Morning Prayer – Saturday, 5th March 2022 | Canterbury Cathedral

good morning and welcome to the dinery itself this morning on this saturday the 5th of march as we come to say our morning prayers welcome to canterbury and bring your own prayers and intentions wherever you are in the world as always or rather as we have done in the last 10 days we shall begin with thoughts about the people of ukraine and the surrounding nations and also the people of russia who are on that border there and have many links across the borders but we pray for the ukrainian people in their intense danger at this time as bombardment falls on their cities and hundreds of thousands of them flee from their homes which they were occupying oh but two weeks ago with uh the the sense of family life and now they've so many of them left members of their family behind to seek safety often for their children and are being given good hospitality by those in nations around as they receive them so we give thanks for that but we keep our prayers burning bright for the people of ukraine in this very tense situation not only for the ukraine but for our whole world at this time many of you yesterday will have perhaps witnessed the opening ceremonies of the winter paralympics taking place in beijing and i'm wanting to use the words of the president of the international paralympic committee andrew parsons to express something that we feel as a world about the ukrainian people and and the situation we find ourselves in he said at the beginning and normally these aren't political speeches but i think he felt a a real vocation to have to say this i want i must begin with a message of peace as the leader of our organization i am horrified at what is taking place in the world right now the 21st century is a time for dialogue and diplomacy not war and hate the olympic truce for peace during the olympic and paralympic games is a united nations resolution and must be respected and observed not violated at the international paralympic committee we aspire to a better and more inclusive growth free from discrimination free from hate free from ignorance and free from conflict so his speech went on and rose to a climax right at the end with his loudly using as the last word the word peace and no better word for this morning prayer as we gather today inside the deanery at the bottom room of our south tower here medieval tower surrounded by very very thick walls and we've been here before several times to read things mostly and we're going to do that this morning in a while but meanwhile perhaps the the nearest we've been to this recently was on the 26th of january which was australia day when we did that from the indoor aviary which you can see beyond the windows behind me uh and you can hear some of the the bird sounds in that aviary because we have two baby canaries who've hatched and now have left the nest and are finding the excitement there perfectly safe excitement there with their parents looking on so you may hear some of that sound and the water trickling through to the fountain which is in there which we saw on australia day but for the moment we've come into this fetcher study and our book room surrounded by books and we will be reading something a bit later on one of our our favorite books which uh won't surprise you i think because we've read from this person's writings before so let's keep that till later on and start our prayers this morning oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise hear our voice o lord according to your faithful love according to your judgment give us life blessed are you god of compassion and mercy to you be praise and glory forever in the darkness of our sin your light breaks forth like the dawn and your healing springs up for deliverance as we rejoice in the gift of your saving help sustain us with your bountiful spirit and open our lips to sing your praise 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 so may the light of your presence o god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen our psalm on this fifth morning of the month is psalm 26 give judgment for me o lord for i have walked with integrity i have trusted in the lord and have not test me o lord and try me examine my heart and my mind for your love is before my eyes i have walked in your truth i have not joined the company of the false nor consorted with the deceitful i hate the gathering of evildoers and i will not sit down with the wicked i will wash my hands in innocence o lord that i may go about your altar to make her the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all your wonderful deeds lord i love the house of your habitation and the place where your glory abides sweep me not away with sinners nor my life with the bloodthirsty whose hands are full of wicked schemes and their right hand full of bribes as for me i will walk with integrity redeem me lord and be merciful to me my foot stands firm in the great congregation i will bless the lord when as we think of our numbers across the world we could all say that last verse in the great congregation i will bless the lord and we do that together as a garden congregation this morning as we keep our prayers burning bright for the peace of our world and for the people of ukraine so let's turn once again to the gospel of john the fourth gospel and go back to chapter four and today we complete that chapter yesterday we were at jacob's well with the conclusion of the story of the woman of samaria who became the carrier of the gospel the carrier of the evangel to her people and now i'm beginning from the time when jesus having spent two days with the people there is moving on verse 43 of chapter four after the two days jesus departed for galilee for jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown so when he came to galilee the galileans welcomed him having seen all that he had done in jerusalem at the feast for they too had gone to the feast so jesus came again to cana in galilee where he had made the water wine now at capernaum there was a royal official whose son was ill when the man heard that jesus had come from judea to galilee he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son for he was at the point of death jesus said to him unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe the official said to him sir come down before my child die jesus said to him go your son will live the man believed the word that jesus spoke to him and went on his way and as he was going down his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering so the man asked them the hour when his son began to get better and they said to him yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him the father knew that was the hour when jesus had said to him your son will live and he himself believed and all his household this was now the second sign that jesus did when he had come from judea to galilee the second sign the first sign and in exactly the same village in the gospel of saint john was there in chapter 2 at the wedding at cana of galilee now jesus having met hostility in judea and having traveled through samaria and spent the two days with the people of saikar where the woman of samaria had herself been the first evangelist and brought the people to jesus and the people had said if you remember from yesterday stay with us the emmaus words abide with us and he does for two days and at the end they say to the woman now we believe not just because of your words to us but we have seen jesus for ourselves and know him to be and that lovely title coined for him there the savior of the world and now today jesus has come back to galilee but one of the things that he says in uh in the the gospels the synoptic gospels as well as as the fourth gospel a prophet is not without honor except in his own place if you've grown up there then they still treat you like that but in fact when he gets to galilee and to cana in galilee the people who've been at the feast in jerusalem are welcoming him as something of a celebrity who's becoming well known because as we saw the crowds were going out to him when he was ministering beside john the baptist and it was because of that that the hostility of the authorities in judea was aroused and he felt he had to take the disciples away through quickest route through samaria and back to galilee but his reception there is different it's not a reception yet of belief it is a reception of one of their own people rather becoming famous and at the same time becoming famous as a healer and so in capernaum which will be jesus's own headquarters as we know from the synoptic gospels but it's down on the lake on a very busy road a royal official there whose son is ill hears that jesus has returned to galilee as in and is in cana of galilee so in the beginning we're told he's a royal official and then he's referred to as this man and later on we realize his feelings are as they are because he's a father of a sick child different identifications of the man but this is the fourth gospel never a name given the woman of samaria never a name she is a woman of samaria it's meaning it can be anyone who carries the evangel this man is not doing that yet but we never know his name he comes to jesus and as we read in that little bit of the last section of chapter 4 when he comes to jesus he is saying to jesus please my son is sick can you come down and heal him he is at the point of death and jesus says to him first of all um are you saying that unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe it's like a sort of question because jesus is surrounding my people wanting to see healing but he's wanting them to receive the gift of the spirit and wanting them to receive the good news which has been sent in so many different ways but is enshrined in his human life there amongst them and the official says to him missing that altogether sir come down or my child will die and jesus says to the man go your way your son will live and the man believed that word to start with and turns and goes away he doesn't stay pleading with jesus that he will come as well he he hears what jesus has said and trusts so he turns around and begins to go back down to the lakeside and obviously it's towards the end of the day because he's traveled and he's about to travel again so somewhere he spends the night and is traveling down when the servants of his household come and say to him your son is recovering and the fever has left him and when we're back with time again and the royal official the father of the boy says what time did that begin to happen and they say yesterday at the seventh hour and the man realizes that was when jesus had said your son will live and then we hear that wonderful sentence and he himself believed there's the key but more than that we're back with the same message of the woman of samaria and all his household that means in a royal official's household quite a big group and the servants who've met him in the same way he himself believed and all his households he has become an evangelist one who carries the message of good news to others no names but the wonderful fact that an ordinary human being nothing to do with his being a royal official as we've said he's designated first a royal official then a man and then the father of the child and it's his love for his child which is caused the journey and now the journey back is a journey of growing belief and then the confidence to tell that news for as we appear in that last sentence he himself believed and all his household he's the only one who could have told them because they hadn't seen jesus and yet the gospel is quite clear that this man has become through faith he believed through faith a messenger of the evangel this gives certain signs of the gospel as we shall go forward it talks about signs pointers on the way that word way is used for the man's journey to jesus and the journey back again he turned and went on his way continued on his way and yet that way is becoming away with a capital letter just as all christians in the beginning were called followers of the way and we shall see this opening up in the signs and how important that time is in the gospel that first sign it came of galilee when the water was turned into wine but only the uh the the um deacons as i always call them this the servers at the feast knew where the water had come from turned into wine and yet at that point jesus had said to his mother also unnamed in st john's gospel her name is never given almost out of respect and intimacy and he says to his mother my hour has not yet come and yet compassion for the bridegroom and the bride and their wedding guests causes him to create that first sign and we give thanks for that for the lord shows compassion today on this father of a child coming and pleading for his child and compassion is one of the great things that we're seeing at the moment as ukrainian people leave their homes and throw themselves with no expectation of welcome onto the hospitality of those who are receiving them at the stations with gladness and offering them hospitality compassion is a wonderful human quality and our lord's ministry is full of it and it's the first step for so many when he acts with compassion of them embracing the evangel the gospel and becoming messengers of the good news let's start today with the paralympics in beijing and we ourselves have a very special reason for wanting to do so because yesterday a bronze medal the first medal uh won by team great britain uh the paralympic team great britain was won by millie knight and brett wilde and millie knight is someone who at the age of six or thereabouts had an illness which took away her sight except in a very limited way i think she's got five percent peripheral vision in one eye and no more than 10 percent in the other and yet she is a paralympic skier of enormous international reputation and she fought through all that and she's only a representative of all those taking part in the paralympics who have overcome the difficulties in their physicality and are now competing in this wonderful way now why do i come to millie well not only because she and brett wilde who is her sighted guide in skiing uh has won a a bronze medal the very first in the opening hours of the paralympics but she is from here born in canterbury and uh a a person a person educated in our king school here within the precincts and also later at the university of kentucky hill and by the age of 13 in 2012 she was ready to join the great britain paralympic skiing team she had overcome that problem of vision to have confidence in the sighted guide skiing with her at first it was her mother now it's the very professional brett wilde who is with her all the time so they win the medals together but millie is the one taking the courage to be a paralympic skier suzanne is watching on family alongside guy brett wilde the guy in bright orange they communicate via microphones and headsets within the helmets and protective helmets you'll notice on the bottom right of your screens the fact of time that's because all of our athletes are classified and their impairments are then measured in the stringent regime and the clock is manipulated to shoot [Music] how much you can or can't see the lowest classification being a b1 athlete millie is a b2 classified athlete so has a slightly higher visual acuity than a b1 but less than a b3 hopefully that just about sums it up for gets you distinction of setting the first time didn't go well for her partner in crime yesterday benefits patrick who went first for great britain the downhill and tumbled very early communication [Music] come into view of the spectators now into this sharp left-hander before they drop down and it's all about the speed brett's job here is to get millie in line so she can just tuck in and come through these final two gates last red last blue over the line 133 76 for millie night oh it's a dancing really late and she has come here on several occasions and spoken to the school that she went to and she speaks with such wonderful confidence but she also talks about what it what it meant to her to go through all this and it was and has been all the way through a journey needing immense courage and also trust in others this is not something that and she's the first to say this this is not something she could have done alone she's competes now at international level at slalom giant slam slalom super g as it's called and super combined and downhill events with sighted guide brett wilde on her skis and yet at the same time in those years since she joined the team in 2012 she has gone through immense difficulty through having had several terrible crashes as she went downhill because of of things which happened in the way and she describes them so in 2017 million brett became great britain's first world champions in a snow sport and that year she was also awarded the youngest doctorate ever at the university of kentucky which is a lovely thing um but in 2017 also she suffered a terrible crash on her skis and then a second crash in south korea and she she i'm using her words now i try to stop in one turn and obviously when you're going over a hundred kilometers an hour you can't do that and i flipped and flipped and flipped and flipped and landed on my head three times dislocated my jaw and the blood was all over the snow and serious concussion followed and she found her balance had gone and for a while bright lights and noise of any kind brought on sick feelings and the balance problem and it was six months until she was back and she describes her absolute terror at any kind of speed beginning on the snow she said the fear of speed beyond imaginable absolutely terrified and it was then she had to rely on the support not just of brett when she was skiing but of the team around her willing her to recover and they had to do that by getting to know her not only her her physical attributes but also as she would say herself and and she pays the most tribute to kelly fay who is the team gb uh sports psychologist who gradually rebuilt her confidence by getting to know her inside out as a person as well and as millie speaks of of kelly fay she says she knew when to push me when to challenge me and when just to empathize and understand well that's a sign of real compassion as well as skill it's also a sign of total commitment to another going both ways and we're back once again of course with the lesson from yesterday where the work is done by the one who sews and the one who reaps working together that everything we do we have to trust those around us and they have to trust us so belief in one another is part of the belief in the gift of the spirit which jesus wills to give to those around him and that will develops through the fourth gospel in a wonderful way with unnamed people and of course miller's name is known to us because she is very much one of our own and she will be coming again at the end of term to talk to the pupils here and give encouragement in a multitude of different ways because all of us have challenges all of us have fears and they're different but her biggest message is whatever your fears are trust those around you to help you overcome them because those gifts of belief and courage belief in oneself belief in others are really precious human gifts and she went on from there to win three medals at pyeongchang and now is there skiing in the paralympics and has already in the first hours won a bronze medal for team great britain and i'm sure sure she will go on to win more because the paralympics are going from yesterday the 4th of march till the 12th of march and we give thanks that such an event is happening in a world which before was in so many ways divided but has come together now in facing the horrors of military danger and how that can escalate from ukraine and russia across europe and across the world and the world has never been so united in this as speaker after speaker at united nations and in the parliaments of so many lands are speaking about the need for peace the need for diplomacy the need for a re-establishment of the equilibrium in all sorts of ways but in this people have to trust their own skills and trust their friends and thank god the ukrainian people are finding as they cross borders new friends to give them hospitality and also within their own country brave friends to give them resources in their particular hour of need but now i wanted to turn to a completely different thing and that's why we've come into this room and this is a very cheerful thing that on thursday it was world book day and uh we we didn't we didn't concentrate on that but here we are on saturday morning and we've been reminded to do so by our little niece arabella who at school in spain had to go in as a favorite character and she chose and we've been sent by her plentiful photographs of her being so the character of the witch in julia donaldson's room on the broom which is really one of our favorite stories and that's why we've come in here we've read julia donaldson to you before and here is the book room on the broom with the wonderful illustrations by axel sheffler but at the same time all the time i'm talking about this and i shan't be able to do it justice we could we could talk about it for a very long time because in effect it is the most wonderful parable about everything that we've been saying so far this morning and you'll see why when we go through it if you don't know it if you do know it then there's enjoyment always in in reading it we love reading it because of the rhymes and the way in which things come but best of all and this is still on bbc iplayer there is the most wonderful bbc film which i think was released one christmas time and uh it actually has the poem read but quite carefully on the way through with lots of space to enjoy so many different things going on around in creation at that time being things amongst the creatures of creation and there's a lot of fun in it too and we never tire of watching it i don't know how many times we've seen it but it is actually one of our most favorite things to watch the room on the broom but let me this morning just for those of you who don't know this wonderful poem by julia donaldson let me just say sorry i can't uh show you everything we would be here all the time the the whole thing here is here here to start with is a great picture of the witch and the person who is her best companion at the beginning and a very knowing companion and a clever companion and that is the cat and i've got my knowing and clever companion leo who is here behind me on the sofa just making sure i don't go wrong and um being very careful this morning that lily doesn't come into the room because he's feeling that this is this is his room at the moment and so let me um let me start this off i'm not going to read it all the whole thing is flesh is saying yes read the whole thing well we'll read the whole thing yes okay so here it is the witch had a cat and a very tall hat and long ginger hair which she wore in a plait how the cat purred and how the witch grinned as they sat on their broomstick and flew through the wind but how the witch wailed and how the cat spat when the wind blew so wildly it blew off the hat over the fields and the forests they flew sorry turned two pages down cried the witch and they flew to the ground they searched for the hat but no hat could be found then out of the bushes on thundering paws there bounded a dog with the cat with the hat in his jaws doesn't matter what dog a great deal do you and neither does the cat in the pony he dropped it politely then eagerly said as the witch pulled the hat firmly down on her head i am a dog as keen as can be is there room on the broom for a dog like me now here's one of the really important points and it'll come again and again yes cried the witch and the dog clambered on the witch tapped the broomstick and whoosh they were gone i i wish we could show you at this point the television film because the cat in the television film is when the dog said is there room on the broom for a dog like me the cat is holding the broom saying definitely not his face absolutely definitely not and when the witch says yes the cat's face is disgusted the broom is his and the dog shouldn't be on there but the witch says yes so off they go wash they were gone over the fields and the forests they flew the dog wanked his tail and the stormy wind blew the witch laughed aloud and held onto her hat but away blew the bow from her long ginger plat down cried the witch and they flew to the ground they searched for the bow but no bow could be found then out from a tree with an ear splitting shriek there flapped a green bird with the bow in her beak there's an important point too in the in the television series because it shows you at that point that the nest where the green bird was hatched four eggs and one two three hatch as black birds like crows and uh and then another and then the last one hatches and she's a green bird and is pushed out by the others because she's the wrong color she's green and they are crows and they don't know where she's come from and so here's the very one who's found the witch's bow and she says i'm a bird as green as can be is there room on the broom for a bird like me and the cat in the film is saying no yes cried the witch said the burn flattered on the witch tapped the broomstick and whoosh they were gone over the reeds and the rivers they flew the bird shrieks with glee and the stormy wind blew they shot through the sky to the back of beyond the witch clutched her bow but let go of her wand down cried the witch and they flew to the ground they searched for the wand but no wand could be found then all of a sudden from out of a pond left a dripping wet frog with a dripping wet wand he dropped it politely then said with a croak as the witch dried the wand on a fold of her cloak i am a frog as clean as can be is there room on the broom for a frog like me yes said the witch say the frog bounded on the witch tapped the broomstick and whoosh they were gone over the moors and the mountains they flew the broom is getting very heavy now the frog jumped for joy and the broom snapped in two down fell the cat and the dog and the frog down they went tumbling into a bog the witch's half broomstick flew into a cloud and the witch had a roar that was scary and loud i am a dragon as mean as can be and i'm planning to have witch and chips for my tea no cried the witch flying higher and higher the dragon flew after her breathing out fire help cried the witch flying down to the ground she looked all around but no help could be found the dragon drew nearer and licking his lips said maybe this once i'll have witch without chips but just as he planned to begin on his feast from out of the ditch rose a horrible beast it was tall dark and sticky and feathered and third it had four frightful heads it had wings like a bird and its terrible voice when it started to speak was a yowl and a growl and a croak and a shriek it dripped and it squelched and it strode from the ditch and it said to the dragon buzz off that's my witch then the dragon drew back and he started to shake i'm sorry he spluttered i made a mistake it's nice to have met you but now i must fly and he spread out his wings and was off through the sky then down through the bird and down jump the frog down climb the cat and fuse said the dog and thank you oh thank you the grateful witch cried without you i'd be in that dragon's inside covered in mud from the bog in which they've fallen the four creatures have made something much worse than the dragon and coming out of the of the bog and going towards him have frightened him to death the four friends a bird and a cat and a frog and a dog defeat the armed dragon and the witch says thank you oh thank you i wouldn't have survived without you then she filled up her cauldron and said with a grin find something everyone throws something in what she can do now can only be done if they give one of their precious possessions and all the way through the uh the bbc film the cat has been playing with a pine cone and the dog has been hunting for bones and so on so find something everyone throw something in so the frog found a lily the cat found a cone the bird and a twig and the dog found a bone they threw them all in and the witch stirred them well and while she was stirring she muttered a spell iggety ziggerty zaggety zoom then out rose a truly magnificent broom with seats for the witch and the cat and the dog a nest for the bird and a shower for the frog yes cried the witch and they all clambered on the witch tapped the broomstick and whoosh they were gone it's the most marvelous parable for all the time those who already have the broom particularly the cat so i hasten to say we like your presence powering behind me particularly the cat are saying no there's no room on the broom and the witch always says yes yes yes until she's filled the broom with such diverse creatures and creatures like the green bird who'd always felt outcast by the crows who had hatched around her and the frog thinking no one's going to want a frog on and the witch yes yes the important word is yes it's that word of compassion and hospitality but then the word of danger because the thing becomes overcrowded but when then the witch is saved by them all and had she not said yes so many times she would have become dragon food then they're ready to start again but she says to them all you must all contribute by giving something you find most precious by giving that up and the cat puts the pine cone in and the dog the bone and the dove a favorite twig and the frog ali from his lily pad and then from the spell there's no magic really it's actually all their intentions and efforts because parables speak of magic but it's really human qualities of compassion and hospitality and sharing and giving up things which are most precious to us so that all can benefit all of that is happening in this parable and the egotis ziggity zagati zoom agadizum is actually the spell that humanity can create when it works together in total diversity and belief in one another and in the gifts of creation and in the creator which is what jesus is trying to inculcate with the gifts of the spirit with these message unnamed messengers of the gospel in in john's gospel and we'll be coming back to that again and again unnamed and so it is with a cat just a cat a dog a bird a frog a witch no names because they're representatives in some way of our humanity and the gifts and skills are there so let's say our prayers and give thanks we've got a whole pile of julia donaldson books done and i'd recommend them all because if you read them aloud especially when there are children present but we enjoy them too at all times then we give thanks that arabella reminded us of this story and also of the capacity of people to read because that's what world book day is about april the 2nd becomes international children's book day and that too will be another thing that we can think of when we get there but for the moment we'll say our prayers and let me just find the list here of what the people were praying for this morning were praying uh in the anglican communion for the diocese of kigali again in the french-speaking anglican church of rwanda and uh we're praying in the diocese for justin our archbishop for rose bishop of dover and for uh emma bishop at lambeth and today for the united y benefits now why is a beautiful village here on the way to ashford with its own railway station and still has a level crossing operated manually so the man comes out and actually opens the gates which has become quite old-fashioned now and it's lovely as you go across and you're motoring up to the church there and the united wide benefits contains lots of villages around i'm going to read them all now it contains all saints and saint christopher's church borton aleph brook saint mary's elmstead st james the great hastingly saint mary the virgin hinks hill saint mary the virgin petum all saints wolsen synth bartholomews and y itself sin gregory and saint martin well what a multitude of saints to be looking after them a diversity of saints all of whom in one way or another carried the evangel and shared it and that is the way in which the followers of the way began their work as ambassadors and evangelists for everything that jesus gave in gifts of body mind and spirit and the embracing of that sense of compassion and hospitality so let's say the prayer for this day we're still with the collect for ash wednesday which carries us through till tomorrow bring your own concerns and intentions almighty and everlasting god you hate nothing that you have made and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we were the lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness may receive from you the god of all mercy perfect remission and forgiveness through jesus christ our lord amen so we say each in our own language in our own way the prayer our savior 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 the power and the glory forever and ever are men now it's time for our reflection and what uh fletcher is going to do is to play you uh a carol that you will know really well but when we were talking about ukraine he said it isn't the bell carol ukrainian and you will know it is a bell carol a christmas carol and then he did some research and found it was much much older than that and goes right back to the history of the roots of ukraine and was not at that time a christmas carol but a sense of the new year dawning in springtime and it's known as shedrick the word for a swallow returning and it's speaking of of lambs being born and flowers flowering and we've found he has found it in the birth of love again all around um and welfare and good fortune it speaks of all those things well we've found it sung in its original with a translation and also with uh the person who is singing and i'll speak about her in a moment giving the occasional english words so that you get a flavor of that too at first when ukraine became first an independent nation um the ukrainian composer mikhail leyantorik uh premiered a singing of this song in the carnegie hall in new york in the early 1920s it was an instant sellout and the tune became really important because people recognized it and it's instantly recognizable and this was the first international tour by the national ukrainian chorus and in new york at the carnegie hall they sang for the first time that which we knew very well later the composer peter wilhofsky rearranged the melody for orchestra and created english words of the carol of the bells setting that as a christmas carol but the tune and the original words as i've said come back from ancient or pre-christian folk tunes which are then being caught up for the beginning of the year and new beginnings where we pray for new beginnings and a fresh flowering of love and and compassion and the belief in one another right across humanity and the diversity and the saying of yes to one another in hospitality and all of that we remember as this is sung and it's sung here by a wonderful ukrainian singer who's goes under the professional name of eileen and this is from her youtube um and uh she is singing partly in ukrainian words partly in english to the deep traditional music to keep it alive and just to bring everyone the pure joy of music and language as the year opens up so during our reflection the bell carol but as a spring carol hoping for the rebirth of ukraine and the restoration of peace at this time of year so um [Music] [Music] your lovely sheep have given birth to little lambs of great wood all of your words are very fine you will have in a big crowd all of your words are very fine core [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] a ukrainian song of gladness at the coming of spring rebirth after winter it's it's only a few weeks ago that in so many different nations across the world over the past two years or so there have been divisions shown of anger of one party for another and one can think of of so many nations where this and it seemed as though the divisions were really never going to be healed and yet in the face of a common threat and also a common injustice the world has come together and that song we very much believe and we have to believe that spring will come again after the winter that is being suffered at the moment metaphorically and so many of the flowers and the fruits in the northern hemisphere are only able to flower and fruit because of the time through winter that they've had and then the sprouting again well our hopes for the ukrainian people is that that spring will come soon we know it will come as sure as day follows night it will come but we pray that it will come soon christ give you grace to grow in holiness to deny yourself take up your cross daily and follow him 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 no i wonder if lily came through the door and said oh lily leo my son it's your mother you see is there roon on your comfortable sofa for me you would say yes or no because the answer from the witch was always yes and we hope that you would do the same but i'm not too confident it's bedtime time to rest your sleepy head and dream the night away ready to start the day again tomorrow now before we head off to dreamland i want to share a story with you about a very special person who made their dreams come true so settle down snuggle up and let's hear all about a little girl called millie when i was tiny i lost the sight in one eye i was only very young and i could still get by but then it happened again to the eye on my right and from that day onwards i had very little sight i was just six years old with my future still ahead i didn't know any different and i followed where i was led whilst on holiday in france i learned how to ski i felt something special and completely free and that's just the beginning of my story too today discovering something i loved and that i could do my way gliding on those skis was all that i would need to ignite incredible dreams and a desire to succeed by day i was practicing i was learning what to do as i lay down to sleep at night my worries they were few by night i was way ahead i was picking up the pace and by day i followed that path as i began to race my mum became my guide and was with me through it all she cheer me on the loudest and dust me off if i would fall when i was out on my skis i was calm and controlled and my hard work paid off as i began to bring home gold by night i saw myself go further to the biggest of games and by day i pushed harder making the winter paralympics my aim by night i saw myself there crossing the finish line i knew i couldn't give up i knew this was my time by day i worked on my strength and figured out my technique i had something special and i was proud to be unique by night i was soaring i didn't look back my dedication and my dreams always kept me on track my family were beside me by day and by night they were proud of all i did and watched me with delight in 2014 i headed to sochi and flew the flag for paralympics gb it was the greatest honor i'd ever had and i couldn't believe they chosen me in the sochi winter paralympics i was the youngest competitor there had been i gained fifth place in both of my slaloms and still only fifteen over the next few years my medals grew and i worked with brett as my new guide as i stood on podiums across the world i felt my life and dreams collide 2018 took me to south korea and i stood on a podium once more winning silvers and bronze in my second paralympics left me even prouder than before hard work and dedication kept me firmly on track and it was all paying off with the medals i brought back brett is still with me as a guide on every course bluetooth technology keeps us in touch and together we're a force my guide tells me about any bumps and obstacles on the snow and the speed i reaches faster than even a car is allowed to go i've competed in world championships and in world cups too i've had injuries and setbacks but i've always worked them through the next step on my journey is the winter paralympics in beijing i'm ready for all the challenges and the success i hope it brings at the age of just six i lost the majority of my sights but that's just one small part in the story of millie knight as i head into the winter paralympic games in 2022 i have absolute belief that i will do the best that i can do my mom my friends my coaches and my team it takes more than just one person to begin to achieve a dream as i head to beijing it's thanks to everyone's support and for those who had belief in this girl her dream and her sport that was brilliant wasn't it millie's working so hard to make her dreams come true and now she's a paralympic athlete i can't wait to see her in her third winter games this year can you i hope you sleep well and have wonderful dreams night night you

Channel: Canterbury Cathedral

Views: 14,766

Keywords: Worship, faith, pray, prayer, reflection, holy, catholic, roman catholic, Christian, Anglican, Episcopal, spiritual, Canterbury, England, cooking, recipe, music, garden, meditation, community, news, huffington, bbc, god, jesus, god channel, god tv, pewdiepie, trees, canterbury, prayers, daily mail, telegraph, times, metro, guardian, russia, ukraine, cathedral, eileen, helena androsova, shchedryk, st john, canaa, bell carol, swallow, spring, daffodil, room on the broom, julia donaldson, witch, millie knight, paralympics, beijing

Id: _2qtCTkiO0Y

Length: 61min 25sec (3685 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 05 2022