Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Anglican (Church Of England) Daily Prayers And Readings For Wednesday, 2 March

From:  gnpcb.org, wapedia.com and churchofengland.org:

Daily Prayers and Readings:


Saints/Martyrs/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated:

Chad (Old English: Ceadda) (died 2 March 672) was a prominent 7th century Anglo-Saxon churchman, who became abbot of several monasteries, Bishop of the Northumbrians and later Bishop of the Mercians and Lindsey People. He was later canonized as a saint. He was the brother of Cedd, also a saint. He features strongly in the work of Bede the Venerable and is credited with the effective Christianisation of central England.




Image of Chad in a stained glass window from Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, New York


Enthroned 664

Reign ended 669

Predecessor Paulinus

Successor Wilfrid

Orders

Consecration 664

Personal details

Born c. 634

Northumbria

Died 2 March 672

Lichfield, Staffordshire, England

Buried Lichfield Cathedral

Sainthood

Feast day 2 March

Venerated in Catholic Church

Anglican Communion

Eastern Orthodox Church

Attributes Bishop, holding a triple-spired cathedral (Lichfield)

Patronage Mercia; Lichfield; of astronomers



1. Sources

Most of our knowledge of Chad comes from the writings of Bede. [1] Bede tells us that he obtained his information about Chad and his brother, Cedd, from the monks of Lastingham, [2] where both were abbots. Bede gives this attribution great prominence, placing it in the introduction to his work. This may indicate that the brothers had become controversial figures: certainly Bede must have thought that his material about them would be of more than usual interest to the reader. Bede also refers to information he received from Trumbert, "who tutored me in the Scriptures and who had been educated in the monastery by that master", [3] i.e. Chad. In other words, Bede considered himself to stand in the spiritual lineage of Chad and had gathered information from at least one who knew him personally.



2. Early life and education

2. 1. Education

The only major fact that Bede gives about Chad's early life is that he was a student of Aidan at the Celtic monastery at Lindisfarne. [4] In fact, Bede attributes the general pattern of Chad's ministry to the example of Aidan and his own brother, Cedd, who was also a student of St. Aidan.



Aidan was a disciple of Columba and was invited by the King Oswald of Northumbria to come from Iona to establish a monastery. Aidan arrived in Northumbria in 635 and died in 651. Chad must have studied at Lindisfarne some time between these years.



2. 2. Family links

Chad was one of four brothers, all active in the Anglo-Saxon church. The others were Cedd, Cynibil and Caelin. [5] Chad seems to have been Cedd's junior, arriving on the political scene about ten years after Cedd. It is reasonable to suppose that Chad and his brothers were drawn from the Northumbrian nobility: [6] They certainly had close connections throughout the Northumbrian ruling class. However, the name Chad is actually of British Celtic, rather than Anglo-Saxon origin. [7] It is an element found in the personal names of many Welsh princes and nobles of the period and signifies "battle". This may indicate a family of mixed cultural and/or ethnic background, with roots in the original Celtic population of the region.



2. 3. Travels in Ireland and dating of Chad's life

Chad later travelled to Ireland as a monk, [3] before he was ordained as a priest. Bede's references to this period are the only real evidence we have for dating the earlier part of Chad's life, including his birth.



Cedd is not mentioned as Chad's companion in this stage of his education. Probably Cedd was considerably older than Chad, and was ordained priest some years earlier: certainly he was already a priest by 653, when he was sent to work among the Middle Angles. [8] Chad's companion was Egbert, who was of about the same age as himself. The two travelled in Ireland for further study. Bede tells us that Egbert himself was of the Anglian nobility, although the monks sent to Ireland were of all classes. Bede places Egbert, and therefore Chad, among an influx of English scholars who arrived in Ireland while Finan and Colmán were bishops at Lindisfarne. This means that Egbert and Chad must have gone to Ireland later than the death of Aidan, in 651.



Bede gives a long account of how Egbert fell dangerously ill in Ireland in 664 [9] and vowed to follow a lifelong pattern of great austerity so that he might live to make amends for the follies of his youth. His only remaining friend at this point was called Ethelhun, who died in the plague. Hence, Chad must have left Ireland before this. In fact, it is in 664 that he suddenly appears in Northumbria, to take over from his brother Cedd, also stricken by the plague. Chad's time in Ireland, therefore must fit into period 651-664. Bede makes clear that the wandering Anglian scholars were not yet priests, and ordination to the priesthood generally happened at the age of thirty - the age at which Jesus commenced his ministry. The year of Chad's birth is thus likely to be 634, or a little earlier, although certainty is impossible. Cynibil and Caelin were ordained priests by the late 650s, when they participated with Cedd in the founding of Lastingham. Chad was almost certainly the youngest of the four, probably by a considerable margin.



The Benedictine rule was slowly spreading across Western Europe, with encouragement from Rome. Chad was educated in an entirely distinct monastic tradition, indigenous to Western Europe itself, and tending to look back to the saint and monastic founder Martin of Tours as an exemplar, [10] although not as founder of an order. As Bede's account makes clear, the Irish and early Anglo-Saxon monasticism experienced by Chad was peripatetic, stressed ascetic practices and had a strong focus on Biblical exegesis, which generated a profound eschatological consciousness. Egbert recalled later that he and Chad "followed the monastic life together very strictly - in prayers and continence, and in meditation on Holy Scripture". Some of the scholars quickly settled in Irish monasteries, while others wandered from one master to another in search of knowledge. Bede says that the Irish monks gladly taught them and fed them, and even let them use their valuable books, without charge. Since books were all produced by hand, with painstaking attention to detail, this was astonishingly generous. The practice of loaning books freely seems to have been a distinctive feature of Irish monastic life: it was a violent dispute over rights to copies of a borrowed psalter which had allegedly led to Columba's exile from Ireland many years before.



3. Controversies

3. 1. The struggle for political hegemony

Britain had no secure state structures even at a regional level. 7th century rulers were trying to create larger and more unified realms within defensible boundaries and to legitimate their power within the culture of their time. The central contest of Chad's lifetime was between Northumbria and Mercia. Penda, the pagan king of Mercia, continually campaigned against Northumbrian rulers, usually with the support of the Christian Welsh princes. Defeat in this struggle tended to unhinge the fragile unity of the competing states. In 641, Penda inflicted a crushing defeat on the Northumbrians, killing King Oswald. Northumbria broke into its component parts of Bernicia (north) and Deira, and its rival factions were easily manipulated by Penda. Northumbria was not fully reunited by Oswald's successor, Oswiu, until 651. Conversely, Oswiu defeated and killed Penda in 655, causing Mercia to descend into disunity for a more than a decade, and allowing the Northumbrian rulers to intervene in Mercian affairs throughout that period.



3. 2. The dispute over apostolic legitimacy in the Church

Christianity in the south of Britain was closely associated with Rome and the Church in continental Europe. This was because its organization grew out of the missions of Augustine of 597, sent by Pope Gregory I. However, the Churches of Ireland and of western and northern Britain had their own distinct history and traditions. The Churches of Wales and Cornwall had an unbroken tradition stretching back to Roman times. Ireland traced its Christian origins to missionaries from Wales, while Northumbria looked to the Irish monastery of Iona, in modern Scotland, as its source. Although all western Christians recognised Rome as the ultimate font of authority, the semi-independent churches of Britain and Ireland did not accept actual Roman control. Considerable divergences had developed in practice and organization. Most bishops in Ireland and Britain were not recognized by Rome because their apostolic succession was uncertain and they condoned non-Roman practices. Monastic practices and structures were very different: moreover monasteries played a much more important role in Britain and Ireland than on the continent, with abbots regarded as de facto leaders of the Church. Many of the issues crystallized around disputes over the dating of Easter and the cut of the monastic tonsure, which were markedly and notoriously different in the local churches from those in Rome.



These political and religious issues were constantly intertwined, and interacted in various ways. Christianity in Britain and Ireland largely progressed through royal patronage, while kings increasingly used the Church to stabilize and to confer legitimacy on their fragile states. A strongly local church with distinctive practices could be a source of great support to a fledgling state, allowing the weaving together of political and religious elites. Conversely, the Roman connection introduced foreign influence beyond the control of local rulers, but also allowed rulers to display themselves on a wider, European stage, and to seek out more powerful sources of legitimacy.



These issues are also crucial in assessing the reliability of sources, Bede being the only substantial source for details of Chad's life. Bede wrote about sixty years after the crucial events of Chad's episcopate, when the Continental pattern of territorial bishoprics and Benedictine monasticism had become established throughout the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, including Northumbria. Bede is concerned to validate the Church practices and structures of his own time. However, he also wants to present as flattering a picture as possible of the earlier Northumbrian church and monarchy: a difficult balancing act because, as Bede himself has constantly to acknowledge, they actually constituted the backbone of resistance to Roman norms for many decades.



Bede's treatment of Chad is particularly problematic because it is impossible for him to conceal that Chad departed from Roman practices in vital ways - not only before the Synod of Whitby, which Bede presents as a total victory for the Roman party and its norms, but even after it. However, Chad was the teacher of Bede's own teacher, Trumbert, so Bede has an obvious personal interest in rehabilitating him, to say nothing of his loyalty to the Northumbrian establishment, which not only supported him but had played a notable part in Christianising England. This may explain a number of gaps in Bede's account of Chad, and why Bede sometimes seems to attribute to Chad implausible motives. Chad lived at and through a watershed in relations between the Anglo-Saxons and the wider Europe. Bede constantly tries to ellide the ambiguities of Chad's career, but not always successfully.



4. The rise of a dynasty

The course of Chad's life between his stay in Ireland and his emergence as a Church leader is unknown. In fact, it is possible that he had only recently returned from Ireland when prominence was thrust upon him. However, the growing importance of his family within the Northumbrian state is clear from Bede's account of Cedd's career of the founding of their monastery at Lastingham. [5] This concentration of ecclesiastical power and influence within the network of a noble family was probably common in Anglo-Saxon England: an obvious parallel would be the children of Merewalh in Mercia in the following generation.



4. 1. The rise of Cedd

Cedd, probably the elder brother, had become a very prominent figure in the Church while Chad was in Ireland. Probably as a newly-ordained priest, he was sent in 653 by Oswiu on a difficult mission to the Middle Angles, on the request of their sub-king Peada, part of a developing pattern of Northumbrian intervention in Mercian affairs. After perhaps a year, he was recalled and sent on a similar mission to the East Saxons, being ordained bishop shortly afterwards. Cedd's position as both a Christian missionary and a royal emissary compelled him to travel often between Esses and Northumbria.



4. 2. The founding of Lastingham



The altar in Lastingham crypt, probable site of the early Anglo-Saxon church where Cedd and Chad officiated at Eucharist.


Caelin, the brother of Cedd and Chad, had been appointed as a chaplain to Ethelwald, a nephew of Oswiu, who had been appointed to administer the coastal area of Deira. Caelin suggested to Ethelwald that it would be a good idea to found a monastery, in which he could one day be buried, and in which prayers for his soul would continue. Caelin introduced Ethelwold to Cedd, who happened to need just such a political base and spiritual retreat. Ethelwald, according to Bede, practically forced a gift of land on Cedd. This wild place was at Lastingham, near Pickering in the North York Moors, close to one of the still-usable Roman roads. Bede explains that Cedd "fasted strictly in order to cleanse it from the filth of wickedness previously committed there". On the thirtieth day of his forty-day fast, he was called away on urgent business. Cynibil, another of his brothers, took over the fast for the remaining ten days.



The whole incident shows not only how closely the brothers were linked with Northumbria's ruling dynasty, but how close they were to each other. A fast by Cynibil was even felt to be equivalent to one by Cedd himself. Lastingham was handed over to Cedd, who became abbot. It was clearly conceived as a base for the family and destined to be under their control for the foreseeable future - not an unusual arrangement in this period. [11] Notably, however, Chad is not mentioned in this context until he succeeds his brother as abbot.


4. 3. Chad as abbot of Lastingham


Chad's first appearance as an ecclesiastical potentate occurs in 664, shortly after the Synod of Whitby, when a large number of Church leaders was wiped out by the plague - among them Cedd, who died at Lastingham itself. On the death of his elder brother, Chad succeeded to the position of abbot at Lastingham. [5]



Bede seldom mentions Chad without referring to his regime of prayer and study, so these clearly made up the greater part of monastic routine at Lastingham. Study would have been collective, with monks carrying out exegesis through dialectic. Yet not all of the monks were intellectuals. Bede tells us of a man called Owin (Owen), who appeared at the door of Lastingham. Owin was a household official of Æthelthryth, an East Anglian princess who had come to marry Ecgfrith, Oswiu's younger son. He decided to renounce the world, and as a sign of this appeared at Lastingham in ragged clothes and carrying an axe. He had come primarily to work manually. He became one of Chad's closest associates.



Chad's eschatological consciousness and its effect on others is brought to life in a reminiscence attributed to Trumbert, [3] who was one of his students at Lastingham. Chad used to break off reading whenever a gale sprang up and call on God to have pity on humanity. If the storm intensified, he would shut his book altogether and prostrate himself in prayer. During prolonged storms or thunderstorms he would go into the church itself to pray and sing psalms until calm returned. His monks obviously regarded this as an extreme reaction even to English weather and asked him to explain. Chad explained that storms are sent by God to remind humans of the day of judgement and to humble their pride. The typically Celtic Christian involvement with nature was not like the modern romantic preoccupation but a determination to read in it the mind of God, particularly in relation to the last things. [12]



5. Bishop of the Northumbrians

5. 1. The need for a bishop

Bede gives great prominence to the Synod of Whitby [13] in 663/4, which he shows resolving the main issues of practice in the Northumbrian Church in favour of Roman practice. Cedd is shown acting as the main go-between in the synod because of his facility with all of the relevant languages. Cedd was not the only prominent churchman to die of plague shortly after the synod. This was one of several outbreaks of the plague, all of which left the ranks of the Church leadership especially badly hit, with most of the bishops in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms dead, including the archbishop of Canterbury. Bede tells us that Colmán, the bishop of the Northumbrians at the time of the Synod, had left for Scotland after it went against him. He was succeeded by Tuda, who lived only a short time after his accession. The tortuous process of replacing him is covered by Bede [4] briefly, but in some respects puzzlingly.



5. 2. The mission of Wilfrid

The first choice to replace Tuda was Wilfrid, a particularly zealous partisan of the Roman cause. Because of the plague, there were not the requisite three bishops available to ordain him, so he had gone to the Frankish Kingdom of Neustria to seek ordination. This was on the initiative of Alfrid, sub-king of Deira, although presumably Oswiu knew and approved this action at the time. Bede tells us that Alfrid sought a bishop for himself and his own people. This probably means the people of Deira. According to Bede, Tuda had been succeeded as abbot of Lindisfarne by Eata, who had been elevated to the rank of bishop.



Wilfrid met with his own teacher and patron, Agilbert, a spokesman for the Roman side at Whitby, who had been made bishop of Paris. Agilbert set in motion the process of ordaining Wilfrid canonically, summoning several bishops to Compiègne for the ceremony. Bede tells us that he then lingered abroad for some time after his ordination.



5. 3. The elevation of Chad

Bede implies that Oswiu decided to take further action because Wilfrid was away for longer than expected. It is unclear whether Oswiu changed his mind about Wilfrid, or whether he despaired of his return, or whether he never really intended him to become bishop but used this opportunity to get him out of the country.



Chad was invited then to become bishop of the Northumbrians by King Oswiu. Chad is often listed as a Bishop of York. Bede generally uses ethnic, not geographical, designations for Chad and other early Anglo-Saxon bishops. However at this point, he does also refer to Oswiu's desire that Chad become bishop of the church in York. York later became the diocesan city partly because it had already been designated as such in the earlier Roman-sponsored mission of Paulinus to Deira, so it is not clear whether Bede is simply echoing the practice of his own day, or whether Oswiu and Chad were considering a territorial basis and a see for his episcopate. It is quite clear that Oswiu intended Chad to be bishop over the entire Northumbrian people, overriding the claims of both Wilfrid and Eata.



Chad faced the same problem over ordination as Wilfrid, and so set off to seek ordination amid the chaos caused by the plague. Bede tells us that he travelled first to Canterbury, where he found that Archbishop Deusdedit was dead and his replacement was still awaited. Bede does not tell us why Chad diverted to Canterbury. The journey seems pointless, since the archbishop had died three years previously - a fact that must have been well-known in Northumbria, and was the very reason Wilfrid had to go abroad. The most obvious reason for Chad's tortuous travels would be that he was also on a diplomatic mission from Oswiu, seeking to build an encircling alliance around Mercia, which was rapidly recovering from its position of weakness. From Canterbury he travelled to Wessex, where he was ordained by bishop Wini of the West Saxons and two British, i.e. Welsh, bishops. None of these bishops was recognized by Rome. Bede points out that "at that time there was no other bishop in all Britain canonically ordained except Wini" and the latter had been installed irregularly by the king of the West Saxons.



Bede describes Chad at this point as "a diligent performer in deed of what he had learnt in the Scriptures should be done." Bede also tells us that Chad was teaching the values of Aidan and Cedd. His life was one of constant travel. Bede says that Chad visited continually the towns, countryside, cottages, villages and houses in order to preach the Gospel. Clearly, the model he followed was one of the bishop as prophet or missionary. Basic Christian rites of passage, baptism and confirmation, were almost always performed by a bishop, and for decades to come they were generally carried out in mass ceremonies, probably with little systematic instruction or counseling.


Mercia in time of Ch

5. 4. The removal of Chad


In 666, Wilfrid returned from Neustria, "bringing many rules of Catholic observance", as Bede says. He found Chad already occupying the same position. It seems that he did not in fact challenge Chad's pre-eminence in his own area. Rather, he would have worked assiduously to build up his own support in sympathetic monasteries, like Gilling and Ripon. He did, however, assert his episcopal rank by going into Mercia and even Kent to ordain priests. Bede tells us that the net effect of his efforts on the Church was that the Irish monks who still lived in Northumbria either came fully into line with Catholic practices or left for home. Nevertheless, Bede cannot conceal that Oswiu and Chad had broken significantly with Roman practice in many ways and that the Church in Northumbria had been divided by the ordination of rival bishops.



In 669, a new Archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore of Tarsus, sent by Pope Vitalian arrived in England. He immediately set off on a tour of the country, tackling abuses of which he had been forewarned. He instructed Chad to step down and Wilfrid to take over. [14] According to Bede, Theodore was so impressed by Chad's show of humility that he confirmed his ordination as bishop, while insisting he step down from his position. Chad retired gracefully and returned to his post as abbot of Lastingham, leaving Wilfrid as bishop of the Northumbrians at York. [3]



6. Bishop of the Mercians

6. 1. The recall of Chad

Later that same year, King Wulfhere of Mercia requested a bishop. Wulfhere and the other sons of Penda had converted to Christianity, although Penda himself had remained a pagan until his death (655). Penda had allowed bishops to operate in Mercia, although none had succeeded in establishing the Church securely without active royal support.



Archbishop Theodore refused to consecrate a new bishop. Instead he recalled Chad out of his retirement at Lastingham. According to Bede, Theodore was greatly impressed by Chad's humility and holiness. This was displayed particularly in his refusal to use a horse: he insisted on walking everywhere. Despite his regard for Chad, Theodore ordered him to ride on long journeys and went so far as to lift him into the saddle on one occasion.



Chad was consecrated bishop of the Mercians (literally, frontier people) and of the Lindsey people. Bede tells us that Chad was actually the third bishop sent to Wulfhere, making him the fifth bishop of the Mercians. [15] Lindsey, meaning more or less the whole of modern Lincolnshire was under Mercian control, although it had in the past sometimes fallen under Northumbrian control. Later Anglo-Saxon episcopal lists sometimes add the Middle Angles to his responsibilities. [16] They were a distinct part of the Mercian kingdom, centred on the middle Trent and lower Tame - the area around Tamworth, Lichfield and Repton that formed the core of the wider Mercian polity. It was their sub-king, Peada, who had secured the services of Chad's brother Cedd in 653, and they were frequently considered separately from the Mercians proper, a people who lived further to the west and north.



6. 2. Monastic foundations

Wulfhere donated land at Lichfield for Chad to build a monastery. It was because of this that the centre of the Diocese of Mercia ultimately became settled at Lichfield. [3] The Lichfield monastery was probably similar to that at Lastingham, and Bede makes clear that it was partly staffed by monks from Lastingham, including Chad's faithful retainer, Owin. Lichfield was very close to the old Roman road of Watling Street, the main route across Mercia, and a short distance from Mercia's main royal centre at Tamworth.



Wulhere also donated land sufficient for fifty families at a place in Lindsey, referred to by Bede as Ad Barwae. This is probably Barrow upon Humber: where an Anglo-Saxon monastery of a later date has been excavated. This was easily reached by river from the Midlands and close to an easy crossing of the River Humber, allowing rapid communication along surviving Roman roads with Lastingham. Chad remained abbot of Lastingham throughout his life, as well as heading the communities at both Lichfield and Barrow.



6. 3. Chad's ministry among the Mercians

Chad then proceeded to carry out much missionary and pastoral work within the kingdom. Bede tells us that Chad governed the bishopric of the Mercians and of the people of Lindsey 'in the manner of the ancient fathers and in great perfection of life'. However, Bede gives little concrete information about the work of Chad in Mercia, implying that in style and substance it was a continuation of what he had done in Northumbria. The area he covered was very large, stretching across England from coast to coast. It was also, in many places, difficult terrain, with woodland, heath and mountain over much of the centre and large areas of marshland to the east. Bede does tell us that Chad built for himself a small house at Lichfield, a short distance from the church, sufficient to hold his core of seven or eight disciples, who gathered to pray and study with him there when he was not out on business.



Chad worked in Mercia and Lindsey for only two and a half years before he too died during a plague. Yet St. Bede could write in a letter that Mercia came to the faith and Essex was recovered for it by the two brothers Cedd and Chad. In other words, Bede considered that Chad's two years as bishop were decisive in Christianising Mercia.



6. 4. The death of Chad

Chad died on 2 March 672, and was buried at the Church of Saint Mary which later became part of the cathedral at Lichfield. Bede relates the death story as that of a man who was already regarded as a saint. In fact, Bede has stressed throughout his narrative that Chad's holiness communicated across boundaries of culture and politics, to Theodore, for example, in his own lifetime. The death story is clearly of supreme importance to Bede, confirming Chad's holiness and vindicating his life. The account occupies considerably more space in Bede's account than all the rest of Chad's ministry in Northumbria and Mercia together.



Bede tells us that Owin was working outside the oratory at Lichfield. Inside, Chad studied alone because the other monks were at worship in the church. Suddenly Owin heard the sound of joyful singing, coming from heaven, at first to the south east, but gradually coming closer until it filled the roof of the oratory itself. Then there was silence for half an hour, followed by the same singing going back the way it had come. Owin at first did nothing, but about an hour later Chad called him in and told him to fetch the seven brothers from the church. Chad gave his final address to the brothers, urging them to keep the monastic discipline they had learnt. Only after this did he tell them that he knew his own death was near, speaking of death as "that friendly guest who is used to visiting the brethren". He asked them to pray, then blessed and dismissed them. The brothers left, sad and downcast.



Owin returned a little later and saw Chad privately. He asked about the singing. Chad told him that he must keep it to himself for the time being: angels had come to call him to his heavenly reward, and in seven days they would return to fetch him. So it was that Chad weakened and died after seven days - on 2 March, which remains his feast day. Bede writes that: "he had always looked forward to this day - or rather his mind had always been on the Day of the Lord". Many years later, his old friend Egbert told a visitor that someone in Ireland had seen the heavenly company coming for Chad's soul and returning with it to heaven. Significantly, with the heavenly host was Cedd. Bede was not sure whether or not the vision was actually Egbert's own.



Bede's account of Chad's death strongly confirms the main themes of his life. Primarily he was a monastic leader, deeply involved in the fairly small communities of loyal monks who formed his mission teams, his brothers. His consciousness was strongly eschatological: focussed on the last things and their significance. Finally, he was inextricably linked with Cedd and his other actual brothers.



7. Cult and Relics


Chad is considered a saint in the Roman Catholic [17] and Anglican churches, and is also noted as a saint in a new edition of the Eastern Orthodox Synaxarion (Book of Saints), in response to increasing attention to pre-Schism western saints.[citation needed] His feast day is celebrated on 2 March. [17]



According to St. Bede, Chad was venerated as a saint immediately after his death, and his relics were translated to a new shrine. He remained the centre of an important cult, focussed on healing, throughout the Middle Ages. The cult had twin foci: his tomb, in the apse, directly behind the high altar of the cathedral; and more particularly his skull, kept in a special Head Chapel, above the south aisle.



The transmission of the relics after the Reformation was tortuous. At the dissolution of the Shrine on the instructions of King Henry VIII in about 1538, Prebendary Arthur Dudley of Lichfield Cathedral removed and retained some relics, probably a travelling set. These were eventually passed to his nieces, Bridget and Katherine Dudley, of Russells Hall. In 1651, they reappeared when a farmer Henry Hodgetts of Sedgley was on his death-bed and kept praying to St Chad. When the priest hearing his last confession, Fr Peter Turner SJ, asked him why he called upon Chad. Henry replied, "because his bones are in the head of my bed". He instructed his wife to give the relics to the priest, whence they found their way to the Seminary at St Omer, in France. After the conclusion of penal times, in the early 19th century, they found their way into the hands of Sir Thomas Fitzherbert-Brockholes of Aston Hall, near Stone, Staffordshire. When his chapel was cleared after his death, his chaplain, Fr Benjamin Hulme, discovered the box containg the relics, which were examined and presented to Bishop Thomas Walsh, (RC) Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District in 1837 and were enshrined in the new St. Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham, opened in 1841, in a new ark designed by Augustus Pugin.



The relics, some long bones, are now enshrined on the Altar of St Chad's Cathedral. They were examined by the Oxford Archeological Laboratory by carbon dating techniques in 1985, and all but one of the bones (which was a third femur, and therefore could not have come from Bishop Chad) were dated to the seventh century, and were authenticated as 'true relics' by the Vatican authorities. In 1919, an Annual Mass and Solemn Outdoor Procession of the Relics was held at St Chad's Cathedral in Birmingham. This observance continues to the present, on the Saturday nearest to his Feast Day, 2 March.



8. Portrayals of St Chad

There are no portraits or descriptions of St Chad from his own time. The only hint that we have comes in the legend of Theodore lifting him bodily into the saddle - possibly suggesting that he was remembered as small in stature. All attempts to portray him are based entirely on imagination, and nearly all are obviously anachronistic, with a heavy stress on vestments from other periods.





St Chad, Peada and Wulfhere, as portrayed in 19th century sculpture above the western entrance to Lichfield Cathedral.




The St Chad Cup, a modern imagining in silver, Lichfield Cathedral.




Icon used devotionally at the site of the shrine of St Chad in Lichfield Cathedral.




"Saint Chad", stained glass window by Christopher Whall. Currently exhibited at Victoria and Albert Museum, London.


9. Notable dedications

9. 1. Churches

Chad gives his name to Birmingham's Roman Catholic cathedral, where there are some relics of the saint: about eight long bones. It is the only cathedral in England that has the relics of its patron saint enshrined upon its high altar. The Anglican Lichfield Cathedral, at the site of his burial, is dedicated to Chad, and St Mary, and still has a head chapel, where the skull of the saint was kept until it was lost during the Reformation. The site of the medieval shrine is also marked.



Chad also gives his name to a parish church in Lichfield (with Chad's Well, where traditionally Chad baptised converts: now a listed building).



Dedications are densely concentrated in the West Midlands. The city of Wolverhampton, for example, has two Anglican churches and a Roman Catholic secondary school dedicated to Chad, while the nearby village of Pattingham has both an Anglican church and primary school. Shrewsbury had a large medieval church of St Chad which fell down in 1788: it was quickly replaced by a circular church in Classical style by George Steuart, on a different site but with the same dedication. Further afield, there is a considerable number of dedications in areas associated with Chad's career, like the churches in Church Wilne in Derbyshire and Far Headingley in Leeds, as well as some in the Commonwealth, like Chelsea in Australia. There is also a St Chad's College within the University of Durham, founded in 1904 as an Anglican hall.



9. 2. Toponyms

There are many place names containing the element chad or something similar. In many cases, reference to the early forms of the name suggests that the derivation is not from the name Chad, but from some other word. It is possible that even where a name might reasonably be thought to derive from Chad that the individual is some other of the same name. Hence great caution needs to be exercised in explaining ancient toponyms by reference to St Chad.



One toponym with a good claim to derivation from the saint's name is Chadkirk Chapel in Romiley, Greater Manchester, which dates back to the 14th century - although the site is much older, possibly dating back to the 7th century when it is believed St Chad visited to bless the well there. Cameron [18] points out that -kirk toponyms more frequently incorporate the name of the dedicatee, rather than the patron, so there is every reason to believe that Chadkirk really was dedicated to St Chad in the Middle Ages. It is not so certain that Chadsmoor in Staffordshire, Chadwich in Worcestershire, or Chadwick in Warwickshire, were named after the saint.



St Chad's Well [19] near Battle Bridge on the river Fleet in London was a celebrated medicinal well and had a new pump house built in 1832. [20] It was destroyed by the Midland Railway company, and is remembered in the street name of St Chad's Place. There is no independent evidence of Chad's visiting the site, but it clearly is named after him, and he certainly did travel in southern England. His association with wells seems ancient, and no doubt stems from the St Chad's Well at Lichfield, visited by pilgrims and probably the water supply of his monastery. This is the most likely explanation of the name.



Numerous place-names like Cheadle and Cheddleton, in the Midlands suggest a link with Chad. However "suggestions" based on late forms of the name count for little: a hypothesis should be framed instead from documentary and topographical evidence. Mostly names of this sort are derived from other Celtic roots, generally ced, cognate with modern Welsh coed, signifying a wood or heath. Cheadle, for example, is generally reckoned a tautonym, [21] with the Old English leah, also meaning a wood, glossing the original Celtic term. [22] This means that the origins of its name are closely related to those of Lichfield (originally derived from the Celtic for "grey wood"), to which it bears little superficial resemblance, rather than Chad or even his brother, Cedd.



Kidderminster, in Worcestershire, is sometimes said to be a corruption of the name of 'St Chad's Minster'. However, place-names do not "corrupt" randomly, but evolve according to principles inherent in the history of the language. Chad or Ceadda would not normally evolve into Kidder. The existence of a minster dedicated to Chad in this town seems to be a legend traceable to Burton's 1890 History of Kidderminster, [23] in which the author acknowledges that the only evidence for such a place is the name of the town. Later writers seem to assume the existence of the monastery and then explain the name of the town from it - a circular argument that collapses if a plausible alternative explanation is available for the name. A grant of land by Ethelbald of Mercia in 736 [16] to one Cyneberht [24] is generally accepted as the origin of the settlement. Cameron suggests that the minster was named after a lay benefactor (normal with -minster formations) and hypothesises Cydela, [25] a suggestion that has found general acceptance. [26] Another possibility might be the later Mercian dux Cydda. [24] Certainly it seems that there was a dynasty of Mercian noblemen, all with similar names beginning Cy and connected to the area. These provide a more plausible explanation for the name of the town than St Chad or his non-existent minster.



The settlement of St Chad's (population 57) in Newfoundland was previously named "St Shad's" (after originally being "Damnable"),but was renamed after postal confusion with nearby "St Shott's" [1].



9. 3. Chad as a personal name

Main article: Chad (given name)



Chad remains a fairly popular given name, one of the few personal names current among 7th century Anglo-Saxons to do so. However, it was very little used for many centuries before a modest revival in the mid-20th century. Obviously, only some of its bearers are named directly after Chad of Mercia. Perhaps the best-known Chad of modern times who was so-named was Chad Varah, an Anglican priest and social activist, whose father was vicar of Barton-upon-Humber - the probable site of Chad's monastery in the north of Lindsey.



10. Patronage

Due to the somewhat confused nature of Chad's appointment and the continued references to 'chads' - small pieces of ballot papers punched out by voters using voting machines - in the 2000 US Presidential Election it has been jocularly suggested that Chad is the patron saint of botched elections. In fact there is no official patron saint of elections, though Thomas More is the one of politicians.[2]



The Spa Research Fellowship[3] states that Chad is the patron saint of medicinal springs, [27] although other listings (e.g. [4]) do not mention this patronage.



St. Chad's Day (2 March) is traditionally considered the most propitious day to sow broad beans in England.



11. References



1.Leo Sherley-Price (1990). Ecclesiastical History of the English People by Bede. Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-14-044565-X. http://books.google.com/books?id=OOSHpi4D7FQC&pg=PA182&ots=oVmPGVT6Q1&dq=Cynibil&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&sig=QO2b38ruhRXK3ErCY_NMjWOuSVg.

2.Bede. Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Preface.

3.^ Bede. Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book 4, chapter 3.

4.^ Bede. Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book 3, chapter 28.

5.^ Bede. Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book 3, chapter 23.

6.Richard Fletcher (1997). The Conversion of Europe, p.167. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-255203-5.

7.Koch, J.T., (2006) Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, ISBN 1851094407, p. 360

8.Bede. Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book 3, chapter 21.

9.Bede. Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book 3, chapter 27.

10.Mayr-Harting, Henry. The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England. 1991. Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-00769-4. p. 97.

11.Mayr-Harting, Henry. The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England. 1991. Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-00769-4. P. 253.

12.Mayr-Harting, Henry. The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England. 1991. Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-00769-4. p. 89.

13.Bede. Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book 3, chapter 25.

14.Bede. Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book 4, chapter 2.

15.Bede. Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book 3, chapter 24.

16.^ Prosopology of Anglo-Saxon England entry, accessed June 2009

17.^ Farmer, David Hugh (2004). Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Fifth ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 101-102. ISBN 978-0-19-860949-0.

18.Cameron, Kenneth: English Place Names, London: Batsford, 1996, ISBN 0-7134-7378-9, p.127.

19.Potter, Cesca River of wells Source: the holy wells journal, series 1, issue 1

20.The London Encyclopaedia p. 699

21.Ayto, John and Croft, Ian: Brewer's Britain and Ireland, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2005, ISBN 0-304-35385-X, p. 225.

22.Gelling, Margaret: Place-Names in the Landscape, London: Dent, 1984, ISBN 0-460-86086-0, pp. 190-191.

23.Burton, John Richard: A History of Kidderminster, London: Elliot Stock, 1890, p. 14.

24.^ Prosopology of Anglo-Saxon England entry, accessed June 2009

25.Cameron, Kenneth: English Place Names, London: Batsford, 1996, ISBN 0-7134-7378-9, p. 126.

26.Ayto, John and Croft, Ian: Brewer's Britain and Ireland, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2005, ISBN 0-304-35385-X, p. 608.

27.Spa research fellowship, Occasional paper, 5: St Chad - Patron Saint of Medicinal Springs





12. Background reading

•Bassett, Steven, Ed. The Origins of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. Leicester University Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-7185-1367-2.

•Fletcher, Richard. The Conversion of Europe: From Paganism to Christianity 371-1386. HarperCollins, 1997. ISBN 0-00-255203-5.

•Mayr-Harting, Henry. The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England. 1991. Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-00769-4..

•Rudolf Vleeskruijer The Life of St.Chad, an Old English Homily edited with introduction, notes, illustrative texts and glossary by R. Vleeskruyer, North-Holland, Amsterdam (1953)





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Book of Common Prayer Daily Office Lectionary


March 2

8 Epiphany


Ps. 119:1-24; Ps. 12, 13, 14; Deut. 4:25-31; 2 Cor. 11:21b-33; Matt. 6:24-34

Psalm 119:1-24

Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet

Aleph

119:1 [1] Blessed are those whose way is blameless,

who walk in the law of the Lord!

2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,

who seek him with their whole heart,

3 who also do no wrong,

but walk in his ways!

4 You have commanded your precepts

to be kept diligently.

5 Oh that my ways may be steadfast

in keeping your statutes!

6 Then I shall not be put to shame,

having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.

7 I will praise you with an upright heart,

when I learn your righteous rules. [2]

8 I will keep your statutes;

do not utterly forsake me!



Beth

9 How can a young man keep his way pure?

By guarding it according to your word.

10 With my whole heart I seek you;

let me not wander from your commandments!

11 I have stored up your word in my heart,

that I might not sin against you.

12 Blessed are you, O Lord;

teach me your statutes!

13 With my lips I declare

all the rules [3] of your mouth.

14 In the way of your testimonies I delight

as much as in all riches.

15 I will meditate on your precepts

and fix my eyes on your ways.

16 I will delight in your statutes;

I will not forget your word.



Gimel

17 Deal bountifully with your servant,

that I may live and keep your word.

18 Open my eyes, that I may behold

wondrous things out of your law.

19 I am a sojourner on the earth;

hide not your commandments from me!

20 My soul is consumed with longing

for your rules [4] at all times.

21 You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,

who wander from your commandments.

22 Take away from me scorn and contempt,

for I have kept your testimonies.

23 Even though princes sit plotting against me,

your servant will meditate on your statutes.

24 Your testimonies are my delight;

they are my counselors.



Psalm 12

The Faithful Have Vanished

To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. [5] A Psalm of David.

12:1 Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone;

for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.

2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;

with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.



3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,

the tongue that makes great boasts,

4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,

our lips are with us; who is master over us?”



5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,

I will now arise,” says the Lord;

“I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

6 The words of the Lord are pure words,

like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,

purified seven times.



7 You, O Lord, will keep them;

you will guard us [6] from this generation forever.

8 On every side the wicked prowl,

as vileness is exalted among the children of man.



Psalm 13

How Long, O Lord?

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

13:1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long must I take counsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?



3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;

light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,

4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”

lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.



5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

6 I will sing to the Lord,

because he has dealt bountifully with me.



Psalm 14

The Fool Says, There Is No God

To the choirmaster. Of David.

14:1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,

there is none who does good.



2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,

to see if there are any who understand, [7]

who seek after God.



3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.



4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers

who eat up my people as they eat bread

and do not call upon the Lord?



5 There they are in great terror,

for God is with the generation of the righteous.

6 You would shame the plans of the poor,

but [8] the Lord is his refuge.



7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.



Deuteronomy 4:25-31

25 “When you father children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. 28 And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. 31 For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.



2 Corinthians 11:21-33

21 To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that!



But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, [9] in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?



30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. 32 At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, 33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.



Matthew 6:24-34

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. [10]



Do Not Be Anxious

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? [11] 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.



34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.



Footnotes

[1] 119:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem of twenty-two stanzas, following the letters of the Hebrew alphabet; within a stanza, each verse begins with the same Hebrew letter

[2] 119:7 Or your just and righteous decrees; also verses 62, 106, 160, 164

[3] 119:13 Or all the just decrees

[4] 119:20 Or your just decrees; also verses 30, 39, 43, 52, 75, 102, 108, 137, 156, 175

[5] 12:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term

[6] 12:7 Or guard him

[7] 14:2 Or that act wisely

[8] 14:6 Or for

[9] 11:27 Or often in fasting

[10] 6:24 Greek mammon, a Semitic word for money or possessions

[11] 6:27 Or a single cubit to his stature; a cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters

This reading plan is adapted from the Daily Office Lectionary found in The Book of Common Prayer.


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¶ Morning Prayer on Wednesday


Wednesday, 2 March 2011

Chad, Bishop of Lichfield, Missionary, 672 [Lesser Festival]

Preparation

O Lord, open our lips

Alland our mouth shall proclaim your praise.



One or more of the following is said or sung:

a prayer of thanksgiving (page 109),

a suitable hymn,

or A Song of God’s Glorious Name

1O Lord our governor, •

how glorious is your name in all the world!



2Your majesty above the heavens is praised •

out of the mouths of babes at the breast.



3You have founded a stronghold against your foes, •

that you might still the enemy and the avenger.



4When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, •

the moon and the stars that you have ordained,



5What are mortals, that you should be mindful of them; •

mere human beings, that you should seek them out?



6You have made them little lower than the angels •

and crown them with glory and honour.



7You have given them dominion over the works of your hands •

and put all things under their feet,



8All sheep and oxen, •

even the wild beasts of the field,



9The birds of the air, the fish of the sea •

and whatsoever moves in the paths of the sea.



10O Lord our governor, •

how glorious is your name in all the world!



Psalm 8



AllGlory to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning is now

and shall be for ever. Amen.



This opening prayer may be said



The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;

let us pray with one heart and mind.



Silence is kept.



As 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 for ever.

AllAmen.



The Word of God

Psalmody

The appointed psalmody is said.



Psalm 119.105-128

Refrain: O deal with your servant according to your faithful love.





105 Your word is a lantern to my feet •

and a light upon my path.



106 I have sworn and will fulfil it, •

to keep your righteous judgements.



107 I am troubled above measure; •

give me life, O Lord, according to your word.



108 Accept the freewill offering of my mouth, O Lord, •

and teach me your judgements. R



109 My soul is ever in my hand, •

yet I do not forget your law.



110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, •

but I have not strayed from your commandments.



111 Your testimonies have I claimed as my heritage for ever; •

for they are the very joy of my heart.



112 I have applied my heart to fulfil your statutes: •

always, even to the end. R



113 I hate those who are double-minded, •

but your law do I love.



114 You are my hiding place and my shield •

and my hope is in your word.



115 Away from me, you wicked! •

I will keep the commandments of my God.



116 Sustain me according to your promise, that I may live, •

and let me not be disappointed in my hope. R



117 Hold me up and I shall be saved, •

and my delight shall be ever in your statutes.



118 You set at nought those who depart from your statutes, •

for their deceiving is in vain.



119 You consider all the wicked as dross; •

therefore I love your testimonies.



120 My flesh trembles for fear of you •

and I am afraid of your judgements. R



121 I have done what is just and right; •

O give me not over to my oppressors.



122 Stand surety for your servant’s good; •

let not the proud oppress me.



123 My eyes fail with watching for your salvation •

and for your righteous promise.



124 O deal with your servant according to your faithful love •

and teach me your statutes. R



125 I am your servant; O grant me understanding, •

that I may know your testimonies.



126 It is time for you to act, O Lord, •

for they frustrate your law.



127 Therefore I love your commandments •

above gold, even much fine gold.



128 Therefore I direct my steps by all your precepts, •

and all false ways I utterly abhor.



Refrain: O deal with your servant according to your faithful love.





O God, save us from ourselves,

from double standards

and divided hearts,

and give us light and life

in Jesus Christ our Lord.





Each psalm or group of psalms may end with



AllGlory to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning is now

and shall be for ever. Amen.



If there are two Scripture readings, the first may be read here, or both may be read after the canticle.



Canticle

A Song of the Word of the Lord, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 35 (page 586), may be said



Refrain:



AllReturn to the Lord, who will have mercy,

to our God, who will richly pardon.



1Seek the Lord while he may be found, •

call upon him while he is near;



2Let the wicked abandon their ways, •

and the unrighteous their thoughts;



3Return to the Lord, who will have mercy; •

to our God, who will richly pardon.



4‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, •

neither are your ways my ways,’ says the Lord.



5‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, •

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.



6‘As the rain and the snow come down from above, •

and return not again but water the earth,



7‘Bringing forth life and giving growth, •

seed for sowing and bread to eat,



8‘So is my word that goes forth from my mouth; •

it will not return to me fruitless,



9‘But it will accomplish that which I purpose, •

and succeed in the task I gave it.’



Isaiah 55.6-11



AllGlory to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning is now

and shall be for ever. Amen.



AllReturn to the Lord, who will have mercy,

to our God, who will richly pardon.



Scripture Reading

One or more readings appointed for the day are read.



The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence.





2 Chronicles 12



When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he grew strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord, he and all Israel with him. In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, King Shishak of Egypt came up against Jerusalem with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand cavalry. A countless army came with him from Egypt—Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. He took the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. Then the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and to the officers of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’ Then the officers of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, ‘The Lord is in the right.’ When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying: ‘They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless they shall be his servants, so that they may know the difference between serving me and serving the kingdoms of other lands.’



So King Shishak of Egypt came up against Jerusalem; he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took everything. He also took away the shields of gold that Solomon had made; but King Rehoboam made in place of them shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house. Whenever the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard would come along bearing them, and would then bring them back to the guardroom. Because he humbled himself the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to destroy them completely; moreover, conditions were good in Judah.

So King Rehoboam established himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign; he reigned for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. He did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.



Now the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the records of the prophet Shemaiah and of the seer Iddo, recorded by genealogy? There were continual wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. Rehoboam slept with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David; and his son Abijah succeeded him.







John 19.31-end



Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘None of his bones shall be broken.’ And again another passage of scripture says, ‘They will look on the one whom they have pierced.’

After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.





A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow



Lord, you will guide me with your counsel

and afterwards receive me with glory.

AllLord, you will guide me with your counsel

and afterwards receive me with glory.

For I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand.

AllAnd afterwards receive me with glory.

Glory to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit.

AllLord, you will guide me with your counsel

and afterwards receive me with glory.



from Psalm 73



Gospel Canticle

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah) is normally said,

or A Song of Redemption (page 620) may be said



Refrain:



AllChrist gave them as a light to the nations

that his salvation might reach to the ends of the earth.



1Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, •

who has come to his people and set them free.



2He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour, •

born of the house of his servant David.



3Through his holy prophets God promised of old •

to save us from our enemies,

from the hands of all that hate us,



4To show mercy to our ancestors, •

and to remember his holy covenant.



5This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham: •

to set us free from the hands of our enemies,



6Free to worship him without fear, •

holy and righteous in his sight

all the days of our life.



7And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, •

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,



8To give his people knowledge of salvation •

by the forgiveness of all their sins.



9In the tender compassion of our God •

the dawn from on high shall break upon us,



10To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, •

and to guide our feet into the way of peace.



Luke 1.68-79



AllGlory to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning is now

and shall be for ever. Amen.



Refrain:



AllChrist gave them as a light to the nations

that his salvation might reach to the ends of the earth.



Prayers

Intercessions are offered

¶ for the day and its tasks

¶ for the world and its needs

¶ for the Church and her life



The cycle on pages 364–365 and the prayer on page 377 may be used.



These responses may be used



Lord, in your mercy

hear our prayer



(or)



Lord, hear us.

Lord, graciously hear us.



Silence may be kept.



The Collect of the day is said



Almighty God,

from the first fruits of the English nation who turned to Christ,

you called your servant Chad

to be an evangelist and bishop of his own people:

give us grace so to follow his peaceable nature,

humble spirit and prayerful life,

that we may truly commend to others

the faith which we ourselves profess;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

AllAmen.



The Lord’s Prayer is said



As our Saviour taught us, so we pray



AllOur Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours

now and for ever.

Amen.



(or)



Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us



AllOur 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,

for ever and ever.

Amen.



The Conclusion

The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil,

and keep us in eternal life.

AllAmen.



Let us bless the Lord.

AllThanks be to God.



© The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, 2000-2005

All of the official Common Worship publications are available from Church House Publishing.



The Bible readings (other than the psalms) are from The New Revised Standard Version Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
**************************************************************
 
Evening Prayer from


The Book of Common Prayer

Wednesday, 2 March 2011

Chad, Bishop of Lichfield, 672

The introduction to the service is used on Sundays, and may be used on any occasion. If the Introduction is not used, the service begins with the opening responses.

¶ Introduction



The minister may use a seasonal sentence before using one or more of the penitential sentences.



The minister introduces the service



Dearly beloved [brethren],

the Scripture moveth us in sundry places to acknowledge

and confess our manifold sins and wickedness;



[and that we should not dissemble nor cloak them before

the face of almighty God our heavenly Father;

but confess them with an humble, lowly, penitent and

obedient heart;

to the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same

by his infinite goodness and mercy.

And although we ought at all times humbly to acknowledge

our sins before God;

yet ought we most chiefly so to do,

when we assemble and meet together

to render thanks for the great benefits that we have

received at his hands,

to set forth his most worthy praise,

to hear his most holy word,

and to ask those things which are requisite and necessary,

as well for the body as the soul.]



Wherefore I pray and beseech you,

as many as are here present,

to accompany me with a pure heart, and humble voice,

unto the throne of the heavenly grace, saying [after me]:



(or)



Beloved, we are come together in the presence of almighty God and of the whole company of heaven to offer unto him through our Lord Jesus Christ our worship and praise and thanksgiving; to make confession of our sins; to pray, as well for others as for ourselves, that we may know more truly the greatness of God's love and shew forth in our lives the fruits of his grace; and to ask on behalf of all men such things as their well-being doth require.



Wherefore let us kneel in silence, and remember God's presence with us now.



All Almighty and most merciful Father,

we have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep.

We have followed too much the devices and desires

of our own hearts.

We have offended against thy holy laws.

We have left undone those things

which we ought to have done;

and we have done those things

which we ought not to have done;

and there is no health in us.

But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders.

Spare thou them, O God, which confess their faults.

Restore thou them that are penitent;

according to thy promises declared unto mankind

in Christ Jesu our Lord.

And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake,

that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life,

to the glory of thy holy name.

Amen.



A priest says



Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who desireth not the death of a sinner,

but rather that he may turn from his wickedness and live;

and hath given power, and commandment, to his ministers

to declare and pronounce to his people, being penitent,

the absolution and remission of their sins:

he pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent

and unfeignedly believe his holy gospel.

Wherefore let us beseech him to grant us true repentance,

and his Holy Spirit,

that those things may please him which we do at this present;

and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure and holy;

so that at the last we may come to his eternal joy;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All Amen.



or other ministers may say



Grant, we beseech thee, merciful Lord,

to thy faithful people pardon and peace,

that they may be cleansed from all their sins,

and serve thee with a quiet mind;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All Amen.



All Our Father, which art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done,

in earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive them that trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever and ever.

Amen.

¶ Evening Prayer



The introduction to the service is used on Sundays, and may be used on any occasion. If the Introduction is not used, the service begins with the opening responses.



These responses are used



O Lord, open thou our lips

All and our mouth shall shew forth thy praise.



O God, make speed to save us.

All O Lord, make haste to help us.



Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,

and to the Holy Ghost;

All as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end. Amen.



Praise ye the Lord.

All The Lord's name be praised.



Psalmody

Psalm 12





1 Help me, Lord, for there is not one godly man left :

for the faithful are minished from among the children of men.



2 They talk of vanity every one with his neighbour :

they do but flatter with their lips, and dissemble in their double heart.



3 The Lord shall root out all deceitful lips :

and the tongue that speaketh proud things;



4 Which have said, With our tongue will we prevail :

we are they that ought to speak, who is lord over us?



5 Now for the comfortless troubles’ sake of the needy :

and because of the deep sighing of the poor,



6 I will up, saith the Lord :

and will help every one from him that swelleth against him, and will set him at rest.



7 The words of the Lord are pure words :

even as the silver, which from the earth is tried, and purified seven times in the fire.



8 Thou shalt keep them, O Lord :

thou shalt preserve him from this generation for ever.



9 The ungodly walk on every side :

when they are exalted, the children of men are put to rebuke.



Psalm 13





1 How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord, for ever :

how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?



2 How long shall I seek counsel in my soul, and be so vexed in my heart :

how long shall mine enemies triumph over me?



3 Consider, and hear me, O Lord my God :

lighten mine eyes, that I sleep not in death.



4 Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him :

for if I be cast down, they that trouble me will rejoice at it.



5 But my trust is in thy mercy :

and my heart is joyful in thy salvation.



6 I will sing of the Lord, because he hath dealt so lovingly with me :

yea, I will praise the Name of the Lord most Highest.



Psalm 14





1 The fool hath said in his heart :

There is no God.



2 They are corrupt, and become abominable in their doings :

there is none that doeth good, no not one.



3 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men :

to see if there were any that would understand, and seek after God.



4 But they are all gone out of the way, they are altogether become abominable :

there is none that doeth good, no not one.



5 Their throat is an open sepulchre, with their tongues have they deceived :

the poison of asps is under their lips.



6 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness :

their feet are swift to shed blood.



7 Destruction and unhappiness is in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known :

there is no fear of God before their eyes.



8 Have they no knowledge, that they are all such workers of mischief :

eating up my people as it were bread, and call not upon the Lord?



9 There were they brought in great fear, even where no fear was :

for God is in the generation of the righteous.



10 As for you, ye have made a mock at the counsel of the poor :

because he putteth his trust in the Lord.



11 Who shall give salvation unto Israel out of Sion? When the Lord turneth the captivity of his people :

then shall Jacob rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.







At the end of each psalm these words are said or sung



Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :

and to the Holy Ghost;

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :

world without end. Amen.



Old Testament Reading



First Reading: Genesis 31.25 - 32.2

Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead.

And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword?

Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?

And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? thou hast now done foolishly in so doing.

It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father’s house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?

And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said, Peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me.

With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.

And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the two maidservants’ tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent.

Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel’s furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not.

And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched but found not the images.

And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?

Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both.

This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.

That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night.

Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.

Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.

Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.

And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and these cattle are my cattle, and all that thou seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children which they have born?

Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee.

And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.

And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap: and they did eat there upon the heap.

And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed.

And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed;

And Mizpah; for he said, The Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.

If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me and thee.

And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and thee:

This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.

The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.

Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount.

And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place.









And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.







Magnificat



Either the Magnificat (as follows) or Cantate Domino (Psalm 98) is said or sung.



1 My soul doth magnify the Lord :

and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.



2 For he hath regarded :

the lowliness of his handmaiden.



3 For behold, from henceforth :

all generations shall call me blessed.



4 For he that is mighty hath magnified me :

and holy is his Name.



5 And his mercy is on them that fear him :

throughout all generations.



6 He hath shewed strength with his arm :

he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.



7 He hath put down the mighty from their seat :

and hath exalted the humble and meek.



8 He hath filled the hungry with good things :

and the rich he hath sent empty away.



9 He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel :

as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed for ever.

Luke 1.46-55



Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :

and to the Holy Ghost;

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :

world without end. Amen.



New Testament Reading



Second Reading: Titus 1







Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;

In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;

To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.

For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:

If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.

For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;

But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;

Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:

Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.

One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, the Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.

This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;

Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.

Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.

They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.





Nunc dimittis



Either the Nunc dimittis (as follows) or Deus misereatur (Psalm 67) is said or sung.



1 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace :

according to thy word.



2 For mine eyes have seen :

thy salvation;



3 Which thou hast prepared :

before the face of all people;



4 To be a light to lighten the Gentiles :

and to be the glory of thy people Israel.

Luke 2.29-32



Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :

and to the Holy Ghost;

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :

world without end. Amen.



The Apostles' Creed



All I believe in God the Father almighty,

maker of heaven and earth:

and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, dead, and buried.

He descended into hell;

the third day he rose again from the dead;

he ascended into heaven,

and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty;

from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost;

the holy catholic Church;

the communion of saints;

the forgiveness of sins;

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.

Amen.



Prayers



The Lord be with you.

All And with thy spirit.



Let us pray.



Lord, have mercy upon us.

All Christ, have mercy upon us.

Lord, have mercy upon us.



All Our Father, which art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done,

in earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive them that trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil. Amen.



O Lord, shew thy mercy upon us.

All And grant us thy salvation.



O Lord, save the Queen.

All And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee.



Endue thy ministers with righteousness.

All And make thy chosen people joyful.



O Lord, save thy people.

All And bless thine inheritance.



Give peace in our time, O Lord.

All Because there is none other that fighteth for us,

but only thou, O God.



O God, make clean our hearts within us.

All And take not thy Holy Spirit from us.



Three Collects are said.



The Collect of the Day



O Lord God, who seest that we put not our trust in any thing that we do; Mercifully grant that by thy power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All Amen.





The Collect for Peace



O God, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels,

and all just works do proceed;

give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give;

that both, our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments,

and also that, by thee,

we being defended from the fear of our enemies

may pass our time in rest and quietness;

through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour.

All Amen.



The Collect for Aid against all Perils



Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord;

and by thy great mercy defend us

from all perils and dangers of this night;

for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

All Amen.



The order for the end of the service may include:



¶ hymns or anthems

¶ a sermon

¶ further prayers (which may include prayers from here)



This prayer may be used to conclude the service



The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,

and the love of God,

and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost,

be with us all evermore.

All Amen.



© The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, 2000-2004

All of the official Common Worship publications are being published by Church House Publishing.
**************************************************************
 
An Order for Night Prayer


(Compline) in Traditional Language



Wednesday, 2 March 2011

Chad, Bishop of Lichfield, 672



Note



The ancient office of Compline derives its name from a Latin word meaning 'completion' (completorium). It is above all a service of quietness and reflection before rest at the end of the day. It is most effective when the ending is indeed an ending, without additions, conversation or noise. If there is an address, or business to be done, it should come first. If the service is in church, those present depart in silence; if at home, they go quietly to bed.



For further Notes, see here.







Preparation



The Lord almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end.

All Amen.



[Brethren,] be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil,

as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

whom resist, steadfast in the faith.

1 Peter 5.8,9

But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.

All Thanks be to God.



Our help is in the name of the Lord

All who hath made heaven and earth.



A period of silence for reflection on the past day may follow.



The following or other suitable words of penitence may be used



All We confess to God almighty,

the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost,

that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,

through our own grievous fault.

Wherefore we pray God to have mercy upon us.



Almighty God, have mercy upon us,

forgive us all our sins and deliver us from all evil,

confirm and strengthen us in all goodness,

and bring us to life everlasting;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.



A priest may say



May the almighty and merciful Lord

grant unto you pardon and remission of all your sins,

time for amendment of life,

and the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit.

All Amen.



O God, make speed to save us.

All O Lord, make haste to help us.



Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,

and to the Holy Ghost;

All as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end. Amen.



Praise ye the Lord.

All The Lord's name be praised.



The following or another suitable hymn may be sung



Before the ending of the day,

Creator of the world we pray,

That with thy wonted favour thou

Wouldst be our guard and keeper now.



From all ill dreams defend our eyes,

From nightly fears and fantasies;

Tread underfoot our ghostly foe,

That no pollution we may know.



O Father, that we ask be done,

Through Jesus Christ, thine only Son;

Who, with the Holy Ghost and thee,

Doth live and reign eternally.



The Word of God



Psalmody



One or more of the following psalms may be used



Psalm 4



1 Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness :

thou hast set me at liberty when I was in trouble;

have mercy upon me, and hearken unto my prayer.



2 O ye sons of men, how long will ye blaspheme mine honour :

and have such pleasure in vanity, and seek after leasing?



3 Know this also, that the Lord hath chosen to himself

the man that is godly :

when I call upon the Lord, he will hear me.



4 Stand in awe, and sin not :

commune with your own heart, and in your chamber, and be still.



5 Offer the sacrifice of righteousness :

and put your trust in the Lord.



6 There be many that say :

Who will shew us any good?



7 Lord, lift thou up :

the light of thy countenance upon us.



8 Thou hast put gladness in my heart :

since the time that their corn, and wine, and oil increased.



9 I will lay me down in peace, and take my rest :

for it is thou, Lord, only, that makest me dwell in safety.



Psalm 31.1-6



1 In thee, O Lord, have I put my trust :

let me never be put to confusion, deliver me in thy righteousness.



2 Bow down thine ear to me :

make haste to deliver me.



3 And be thou my strong rock, and house of defence :

that thou mayest save me.



4 For thou art my strong rock, and my castle :

be thou also my guide, and lead me for thy name's sake.



5 Draw me out of the net, that they have laid privily for me :

for thou art my strength.



6 Into thy hands I commend my spirit :

for thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, thou God of truth.



Psalm 91



1 Whoso dwelleth under the defence of the Most High :

shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.



2 I will say unto the Lord, Thou art my hope, and my stronghold :

my God, in him will I trust.



3 For he shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunter :

and from the noisome pestilence.



4 He shall defend thee under his wings,

and thou shalt be safe under his feathers :

his faithfulness and truth shall be thy shield and buckler.



5 Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night :

nor for the arrow that flieth by day;



6 For the pestilence that walketh in darkness :

nor for the sickness that destroyeth in the noonday.



7 A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand :

but it shall not come nigh thee.



8 Yea, with thine eyes shalt thou behold :

and see the reward of the ungodly.



9 For thou, Lord, art my hope :

thou hast set thine house of defence very high.



10 There shall no evil happen unto thee :

neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.



11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee :

to keep thee in all thy ways.



12 They shall bear thee in their hands :

that thou hurt not thy foot against a stone.



13 Thou shalt go upon the lion and adder :

the young lion and the dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet.



14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him :

I will set him up, because he hath known my name.



15 He shall call upon me, and I will hear him :

yea, I am with him in trouble;

I will deliver him, and bring him to honour.



16 With long life will I satisfy him :

and shew him my salvation.



Psalm 134



1 Behold now, praise the Lord :

all ye servants of the Lord;



2 Ye that by night stand in the house of the Lord :

even in the courts of the house of our God.



3 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary :

and praise the Lord.



4 The Lord that made heaven and earth :

give thee blessing out of Sion.



At the end of the psalmody, the following is said or sung



Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :

and to the Holy Ghost;

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :

world without end. Amen.



Scripture Reading



One of the following short lessons or another suitable passage is read



Thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not, O Lord our God.

Jeremiah 14.9



(or)



Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Matthew 11.28-30



(or)



Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight; through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 13.20,21



All Thanks be to God.



The following responsory may be said



Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

All Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

For thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, thou God of truth.

All I commend my spirit.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.

All Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.



Keep me as the apple of an eye.

All Hide me under the shadow of thy wings.



Gospel Canticle



The Nunc dimittis (The Song of Simeon) is said or sung



All Preserve us, O Lord, while waking,

and guard us while sleeping,

that awake we may watch with Christ,

and asleep we may rest in peace.



1 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace :

according to thy word.



2 For mine eyes have seen :

thy salvation;



3 Which thou hast prepared :

before the face of all people;



4 To be a light to lighten the Gentiles :

and to be the glory of thy people Israel.

Luke 2.29-32

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :

and to the Holy Ghost;



as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :

world without end. Amen.



All Preserve us, O Lord, while waking,

and guard us while sleeping,

that awake we may watch with Christ,

and asleep we may rest in peace.



Prayers



Lord, have mercy upon us.

All Christ, have mercy upon us.

Lord, have mercy upon us.



All Our Father, which art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done,

in earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive them that trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil. Amen.



Blessed art thou, Lord God of our fathers:

All to be praised and glorified above all for ever.



Let us bless the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost:

All let us praise him and magnify him for ever.



Blessed art thou, O Lord, in the firmament of heaven:

All to be praised and glorified above all for ever.



The almighty and most merciful Lord guard us and give us his blessing.

All Amen.







[Wilt thou not turn again and quicken us;

All that thy people may rejoice in thee?



O Lord, shew thy mercy upon us;

All and grant us thy salvation.



Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this night without sin;

All O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us.



O Lord, hear our prayer;

All and let our cry come unto thee.]



Let us pray.



One or more of the following Collects is said



Visit, we beseech thee, O Lord, this place,

and drive from it all the snares of the enemy;

let thy holy angels dwell herein to preserve us in peace;

and may thy blessing be upon us evermore;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All Amen.



Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord;

and by thy great mercy defend us

from all perils and dangers of this night;

for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

All Amen.



O Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God,

who at this evening hour didst rest in the sepulchre,

and didst thereby sanctify the grave

to be a bed of hope to thy people:

make us so to abound in sorrow for our sins,

which were the cause of thy passion,

that when our bodies lie in the dust,

our souls may live with thee;

who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost,

one God, world without end.

All Amen.



Look down, O Lord, from thy heavenly throne,

illuminate the darkness of this night with thy celestial brightness,

and from the sons of light banish the deeds of darkness;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All Amen.



Be present, O merciful God,

and protect us through the silent hours of this night,

so that we who are wearied

by the changes and chances of this fleeting world,

may repose upon thy eternal changelessness;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All Amen.



The Conclusion



We will lay us down in peace and take our rest.

All For it is thou, Lord, only that makest us dwell in safety.



Abide with us, O Lord,

All for it is toward evening and the day is far spent.



As the watchmen look for the morning,

All so do we look for thee, O Christ.



[Come with the dawning of the day

All and make thyself known in the breaking of bread.]



The Lord be with you

All and with thy spirit.



Let us bless the Lord.

All Thanks be to God.



The almighty and merciful Lord,

the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost,

bless us and preserve us.

All Amen.



© The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, 2000-2004

All of the official Common Worship publications are being published by Church House Publishing.

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