welcome to canterbury cathedral the garden of the deanery on this very important day for england it's in george's day the patron saint of england as david is of wales and andrew is of scotland and patrick is of ireland george is our special day and so we keep that but at the same time we remember that it is the day on which we commemorate william shakespeare who died on this day in 1616 and so our thoughts are full of the sense of um gratitude for everything that shakespeare gave to the english language and also for the principles which the saint george who will think about a bit later on brought to this nation as its patron saint so we begin our morning prayers oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise in your resurrection o christ let heaven and earth rejoice hallelujah blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ by his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead into an inheritance that is imperishable undefiled and unfading kept in heaven for you who are being protected by the power of god through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time you were ransomed from the futile ways of your ancestors not with penitable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of christ like that of a lamb without spot or stain through him you have confidence in god who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are set in god the psalms for today are a quartet of psalms and each one is lovely it's psalm 110 to 113. i'm going to read psalm 111 and then some verses from psalm 113 alleluia i will give thanks to the lord with my whole heart in the company of the faithful and in the congregation the works of the lord are great sought out by all who delight in them his work is full of majesty and honor and his righteousness endures forever he appointed a memorial for his marvelous deeds the lord is gracious and full of compassion he gave food to those who feared him he is ever mindful of his covenant he showed his people the power of his works in giving them the heritage of the nations the works of his hands are truth and justice all his commandments are sure they stand fast forever and ever they are done in truth and equity he sent redemption to his people he commanded his covenant forever holy and awesome is his name the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom a good understanding have those who live by it his praise endures forever and from psalm 113 alleluia give praise you servants of the lord o praise the name of the lord blessed be the name of the lord from this time forth and forevermore from the rising of the sun to its setting let the name of the lord be praised it's a lovely time to think of the rising of the sun while the dew on the grass around me is still very wet and the sun is rising high on this april morning of april the 23rd i'm going to read the lesson for today lesson for saint george's day and it will become obvious why as we read the verses they're from ephesians chapter 6 beginning at verse 10 paul's letter to the christians in ephesus finally be strong in the lord and in the strength of his might put on the whole armor of god that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against the rulers against the authorities against the cosmic powers over this present darkness against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places therefore take up the whole armor of god that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand firm stand therefore having fastened on the belt of truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and as shoes for your feet having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace in all circumstances take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of god praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication and to that end keep alert with all perseverance making supplication for all the saints and also for me that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which i am an ambassador in chains but i may declare it boldly as i ought to speak wonderful words from the imprisoned apostle to those in ephesus whom this time unlike colossi he knew he was well acquainted with the church in ephesus and had taught that but the images he uses are full of poetry and their poetry about armor and defense but also the sword of the spirit which one can cut into darkness and evil not only real evil in this earth but also evil as he calls it in the heavenly places which attacks us spiritually and unseen paul was in so many ways as one thinks of his 30th chapter of the first letter to the corinthians a poet and poets use imagery pointing out things which remind us of spiritual concepts and give us earthly courage this is saint george's day and the image of sin george is an image of chivalry george as far as we can tell was a member of the praetorian guard but he was so at the end of the third century when the emperor diocletian was about to persecute christians george would not give up his christian faith and died as a martyr but he became the kind of saint that the crusaders longed to look at and they brought the red cross of his banner back from the crusades to become england's patron saint it's not a time of year for red roses but that is the symbol of saint george and of england though the tudor rose of course enfolds both red and white uniting the houses of lancaster and york which had caused this nation to be divided but the rose brought them together we remember all that today but we remember also maybe our greatest poet william shakespeare got here his little book of sonnets and i have memories of being on this day in central park in new york a few years ago and finding to my surprise a podium where a microphone had been set up and citizens old and young from many diverse cultures coming forward one after the other to read the sonnets from 1 to 154 some were brilliant in their presentation others were not so good in their presentation but obviously loved the poetry of the sonnets for a sonnet by its 14 lines of rigidity seems to hold passion even more because of the flaming passion that it is actually actually telling about within the constricted lines of the poetry it's why they're so loved i'm not going to read any this morning there are too many we would want to read on an april morning but we remember that there are 154 sonnets officially but there are others found in the plays and one of my favorites is in romeo and juliet and it's recited not by romeo or by juliet but by both of them in couplets it's when they first meet and you remember how romeo imagines juliet with all the sacredness of a sacred holy place and sees himself as a pilgrim at this shrine and as he advances his case juliet says to him that pilgrim's lips are meant for praying and he responds that pilgrim's hands also long to touch the saint that they are remembering it's a beautiful sonnet in the midst of that play might be something you'd like to read today but here is a place of pilgrimage a holy place people come to say their prayers physically they long to be here and they cannot at the moment because of all the restrictions of this coronavirus time which we are combating nevertheless we can show you scenes from here in our archive there are many early copies of shakespeare and others contemporary of his which are there for the searching when these times are over but for the moment we share poetically and in prayer this day of saint george for england and pray for the quality of this nation being qualities where power is used to help those most in need and also qualities of chivalry of courteous generous behavior one to another we also remember our capacity in poetry to use the things of this earth to speak of the things of heaven so let's say our prayers we remember particularly all those on our hearts this day those who particularly need our prayers and those whom we may even have seen on televisions or read about in newspapers that we feel particularly bound to pray for because of their courage in maybe health services or caring for their neighbors or because we love them well first the preface in george's day god of hosts who so kindled the flame of love in the heart of your servant george that he bore witness to the risen lord by his life and by his death give us the same faith and power of love that we who rejoice in his triumphs may come to share with him the fullness of the resurrection through jesus christ our lord amen prayer for this day god the creator of all you call us to be generous to one another powerful for each other to recognize in each other the face of the true image of your son give us grace that is individuals and as societies the world over in this time of greatest need we may minister to each other support in ways that are imaginative and safe through jesus christ our lord amen so we say each in our own language in our own way the power our lord taught us our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever are men a moment of silence for your own prayers this morning the god of peace who bought again from the dead our lord jesus that great shepherd of the sheep make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you and upon all whom you love and would pray for today and always are amen