I was asked to lead Morning Prayer today on the St Augustine's College Facebook page, when the church remembers Alcuin of York - a recording can be seen at the link below. Alcuin was one of the towering figures in the intellectual world of the eighth century, who changed education for the better and for good. Many of his writings survive to this day including an epitaph he wrote for himself "Alcuin was my name: learning I loved." The last time I led Morning Prayer I wrote a journal setting out the decisions I had made and what I might do differently next time. I tried to put some of that into practice today!
I wanted to include as many of Alcuin's words as possible in the service but this is traditionally a short service to start the day, with no sermon. I decided to strip the order of service back and omit all the optional elements, using only those parts which (in the Common Worship Daily Prayer Book) are marked with a thin red line. Removing the optional responses and canticles gave me space to add in appropriate text by Alcuin. I realised that this would make it strange for people following online using the Daily Prayer App - because this doesn't show which parts are optional and which aren't, so I decided again to add surtitles to the video to enable people to join in whether they had an order of service to hand or not.
I used a digital scan of one of Alcuin's books from the British Library as the background for the slides showing Alcuin's texts - but didn't put his name on screen; I thought to do so would be too much. As a saint, Alcuin points to Christ not to himself.
I chose to use a paraphrase of a prayer by Alcuin as the hymn and to pay further homage to the great poet, decided that my few words at the start and end of the service would all be in verse.
As it is Rogationtide I decided to record all the links outside and used clips of the trees outside my house to accompany the reading of the psalms. This also linked with the images from the reading from Numbers. The first Psalm (132) has three distinct voices - David, God and a Narrator. Henry, Ben and I each took a part. When each voice changed I used a different video clip so as to visually accentuate the change in voice. The words of Psalm 133 seemed to encourage us all to speak in unison : "Behold how good and pleasant it is to dwell together in unity."
For the prayers I moved the candle closer to the bible and draped a rosary over it. I set these to the left of the frame so I could superimpose the prayer response. This time, I chose to use a 'corporate' prayer response which was taken from Alcuin's writing :
O perfect and eternal light
enlighten us.
In the intercessions I thought it was appropriate to begin by remembering Alcuin as a teacher, praying first for our college community. I also referenced Mental Health Awareness Week.
My abridged order of service is set out below.
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Order of Service for Morning Prayer
Wednesday 20th May 2020
Sow living seeds, words that are quick with life,
That faith may be the harvest in men's hearts.
In word and in example let thy light
Shine in the black dark like the morning star.
(From a letter from Alcuin to Ethelhard, Archbishop of Canterbury, AD800)
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The words of Abbot Alcuin of York,
who in medieval times did liveth;
Gifted scholar, teacher and a scribe;
prayers and poems he did us giveth;
His words help seeds of faith to grow
Toward Jesus Christ, our Lord;
A treasury of wisdom, divinely inspired;
That each one of us can afford.
Alcuin of York, remembered today,
as we gather together this morning. Let us pray;
(Phillip Dawson)
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Opening Responses
O Lord open our lips
O Lord open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
In your resurrection, O Christ,
let heaven and earth rejoice. Alleluia.
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Eternal light, shine in my heart
A great prayer by Alcuin.
And, thanks to the talents of musicians like Ben
Now a hymn of praise, we sing;
(Phillip Dawson)
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Hymn
Eternal light, shine in my heart;
eternal hope, lift up my eyes:
eternal power, be my support;
eternal wisdom, make me wise.
Eternal life, raise me from death;
eternal brightness, make me see:
eternal Spirit, give me breath;
eternal Saviour, come to me:
Until by your most costly grace,
invited by your holy word,
at last I come before your face
to know you, my eternal God.
(a paraphrase of a prayer by Alcuin of York)
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Psalmody
Psalm 132
Lord, remember for David
all the hardships he endured;
How he swore an oath to the Lord
and 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.’
Now, we heard of the ark in Ephrathah
and found it in the fields of Ja-ar.
Let us enter his dwelling place
and fall low before his footstool.
Arise, O Lord, into your resting place,
you and the ark of your strength.
Let your priests be clothed with righteousness
and your faithful ones sing with joy.
For your servant David’s sake,
turn not away the face of your anointed.
The Lord has sworn an oath to David,
a promise from which he will not shrink:
'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 for evermore.'
For the Lord has chosen Zion for himself;
he has desired her for his habitation:
‘This shall be my resting place for ever;
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 clothe her priests with salvation,
and her faithful ones shall rejoice and sing.
‘There will I make a horn to spring up for David;
I will keep a lantern burning for my anointed.
‘As for his enemies, I will clothe them with shame;
but on him shall his crown be bright.’
Psalm 133
Behold how good and pleasant it is
to dwell together in unity
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
running down upon the beard
Even on Aaron’s beard,
running down upon the collar of his clothing
It is like the dew of Hermon
running down upon the hills of Zion
For there the Lord has promised his blessing:
even life for evermore.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
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A Prayer of Alcuin, used in lieu of a refrain at the end of the psalm
O God, who by your almighty word does enlighten every man that comes into the world, enlighten, we beseech you, the hearts of us, your servants, by the glory of your grace, that we may ever think such things as are worthy and pleasing to your Majesty and love you with a perfect heart.
(Alcuin of York. From The Lion Prayer Collection compiled by Mary Batchelor)
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Old Testament Reading
Numbers 17.1-11
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelites, and get twelve staffs from them, one for each ancestral house, from all the leaders of their ancestral houses. Write each man’s name on his staff, and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each ancestral house. Place them in the tent of meeting before the covenant, where I meet with you. And the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout; thus I will put a stop to the complaints of the Israelites that they continually make against you. Moses spoke to the Israelites; and all their leaders gave him staffs, one for each leader, according to their ancestral houses, twelve staffs; and the staff of Aaron was among theirs. So Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the covenant.
When Moses went into the tent of the covenant on the next day, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted. It put forth buds, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds. Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites; and they looked, and each man took his staff. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Put back the staff of Aaron before the covenant, to be kept as a warning to rebels, so that you may make an end of their complaints against me, or else they will die.’ Moses did so; just as the Lord commanded him, so he did.
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A Prayer of Alcuin, used in lieu of a canticle at the end of the Old Testament reading
Good Jesus, you have deigned to refresh our souls with the sweet stream of knowledge; grant that one day we may come to you, it's source and spring.
(Alcuin of York)
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New Testament Reading
Luke 7.1-10
After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.’ And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, ‘Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go”, and he goes, and to another, “Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this”, and the slave does it.’ When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.’ When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
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Gospel Canticle – The Benedictus
Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,
who has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets God promised of old
to save us from our enemies, from the hands of all that hate us,
To show mercy to our ancestors,
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of all their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
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A Prayer of Alcuin, used in lieu of a refrain at the end of the Benedictus and an introduction to the prayers of intercession
O King of glory and Lord of Valours, grant thy compassion to go before us, thy compassion to come behind us; before us in thy understanding, behind us in our ending. And what shall I now say, unless thy will be done, who dost will that all men should be saved. Thy will is our salvation, our glory, and our joy.
(Alcuin of York. From the SPCK Book of Christian Prayer)
Let us pray
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Prayers of Intercession
Our prayer response is taken from the writings of Alcuin of York.
O perfect and eternal Light
Enlighten us.
We pray for our college community.
For all scholars and teachers who follow in the footsteps of Alcuin of York.
Lord grant your blessing on all those who teach, guide and inspire others.
We give thanks to God for the way our lecturers and all our College staff have adapted to the lockdown; for their ready embrace of new technology despite the extra work this has caused.
Give strength to those who are finding studying difficult at this time
Adapting to new ways of learning.
Lord, help us, each day, to live according to your Word in all we say, all we do and who we are.
O perfect and eternal Light
Enlighten us.
In this mental health awareness week, we pray especially for all who are suffering from anxiety, stress and depression, from eating disorders.
Lord, lead them out of their darkness into the light of your love. Grant us grace to listen to others, especially those who are suffering with their mental health, so that we don’t add to their difficulties through our ignorance and prejudice. Bless all who work to support and heal those who suffer. May they be filled with compassion, wisdom and patience in their work.
O perfect and eternal Light
Enlighten us.
We pray for those in particular need at this time. Those who are sick. Those who are close to death. All who are suffering through illness, whether in hospital, in care homes or at home, including those known to us.
We pray for all who are self-isolating and anxious about symptoms. Most merciful God, surround them with your healing, light and hope, that they may have the strength to meet the days to come.
O perfect and eternal Light
Enlighten us.
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Collect
God of wisdom, eternal light,
God of wisdom, eternal light,
who shone in the heart of your servant Alcuin,
revealing to him your power and pity:
scatter the darkness of our ignorance
that, with all our heart and mind and strength,
we may seek your face
and be brought with all your saints
to your holy presence;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
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The Lord’s Prayer
Rejoicing in God's new creation,
Rejoicing in God's new creation,
let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has 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,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
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The Conclusion
May the risen Christ grant us the joys of eternal life.
May the risen Christ grant us the joys of eternal life.
Amen.
Let us bless the Lord. Alleluia, alleluia.
Thanks be to God. Alleluia, alleluia.
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Alcuin of York, remembered today
A life of prayer and study he chose,
May his words point us to The Word made flesh
As we bring our worship to a close.
(Phillip Dawson)
Grant me grace, Lord, to be strong and wise in all things. Give me a generous love. Fill me with the spirit of intelligence and wisdom. Let me always be mindful of others. O perfect and eternal Light, enlighten me.
(Alcuin of York, from the Book of A Thousand Prayers compiled by Angela Ashwin).
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“Alcuin was my name: learning I loved”
The epitaph Alcuin wrote for himself in one of his Latin poems.
Links
Alcuin's Letter Collection - Digital Scans at the British Library
Links
Alcuin's Letter Collection - Digital Scans at the British Library
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