good evening and welcome to the dinery garden as this day sunday the 27th of september comes to a close and we say our evening prayers our late evening prayers together in the service of compline this is a day when if you were with me this morning you will remember we were talking about things lost and found which was prompted by two people first of all ellen wilmot the gardener who created the most wonderful garden at wally place and spent her whole fortune on it people travelled to see her and she was an expert in plants members of the royal family queen alexandra came to see her and now that garden which when the house was demolished the garden was lost and grew over again as gardens tend to but now parts of it are being rediscovered lost and found and the story is being treasured and at the same time we thought of the poetry of thomas trahearne an english parish priest in the mid 17th century at creton hill in herefordshire whose writings poetry meditations were lost until the very end of the 19th century when quite by accident on a bookstall of second-hand books and manuscripts that if they weren't bought would soon be destroyed someone found some of his manuscripts and from that find we have had the poetry of trahan and his centuries of meditations which have been treasures published since and not only that but used as inspiration for wonderful pieces of music and also for stained glass and we were thinking of gerald finz's dies natalis his cantata using the words from centuries from meditation and also thomas jenny's glass in hereford cathedral put there in 2007 showing trahan's wonderful love of god's creation and the colors that jenny uses all drawn from that manuscript which was lost and then found again to our great benefit well there's one other person tonight that i want to think of in the same way whose music and poetry were derived from enormous inspiration cyril mayor scott born on this day in 1879 and died in 97 1970 at the age of 91 who wrote a prodigious amount of music and at the same time wrote poetry and he said of himself he felt that were he not a musician he could not be a poet and were he not a poet he would compose a very different sort of music his his music and his poetry were much valued and eugene goosens the famous english conductor and brother of the famous oboist um called cyril mayor scott the father of modern british music and then quite suddenly as things happen his music dropped out of favor and then after the millennium in the first decades of this century suddenly his music was rediscovered and now you can find enormous amounts of his music being produced by very great players and orchestras and soloists on cds again and you can draw them down from the world wide web so you can receive them online it's strange how so many things are lost and then found again used by one generation lost go out of use and come back into use at the service of another i'm sitting here with a a piece of stone which was given to us when we went as part of an archaeological dig at lee's court and at the end of our time of digging we were given this piece of stone and it was explained to us and we're talking about iron age britain it was explained to us that when the people at that time created a pot and wanted a hot liquid in it it was too fragile to put onto the the pot itself was too fragile to put on to the the glowing embers and also too much for boiling hot water to be put into it suddenly you'll find that with an unglazed cup as well so these stones were heated up to an intense degree and then dropped into the cold liquid to heat that liquid slowly it's dropped out of use but here i am long long long later using it tonight as a little illustration but it's really a souvenir of our time with friends at an archaeological dig well let's give thanks not only for things lost and found as we come to the end of this day our lord loves stories about lost and found things and he uses them as illustrations of god's great love for those who've fallen by the wayside the lost sheep the woman sweeping for the lost coin and also in that little trilogy of stories in sin luke's gospel the lost son the prodigal son and the enormous joy not only on earth but more joy in the angel of heaven over one sinner who repents than over 90 and nine righteous people who have no need of repentance don't know those who have no need of repentance exist but here we are saying our evening prayers one of the poems which cyril mayor scott translated from the french writer baudelaire was simply called owls so it becomes an evening poem as we think of that night bird hear the first two verses beneath the shades of somber ewes the silent owls sit ranged in rows like ancient idols strangely pose and darting fiery eyes they muse immovable they sit and gaze until the melancholy hour at which the darknesses devour the faded sunsets slanting rays well compline is a time when darkness comes at the end of a day it's a time for repentance for anything in which we've disappointed ourselves and those we know and love and also what god would expect of us but at the same time it's a time to reflect on our own creativity and our use in the spirit of the gods of the gifts that god has given us so let's say our evening prayers and later when our candle is lit i'll use another of scott's parents the lord almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end amen 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 but thou o lord have mercy upon us thanks be to god our help is in the name of the lord who hath made heaven and earth we confess to god almighty the father the son and the holy ghost before the whole company of heaven that we have sinned exceedingly in thought word and deed through our fault our own fault our own grievous fault therefore we pray god to have mercy upon us almighty god have mercy upon us forgive us all our sins and bring us to everlasting life amen [Music] turn us so god our savior and let thine anger cease from us oh god make speed to save us o lord make haste to help us 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 we use psalms 31 and 134 [Music] in thee o lord have i put my trust let me never be put to confusion deliver me in thy righteousness bow down thine ear to me make haste to deliver me and be thou my strong rock and house of defense that thou mayest save me for thou art my strong rock and my castle be thou also my guide and lead me for thy name's sake draw me out of the net that they have laid privily for me for thou art my strength into thy hands i commend my spirit for thou hast redeemed me o lord thou god of truth 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 behold now praise the lord all ye servants of the lord ye that by night stand in the house of the lord even in the courts of the house of our god lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the lord the lord that made heaven and earth give thee blessing out of zion 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 thou o lord art in the midst of us and we are called by thy name leave us not o lord our god thanks be to god into thy hands o lord i commend my spirit for thou hast redeemed me o lord thou god of truth glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost into thy hands o lord i commend my spirit before the ending of the day creator of the world we pray that with thy won't it favor 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 oh father that we ask be done through jesus christ thy only son who with the holy ghost and thee doth live and reign eternally amen keep me o lord as the apple of an eye hide me under the shadow of thy wings so at this point we light candles for those whom we have loved and who have died and gone before us into greater light we give thanks for them and commend them into god's loving hands [Music] woof rest eternal grant unto them oh lord and let light perpetual shine upon them may they rest in peace and rise in glory amen save us our lord while waking and guard us while sleeping that awake we may watch with christ and asleep we may rest in peace lord now let us thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared before the face of all people to be a light to lighten the gentiles and to be the glory of thy people israel 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 save us o lord while waking and guard us while sleeping that awake we may watch with christ and asleep we may rest in peace lord have mercy upon us christ have mercy upon us lord have mercy upon 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 we will lay us down in peace and take our rest vouch safe our lord to keep us this night without sin oh lord have mercy upon us have mercy upon us o lord let thy mercy lighten upon us as our trust is in the lord hear our prayer and let our cry come unto thee let us pray visit we beseech thee o lord our homes and drive far from them all the snares of the enemy let thy holy angels dwell therein to preserve us in peace and may thy blessing be upon us ever more through jesus christ our lord 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 amen the moment of silence as we commend all those whom we love and those whom we would pray for and remember on this night into the hands of god alright watch now dear lord with those who wake or watch or weep tonight and give thine angels charge over those who sleep tend thy sick ones o lord christ rest thy weary ones bless thy dying ones soothe thy suffering ones pity thine afflicted ones and all for thy love's sake amen the peace of god which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of god and of his son jesus christ our lord and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy ghost be upon you upon those whom you love and those whom you would pray for tonight and always amen now the summer suns have set for the faded visions softly rise to sink in me oh let thy radiance bathe me as the planes be over snowed and summer's leaves lie dead upon the road autumn love turn not thy face from me let thy gentle spirit sing again through me thy scentless asters shall replace the rose and fragrant nard and robin's chirp the thrush's rich o'bard [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] [Music] me [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] you