We have so many beautiful churches in our Ministry Area that helped us to walk with Jesus throughout Holy Week and into Easter.
Each day of Holy Week was accompanied with a reflection by one of our clergy team. We began Holy Week with Palm Sunday across our churches, remembering Jesus’ return to Jerusalem with our Palm crosses and, in some cases, real donkeys! Revd. Andrew Harter of the Grosmont Group shared this prayer with us:
Lord Jesus,
As we, with chants and palm fronds,
follow you down into Jerusalem to face the threats of humankind,
fill us with your Spirit, we pray, that we may respond, as you did,
to violence with peace and to aggression with love.
Amen
Revd. Andrew Harter
Monday
Holy Monday began with Morning Prayer for the Online Church Group as well as a Eucharist at St Teilo’s Llantilio Pertholey. St Michael’s, Llanvihangel Crucorney also held a Stations of the Cross Reflection accompanied by drawings done by the talented Revd. David Roberts, along with a reflection for the day:
The light of the world shines through this window with its myriad of colours, each with its own tone and shade. It represents us in God’s glory and how we look at the world. The blue is the kingship of Christ, the red his precious blood and the green being his people.
Revd. David Roberts
Tuesday
Holy Tuesday also began with Online Morning Prayer. The Diocese held their Chrism Mass at Newport Cathedral and our clergy team attended to receive the blessed oils from Archbishop Cherry to be used for the coming year in anointing, baptism and healing of the sick. The day ended with a Eucharist at Llantiio Pertholey along with a Healing Service at Llanvihangel Crucorney. The oils blessed at the Cathedral were used to anoint each person’s head and hands following a time of reflection and prayer.
The prayer and reflection for the day was provided by Revd. Mary Moore of the Grosmont Group:
Lord help us to know that even when life is at its darkest you are there loving us.
Help us to know that the dark is not something to be feared because you are always there with us.
Amen
Revd. Mary Moore
Be open to the night…
Pray with open hand, not with clenched fist…
Shapes loom out of the darkness, uncertain and unclear: but the hooded stranger on horseback emerging from the mist need not be assumed to be the bearer of ill…
The night is large and full of wonders…
By Lord Dunsany
Wednesday
Holy Wednesday again began with Online Prayer along with two morning Eucharists at Llantilio Pertholey and Llanvihangel Crucorney. The reflection for the day was provided by Revd. David Roberts:
We come before the altar, O Lord to offer ourselves, our souls and bodies to your service. The stone humbles us as you made it for our use. Allow our hands to be used by you in all that we do in your name. We ask this in Christ’s name, Amen
Revd. David Roberts
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday marked the night before Jesus’ death and was witnessed across the Ministry Area with foot washing, hand washing, Eucharist, Stripping of the Altar and the Watch of Passion. Our churches lay bare to remind us how Jesus was stripped of everything.
The prayer for Thursday was offered by Mother Pat, Assistant Priest to the Llantilio Pertholey Group:
Lord Jesus,
As you prayed with your disciples at the Last Supper,
you mentioned those who would follow them in your service
From before your crucifixion to your ascension,
you spoke about future followers who would become your church.
Help us have the unity you prayed we would have,
to be your servants working together peacefully to do your work.
Our communion is in you.
Amen
Revd. Pat Vowles
Good Friday
Good Friday was a busy day across the Ministry Area. The day began with the Walk of Witness up the Holy Skirrid Mountain.
We all joined at the carpark, including some all the way from Oxford who joined us last year! The rain held off as we climbed following the Stations of the Cross. It was a quiet walk of reflection, singing and prayer as we walked with Jesus to the Cross.
The Good Friday prayer came from Revd. Heidi Prince of Llantilio Crossenny Group:
Lord Jesus,
Our Companion and our Strength.
As we re-live your final hours, may we accompany you on the way to the cross.
Let us serve you in your weakness, stand beside you in your hour of need, and love you to the end.
Amen.
Revd. Heidi Prince
Saturday
Holy Saturday marks the quiet time between Jesus’ death and resurrection. We wait with the disciples in their uncertainty and pray for Christ’s return. Easter Vigils were held at St David’s Llanddewi Rhydderch and St Teilo’s, Llantilio Pertholey with candlelight marking the start of Easter. Revd. Canon David Williams offered a reflection on Holy Saturday:
We recall that first Holy Saturday, placed between Jesus’ death and his resurrection.
In our waiting and grappling with the silence of God, may we be open to how God is still at work in such spaces.
On that first Holy Saturday, he was preparing something very special and miraculous – just out of sight.
So, as we remember those who mourn, asking Jesus to bring them his comfort and hope, may we also pray that we will be open to any new possibilities that God has in store for us.
And we pray these things in Jesus’ name.
Amen
Revd. Canon David Williams
Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday was celebrated across the Ministry Area with lots of joy and colour. Our churches were beautifully decorated with seasonal flowers and Easter decorations and displays.
The children of Llantilio Pertholey Sunday School covered the porch in bright flowers and created Easter gardens whilst the children of Llanddewi Rhydderch had fun with an Easter egg hunt.
The Easter Reflection comes from our MA Lead Father Julian Gray:
Dear friends,
At the end of this month, on 30th April, it will be nineteen years since my dear Mum passed away. She died following a short but brave battle with motor neurone disease. It was hard to watch Mum’s rapid decline from a vivacious woman who loved life, worked hard, enjoyed the company of others and relished her food and drink (which included a daily gin and orange) to someone who could no longer speak, feed, clean or dress herself. Her brain functioned as normal, but it could no longer send messages to her body. The frequent but silent tears that she shed were an indication of how isolated and imprisoned she must have felt.
Over the months, as I watched my Mum gradually fade away, my faith, I have to say, was sorely tested. Why did God allow motor neurone – such a diabolical condition – to afflict people? Why was my Mum robbed of life in a way that was so cruel?
Although a priest of many years, I was unable to do anything at her funeral but sit in the congregation and grieve. We felt that someone from the family had to say or do something in the service. Fortunately, my then sixteen year old son, Timothy, said that he would be willing to stand up and read a prayer. This is what he read:
O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory? Christ is risen, and you are overthrown. Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen. Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen, and life reigns. Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave. For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages. Amen.
That beautiful prayer, from the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, dates from the fourth century and is recited by Orthodox Christians when they celebrate Easter.
As my young son stood in the pulpit and, in his strong, clear voice, recited that prayer, the words of another great Christian saint, Augustine of Hippo came into my mind: ‘We are an Easter People and Alleluia is our song!’
Our faith is constantly being tested by things over which we have little or no control. Illness, the suffering of those we love, the loss of a job or a position or, in the world out there, the conflicts and disasters – natural or made by humans – can test our faith. However, we need to remind ourselves that, As Christians, we are, indeed, an ‘Easter People’ and that ‘Alleluia’, not gloom or despondency is our song.
In just a few days’ time we will be celebrating our faith in the empty tomb. Christ is risen, we will proclaim. If that is true – and millions have, down through the ages, known and felt that it is true, then we can say with St. John Chrysostom ‘O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory? Christ is risen, and you are overthrown.
Fr. Julian Gray
Rector and Area Dean, North Monmouthshire Ministry Area
Honorary Chaplain to the King