francis found that quite beyond him um he he journeyed and wondered whether his mission was elsewhere he went even to egypt with one other brother to try and talk and they did talk to the sultan there at a time when crusades between the the islamic forces and christian forces were waging war francis went to sow peace there and talked to the sultan but found himself coming back one or two other journeys ended in shipwreck and always back to assisi and in the end assisi was the place where he very definitely was anchored one remembers him being the first one to create in all simplicity the christmas crib and he did that with real animals and at the same time um collected the people together and he he based it on the first chapter of isaiah you can find those verses in isaiah chapter one the the ox knows its owner and the ass his master's crib but my people do not know nor do they understand and the creatures coming together and the people seeing the manger and francis worshiping in a candlelit stable with all the crowds around gave us one of the best gifts of christmas the way in which we set cribs up and enact nativity stories because the way of jesus is anchored in our humanity and our humanity is anchored in the glory of creation which psalm 19 this morning morning gave us in in in such colorful language and the creatures well there are so many stories about francis preaching to the birds i i don't doubt that for a moment because we've seen as we've gone through as a garden congregation month by month and season by season how one when one is talking quite gently the the birds will come and gather round and and creatures are drawn to a human voice in tranquility even in that marvelous snow scene which we had together when the whole of the garden looked like narnia there on the branch beside me was our friend the robin sitting and singing and not leaving us alone for animals are drawn to tranquility and drawn to a sense of compassion and care for them and yesterday afternoon in the pet service was ample opportunity to see how those pets were so important in terms of rhythm of life and companionship to those who had them there as whole families uniting people together it's certainly so with any kind of creature that you you take around it it breaks down barriers of formality whatever that creature is if there's a tenderness towards the creature and a way in which of saying yes i'm trying to understand your ways and i i want in some way to look after you that's a symbol of saint francis so i have no doubt that birds settled and and sang when he was who was always wandering into the italian villages in the countryside and remember the story of him taking one brother out with him one day who was wanting to learn to preach and they set off at sunrise and they went along they said their office they sat with people they shared their breakfast other people shared their breakfast with them went through the day talked to helped people in the middle of their working life lent their own muscles to old people trying to do things which were too hard spoke to the animals and did all the sorts of things that they were doing as well and at the end of the day they went back to the the friary and uh the brothers sent us in francis but i thought you were going to teach me to preach and he said my brother we have been doing that all day long i might say from the mission statement at this time we've been showing people jesus so thanks be to god on this particular day for saint francis of assisi and this world animal day i'm going to put the umbrella up because it's beginning to spot again now and um at the same time i wanted to say that that today is the day in 1535 when the coverdale bible miles coverdale's translation into english which was was partly based on tyndale's translation as well but it's always called the coverdale bible the first english bible in full to be published and two years later to get the royal seal of approval so if you like it became authorized a long time before the king james bible of 1611 was authorized now the wonderful thing about miles coverdale was that he had a policy of language which sometimes is much more poetic to recite than the king james bible even the king james bible is majestic and in our book of common prayer which still stands as a foundation stone and a signpost in the life of our church of england and in many areas of the anglican communion then in that book of common prayer now since 1662 the lessons of the gospels and epistles which are printed out at the communion service are all from the king james bible but the psalms are all from miles coverdale's bible and you can see if you read a psalm like psalm 23 the lord is my shepherd um compare the two and and you will find that the psalm is from coverdale's bible the magnificat that we say my soul does magnify the lord and my spirit has rejoiced in god my savior for he has regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden all of that is coverdale the canticles are kept in coverdale and we give thanks therefore for the policy of miles coverdale because the psalms as the choir sing them in coral even song in their 16th century translation not their 17th century translation of the king james bible have a policy which still reflects the old rhythms of the daily office which was set out to mark the days and the seasons so thanks be to god first in francis of course but also thanks be to god on this day for miles coverdale and his translation of the english bible still in use for our psalms and our canticles and many of the things that we know by heart come from that translation because they're somebody and um and and canticles so let's say our prayers on this particular day and um perhaps i've been too pessimistic in fact the rain hasn't come back down it was beginning to spot but it's not so we can open the umbrella and open our book to see exactly first of all whom we should be praying for i had to make an apology because yesterday in the middle of war we were doing for harvey's thanksgiving i omitted to pray for well first the archbishop of canterbury and then rose bishop of dover and emma bishop at lambeth but also the parishes that we were meant to be praying for yesterday so let me then uh name those parishes of brayborn and mursham amongst horton selinge smith and stouting and pray for christina and susan manners in their ministry there in that what is called the star downs benefits of those villages and today oh and also i should have prayed for the church in wales uh i beat my breasts for that yesterday because i didn't mention them in our service so i mentioned that today our beloved church of wales for we adore wales and the lovely cathedrals of wales and we have a friend there called carys who uh daily watches the garden congregation and then uh sends us a message very often in to to to say how much he's enjoyed particular bits of it many of them visual bits of it so we are now looking at today and this fourth of october is is a day when we pray for the diocese of gambella and that is in the episcopal anglican province of alexandria and we also pray with our diocese for a harvest focus day keep playing creation well we try to keep praying creation every day and there's a prayer request written by canon seth cooper the rector at walmar and cornello benefits well let's pray for seth and that benefits as well today and i'm going to use the prayer of saint francis of assisi and then we shall say his canticle of the son lord make me an instrument of your peace where there is hatred let me sow love where there is injury pardon where there is doubt faith where there is despair hope where there is darkness might where there is sadness joy o divine master grant that i may not so much seek to be consoled as to console to be understood as to understand to be loved as to love for it is in giving that we receive it is in forgiving that we are forgiven and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life amen and the canticle of saint francis a song of saint francis of assisi this was written in his own umbrian dialect sitting i believe in the place that i found on that may the 24th saturday may the 24th in 1986 looking out at the river torto and he wrote it when his eyesight was beginning to fail and the sunshine was bright around him most high all-powerful good lord to you be praise glory honor and all blessing only to you most hide they belong and no one is worthy to call upon your name may you be praised my lord with all your creatures especially brother son through whom you lighten the day for us he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor he signifies you almost high be praised my lord for sister moon and the stars clear and precious and lovely they are formed in heaven be praised my lord for brother wind for air and clouds clear skies and all weathers by which you give sustenance to your creatures be praised my lord for sister water who is very useful and humble and precious and pure be praised my lord for brother fire by whom the night is illumined for us he is beautiful and cheerful full of power and strength be praised my lord for our sister mother earth who sustains and governs us and produces diverse fruits and colored flowers and grass be praised my lord by all those who forgive for love of you and who bear wit weakness and tribulation blessed are those who bear them in peace for you most high they will be crowned be praised my lord for our sister the death of the body from which no one living is able to flee woe to those who are dying in mortal sin blessed are those who are found found doing your will for the second death will do them no harm praise and bless my lord and give him thanks and serve him with great humility let's say the prayer our savior taught us on this in france's day in whatever language and in whichever way you like to use 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 the power and the glory forever and ever are men you will hear the song not of the earth but of the guinea fowl over the over the garden wall there as they are rejoicing that the rain has stopped and they're on their journey around the garden as we keep a moment of our own silence to say our prayers this morning [Music] make me a channel of your peace [Music] to be loved as to love with all my [Music] let me souls home [Music] [Music] to be understood [Music] with all my souls [Music] it is [Music] that i may never see so much [Music] to be loved as to love with all my souls make me [Music] [Music] the peace of god which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of god and if his son jesus christ our lord and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and those whom you would pray for today and always amen well the the rain and the the wetter has caused the robins to sing but brother sun is now spreading into the sky which is blue above me and uh so we may have an hour or two of sunshine before the rains return have a good saint francis day is [Music] [Music] uh [Music] these [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] oh foreign [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] r [Music] is [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] hey [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] oh is [Music] oh [Music] so you

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Id: SBQGg2NBtz8

Length: 50min 13sec (3013 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 04 2021