Alleluia, Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! Easter Day has arrived after what I think has been a very long Lent. Who would have thought that, when we said ‘we are dust and to dust we shall return’ on Ash Wednesday (February 10), we would be celebrating Easter and Christ’s resurrection in the midst of a pandemic and with closed cathedrals and churches. The last month of Lent has been very different and certainly today is very different. As I reflect on Easter Day, in the places we find ourselves, I am once again taken back to my walks in St James’ Gardens. On Good Friday, as I walked, I was reflecting on Christ’s death, but I was reflecting on Christ’s resurrection and the picture I offer you today is that of a Horse Chestnut Tree. When I began my walks about a month ago this tree was stripped of its leaves and now it has beautiful, vibrant green leaves sure sign and hope that spring has sprung and that summer is on its way. Out of the darkness and death of autumn and winter has come new life and resurrection. As you look at nature there has over the past few days been a real sense of growth, of beauty, of life, and of resurrection hope. Easter for me is always a joyous occasion. I think it is because of the light and joy that resurrection brings us through the death of God’s Son and through Christ’s resurrection. Wherever you celebrate Easter today hold on to the joy and peace that the resurrection of Christ brings, hold on to the hope that from the darkness of Covid 19 light and life will come. Hold on to the knowledge that, while we celebrate Easter in a different way we can all proclaim. Alleluia, Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! Please join us for our Easter Service here: If you'd like to follow along the text of the liturgy, see the Order of Service pdf here:
See an Easter Greeting for our Sepas Community: Our Preparing for the Sunday Lectionary sheet can be found on our Resources page, under the "Worship" column: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. Children’s activities can also be found on our Resources page, under the "Education" column: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. We wish you all a very happy Easter. Dean Sue
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Throughout Holy Week, our choristers have been producing reflections for use within their own community. We warmly invite you to take advantage of their prayerful work as you continue your observance of these holy days. Take a look at this YouTube playlist they've produced: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaLgcLKnspkvZdjBXDecmbs4iFmmOiysd On Holy Saturday, Christians of varying denominations from throughout Merseyside have gathered annually to walk in witness to the Crucified Christ. While we can't walk together physically, you are warmly welcome to join ecumenical representatives of churches around our region as they lead us in worship today: Have a blessed Holy Saturday. While you're here: Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. And check out the following calendar of services this Holy Week as well (Links will be provided once they are made available): Holy Week Reflections and Services Holy Saturday: Vigil Prayers and Night Prayer by National Cathedral Precentors Easter Sunday: 10.30am Service for Easter Day, Bishop Paul preaching Whilst we have been on lockdown I have been enjoying the view from our front room windows. I am very fortunate to live opposite our amazing cathedral and quite frankly I could sit and stare at it all day! I also get to walk around it with our dogs and can stand and look intently at the details of the stonework and quirky features the stonemasons included in the finishes. At every turn there are idiosyncratic aspects and you can get fascinating insights into the concerns of the people who built the remarkable prayerful powerful cathedral on the hill. During the Second World War the Dean and Chapter feared for the cathedral (indeed the Dean is reported to have slept in the cathedral to keep fire watch). It’s prominence on the skyline and its importance to the city meant that it would surely have been a prime target. But, it never got a direct hit – However, as the shrapnel marks on the Lady Chapel can demonstrate, there were a lot of close calls. Sadly, there were a few hits to local homes and our house was built on the spot where the previous house was completely destroyed and the household all perished. It must have been a frightening time, a time of uncertainty, of fear and concern for the future. I am sure there were many prayers said for the protection of the cathedral but more importantly for the prayers of the people in the cathedral company, the city and the diocese. We at Liverpool Cathedral are praying today - in this time of uncertainty and fear - for the protection of the cathedral company, the people of the city and the people of this diocese and region. Every single one of us is being prayed for – from the safety of our homes - we are praying for protection. Loving God protect us and surround us with love. We are not people of fear: we are people of courage. We are not people who protect our own safety: we are people who protect our neighbours’ safety. We are not people of greed: we are people of generosity. We are your people God, giving and loving, wherever we are, whatever it costs For as long as it takes wherever you call us. Barbara Glasson, President of the Methodist Conference The photo is of a grotesque that is carved into the stone of the cathedral. It faces the house that was destroyed during the Second World War. It features a character wearing a gas mask. Canon Ellen While you're here: Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. And check out the following calendar of services this Holy Week (Links will be posted individually): Holy Week Reflections and Services Holy Saturday: Vigil Prayers and Night Prayer by National Cathedral Precentors Easter Sunday: 10.30am Service for Easter Day, Bishop Paul preaching If you'd like to keep vigil this Holy Saturday evening, Rumours of Hope, a grassroots collective drawn from across the Church of England, has produced a series of recorded acts of worship for your devotional use. Join with us to follow this shared programme through the night, praying with each video and then keeping watch in silence or gathering round the virtual fireside on our Facebook page and sharing stories until the next time, or go at your own pace. The final worship at 5:45 am on Easter Day 12 April comes from Canterbury Cathedral as we greet the dawn and bless our Easter candles. May the light of Christ, shining gloriously, dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds. Here's the link to the Rumours of Hope website, where you can find their video resources: https://www.rumoursofhope.co.uk/?fbclid=IwAR0treSGQoME1LQAGCsx_If8LAwGClJl8q2xjcodrtOXRy0OF-DUCQIb5eM While you're here:
Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. And check out the following calendar of services this Holy Week as well (Links will be posted individually): Holy Week Reflections and Services Easter Sunday: 10.30am Service for Easter Day, Bishop Paul preaching As the Cathedral Choir has not been able to sing together since the lockdown, the music staff have been thinking of ways in which we would be able to carry on making music together remotely. Given that Holy Week was imminent and the use of the organ to accompany would be impossible at this stage, the obvious starting point would be to try and perform Lotti’s ‘Crucifixus’. After a guide track was circulated, the Choristers and Lay Clerks of the choir began to record their individual parts at home, singing along to the guide and keeping an eye on the remote conductor! Once these recordings were emailed in, they were imported into a Digital Audio Workstation, edited where necessary, mixed together (initially in voice parts, then as a whole choir), balanced, panned (to put each section of the choir in the appropriate part of the stereo field to where they would stand at the foot of the cross), reverb added and finally mixed down to create a final performance. This technology certainly gives us the tools to try to recreate something as special as singing in our Cathedral with its unique acoustic, however it is impossible to recreate the exact sound and sense of actually being there, singing to God and encountering his Spirit in a live act of worship. We offer this recording as a devotion for your worship this Holy Week. Liverpool Cathedral Choir While you're here: Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. And check out the following calendar of services this Holy Week (Links will be posted individually): Holy Week Reflections and Services Holy Saturday: Vigil Prayers and Night Prayer by National Cathedral Precentors Easter Sunday: 10.30am Service for Easter Day, Bishop Paul preaching It will seem a very strange Good Friday this year without being able to join with others in singing those hymns and hearing those readings that are so much a part of the worship of this most holy day. One of my favourite hymns is ‘There is a green hill far away’; I have loved it ever since I was a child. I remember asking my mum why it was that the hymn-writer had to point out that the green hill didn’t have a city wall around it! Surely it stands to reason that hills don’t have walls around them? She then explained that it was ‘old English’ and really meant that the green hill was outside the walls of the city, as opposed to being within in them. Then it all made sense, as she explained that Jesus died on a hill, outside (or ‘without’) the walls of the city of Jerusalem. She also told me a facinating story about that hymn, by Cecil Frances Alexander. I was born and bred in Farnborough, in Hampshire, about 35 miles south-west of London. It’s not a very distinguished place, it has to be admitted. Yes, it has a certain air-show named after it, and it was the setting for the very first powered flight of an aeroplane in Britain, by Samuel Cody, in 1908. Another claim to ‘fame’ was that the last recorded (and by then illegal) prize-fight (that is boxing without gloves) took place in Farnborough. Farnborough’s old name is ‘Ferneberga’, which means ‘hill of ferns’. Above what is now the centre of Farnborough is a small hill, and before houses were built on it in the first half of the 20th century, it was covered in ferns – hence the name. Atop this ferny hill is St. Peter’s Church – known as the Old Parish Church to locals. This church, with its Norman origins, has stood overlooking Farnborough for well over 900 years. Not quite so long ago – although long enough back in time – it was where I was baptised and confirmed, and attended Sunday School and Youth Group. The story is that Cecil Frances Alexander was travelling through Farnborough on one occasion and saw the little church on top of the ferny hill, and was inspired to write ‘There is a green hill’. Well it may or may not be true, but it’s a great story! Whether or not Farnborough played any role in the genesis of this very famous hymn, of much greater significance are the words of the hymn – a powerful reflection on the events of the Crucifixion. Like so many great hymns and songs, it teaches us foundational truths about what Christians believe about the work of Jesus on the cross that day. “He died to save us all” – the name ‘Jesus’ means ‘God saves’. “He died that we might be forgiven” – the cross is the place where the slate is wiped clean and we can make a fresh start with God and each other. “There was no other good enough” – Jesus’ work and calling was unique to him. I am so thankful that he chose to accept that calling, despite the utter devastation it caused to him – physically, emotionally and spiritually. “O dearly, dearly has he loved” – yes, Good Friday is good because it shows us the extent of God’s love for us. With good reason, the words of John 3:16 are carved into the Lady Chapel at Liverpool Cathedral: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” “Trust in his redeeming blood, and try his works to do.” – I always struggled with this line at the end of the hymn. I find trusting in God a real challenge at times, partly because I am a natural worrier, and partly because I often wonder what God is up to when I look at some of things going on in our world. And how can I ‘try his works to do’? Well, of course, the point is that only Jesus could do precisely what he did, but on the evening before Good Friday, as he spent that most precious time with his disciples, he said this: “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid” (John 14:25-27). It is in the strength of the Holy Spirit of Jesus, that I can try to walk in the way of the cross of Jesus. So one thing that I will be doing today will be to download a clip of the choir of Liverpool Cathedral singing ‘There is a green hill’. I invite you, with me, quietly to sing along to this wonderful hymn, giving thanks for the Saviour who inspired it. Canon Neal While you're here: Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. And check out the following calendar of services this Holy Week (Links will be posted individually): Holy Week Reflections and Services Good Friday: Joint Good Friday Service between the two Cathedrals The Passion Gospel read by Precentors from Cathedrals around the Country Performance of Crucifixus by Cathedral Choir, sung remotely Holy Saturday: Vigil Prayers and Night Prayer by National Cathedral Precentors Easter Sunday: 10.30am Service for Easter Day, Bishop Paul preaching Many of the Precentors in the Church of England’s Cathedrals and Greater Churches have worked together to produce a reading of the Passion according to Matthew. You are most welcome to share in this as we remember the death of Jesus on the Cross for us today: While you're here: Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. And check out the following calendar of services this Holy Week as well (Links will be provided once they are made available): Holy Week Reflections and Services Good Friday: Performance of Crucifixus by Cathedral Choir, sung remotely Holy Saturday: Vigil Prayers and Night Prayer by National Cathedral Precentors Easter Sunday: 10.30am Service for Easter Day, Bishop Paul preaching Please join us from Liverpool Anglican Cathedral and Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral for reflection and prayer this Good Friday: If you would like to follow along with the text of the liturgy, the Order of Service is available as a pdf here:
Have a blessed Good Friday.
Dean Sue and Canon Tony While you're here: Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. And check out the following calendar of services this Holy Week (Links will be posted individually): Holy Week Reflections and Services Good Friday: The Passion Gospel read by Precentors from Cathedrals around the Country Performance of Crucifixus by Cathedral Choir, sung remotely Holy Saturday: Vigil Prayers and Night Prayer by National Cathedral Precentors Easter Sunday: 10.30am Service for Easter Day, Bishop Paul preaching Please join us for worship this Maundy Thursday evening led by Dean Sue and Canon Mike: Keep an eye on this website and our Facebook Page for more liturgical and devotional resources for your use this Triduum. Maundy Thursday blessings, Dean Sue While you're here: Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. And check out the following calendar of services this Holy Week (Links will be posted individually): Holy Week Reflections and Services Good Friday: Joint Good Friday Service between the two Cathedrals The Passion Gospel read by Precentors from Cathedrals around the Country Performance of Crucifixus by Cathedral Choir, sung remotely Holy Saturday: Vigil Prayers and Night Prayer by National Cathedral Precentors Easter Sunday: 10.30am Service for Easter Day, Bishop Paul preaching |
supporting you during these uncertain times AuthorLiverpool Cathedral is a place of encounter. Built by the people, for the people, to the Glory of God Archives
September 2022
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Prayer for Liverpool
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Liverpool Cathedral is a place of encounter.
Built by the people, for the people, to the Glory of God www.liverpoolcathedral.org.uk |