good morning and welcome on another wet day here and uh we are gathering quite near the deanery to get shelter from wind and possible rain it's just gone off for a moment so here we are together in the garden of the deanery at canterbury cathedral welcome wherever you are from throughout the world as we say our morning prayer on this thursday the 15th of october we remember things from the past and things which are going on now and you're bringing in heart and mind your own intentions as we say our prayers together so just looking back a little into the past as we tend to on october the 15th we see that in 1815 the great emperor napoleon began his exile on centalina in the south atlantic and remember as we have over the weeks the way in which empires rise and fall as things go on and we remember also the birth of friedrich nietzsche the great german composer poet but most of all philosopher who was uh a step in the road to so much thinking and we give thanks for all philosophers who have added their thoughts through the centuries but on my bookshelves there are two lines of books one of them one of the lines are books written by pg woodhouse he was born in 1881 and is well known for the humorous characters that he has created and given pleasure to many jeeves and worcester and the whole cast at blanding's castle and so on and so forth the other line of books this is in the novel section are by cp snow who was born in 1905 on this day and from 1940 to 1970 wrote a line of novels under the general headings strangers and brothers and they actually discussed political and personal exercise of power and integrity and all of those things which were part of government and and senior academic life and many of us read those at that time you'll hear from where i'm sitting that uh winston and the the pigs are taking an interest in what we're doing so um i won't say ignore their noise but know the music of that noise behind me and don't wonder what it is so this also is global hand washing day and that's not part of the pandemic that was begun several years ago uh in 2008 for the health of all to remind people that the washing of hands at certain times of day does uh take away some of the dangers of the spread of contagious diseases and of course it's become even more important during the pandemic it's also world students day well may we remember students at all levels of their life because there is so much at the moment that they're not able to do and in terms of academic life things are happening in a very different way during the pandemic and in terms of social life so many things which students really learned from and did together are not possible during this time of lockdown well we remember many things today 1961 the founding of human rights organization amnesty international which was established in london it's also conflict resolution day well that might go well with some of the things we've been thinking about but we will also think of of one or two dates when we come to our reflection having read our lesson from the acts of the apostles later let's begin our prayers o lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise may christ the true the only light banish all darkness from our hearts and minds blessed are you sovereign god creator of all to you be glory and praise forever you founded the earth in the beginning and the heavens are the work of your hands in the fullness of time you made us in your image and in these last days you have spoken to us in your son jesus christ the word made flesh as we rejoice in the gift of your presence among us let the light of your love always shine in our hearts your spirit ever renew our lives and your praises ever be on our lips 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 and 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 forever amen our morning psalm on this 15th day of the month is psalm 77 now read some of the verses of that now i cry aloud to god i cry aloud to god and he will hear me in the day of my trouble i have sought the lord by night my hand is stretched out and does not tire my soul refuses comfort i will remember the works of the lord and call to mind your wonders of old time i will meditate on all your works and ponder your mighty deeds your way o god is holy who is so great a god as our god you are the god who worked wonders and declared your power among the peoples with a mighty arm you redeemed your people the children of jacob and joseph the waters saw you oh god the waters saw you and were afraid the depths also were troubled the clouds poured out water the skies thundered your arrows flashed on every side the voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind your lightnings lit up the ground the earth trembled and shook your way was in the sea and your paths in the great waters but your footsteps were not known you led your people like sheep by the hand of moses and aaron well perhaps that psalm is very appropriate for the lesson that we're just about to read because we left saint paul in the acts of the apostles right in the middle of the storm at sea and the sailors and the people with saint paul the roman centurion and his soldiers have given up hope after so long being tossed and turned around with no light of stars or moon or sun to guide them so we are taking this up from verse 27 of chapter 27 of the acts of the apostles when the fourteenth night had come as we were being driven across the adriatic sea about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land so they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms a little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms and fearing that we might run on the rocks they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come and as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship and had lowered the ship's boat into the sea under pretence of laying four anchors from the bow paul said to the centurion and the soldiers unless these men stay in the ship you cannot be saved then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it go as day was about to dawn paul urged them all to take some food saying today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food having taken nothing therefore i urge you to take some food for it will give you strength for not a hair is to perish from the head of any one of you and when he had said these things paul took bread and giving thanks to god in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat then all were encouraged and at some food themselves we were in all 276 persons in the ship and when they had eaten enough they lightened the ship throwing out the wheat into the sea now when it was day they did not recognize the land but they noticed a bay with a beach on which they planned if possible to run the ship ashore so they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders then hoisting the for sale to the wind they made for the beach but striking a reef they ran the vessel aground the bow stuck and remained immovable and the stern was being broken up by the surf the soldiers plan was to kill the prisoners lest any should swim away and escape but the centurion wishing to save paul kept them from carrying out their plan he ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship and so it was that all were brought safely to land well that's a startling end to the shipwreck story and as the psalm itself was saying the waters are fearsome when they are stirred by great winds let's think first of what is happening on the ship notice how when they were setting off and deciding to make this journey and leaving creed the centurion julius who has been kind to paul all the time was more inclined to listen to the wisdom of the sailors and the owner of the ship and let this great ship it's a big one with 276 people on board it's one of those great wheat ships which have come from alexandria and north across the mediterranean and now is setting sail to give the sustenance that rome needs for its people going to italy one of the constant grain ships that go well this is a huge ship and the owner had wanted that this ship went onwards no doubt for trading purposes and the centurion listen to that now notice he in this lesson is listening more to paul and paul in all this desperation is the one with confidence because he has sensed that god himself has a design for him and as we know in a vision and we keep saying that sentence which he said before king agrippa i was not disobedient to the heavenly vision he has been assured that no one on the ship will lose their life and so suddenly the thing comes the weather isn't calming but the atmosphere comes as paul takes bread and breaks it and encourages them to eat it's a eucharistic moment and those times can come at any time all have been stretching out their hands in prayer to whatever the gods they believed in but paul simply obeys the command of the lord and knows for certainty within himself that all will be well for all of them not for the ship but for all of them something about that confidence causes the centurion to listen to him when the sailors are sneakily trying to get away in the boat to save themselves paul says no one must leave the ship or all will perish and julius believes him and causes the soldiers to cut the ropes let the hope of safety that the sailors saw the ship's boat float away and they drive the ship to the unknown shore and also julius will not allow the soldiers to kill the prisoners were choked by saint luke because he was concerned for paul whom clearly he has come to respect have he been kind throughout well the journey goes on and now they're on an unknown shore but for the moment the terrors of the sea are over now this causes me to remember that the this day the 15th of october in 1987 was the day of the great storm winds of 115 miles per hour coursed across england particularly in the south and into france and in england itself 15 million trees huge trees were felled here in kent the the the storm really bore its weight at the end and at the town of seven oaks named for the mighty seven oaks it stood there lost six of those oaks on that day i at that time was in dorset and had come home from london from a meeting on the train to dorset it was stormy very stormy there and trees fell but nothing like kent which really bore the brunch of things kew gardened itself lost great trees and trees were lifted out of the ground on that day the power of the storm but here my partner here on the camera remembers uh in earlier years that the the face that he was at school was surrounded by woods and their trees were completely taken away at northbourne park and for a while the school had to be closed and later on the enormous caverns open up by the trees lifting out of the ground became camps of great excitement for people to explore we remember the power of the storm and we remember also this theme of storms and climate change and the way in which at present surges in rivers and surges in the seas happen with much greater frequency because the way in which the planet is is is changing all of those we remember on this day as we remember true the fact that on this day the poet virgil was born the latin poet a classical parrot he was born in 70 bc much respected and in a while we'll read a little bit of his i need but um he was respected by the medieval church because of his vision in his fourth eclogue of the birth of a child a boy child who would usher in the golden age and if you read eclogue iv in translation or in the original latin you get this wonderful scene of a prophecy of a golden age and the setting aside of all all evil by the power of this child to be born and the rain which he will inaugurate well that's really why dante uses virgil as the guide for himself in his great poem as he goes through hell and onto mounts purgatory he was greatly respected because of that epilogue and we still have glimpses of that we've recently recorded a coral even song for radio 3 and also the next day yesterday we broadcast one live but there's one in store for christmas time and it was wonderful to hear when recording that the choir sing the carol it came upon the midnight clear that glorious song of old and you remember how the last verse goes for lo the days are hasting on by profit bards foretold when with the ever circling years comes round the age of gold and when peace shall over all the earth her ancient splendors fling and all the world give back the song that now the angels sing well the prophet bard who proclaimed the age of gold through the birth of a child on whom his mother would smile was virgil and that we remember and augustine and constantine both honored virgil as someone who was a prophet from a completely different area not one of the old testament prophets we remember that and remember the drama of his i need and perhaps it will be good to read again in translation this morning his description of the storm at sea and aneasy's fear remember how purcell in his opera dido and aeneas has this huge orchestral version of the storm which is really powerful well here are the words in translation from the inert where a portal opened winds in companies as though trained for it hurled through to blow across the earth in hurricane over the sea tossed up from the sea floor east wind and south wind and then the wild southwest with squall on squall came scutting down rolling high comas shorewood now one heard the cries of men and screech of ropes in rigging suddenly when the storm cloud whipped away clear sky and daylight and gloom of night leaned on the open sea it thundered from all quarters as it lightened flash on flash through heavens every sign portended a quick death to mariners aeneas on that instant felt his knees go numb and slack and stretched both hands to heaven luke could have written the same thing about the situation they found themselves in as well with that mighty storm but today also is the feast day of sinterosa of avila that great contemplative and teacher of the church who totally reformed and brought back to their rule the carmelite orders she died on the 4th of october or the 15th of october whichever calendar you're using today is the 15th of october because of the 11 day discrepancy in 1582 and we remember her with thanksgiving we remember both her and the one always associated with us in john of the cross and her energy in all things but also some lovely things about her teaching i've just two quotes and they're helpful this morning she wrote to reach something good it is very useful to have gone astray and thus to have acquired experience and secondly and this helps us prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with god so we give thanks for her reforming work and pray for all in religious orders today as we say our prayers on this day the 15th of october we're praying for the diocese of puerto rico in the episcopal church bishop raphael maldonado and his people the bishop of connecticut in the episcopal church ian douglas and all our friends at in that diocese in the united states of america and the bishop of connor in the church of ireland alan francis abernethy and all his diocese the people there as we pray for this diocese for archbishop justin bishop rose of dover and bishop tim at lambeth today we're praying for the parish of holy trinity broadstairs and we pray for dominic fenton the parish priest who often helps us as a minor canon in the cathedral here pray for jennifer walters the assistant curet and the community there in broad stairs so let's say our prayers together on this day first of all we use the prayer special for the feast of teresa of avila merciful god who by your spirit raised up your servant to raise the other villa to reveal to your church the way of perfection grant that her teaching may awaken in us a longing for holiness until we attain to the perfect union of love in jesus christ your son our lord amen and the conduct for this week almighty and everlasting god increase in us your gift of faith that forsaking what lies behind and reaching out to that which is before we may run the way of your commandments and win the crown of everlasting joy through jesus christ our lord amen can we say together in whatever language we like to use the prayer our lord taught us to say 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 and stillness now for your own prayers on this morning 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 the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and those whom you would pray for today and always amen you