good morning and welcome to the dinery garden at canterbury cathedral on this tuesday the 1st of march as we gather from across the world to say our morning prayers please bring all your concerns with you to our prayers but of course our major concern this morning is for the people of ukraine where the situation and the danger seems to get worse hourly and our screens are telling the story of people losing their lives soldiers and civilians the enormous explosion in a civilian area of kharkiv a major city of the of uh ukraine and at the same time people fleeing from their homes uh soldiers being killed 70 soldiers killed in one incident ukrainian soldiers and we we think of them and their families but we think of the population of kiev as that enormous military 40 miles long military convoy goes on towards kiev and so our prayers heartfelt are undergirding all of that with a passion and praying for those who will receive those fleeing from their homes in danger and terror at the moment and give them comfort and solace and we pray for all world leaders at this time in whatever way they can bring influence to bear on this tragic and really a horrendous situation which it seems unthinkable to be watching and in 2022 in this month of march also very tragic and to us not only unexpected but unbelievable so pray for the people of ukraine all through the day as we all do slava ukraini so let's uh think of this particular day it's actually the first of march and it's important in two different ways first let's put a yellow scarf on today it is saint david's day and sin david is the patron of wales and so we say to all our welsh friends not only boree da but disguild dewey happis happy saint david's day on this particular day it's always the first of march and david's day but what is not always is the fact that today is also shove tuesday as we call it here and show tuesday is the day before lent and is known by lots of customs across the world but in fact here in england is generally called pancake day because of the habit of making pancakes as a sign of finishing up things that we're fasting from before lent begins and lots of customs pancake races and all kinds of fun occurs on this particular day and so two threads to everything we're doing this morning but i'm standing here in the winter vegetable garden with the last of the winter leaks because of course the leak is one of the symbols of saint david's day and of wales it appears with emblems of saint david and certainly with emblems of wales well here are the last of the winter leaks which are still flavorful and going uh and it's a very wintry day we're surrounded by welsh rain at the moment just misty rain which we're used to in wales but the leak if you remember uh in king henry v the the welsh soldier flew ellen says to the king is your majesty whereas leak on saint tavis day and the king says of course i do and i'm proud to because i am welsh henry is a tudor and so the leak is a sign of all of that so we come here first to the vegetables which are just about left over from the winter garden it will be replanted soon but there are some fruitful leeks still left here and so in a moment we'll take one of these to our next stay but we're going to begin our prayers here by the leek bed so bring your own concerns and prayers as we begin this morning oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise may christ the day star dawn in our hearts and triumph over the shades of night blessed are you creator of all to you be praise and glory forever as your dawn renews the face of the earth bringing light and life to all creation may we rejoice in this day you have made and as we wake refreshed from the depths of sleep open our eyes to behold your presence and strengthen our hands to do your will that the world may rejoice and give you praise blessed be god father son and holy spirit blessed be god forever the night has passed and the day lies open before us let us pray with one heart and mind does we rejoice in the gift of this new day so may the light of your presence oh god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen our psalm on this first of the month naturally enough is psalm 1 but it's a good sound to read on this day because it's talking about the way in which a tree planted by water thrives and becomes fruitful and this lovely mystery welsh rain which is falling on us is giving the earth a lovely soaking at this time blessed are they who have not walked in the council of the wicked nor lingered in the way of sinners nor sat in the assembly of the scornful their delight is in the law of the lord and they meditate on his law day and night like a tree planted by streams of water bearing fruit in due season with leaves that do not wither whatever they do it shall prosper as for the wicked it is not so with them they are like chaff which the wind blows away therefore the wicked shall not be able to stand in the judgment nor the sinner in the congregation of the righteous for the lord knows the way of the righteous but the way of the wicked shall perish so we're going along our way now to our next should we call it station which is in a different part of the garden and uh we're going to take with us a sign from here let's take a welsh leak from here and perhaps this one i can pull up come on yes there we are it's got some nice kent earth on it we'll take it with us as we walk on all right i don't think there's any guessing why we've come to the orchard beside the stream because of course the other symbol of wales like the league is the daffodil and at the moment the orchard here in the general garden is filled with beautiful daffodils which were happily completely unaffected by the massive storms that we had just over a week ago and in this gray morning as i keep saying welsh misty rain the daffodils are shining like candles and lanterns all over the garden here if i was talking in heavenly terms they're shining like stars and when we get to st john's gospel of course we're talking of themes on earth and themes in heaven and we shall do that in a moment but it's a lovely thing to sit amongst the daffodils and we've been sent uh two things two or one was brought uh to remind us of wales but we've so many friends in wales it's a land that we love dearly and st david's the city is a place that we love even more we'll talk a little bit about that when we come to our reflection on st david himself but i was just going to say that uh we've made pancakes this morning it's a year ago since tiger himself having finally recovered enough to be following his leg amputation to be part of the scene under the mimosa trees last year do you remember in the sunshine he flipped the pancake that i had in front of me off and enjoyed it himself well this morning he's not around with us in the orchard but we've still made pancakes because that's a sign of show tuesday but also two of our welsh friends have sent us things to enjoy on this st david's day and first of all we've got from jane together with the recipe she said so we can make some more lovely welsh cakes and they're all cut out in the shape of cats which we enjoy hugely so thank you jane for the hat and we shall enjoy the world cakes but also dorothy who was going back our welsh pool to home was here at the weekend and she brought this lovely gift of a hedorah helix angularis aurea an ivy a variegated ivy variegated in gold and green from it's a gift from the head gardener of poe's castle again a lovely place in wales with which we enjoy going to some of the most beautiful guards that we know so thank you dorothy for that gift which we're able to share on uh the camera with everyone of the worldwide garden congregation this morning let me put this down as a sign of encouragement on this st david's day so we're going now to our lesson from st john's gospel the second of the lessons and i'm going to complete chapter three of saint john's gospel this morning yesterday we are ended at verse 21 the end first of all of the conversation between nicodemus the member of the jewish council who came to jesus by night and had shall we call it a deep spiritual discussion where jesus was telling him things of heaven and things of earth blending together but how the things of earth were signs of the things of heaven and then what i said i felt was an explanation to help us by the evangelists community one of one of them adding later so many of the themes that we shall be looking at as we go through since john's gospel and we ended it verse 21 and then the narration continues at verse 22 that's where we're going now from verse 22 of chapter 3 to the end of the chapter after this jesus and his disciples went into the judean countryside and he remained there with them and was baptizing john the baptist also was baptizing at ainon near salem because water was plentiful there and people were coming and being baptized for john had not yet been put in prison now a discussion arose between some of john's disciples and a jew over purification and they came to john and said to him rabbi he who was with you across the jordan to whom you bore witness look he is baptizing and all are going to him john answered a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given them from heaven you yourselves bear me witness that i said i am not the christ but i have been sent before him the one who has the bride is the bridegroom the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice therefore this joy of mine is now complete he must increase but i must decrease he who comes from above is above all he who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way he who comes from heaven is above all he bears witness to what he has seen and heard yet no one receives his testimony whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this that god is true for he whom god has sent utters the words of god for he gives the spirit without measure the father loves the son and has given all things into his hand whoever believes in the son has eternal life whoever does not obey the son shall not see life but the wrath of god remains on them now those last verses from verse 31 onwards that's the voice of the evangelist once again helping us to understand what john the baptist is saying to his own disciples and you'll remember right at the beginning of john's gospel it seems likely that jesus was amongst the group who were with john as his disciples to begin with and then john noticing and seeing what happened at jesus's baptism the descent of the dove says of jesus behold the lamb of god who takes away the sins of the world and as that's said in the first chapter of this wonderful gospel two of his disciples one of them andrew follow jesus and go to spend the day with him and are among the first of his disciples who then find themselves at the first sign which is performed and this is a book where normally we see seven signs and then discussions about them explanations given and the unfolding of things of earth because they're earthly signs but like parables they have constant heavenly meaning so as we said yesterday up there metaphorically down here the dimension of the eternal of the holy city which in the last book of the scriptures opens out with the tree of life beside the water of life flowing through the streets of the city and the tree of life bearing fruit in due season that's what the psalmist said about the going through the the the uh um or seeing a tree planted by the waterside and its roots actually have a good root in that which is giving it refreshment and then it bears fruit in due season time is of the essence being patient and waiting the sense of my time is not yet that's all at the wedding of cana of galilee well let's go back to that sign now because it's john the baptist who uses the image of the bridegroom and he applies it to jesus and says the bridegroom's friend rejoices when the bridegroom comes and he applies that to jesus but we might do more with the evangelist in st john's gospel that we might do more by saying what happened to the bridegroom at cana of galilee he was called by the steward of the feast and the steward of the feast said to him everyone serves the good wine first and when people have drunk then later on that of poorer quality so that they don't notice but you have kept the good wine till now and that actually is something that might be said of the ministry of jesus just beginning at this particular time as we see in this gospel i was sent to prepare the way is john's theme i must now decrease he must increase he speaks of things that are above and we're thinking of how john said to the people the one who is coming i baptize with water the one who is coming will baptize with the holy spirit the whole of this book is about how the gift of the spirit is given through the human life of jesus and then beyond that's the gift and those who don't perceive it stay earthbound and if one comes to these rather fearful sentences at the end the invitation is there but to stay earthbound means that the gates of heaven which are opening wide through the gift of the spirit in this book on the way through the gates of heaven are never accessed and the invitation to enter is never taken all these things in this little passage and the image of jesus as the bridegroom whom his disciples rejoice to have with him that's an image which is seen several times in the gospels the synoptic gospels matthew mark and luke but here the image is one where john the baptist is using it and he is calling himself touchingly the friend of the bridegroom who's been sent to prepare the way for him but when the bridegroom comes all attention turns to him and the bridegroom has come to give not new wine but the outpouring of the gifts of the spirit which will refresh all those who are rooted and grounded in that and who receive it and will bear fruit in due season and gradually as the book goes forward chapter by chapter verse by verse image by image of things around us like these wonderful star-like um daffodils as that this thin rain falls on this gray day they're like lights here on earth but they're reflecting in image the light of heaven which christ himself is offering and so many are saying well i actually don't get that yet and nicodemus actually is is completely confounded and yet nicodemus is there at the end of the journey at the cross with joseph of arimathea and all the way through we shall see the even the 12 getting it wrong and not understanding what they're meant to be actually accepting and receiving the gift is the gift of the spirit and the spirit is the spirit of jesus proceeding from the father and the son as we say in our creed and given as a precious gift to us so that the things of eternity become perceived in our spirits and can be lived out in quality so that we can be lights of christ like these lovely daffodils for david's day here with us this morning all around the orchard on this gray and misty rainy day so let's then go to the thought of st david himself david is an early saint he was born well well before augustine arrived in england and christianity of course had gone west when the romans left and there in wales if saint davis is right to the western end of southern wales so from here it's a very long journey because we're at the deep south of england on the furthest point to the east in the south and if we motored us in david's it's a very very very very long way uh right across going diagonally up to the river seven and then across the bridge and then all the way up west in wales until you arrive in one of the most beautiful cities and the smallest cities in these islands it is a place that is very precious to us it's come to the fore in our life in hereford and sorry in canterbury here this morning um because uh our head virgil vestura christopher crooks after 16 years here as our head verger has he's a welshman and he and his wife debbie at this stage in their life he's accepted the position of dean's verger at st david's cathedral and will be will begin there in may and i'm i'm very envious of him in that beautiful city there which is full of daffodils wonderful daffodils and uh as we um think of of of that lovely city then i think and in heart and mind of uh the pilgrimages that i've made in so many different ways with choirs from our church in the parish church in tisbury and wiltshire we used to go and sing it's in david's cathedral and it was a wonderful thing to do because david's has a really fine father willis organ and at the same time is a beautiful place to sing in but it has an atmosphere all of its own thanks i'm being given an umbrella because the rain is a bit more than just welsh misty rain now and that will shelter my pages from from the rain um but at the same time when you arrive in saint david's you are in a very very different kind of atmosphere this is a place of pilgrimage and it's surrounded on three sides by the sea uh you you look out really into the atlantic ocean uh and there there's the the the sea not across the france but right across if you set off from st davidson and went uh around the south of ireland you get to the united states and canada uh and from here of course if you set off then the nearest place to go is france which isn't very far away at all just 21 miles across the channel but since david's has that atmosphere of intense holiness which comes i think from the the ministry of saint david's in all of saint david himself in all simplicity it's it's said sometimes that he died in 589 modern scholarship is saying maybe it was a bit later than that and the latest date is 601 but that is very much around the time augustian came here in 597 and that's in david's itself was well established by then and the celtic monastery of great simplicity was there and he lived the life of a totally ascetic monk and uh preached by his life and also his mother saint nonn as she's called was someone of great holiness and there is a lovely well so often wells are our holy places but there is a lovely well if you walk from saint david's the city just down the lane and over to the cliff to look out at the sea in one of the areas you can go there are beaches all round beautiful beaches where all kinds of surfing and things can take place but the coastal paths are unspoiled and you can walk them really and enjoy them in a special way because they are protected areas of of great natural beauty and if you walk down from st david's down to the one area the cliff you pass synth nons well down there at the bottom and people go there and think of this water refreshing not only them but also their spirits because it's a sign almost of the water and john said i baptize in water and in in this little passage we're seeing jesus and his disciples baptizing too well because there's much water but that ministry tends to to end as jesus goes farther in his own journey of of his vocation and back to galilee now as we'll see when we uh when we read on tomorrow but at the moment let's think of that monastic life of saint david's lived out day by day and in a wonderful way um that that life has then made that place a place of pilgrimage which pilgrims go to as they come here in their journey when david died he preached he knew he was dying he preached a a sermon and uh part of it said lords brothers and sisters be joyful and keep your faith and your creed and do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about and as for me i will walk the path that our forebears have trod before us his meaning on from down here into eternity beyond i will walk the path the way that our forebears have drawn before us and the the proverb do ye the little things in life is a welsh proverb and it's a lovely thing to think of this morning do ye the little things of life now we've um thought of two particular things today and one of them of course is the fact that this is true tuesday and tomorrow lent begins and we will be thinking of our journey our way our path through lent and over the last couple of days and uh once or twice last week i've said that we're going to follow uh a line of saying in your notebooks dating it down either from yesterday when we began the gospel of st john or tomorrow which is the beginning of lent dating it down and writing just one line you can write more if you like but let me keep saying the more you do the less you're likely from day to day to fail from time to time i find that but if you just do one line then the rest can follow from time to time but if you miss then leave it blank because this is the thought probably towards the end of each day when you think of one good thing that happened today i don't mean one happy thing i don't mean one celebratory thing it might be either of those things but i mean something that in some way fed your soul with some kind of new meaning it might be meeting someone maybe even for the first time seeing something on television or the news reading something seeing something we're doing in the mornings anything at all but just think one good thing that happened today and write it and it's as i keep stressing for you alone and as you do that when you look back through these days of lent from tomorrow ash wednesday all the way through to easter day you will have for this very strange 2022 as we begin to emerge from lockdown you will have something that reminds you i always find that with diaries that you read the passage but suddenly an image is conjured up and your memory is jogged and you think oh of course i remember that and many of these things change us as people or even realization about the way in which the scriptures have opened up to you when you read them or the psalms or all of those things so do that and we'll do it too in a private notebook and you might if you want decorate it do whatever you like but make sure that line towards the end of the day is that so um as as we think of that this morning there are three things that like the league i need to set before you which maybe you won't forget here they are one two if i can stand them properly and maybe i'll put you against a tree there we are great big signs of the star-like quality shining on this earthly plane and this morning being fed by the water of heaven as good rain falls and makes a fruitful ass and beside me also the tree set by the water which our psalmist talked about we are going to say our prayers now i think probably i can take the umbrella down and uh as i do so it then becomes gets having trouble around this morning uh here we are that's right it becomes easier to see where we're praying for this morning and we've got here the new playlist first of march and we're praying for the diocese of calamba in the anglican church of southern africa but of course we're praying for the church in wales and the people there and the primate there and the ministry of the church of wales and of all christian denominations sir and all the people of wales and at the same time as we think of the people of the principality we think also in this diocese for justin archbishop of canterbury for rose bishop of dover and for emma bishop at lambeth and uh today we're continuing to pray for chatham and upper hearts with stelling and the ministry of louise vince and her pastoral assistant angela hirst so all those things together with our constant prayers for ukraine and the prayers that we ourselves can say during the day for the people of ukraine as we look at those terrible scenes of warfare and violence so let's now say the special collect for saint david's day i can find that i can do that yep and uh here it is bring your own prayers and intentions on this last day before lent begins tomorrow almighty god who called your servant david to be a faithful and wise steward of your mysteries for the people of wales in your mercy grant that following his purity of life and zeal for the gospel of christ we may with him receive the crown of everlasting life through jesus christ our lord amen so each in our own language and much welsh language um we say the prayer our savior taught us our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever are men now a moment for reflection and we're going to use music from the welsh composer sarkar jenkins and it's an improvisation by our assistant director of music jamie rogers of the benedictus from his mass of the armed man it's a mass for peace and it's one of uh well carl jenkins is one of fletcher's favorite composers but this mass of the armed man very very much uh a favorite piece of music of his but the benedictus is i think a favorite piece of music of us all so uh jamie will improvise on that theme now as we reflect this morning on st david's day and pray for peace amass for peace this is [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so foreign so god give you grace to follow sin david and all his saints in faith and hope and love and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you from those whom you love and those whom you would pray for today and always so we say to you all have a wonderful uh shave tuesday mardi gras uh and at the same time uh to our welsh friends d the ghoul dewey hapith happiness and david's day going to pay you out to a wonderful welsh hymn cannonlan i think it's called that uh joel one of our choral scholars and and jamie rogers have recorded for us [Music] is [Music] on [Music] [Music] be you