大象传媒

OPENING ANNOUNCEMENT
大象传媒 Radio 4. Sunday Worship for St Patrick鈥檚 Day comes the National Cathedral of St Patrick in Dublin. The preacher is Canon Simon Doogan and the service is led by Canon Charles Mullen. It is introduced by the Dean, the Very Rev Dr William Morton and begins with a setting of the Prayer of St Patrick.

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Script of Programme:

Please note: This script may not exactly reflect the transmission. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors.

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Introit: A Prayer of Saint Patrick (William Schoenfield)

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Welcome and Introduction: The Dean

Beannachta铆 na F茅ile P谩draig oraibh: Saint Patrick鈥檚 Day blessings to you from Saint Patrick鈥檚 Cathedral in Dublin, which serves the Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland, as the National Cathedral of The Church of Ireland, a Province of the world-wide Anglican Communion.

Patrick, arguably the world鈥檚 most famous national patron saint, is reputed to have baptized early Christians using water from a well close to this site in the 5th century. Saint Patrick鈥檚 Cathedral, the third church built on the site, is the largest medieval cathedral in Ireland, the construction of which began in 1220.

To mark the millennium of Patrick coming to Ireland, the Cathedral Choir School was founded in 1432. Today it is Ireland鈥檚 oldest school, and only Choir School.

Nearly 600 years later, the Choir School, now a co-educational school under the patronage of the Church of Ireland, provides world class musical training to pupils from third to sixth class who sing the morning and evening offices in the cathedral during term time.

Among the cathedral鈥檚 musical alumni is Charles Villiers Stanford who was a pupil of the organ here: to mark the centenary of his death two of his compositions are being sung in this office.

As a place of friendship, acceptance, tolerance and inclusivity, we welcome you warmly to Saint Patrick鈥檚 Cathedral for Choral Matins on our patronal festival.

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The Preces 听| (Timothy Noon)

Canon Mullen

O Lord, open thou our lips.

And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.

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O God, make speed to save us.

O Lord, make haste to help us.

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Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end.听 Amen.

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Praise ye the Lord.

The Lord鈥檚 Name be praised.

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Psalm 121 (Walford Davies)

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Reader

A reading from St Paul鈥檚 Second Letter to the Corinthians, in chapter four, at verse one:

Since it is by God鈥檚 mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practise cunning or to falsify God鈥檚 word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus鈥� sake. For it is the God who said, 鈥楲et light shine out of darkness鈥�, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus鈥� sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

Thanks be to God.

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Hymn: Christ be beside me (Scottish Traditional arr Mark Blatchley)

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The Canticle: 听Jubilate Deo (Dines)

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The Collect for St Patrick鈥檚 Day

O almighty God, who in thy providence didst choose thy servant Patrick to be the apostle of the Irish people, that he might bring those who were wandering in darkness and error to the true light and knowledge of thee; Grant us so to walk in that light, that we may come at last to the light of everlasting life; through the merits of Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord.

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The Sermon:Canon Simon Doogan

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"I saw in the night the vision of a man.... coming as it were from Ireland, with countless letters. And he gave me one of them鈥� and as I read鈥� I thought that at the same moment I heard their voice鈥� We ask thee, boy, come and walk among us once more."

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Patrick鈥檚 fifth century dream-call places him squarely in the Biblical line of those God came to subconsciously, and whose Gospel ministries he channelled with raw holy fire.

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While St Paul writes his Second Letter to a nascent Church at Corinth he founded, St Patrick was not Ireland鈥檚 first Christian missionary. But no one seriously disputes that the credit for converting pagan Ireland belongs to him. As it does for bringing order and structure to what was still a first-generation church, often in the face of opposition from those who resented Patrick

as a low-brow British blow-in.

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No doubt six years in the hills as a kidnapped shepherd slave had hardened him, physically and psychologically. The horror of slavery never left him, indeed Patrick may well be the first human being in history to speak out against slavery unequivocally. His abiding strength and motivation, however, was spiritual. Like countless hostages across the ages, terrorising fear and loneliness had turned the teenage Patrick to prayer and to life-changing faith.

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Patrick鈥檚 so-called Confession doesn鈥檛 cite Second Corinthians four directly. Today鈥檚 verses do present, though, a clear parallel between the apostle to the Gentiles and the apostle to the Irish: both advanced against the god of this world, bearing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. Patrick once did this literally, legend has it.

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Every third year the Celtic high king called an assembly to celebrate the rebirth of the land. On the hilltop of Tara, from which, famously, more than 22 Irish counties are visible on a clear day, the king would light a sacred fire. Until he had done so, no one else was allowed to light a fire on pain of death. But a shout went up, the story goes. Squinting north to the Hill of Slane, royals, druids, generals and governors saw a bonfire burning brightly. It was Patrick.

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Because it was Easter Eve, the Christian Patrick defied the pagan king to light the Paschal Fire proclaiming the resurrection of Christ. Fury from the druids quickly turned to alarm. If the rival fire were not extinguished that very night, they exclaimed in panic, then it never would be. So it proved.

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The missionaries鈥� miracles and wonders apparently more than matched the druids鈥�. As a continentally educated priest moreover, with a heroic personal story, perhaps the pagan Irish respected Patrick 鈥� in spite of his rough and ready Latin. Certainly, his Christian calendar slotted readily into their cycle of festivals, and likewise the Irish hierarchy of chieftains, druids and Brehons probably eased Patrick鈥檚 introduction of bishops, abbots and monks. Even the doctrine of the Trinity might not have seemed so foreign to a Celtic people who venerated the number three.

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And so, sporadic resistance aside, the Irish people largely embraced the new religion, and there was little bloodshed over it. Like St Paul, and for that matter every Spiritually anointed Christian witness since, St Patrick found a way to connect the message of the Gospel to the deepest concerns of the people. What ensued, was a social revolution. Patrick had returned to a land where among other grizzly rituals prisoners of war were sacrificed to war gods and newborn babies to harvest gods.

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The scale and essence of the turnaround are captured by American scholar and writer Thomas Cahill: 鈥淧atrick devoted the last thirty years of his life鈥� to his warrior children,鈥� Cahill writes, 鈥渢hat they might 鈥榮eize the everlasting kingdoms鈥� with all the energy and intensity they had lately devoted to killing and enslaving one another and seizing one another鈥檚 kingdoms.鈥� Cahill goes on to remark that at some point in the development of every culture, human sacrifice becomes unthinkable. Although the compounded visuals from so many parts of the world currently, might lead us to wonder: has the clock somehow been turned back on that? Because that was where Patrick鈥檚 God differed, fundamentally. As we remember on this Passion Sunday, where only an impassive, arbitrary godhead demands someone else鈥檚 blood, it takes a supremely loving, Trinitarian Godhead to shed his own.

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鈥淚reland nearly devoured me鈥�, reflects Lily Bere in Sebastian Barry鈥檚 novel of emigration and memory On Canaan鈥檚 Side. 鈥渂ut she has my devotion,鈥� Lily continues 鈥渁t least in the foggy present, when the past is less distinct and threatening.鈥� That鈥檚 a mixed feeling some might relate to, though arguably not our two apostles. Where Paul in Second Corinthians testifies matter-of-factly to being afflicted, perplexed, persecuted and struck down, Patrick in his Confession attests to a daily expectation of murder, betrayal or slavery. Paul suffers it all gladly for the sake of Jesus; any threat for Patrick is completely eclipsed by the anticipation of heaven.

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My own Gospel ministry experience hasn鈥檛 been nearly so swashbuckling, but then praise God it hasn鈥檛 needed to be. Promises of a new dawn for Patrick鈥檚 adopted land have come and gone and come and gone over my lifetime and will continue to do so. But a good case can be made for saying that only once, have we ever really made it over the threshold into being a properly new country. And that was 1600 years ago, when a man who dismissed himself as rustic, fugitive, unlearned, like a stone lying in deep mud could not keep silent about the cross and about its validation the empty tomb which together 鈥楲et light shine out of darkness鈥�.

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It鈥檚 what US theologian Fleming Rutledge was talking about when she described a 鈥渘ew kerygma or announcement鈥� an electrifying bulletin from somewhere else, over against and independent of anything, religious or otherwise, that we human beings could ever have dreamed up or projected out of our own wishes.鈥� Which, again on this Passion Sunday, makes the irreligious and unimaginable crucifixion of the Son of God not just an apocalyptic event but the apocalyptic event.

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And so yesterday, at the Anglican Cathedral adjacent to St Patrick鈥檚 grave in Co Down, a beacon was lit. Parishes took turns to light from it their own beacons which tonight, will burn outside the one hundred and eleven churches of the surrounding diocese in the name of fanning into flame Patrick鈥檚 holy fire for this generation. It was, after all, a one-off transformation of our human affairs,

and it never stops calling for a response.

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鈥淲e ask thee, boy, come and walk among us once more."

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The Anthem: A Song of Wisdom (CV Stanford)

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The Prayers

The Dean

Let us pray:

Lord, we pray for your Church in all the world, particularly on this day for the churches dedicated in the name of Saint Patrick. We pray for the life of this National Cathedral Church of Saint Patrick, for those who minister, worship and work here, and for those who visit us at this special time.

Lord, in your mercy

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Hear our prayer.

Lord, we pray for the nations of the world and for their leaders, praying especially for those parts of your world torn apart by warfare, violence and conflict. We pray you to sow the seed of peace in our hearts, and to guide our feet in the paths of justice and peace.

Lord, in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

We pray you, Lord, for members of the Irish community across the world. We pray for those in authority in this land: for the President, the members of Se谩nad and D谩il 脡ireann; and for those who serve in the Northern Ireland Assembly. We pray too for the communities where we live and bear witness.

Hear our prayer.

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We pray to you, Lord, for those who have asked us to pray for them; for those who suffer illness, for the housebound, for the excluded, for those who mourn, and for all who are in any special need at this time.

Hear our prayer.

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We commemorate, O Lord, the faithful departed: those who have recently departed this life, and those whose anniversaries fall on this day. We rejoice in the faithful witness of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Patrick, and all God鈥檚 people in every age, and pray that we may share with them the joys of his heavenly kingdom.

Hear our prayer.

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Let us gather all our prayers into one, by praying,

The grace

of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all, evermore. Amen.

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Hymn Saint Patrick鈥檚 Breastplate (Irish traditional arr CV Stanford)

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The Blessing

Dean

Lord God, who in days of old gave to this land the benediction of his holy Church, fill you with his grace to walk faithfully in the steps of Saint Patrick and all his saints and to bring forth fruit to his glory: and the blessing of almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be with you, and remain with you, always. Amen.

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An Irish Blessing (Michael Higgins)

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Organ Prelude on an old Irish Hymn Tune (CV Stanford)

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Closing announcement: CV Stanford鈥檚 Prelude on an Old Irish Church melody ends today鈥檚 Sunday Worship from St Patrick鈥檚 Cathedral in Dublin 听which was led by Canon Charles Mullen.听 The preacher was Canon Simon Doogan. The Master of the Music was Stuart Nicholson and the organist, Harry Meehan .The producer was Bert Tosh.

Next week鈥檚 Sunday Worship marks the tercentenary of the first performance of Bach鈥檚 St John Passion on Good Friday 1724.

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