Compline (night prayer) - Tuesday, 30 November 2021

Reflecting on the calling of St Andrew, the first missionary who brought with him his brother, we commit ourselves to share the Good News of Jesus with those we love and hold dear.

Compline (night prayer) - Monday, 29 November 2021

On this day of prayer and thanksgiving for the missionary work of the Church we thank God for those making Christ known across the globe and pray that we may do so also wherever we find ourselves. Amen.

Compline (night prayer) - Sunday, 28 November 2021

We are a people of patient faith. As we head towards Bethlehem we recall Patriarchs and Prophets - 400 years of silence - and the Baptist and Mary.

Waiting for that second advent grow faith, patience, courage and discipline in us we pray

Compline (night prayer) - 27, November 2021

The wind blew, the snow fell and around us the power of nature was unveiled before our eyes.
Yet unseen and unheralded the Creator who laid the tracks the seasons run upon cradled our fallen humanity with love.

Compline (night prayer) - Friday, 26 November 2021

As the moon shines so brightly in the darkness,
may we shine in the darkness of this world and,
waking tomorrow may we serve,
and if we do not may we rejoice in eternity with Christ. Amen.

Compline (night prayer) - Thursday, 25 November 2021

A Catherine wheel displayed for what it is and a hymn writer spurs us on with the image of the godhead singing 1,3, 5 (a perfect chord) at creation.

Lord, sing Your peace, healing and wholeness over us this night we pray. Amen.

Today (25 Nov) the Church celebrates ...

Today the Church celebrates the life and martyrdom of Catherine of Alexandria, who is from the 4th century:

Tradition has it that Catherine was a girl of a noble family who, because of her Christian faith, refused marriage with the emperor as she was already a ‘bride of Christ’.

She is said to have disputed with fifty philosophers whose job it was to convince her of her error, and she proved superior in argument to them all.

She was then tortured by being splayed on a wheel and finally beheaded.

AND

The life and music of Isaac Watts who was born in Southampton in 1674, and educated at the local grammar school and had the opportunity to go to university, but declined because he preferred the dissenting academy at Stoke Newington.

He received there an education of high academic standard and he went on to become the pastor to the Independent (or Congregationalist) Church at Mark Lane in London. Because of his deteriorating health, he resigned this post in 1712 and retired to Stoke Newington. Seven years later, he opposed the imposition of the doctrine of the Trinity on his fellow dissenting ministers, which led to the belief that he had become a Unitarian.

He wrote many collections of hymns and his own faith showed clearly through them.

When I survey the wondrous cross, Jesus shall reign where’er the sun and many others still used in worship. He died at Stoke Newington on this day in 1748.

Compline (night prayer) - Wednesday, 24 November 2021

Reflecting on lives lost to violence and inhumanity, we give thanks for the blessings we receive freely and so often take for granted.

Compline (night prayer) - Tuesday, 23 November 2021

The image is that of Clement, a martyr. Lord pour Your peace into our hearts, convict us of our sins.
Bless those things we have done for others and enable us to be Your presence in the world tomorrow we pray. Amen.

Today (23 Nov)the Church celebrates the life, and reflects upon the death, of Clement,

Today the Church celebrates the life, and reflects upon the death, of Clement, who lived around 100 AD.

Clement was active as an elder in the Church in Rome towards the end of the first century and was reputed to have been a disciple of the apostles.

He wrote an epistle to the Corinthians which witnessed to ministry in the Church and concerned the authority and duties of the ministers. That letter clearly showed the authority of one senior presbyter intervening in a conflict in another Church and is full of valuable information about the history of the developing Church and its ministry at this time. His hierarchical view of Church order set a future pattern for episcopal practice and ministry.

Clement seems to have been president of a council of presbyters which governed the Church in Rome and his letters are clearly written on their behalf. A fourth-century document has Clement being exiled to the Crimea where he was then put to death by being thrown into the sea with an anchor around his neck.

Compline (night prayer) - Monday, 22 November 2021

Our days are but as grass, we arrive, we flourish, we die.
As the Church ponders the life and martyrdom of Cecilia
we reflect on our calling to live to the praise and glory of our God.

Lord, waking or sleeping tomorrow - we are Yours. Alleluia! 

Today (22 Nov) the Church celebrates the life (and martyrdom) of:

Today the Church celebrates the life, and death, of Cecilia - one of the most revered martyrs of the Roman Church.

The only certainty about her is that some time in the second or third century, a woman called Cecilia allowed the Church to meet in her house in Trastevere in the city of Rome and that, subsequently, the church erected on that site bore her name.

Remembered as a brave woman who risked giving hospitality to the Christian Church when to do so was to court censure and possibly death.

According to a tradition that can be dated no earlier than the fifth century, she converted her pagan husband and his brother to the faith, both of whom were martyred before her.

She is said to have been martyred on this day in about the year 230. She is honoured as the patron saint of musicians.

Compline (night prayer) - Sunday, 21 November 2021 (Christ the King)

Today (Christ the King) we reflect on the reconciliation with the godhead made ours through Jesus, the Christ, in whose company we worship the Father by the power of the Spirit.

Give us rest this night we pray. Amen.

Compline (night prayer) - Saturday, 20 November 2021

As we retire to bed we pray for those who face persecution for their faith
and with the examples of King Edmund and Priscilla Sellon before us,
may we face adversity with courage and faith in all things. Amen.

Today the Church celebrates the life and ministries of:

Edmund of East Anglia, who was born around 840.

Nominated as king while still a boy he became king of Norfolk in 855 and of Suffolk the following year. As king, he won the hearts of his subjects by his care of the poor and his steady suppression of wrong-doing.

When attacked by the Danes, he refused to give over his kingdom or to renounce his faith in Christ. He was tied to a tree, shot with arrows and finally beheaded on this day in the year 870.

His shrine at the town which became known as Bury St Edmunds was an important centre of pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages.

AND

Priscilla Lydia Sellon, who born probably around 1821.

Though never enjoying good health, she responded to an appeal from the Bishop of Exeter in 1848 for workers amongst the destitute in Plymouth.

The group of women she gathered around her adopted a conventual lifestyle and, in the face of much opposition, she created the Sisters of Mercy.

Her crucial rôle in the revival of Religious Life in the Church of England was enhanced when, in 1856, her sisters joined with the first community founded – the Holy Cross sisters – thereby establishing the Society of the Holy Trinity.

She led her community in starting schools and orphanages, in addition to sisters nursing the sick in slum districts and soldiers in the Crimea.

In her last years, she was an invalid, dying in her mid-fifties on this day in 1876.

Compline (night prayer) - Friday, 19 November 2021

 Immense and loving God; as we remember those who have shared life, love and brought life into the world with us, grant us to understand this temporal life as but a poor reflection of the eternity to come.

Even so - Come Lord Jesus, Come.

Compline (night prayer) - Thursday, 18 November 2021

Lord God, who heals the broken and the abused,
bring us to be a people of justice and integrity in the world
that the vulnerable, weak and oppressed might be healed and set free by Your life and love. Amen.

Today (18 Nov) the Church reflects upon the life, ministry and death of Elizabeth of Hungary,

Elizabeth of Hungary, was born in 1207, the daughter of a king of Hungary, and was given in marriage to Louis iv, Landgrave of Thuringia, with whom she had three children.

Theirs was a happy marriage but her husband of four years died of the plague. Elizabeth was driven from the court and she settled in Marburg, where her confessor was Conrad of Marburg, whose domineering and almost sadistic ways exemplified one who had himself been a successful inquisitor of heretics.

She suffered mental and physical abuse from him, in the name of religious austerity, but bore it all humbly becoming a member of the Franciscan Third Order, which reflected her life of caring for the poor, even cooking and cleaning for them.

Due to the severe regime under which she lived, her weakened body gave way under the pressure and she died on this day, just twenty-four years old, in the year 1231.

Having read this please keep all who have suffered abuse (in and out of Church) in your prayers especially today.

Compline (night prayer) - Wednesday 17th November 2021

As we reflect on the life of Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, we choose to trust in the God who inspired him to compassion and wisdom, laying everything before him in complete faith.

Today (16 Nov) the Church celebrates the life and ministry of :

Margaret of Scotland, who was born in 1046, the daughter of the Anglo-Saxon royal house of England but educated in Hungary, where her family lived in exile during the reign of Danish kings in England.

After the Norman invasion in 1066, when her royal person was still a threat to the new monarchy, she was welcomed in the royal court of Malcolm iii of Scotland and soon afterwards married him in 1069. Theirs was a happy and fruitful union and Margaret proved to be both a civilising and a holy presence.

She instituted many church reforms and founded many monasteries, churches and pilgrim hostels. She was a woman of prayer as well as good works who seemed to influence for good all with whom she came into contact.

She died on this day in the year 1093.

AND

Edmund Rich, who was born in Abingdon around 1175.

His father was a merchant whose wealth probably led to Edmund being later surnamed ‘Rich’, and who himself became a monk later in life.

Edmund was educated at Oxford and in Paris. After also teaching in both places, he became Treasurer of Salisbury Cathedral in 1222 and was eventually made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1233.

He was a reforming bishop and, as well as bringing gifts of administration to his task, appointed clergy of outstanding talent to senior positions in the Church.

He also acted as peacemaker between the king and his barons, many believing that his actions averted civil war. He died on this day in the year 1240. 

                    

Compline (night prayer) - Monday, 15 November 2021

May the light of Christ, the King of all, shine ever brighter in our hearts,Compline Monday 15th November that with all the saints in light we may shine forth as lights in the world.

Compline (night prayer ) - Sunday, 14 November 2021

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Compline (night prayer) - Saturday, 13 November 2021

As night falls and remembrance is before us - as the last post reflects on sleep that is death
and reveille heralds that awakening to that eternal day - grant us, and all creation, Your peace. Amen.

Today (Now 13) the Church celebrates the life and ministry of Charles Simeon:

Charles  was born in Reading in 1759 and educated at Cambridge University )where he spent the rest of his life).

He became a fellow of King’s College in 1782 and was ordained priest the following year, when he became vicar of Holy Trinity Church nearby.

He had evangelical leanings as a boy but it was whilst preparing for holy communion on his entrance to College that he became aware of the redeeming love of God, an experience he regarded as the turning point in his life. 

Many of the parishioners of Holy Trinity Church did not welcome him, since he had been appointed through his own family links, but his patent care and love for them all overcame their antipathy and his preaching greatly increased the congregation. 

He had carved on the inside of the pulpit in Holy Trinity Church, where only the preacher could see, the words from John 12.21, when some Greeks came to Philip, saying ‘Sir, we would see Jesus,' as a constant reminder to him that people came not to gaze on a great preacher or to admire his eloquence, but to seek Jesus.

Charles became a leading Evangelical influence in the Church and was one of the founders of the Church Missionary Society. He also set up the Simeon Trust which made appointments to parishes of fellow Evangelicals. He remained vicar of Holy Trinity until his death on this day in the year 1836.

Compline (night prayer) - Friday, 12 November 2021

Almighty Father, whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the King of all:
govern the hearts and minds of those in authority, and bring the families of the nations,
divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin, to be subject to his just and gentle rule. Amen.

Compline (night prayer) - Thursday, 11 November 2021

God all powerful, who called Martin from the armies of this world to be a faithful soldier of Christ:
give us grace to follow him in his love and compassion for the needy, and enable your Church to claim for all people their inheritance as children of God. Amen.

The image is that of Martin of Tours

Today (Nv 11) the Church celebrates the life and ministry of Martin of Tours

Today the Church celebrates Martin of Tours.

A man who was born in about the year 316 in Pannonia (in modern-day Hungary), a soldier in the Roman army and a Christian.

He found the two rôles conflicted and, under the influence of Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, he founded a monastery in Hilary’s diocese in the year 360, the first such foundation in Gaul.

The religious house was a centre for missionary work in the local countryside, setting a new example where, previously, all Christian activity had been centred in cities and undertaken from the cathedral there. In 372, Martin was elected Bishop of Tours by popular acclaim and he continued his monastic lifestyle as a bishop, remaining in that ministry until his death on this day in the year 397.

Compline (night prayer) - Wednesday, 10 November 2021

God our Father,
who made your servant Leo strong in the defence of the faith:
fill your Church with the spirit of truth that, guided by humility and governed by love,
she may prevail against the powers of evil. Amen.

The image is a depiction of Leo the Great.

Compline (night prayer) - Tuesday, 9 November 2021

O Lord, as we sleep this night give visions and dreams and inspire us to serve the godhead,
(Father, Son and Holy Spirit) that tomorrow we might, by our passion, bring forth Your praise and show Your love to all.

The Image is that of Margery Kempe, Mystic.

Compline (night prayer) - Monday, 8 November 2021

May the light of Christ, the King of all, shine ever brighter in our hearts,
that with all the saints in light we may shine forth as lights in the world.

This day the Church remembers the Saints and Martyrs of England

Today (8 Nov), the Church celebrates: The Saints and Martyrs of England

The Saints and Martyrs of England

The date when Christianity first came to the British Isles is not known, but there were British bishops at the Council of Arles in the year 314, indicating a Church with order and worship.

Since those days, Christians from these lands have shared the message of the good news at home and around the world.

As the worldwide fellowship of the Anglican Communion has developed, incorporating peoples of many nations and cultures, individual Christian men and women have shone as beacons, heroically bearing witness to their Lord, some through a simple life of holiness, others by giving their lives for the sake of Christ.

Compline (night prayer) - Sunday, 7 November 2021

Now, Lord, You let Your servant go in peace: Your word has been fulfilled.

My own eyes have seen the salvation which You have prepared in the sight of every people;
a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of Your people Israel.

Today (November 6) the Church celebrates ...

Today the Church celebrates the lives and ministries of Leonard, a 6th century Hermit: 

According to an eleventh-century Life, Leonard was a sixth-century Frankish nobleman who refused a bishopric to become first a monk, then a hermit, at Noblac (now Saint-Léonard) near Limoges. 

The miracles attributed to him, both during his lifetime and after his death, caused a widespread cultus throughout Europe and, in England alone, over a hundred and seventy churches are dedicated to him. 

AND 

William Temple, who was born in 1881 and baptised on this day in Exeter Cathedral. His father was Bishop of Exeter and later Archbishop of Canterbury. 

William excelled in academic studies and developed into a philosopher and theologian of significance. 

After ordination, he quickly made a mark in the Church and at forty became a bishop. Within a decade he was Archbishop of York. 

He is especially remembered for his ecumenical efforts and also for his concern with social issues, contributing notably to the debate which led to the creation of state welfare provision after the Second World War.

He died on 26 October 1944, two years after his translation to the See of Canterbury.
 

Compline (night prayer) - Friday, 5 November 2021

This day in 1605, Guy Fawkes and his comrades attempted to blow up Parliament.
We pray that the plots and plans of all wicked people will fail and that right will be done in this world and in our lives. Amen.

A Book of Common Prayer liturgy for the Fifth of November

Book of Common Prayer 1662 November 5

A Form of Prayer with Thanksgiving; to be used yearly upon the Fifth Day of November for the happy Deliverance of the King, and the Three Estates of the Realm, from the most Traiterous and Bloudy intended Massacre by Gun-Powder.

The Service shall be the same with the usual Office for Holidays in all things; Except where it is hereafter otherwise appointed.

If this Day shall happen to be Sunday, only the Collect proper for that Sunday, shall be added to this Office in its place. Morning Prayer shall begin with these Sentences.

TURN thy face away from our sins, O Lord; and blot out all our offences. Psal. li. 9 Correct us, O Lord, but with judgment, not in thine anger; lest thou bring us to nothing. Jere. x, 14 I will go to my father, and will say unto him; Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee; and am no more worthy to be called thy son. S. Luke xii. 18, 19.

Proper Psalms. Xxxv. Lxiv. Cxxiv. Cxxix.

Proper Lessons.

The First, 2 Sam. xxii.

The Second, Acts xxiii.

In the Suffrages after the Creed, these shall be inserted and used for the King. Priest. O Lord, save the King; People. Who putteth his trust in thee. Priest. Send him help from thy holy place People. And evermore mightily defend him. Priest. Let his enemies have no advantage against him. People. Let not the wicked approach to hurt him.

Instead of the First Collect for Morning Prayer, shall these two be used. ALMIGHTY God, who hast in all ages shewed thy power and mercy in the miraculous and gracious deliverance of thy Church, and in the protection of righteous and religious Kings and States, professing they holy and eternal truth, from the wicked conspiracies and malicious practices of all the enemies thereof; We yield thee our unfeigned thanks and praise for the wonderful and mighty deliverance of our late gracious Sovereign King James, the Queen, the Prince, and all the Royal Branches, with the Nobility, Clergy, and Commons of England, then assembled in Parliament, by Popish treachery appointed as sheep to the slaughter, in a most barbarous, and savage manner, beyond the examples of former ages. From this unnatural conspiracy, not our merit, but thy mercy; not our foresight, but thy providence, delivered us: And therefore, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us; but unto thy Name be ascribed all honour and glory in all Churches of the saints, from generation to generation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O LORD, who didst this day discover the snares of death that were laid for us, and didst wonderfully deliver us from the same; Be thou still our mighty Protector, and scatter our enemies that delight in blood. Infatuate and defeat their counsels, abate their pride, assuage their malice, and confound their devices. Strengthen the hands of our gracious King Charles, and all that are put in authority under him, with Judgment and justice, to cut off all such workers of iniquity, as turn religion into rebellion, and faith into faction; that they may never prevail against us, or triumph in th ruine of thy Church among us: But that our gracious Soveraign and his Realms, being preserved in thy true Religion, and by thy merciful goodness protected in the same, we may all duly serve thee, and give thee thanks in thy holy congregation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In the end of the Litany (which shall always this day be used) after the Collect [We humbly beseech thee, O Father, &c.], shall this be said which followeth.
ALMIGHTY God and heavenly Father, who of thy gracious providence, and tender mercy towards us, didst prevent the malice and imaginations of our enemies, by discovering and confounding their horrible and wicked enterprize, plotted, and intended this day to have been executed against the King, and whole State of this Realm, for the subversion of the Government, and Religion established among us; We most humbly praise and magnify thy glorious Name for this thine infinite gracious goodness towards us, expressed in both these acts of thy mercy. We confess, it was thy mercy, thy mercy alone, that we were not then consumed. For our sins cried to heaven against us; and our iniquities justly called for vengeance upon us. But thou hast not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us after our iniquities; nor given us over, as we deserved, to be a prey to our enemies; but didst in mercy delivered us from their malice, and preserved us from death and destruction. Let the consideration of this thy goodness, O Lord, work in us true repentance, that iniquity may not be our ruine. And increase in us more and more a lively faith, and fruitful love in all holy obedience, that thou maist continue thy favour, with the light of thy Gospel to us and our posterity for evermore; and that for thy dear Sons sake, Jesus Christ our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.

In the Communion Service, instead of the Collect for the Day, shall this which followeth, be used. ETERNAL God, and our most mightly protector, we thy unworthy servants do humbly present ourselves before thy Majesty, acknowledging thy power, wisdom, and goodness in preserving the King, and of the Three Estates of this Realm assembled in Parliament, from the destruction this day intended against them. Make us, we beseech thee, truly thankful for this thy great mercy towards us. Protect and defend our Sovereign Lord the King, and all the Royal Family from all treasons and conspiracies: Preserve them in thy faith, fear and love; prosper his Reign with long happiness here on earth; and crown him with everlasting glory hereafter in the kingdom of heaven; through Jesus Christ our only Saviour and Redeemer. Amen.

The Epistle. Rom. xiii. 1.

LET every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be, are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist, shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terrour to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrathe upon him that doth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be suject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For, for this cause pay you tribute also: for they are Gods ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues; tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour.

The Gospel. S. Matth. xxvii. 1.

WHEN the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governour. Then Judas which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent Bloud. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of bloud. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potters field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called, The field of bloud unto this day. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; and gave them for the potters field, as the Lord appointed me.

After the Creed, if there be no Sermon, shall be read one of the six Homilies against Rebellion.

This Sentence is to be read at the Offertory.
WHATSOEVER ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets. St. Matth. vii. 12

Compline (night prayer) - Thursday, 4 November 2021

The one who endures to the end will be saved.
And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations.

Lord, grant us a quiet night and perfect end. Amen.

Compline (night prayer) - Wednesday, 3 November 2021

As this night we remember the life of one of our who departed this life this day.
We pray: May the light of Christ, the King of all, shine ever brighter in our hearts,
that with all the saints in light we may shine forth as lights in the world.

The images are Richard Hooker and Martin of Porres

Today (3 November) the Church celebrates:

Today the Church celebrates the life and ministry of Richard Hooker who was born in Heavitree in Exeter in about 1554. 

Coming under the influence of John Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury, in his formative years and through that influence went up to Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he became a fellow. He was ordained and then married, becoming a parish priest and, in 1585, Master of the Temple in London. 

Richard became one of the strongest advocates of the position of the Church of England and defended its ‘middle way’ between puritanism and papalism. Perhaps his greatest work was Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity which he wrote as the result of engaging in controversial debates. 

He showed Anglicanism as rooted firmly in Scripture as well as tradition, affirming its continuity with the pre-Reformation Ecclesia Anglicana, but now both catholic and reformed. Richard became a parish priest again near Canterbury and died there on this day in the year 1600. 

AND 

Martin of Porres who was born in Lima in Peru in 1579, the illegitimate son of a Spanish knight and a black Panamanian freewoman. 

 He joined the Third Order of the Dominicans when he was fifteen years old and was later received as a lay brother into the First Order, mainly because of his reputation for caring for the poor and needy. 

As the friary almoner, he was responsible for the daily distribution to the poor and he had a particular care for the many African slaves, whose lives were a dreadful indictment of the Christian conquistadores. Martin became sought after for spiritual counsel, unusual for a lay brother at that time. His care for all God’s creatures led many to love and revere him and his own brothers chose him as their spiritual leader. 

He died of a violent fever on this day in 1639 and, because of his care for all, regardless of class or colour, is seen as the patron saint of race relations. 

Compline (night prayer) - Tuesday, 2 November 2021 (All Souls)

As today we reflect on those we love and see no longer,
waiting for that day when the Christ returns and the dead are raised to eternal life,
we thank God for His mercy and His love. Amen.

Compline (night prayer) Monday, 1 November 2021 (All Saints Day)

Today (All Saints Day) the Church celebrates that great cloud of witness whose life, witness and death is witness, encouragement and inspiration.

As we go to our beds, we ponder the question: Which saint inspires you most?