Lenten Meditations: Friday 1 March 2024

Mar 1, 2024 by Jill

SECOND FRIDAY IN LENT – 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’.

BIBLICAL MEDITATION OF THE DAY As we consider the attitude and behavior of the Apostles in the story from today’s Gospel, we have an opportunity to consider how much like them we may well be in similar circumstances. All of us are faced with personal crises that feel as if a storm has besieged us. In our present culture, it could be illness, job loss, betrayal, loss of a loved one, and panic sets in.  Our ability to trust in these circumstances is often hampered by the fear that overtakes us and leads us to doubt the grace, power, and wonder of God. We often cry out to God in distress but not very often in faith. While it seems that the Apostles seem to be more like the cowardly lion than the saintly David of Wales we commemorate this day, let us not be so quick to judge and ask ourselves whether in our storms we too do not believe in God’s grace. Let us be inspired by the likes of Blessed David who did,

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, forever 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 Lyrics – O Great Saint David by Archbishop Mostyn

Lenten Discipline – As you observe this day, make 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 monastic settings to the traveler and stranger. Who do you know who could offer 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.

Related Posts

Tags

Share This