The Lesser Feast of Alcuin of York, Deacon

Learn more about today’s Feast

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Page numbers listed are from The Book of Common Prayer.

Opening Sentence, page 103

Officiant: O God, make speed to save us.

People: O Lord, make haste to help us.

All: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

Psalm 107:1-8, page 746

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, *
                and his mercy endures for ever.
2 Let all those whom the Lord has redeemed proclaim *
                that he redeemed them from the hand of the foe.
3 He gathered them out of the lands; *
                from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
4 Some wandered in desert wastes; *
                they found no way to a city where they might dwell.
5 They were hungry and thirsty; *
                their spirits languished within them.
6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, *
                and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He put their feet on a straight path *
                to go to a city where they might dwell.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his mercy *
                and the wonders he does for his children.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Reading: Matthew 13:24-30

Jesus put before the disciples another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

All: Thanks be to God.

Reflection: Alcuin of York, Deacon

Alcuin was born about 730 near York, into a noble family related to Willibrord, the first missionary to the Netherlands. He was educated at the cathedral school in York under Archbishop Egbert, a pupil of Bede. He thus inherited the best traditions of learning and zeal of the early English church.

After ordination as a deacon in 770, he became head of the York school. It was not uncommon for theologians and intellectuals in the early and medieval church to be ordained as deacons, teaching and scholarship being understood by the church as a diaconal ministry as well as care for the poor and the needy.

Following a meeting in 781 with the Emperor Charlemagne in Pavia (Italy), Alcuin was persuaded to become the Emperor’s “prime minister,” with special responsibility for the revival of education and learning in the Frankish dominions. He was named Abbot of Tours in 796, where he died on May 19, 804, and was buried in the church of St. Martin.

Alcuin was a man of vast learning, personal charm, and integrity of character. In his direction of Charlemagne’s Palace School at Aachen, he was chiefly responsible for the preservation of the classical heritage of Western civilization. Schools were revived in cathedrals and monasteries, and manuscripts of both pagan and Christian writings of antiquity were collated and copied.

Under the authority of Charlemagne, the liturgy was reformed, and service books gathered from Rome were edited and adapted. To this work we owe the preservation of many of the collects that have come down to us, including the Collect for Purity at the beginning of the Holy Eucharist.

The Prayers, pages 106-107

Officiant: Lord have mercy.

People: Christ have mercy.

Officiant: Lord have mercy.

All:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

Officiant: Lord, hear our prayer;

People: And let our cry come to you.

Officiant: Let us pray.

Almighty God, who raised up your servant Alcuin as a beacon of learning: Shine in our hearts, we pray, that we may also show forth your praise in our own generation, for you have called us out of darkness and into your marvelous light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Intercessions and Thanksgivings

Dismissal, page 107

Officiant: Let us bless the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

Officiant: 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.