Readings:
Psalm 57:6-11 or 33:1-5,20-21
Ecclesiasticus 44:1-7
Matthew 24:42-47
Preface of the Dedication of a Church
PRAYERS (traditional language)
O God of truth and beauty,
who didst richly endow thy bishop Dunstan with skill in music and the working
of metals, and with gifts of administration and reforming zeal: Teach us,
we beseech thee, to see in thee the source of all our talents, and move
us to offer them for the adornment of worship and the advancement of true
religion; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Almighty God, who didst raise up Dunstan to be a true shepherd of the flock, a restorer of monastic life and a faithful counsellor to those in authority: give to all pastors the same gifts of thy Holy Spirit that they may be true servants of Christ and all his people; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
PRAYERS (contemporary language)
O God of truth and beauty,
who richly endowed your bishop Dunstan with skill in music and the working
of metals, and with gifts of administration and reforming zeal: Teach us,
we pray, to see in you the source of all our talents, and move us to offer
them for the adornment of worship and the advancement of true religion;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Almighty God, who raised up
Dunstan to be a true shepherd of the flock, a restorer of monastic life
and a faithful counsellor to those in authority: give to all pastors the
same gifts of your Holy Spirit that they may be true servants of Christ
and all his people; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Return to Lectionary Home Page
Webmaster: Charles Wohlers
Last updated: 8 May 1999
DUNSTAN OF CANTERBURY
MONK AND ARCHBISHOP (19 MAY 988)
Dunstan
was born near Glastonbury in the southwest of England about the year 909,
ten years after the death of King Alfred. During the Viking invasions of
the ninth century, monasteries had been favorite targets of the invaders,
and by Dunstan's time English monasticism had been wiped out. In its restoration
in the tenth century, Dunstan played the leading role. He was born of an
upper-class family, and sent to court, where he did not fit in. At the urging
of his uncle, the Bishop of Westminster, he became a monk and a priest,
and returned to Glastonbury, where he built a hut near the ruins of the
old monastery, and devoted himself to study, music, metal working (particularly
the art of casting church bells, an art which he is said to have advanced
considerably), and painting. A manuscript illuminated by him is in the British
Museum. He returned to court and was again asked to leave; but then King
Edmund had a narrow escape from death while hunting, and in gratitude recalled
Dunstan and in 943 commissioned him to re-establish monastic life at Glastonbury.
(Glastonbury is one of the oldest Christian sites in England, and is associated
in legend with King Arthur and his Court, with Joseph of Arimathea,
and with other worthies. It has been said that the Holy Grail, the chalice
of the Last Supper, is hidden somewhere near Glastonbury.) Under Dunstan's
direction, Glastonbury became an important center both of monasticism and
of learning. The next king, Edred, adopted Dunstan's ideas for various reforms
of the clergy (including the control of many cathedrals by monastic
chapters) and for relations with the Danish settlers. These policies made
Dunstan popular in the North of England, but unpopular in the South.
Edred was succeeded by his sixteen-year-old nephew Edwy, whom Dunstan openly rebuked for unchastity. The furious Edwy drove Dunstan into exile, but the North rose in rebellion on his behalf. When the dust settled, Edwy was dead, his brother Edgar was king, and Dunstan was Archbishop of Canterbury. The coronation service which Dunstan compiled for Edgar is the earliest English coronation service of which the full text survives, and is the basis for all such services since, down to the present. With the active support of King Edgar, Dunstan re-established monastic communities at Malmesbury, Westminster, Bath, Exeter, and many other places. Around 970 he presided at a conference of bishops, abbots, and abbesses, which drew up a national code of monastic observance, the Regularis Concordia. It followed Benedictine lines, but under it the monasteries were actively involved in the life of the surrounding community. For centuries thereafter the Archbishop of Canterbury was always a monk.
Dunstan took an active role in politics under Edgar and his successor Edward, but under the next king, Ethelred, he retired from politics and concentrated on running the Canterbury cathedral school for boys, where he was apparently successful in raising the academic standards while reducing the incidence of corporal punishment. On Ascension Day in 988, he told the congregation that he was near to death, and died two days later.