Patrick Comerford
The Season of Lent began earlier this month on Ash Wednesday (14 February 2024), and yesterday was the Second Sunday in Lent (Lent II, 25 February 2024).
Throughout Lent this year, I am taking time each morning to reflect on the lives of early, pre-Reformation English saints commemorated by the Church of England in the Calendar of Common Worship.
Before this day begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:
1, A reflection on an early, pre-Reformation English saint;
2, today’s Gospel reading;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.
Early English pre-Reformation saints: 13, Saint Ethelburga, Abbess of Barking
Saint Ethelburga, Abbess of Barking, is commemorated in Common Worship on 11 October. She was a sister of Erkenwald, Bishop of London, and was probably of royal blood.
As the Venerable Bede describes her, it seems she may well have owned, as well as been made Abbess of, the joint monastery at Barking. There was a tradition developing of monks and nuns sharing monasteries, often with a woman superior, for example Hilda at Whitby and Cuthburga at Wimborne. Although they lived quite separate lives, often divided by high walls, they would occasionally celebrate the Daily Office or the Mass together. There was also probably an element of safety involved with the ever-present threat of marauding Danes.
It is said the Church of All Hallows by the Tower in London stands on land granted to Abbess Ethelburga and Barking Abbey, when her brother Erkenwald was Bishop of London. The church claims to be the oldest church in the City of London, although recent research questions these claims.
Tucked beneath the shadows of the Gherkin and the other tall buildings of the City, Saint Ethelburga-the-Virgin within Bishopsgate is one of the few surviving mediaeval churches in the City of London. The church projects right onto the footpath on Bishopsgate and is near Liverpool Street station.
The foundation date of the church is unknown, but a church dedicated to Saint Ethelburga has stood on this site for at least nine centuries. This one of the few mediaeval City churches not destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and it continued to stand during the Blitz and World II. It is now home to Saint Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace.
The Venerable Bede said: ‘Her life is known to have been such that no person who knew her ought to question but that the heavenly kingdom was opened to her, when she departed this world.’ He relates many miracles associated with her.
Saint Ethelburga died on 11 October 675. from the late 10th century, Barking Abbey followed the Rule of Saint Benedict. Every year, the Ethelburga Walk, a 14 km walk, takes place from Barking Abbey to Saint Ethelburga’s Centre in Bishopsgate.
Luke 6: 36-38 (NRSVA):
[Jesus said:] 36 ‘Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37 ‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.’
Today’s Prayers (Monday 26 February 2024):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Lent Reflection: Freedom in Christ.’ This theme was introduced yesterday by the Revd Bianca Daébs (Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil).
The USPG Prayer Diary today (26 February 2024) invites us to pray in these words:
We pray Lord that you open our hearts so that we love our neighbours and welcome all.
The Collect:
Almighty God,
you show to those who are in error the light of your truth,
that they may return to the way of righteousness:
grant to all those who are admitted
into the fellowship of Christ’s religion,
that they may reject those things
that are contrary to their profession,
and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same;
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Almighty God,
you see that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves:
keep us both outwardly in our bodies,
and inwardly in our souls;
that we may be defended from all adversities
which may happen to the body,
and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Almighty God,
by the prayer and discipline of Lent
may we enter into the mystery of Christ’s sufferings,
and by following in his Way
come to share in his glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s Reflection: Saint Chad of Lichfield
Tomorrow: Saint Etheldreda, Abbess of Ely
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
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