Commontide
Liturgical Color: White/Gold
The 2nd Sunday in Lent
Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities that may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts that may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Lent
You bid your faithful people cleanse their hearts, and prepare with joy for the Paschal feast; that, fervent in prayer and in works of mercy, and renewed by your Word and Sacraments, they may come to the fullness of grace which you have prepared for those who love you.
Most liturgical texts are from the Book of Common Prayer (2019) of the Anglican Church in North America.
The New Coverdale Psalter, © 2019 by the Anglican Church in North America. Used by permission.
Bishop and Apostle of Wales
Anglican Commemoration
David, in Welsh Dewi Sant, is the patron saint of Wales and the founder of the monastery at Menevia, now St Davids in Pembrokeshire. Tradition remembers him as a bishop of severe personal austerity who was called the Waterman, who presided at the Synod of Brefi, and who died on 1 March, the day Wales has kept ever since. He left no writing; almost everything told of him comes from a Life written some five centuries after his death.
The historical David is almost irrecoverable behind the layers of Welsh hagiographic tradition. Rhygyfarch's Life of St. David, written around 1094 to defend the independence of the Welsh church against Norman encroachments, is the earliest surviving biography and was composed roughly five hundred years after David's death.
According to Rhygyfarch, David was born the son of a chieftain named Sant and a woman named Non. He was educated at a monastery and became a priest, then founded a monastic community at Menevia (Mynyw) on the western tip of Pembrokeshire. The community practiced an extreme form of Celtic monasticism: the monks ate only bread, vegetables, and salt with water; they performed heavy manual labor; they spent their evenings in prayer, reading, and writing; and they used no animals for agricultural work.
David is traditionally said to have attended the Synod of Brefi, where he preached against Pelagianism — the ground reportedly rose beneath him so that all could hear — and was subsequently acknowledged as archbishop of Wales. He is credited with founding or inspiring numerous churches across South Wales and beyond.
David died around 601. His last words, according to Rhygyfarch, were 'Be joyful, brothers and sisters. Keep your faith, and do the little things that you have seen and heard with me.' The phrase 'Gwnewch y pethau bychain' — 'Do the little things' — has become the most famous saying associated with any Welsh saint.
David is the subject of the most extensive Welsh hagiographic tradition. Rhygyfarch's Life records miracles, divine visions, and spiritual teachings. David is presented as extraordinarily ascetic, possessing miraculous powers, establishing monasteries with miraculous speed, and converting pagan populations. He is credited with pilgrimage to Rome and papal recognition, and with various miracles of healing and divine intervention.