good morning and welcome to the dinery garden at canterbury cathedral on this tuesday morning as we say our morning prayers it's rather cloudier this morning but we have some sunshine so to speak with the enormous rose which is growing all around me the rosa banksia this is an anniversary week from 1770 because in april 1770 possibly our greatest botanist sir joseph banks first sighted and then stepped ashore in botany bay so many of the plants that we are so used to came as a result of his own energy and enterprise trees like the eucalyptus and the acacia the bougainvillea brought here by his enterprise and his work in kew gardens was massive but we enjoy rosa banksy eye which was named after his wife lady banks in honor of all the work that both of them did it's one of the first roses to blossom it came not from australia but from china and is used for medicinal purposes there but we give thanks for the enormous sunshine of its growth all around us and across the deanery itself it's just at the beginning of its flowering period but this is a a warm spot so we enjoy it here this morning oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise in your resurrection no christ let heaven and earth rejoice alleluia christ our passover has been sacrificed for us so let us celebrate the feast not with the old leaven of corruption and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth christ once raised from the dead dies no more death has no more dominion over him in dying he died to sin once for all in living he lives to god see yourselves therefore as dead to sin and alive to god in jesus christ our lord for christ has been raised from the dead the first fruits of those who sleep the night has passed and the day lies open before us let us pray with one heart and mind as 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 in your unfailing love o lord you lead the people whom you have redeemed alleluia the psalms for this day of the month this 28th give us a morning psalm of 132 which includes the promise to the royal house of david our lord's own line lord remember for david all the hardships he endured how he swore an oath to the lord vowed a vow to the mighty one of jacob i will not come within the shelter of my house nor climb up into my bed i will not allow my eyes to sleep nor let my eyelids slumber until i find a place for the lord a dwelling for the mighty one of jacob the lord has sworn an oath to david of the fruit of your body shall i set upon your throne if your children keep my covenant and my testimonies that i shall teach them their children also shall sit upon your throne forevermore for the lord has chosen zion for himself he has desired her for his habitation this shall be my resting place forever here will i dwell for i have longed for her i will abundantly bless her provision her poor will i satisfy with bread i will close her priests with salvation and her faithful ones shall rejoice and sing yesterday we began the gospel of saint luke which we shall read day by day across the next few weeks so i said yesterday some of those lessons give us seasonal lessons which seem to be out of season at this particular time of year but today's lesson from the first chapter beginning at verse 26 seems to go well with the blossoming banksy eye rose the six months the angel gabriel was sent from god to a city of galilee named nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was joseph of the house of david and the virgin's name was mary and the angel came to her and said greetings oh favored one the lord is with you but she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be and the angel said to her do not be afraid mary for you have found favor with god and behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name jesus he will be great and will be called the son of the most high and the lord god will give to him the throne of his father david and he will reign over the house of jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end and mary said to the angel how will this be since i am a virgin and the angel answered her the holy spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you therefore the child to be born will be called holy the son of god and behold your relative elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son and this is the sixth month with her who was called baron for with god nothing will be impossible and mary said behold i am the handmaid of the lord let it be to me according to your word and the angel departed from her so many images of the blessed virgin mary both her obedience and also the child she bore and cared for right up to the cross have been put into poetry and in medieval times constantly it was the image of the rose that was used there is no rose of such a virtue as is the rose that bore jesus says one of the lines it has been set to music so many times but we give thanks for that new beginning which we read of in luke's gospel possibly in picture terms the most poetic of all the gospels and to them is most musical as well as we shall find out in the next few days but today we give thanks for the obedience of mary and the fruitfulness of all that blossomed from that rose we hear the birds singing around us this morning and it means that spring is here beginnings are good times and we pray in our prayers for a new beginning so that at the end of this time of lockdown we may come forward with fresh hope and new gifts and encouragement for each other which we can already show the botanist i was talking of sir joseph banks brought so many beautiful things back from across the world and planted them here mary brought forth one beautiful thing a child jesus who was to redeem humanity and be a fruitful gift for us all let us then feel that he is planted in our hearts today and the gifts that we bear in fruitfulness are worthy of the gift that she first received and offered to us in her son we say our prayers together almighty god who looked upon the lowliness of the blessed virgin mary and chose her to be the mother of your only son grant that we who are redeemed by his blunt may share with her in the glory of your eternal kingdom through jesus christ our lord amen as we pray as we always do for the diocese of the anglican communion we remember on this 28th of april the diocese of mount kilimanjaro in tanzania and pray for stanley elekia hothai the bishop there and his people the diocese of wusasa in nigeria and ali lamido the bishop there and his people and the diocese of egesha north in nigeria and isaac olymaio the bishop there and his people here in canterbury as we pray for justin our archbishop for rose bishop of dover for tim bishop at lambeth we remember philip musindi and the parish of sint andrew reading street and all the folk who live there so we say an easter prayer almighty father who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples with the sight of the risen lord give us such knowledge of his presence with us that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life and serve you continually in righteousness and truth through jesus christ our lord amen so we pray together the prayer our lord taught us to say whenever we meet in whatever way we would like to say it and in whatever language 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 amen moment of silence for our own prayers and for those for whom we would pray today the god of peace who brought again from the dead our lord jesus that great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant 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 remain with you always amen