Anglican Mainstream

First  Thursday In Lent – LENT I – St. David of Wales, Bishop, 589  

LITURGICAL THEME FOR THE DAY:  Saint David is the only Welsh saint to be canonized and culted in the Western Church. He has been the patron saint of Wales since the 12th century. He died in 589 or 601 after founding a monastery in the area of Pembrokeshire which now bears his name, and living an austere life devoted to God. His last words to his followers were in a sermon on the previous Sunday. Rhigyfarch transcribes these as 'Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed. Do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. I will walk the path that our fathers have trod before us.' 'Do the little things' ('Gwnewch y pethau bychain') is today a very well-known phrase in Welsh, and has proved an inspiration to many. On a Tuesday, the first of March, in the year 589, the monastery is said to have been 'filled with angels as Christ received his soul'.

MEDITATION OF THE DAY:  We all need people who are sources of encouragement to us when the chips are down and the lesson from the Old Testament does just that for us on our Lenten journey. Given all that had happened to Joseph leading up to his time in Egypt He could have very easily become bitter. He could have turned away from God. He could have stewed in his own self pit and ask why is all this happening to me?” But instead he continued to trust in the promises of God that he knew to be true and he continued to plod always onward with his eyes fixed on God. He stood firm and refused to be unfaithful to the Lord no matter what the consequences.

This is what we need to understand in Lent and in life, that God is in control and that he will remain with us, we can see hard time as means of grace and use them as stepping stones to higher things. We can meet difficulties with the expectation that God is here to teach us something and we can grab hold of the opportunity to learn from him. If instead we meet difficulty with a complaining and worrying spirit, we’ll not only lose the blessings that God would have brought, but our spiritual life also suffers.

PRAYER OF THE DAY: Almighty God, you called your servant David to be a faithful and wise steward of your mysteries for the people of Wales: Mercifully grant that, following his purity of life and zeal for the Gospel of Christ, we may with him receive our heavenly reward; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.".

ANCIENT WISDOM/PRESENT GRACE : ““Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed. Do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. I will walk the path that our fathers have trod before us.” -.”– St. David of Wales (Book of Homilies)

Lenten Discipline –  As you observe this day, makes some leak soup and invite others to share it with you  on the feast of St. David, who in establishing 12 monasteries was committed to the ministry of hospitality offered in moastic settings to the traveler and stranger. Who do you know who could you a spiritual and pastoral respite and a simple meal. Invite them to share in this simple fare. By the way there are  many explanations of how the leek came to be associated with David and Wales. One is that St David advised the Welsh, on the eve of battle with the Saxons, to wear leeks in their caps to distinguish friend from the enemy. Shakespeare mentions in Henry V, that the Welsh archers wore leeks at the battle of Agincourt in 1415.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.