Ripon Cathedral - 18

Here we see St Peter - I never realised that the key to the Kingdom of Heaven was so big!



Forsaken once, and thrice denied,
The risen Lord gave pardon free,
Stood once again at Peter’s side,
And asked him, “Lov’st thou Me?”

How many times with faithless word
Have we denied His holy Name,
How oft forsaken our dear Lord,
And shrunk when trial came?

Saint Peter, when the cock crew clear,
Went out, and wept his broken faith;
Strong as a rock through strife and fear,
He served his Lord till death.

How oft his cowardice of heart
We have without his love sincere,
The sin without the sorrow’s smart,
The shame without the tear!

O oft forsaken, oft denied,
Forgive our shame, wash out our sin;
Look on us from Thy Father’s side
And let that sweet look win.

Hear when we call Thee from the deep,
Still walk beside us on the shore,
Give hands to work, and eyes to weep,
And hearts to love Thee more.

It is useful to know that there is a branch of Timpson's in Ripon which provides an excellent key copying service!

Ripon Cathedral - 17

The great east window dates from about 1300, although the glass, depicting Christ commissioning his disciples, is Victorian.



Christ is the King! O friends, rejoice;
brothers and sisters, with one voice
let the world know he is your choice.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

O magnify the Lord, and raise
anthems of joy and holy praise
for Christ's brave saints of ancient days.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

They with a faith forever new
followed the King, and round him drew
thousands of faithful servants true.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

O Christian women, Christian men,
all the world over, seek again
the way disciples followed then.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Christ through all ages is the same:
place the same hope in his great name,
with the same faith his word proclaim.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Let love's unconquerable might
your scattered companies unite
in service to the Lord of light.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

So shall God's will on earth be done,
new lamps be lit, new tasks begun,
and the whole church at last be one.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

5th Sunday of Easter

Today we hear the new commandment of Jesus to love one another.



Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
Wheat that in the dark earth many years has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

In the grave they laid Him, Love Whom we had slain,
Thinking that He’d never wake to life again,
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

Up He sprang at Easter, like the risen grain,
He that for three days in the grave had lain;
Up from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

When our hearts are saddened, grieving or in pain,
By Your touch You call us back to life again;
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.



Happy Sunday!

Ripon Cathedral - 16

The high altar is the focal point of the Cathedral's spiritual life. Here the Eucharist is celebrated on Sundays and other major feast days.



Behind it is a beautiful altarpiece depicting the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus, surrounded by Roman and Anglo-Saxon saints and royalty. It was designed by Sir Ninian Comper in 1922 as a memorial to those who died in the First World War.

Alleluia! sing to Jesus!
His the sceptre, his the throne.
Alleluia! His the triumph,
his the victory alone.
Hark! the songs of peaceful Zion
thunder like a mighty flood.
Jesus out of every nation
hath redeemed us by his blood.

Alleluia! not as orphans
are we left in sorrow now;
Alleluia! He is near us,
faith believes, nor questions how;
Though the cloud from sight received him
when the forty days were o'er
shall our hearts forget his promise,
'I am with you evermore'?

Alleluia! bread of heaven,
here on earth our food and stay!
Alleluia! here the sinful
flee to thee from day to day.
Intercessor, Friend of sinners,
earth's Redeemer, plead for me.
Where the songs of all the sinless
sweep across the crystal sea.

Alleluia! King eternal,
thee the Lord of lords we own;
Alleluia! born of Mary,
earth thy footstool,
heaven thy throne.
Thou within the veil hast entered,
robed in flesh, our great High Priest.
Thou on earth both Priest and Victim
in the Eucharistic Feast.

Ripon Cathedral - 15

We are standing by the relatively modest Bishop's throne (or cathedra in Latin), from which we get the English word 'cathedral'.



There has been an organ in the Cathedral since 1399, but the present one was built by Lewis in 1878 and rebuilt by Harrison & Harrison in 1912. The unusual mechanical wooden hand dates from 1695 and can be operated by the organist to beat time for the choir.

Let all the world in every corner sing,
my God and King!
The heavens are not too high,
his praise may thither fly,
the earth is not too low,
his praises there may grow.
Let all the world in every corner sing,
my God and King!

Let all the world in every corner sing,
my God and King!
The church with psalms must shout,
no door can keep them out;
but, above all, the heart
must bear the longest part.
Let all the world in every corner sing,
my God and King!

Ripon Cathedral - 14

We are now standing in the choir. The choir is where daily services of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer take place in an unbroken round of prayer going back to the church's foundation.



The choir stalls were made by a team of local carvers between 1489 and 1494. Each stall in the back row has a lifting seat, with an ornately carved ledge on the underside called a misericord,designed for clergy to lean against when standing during long services.

Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy,
whose trust, ever childlike, no cares could destroy,
be there at our waking, and give us, we pray,
your bliss in our hearts, Lord, at the break of the day.

Lord of all eagerness, Lord of all faith,
whose strong hands were skilled at the plane and the lathe,
be there at our labours, and give us, we pray,
your strength in our hearts, Lord, at the noon of the day.

Lord of all kindliness, Lord of all grace,
your hands swift to welcome, your arms to embrace,
be there at our homing, and give us, we pray,
your love in our hearts, Lord, at the eve of the day.

Lord of all gentleness, Lord of all calm,
whose voice is contentment, whose presence is balm,
be there at our sleeping, and give us, we pray,
your peace in our hearts, Lord, at the end of the day.

Ripon Cathedral - 13

Today the large niche houses a beautiful 14th century alabaster carving of the Resurrection, part of a collection found under the Dean's choir stall in the 19th century, where they had laid hidden since the 16th century.



To this day, as they have done since the 7th century, visitors and pilgrims come from near and far to offer prayers in Wilfrid's crypt.

The strife is o'er, the battle done;
Now is the Victor's triumph won;
O let the song of praise begun.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Death's mightiest powers have done their worst,
And Jesus hath His foes dispersed;
Let shouts of praise and joy outburst.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

On the third morn He rose again
Glorious in majesty to reign;
Oh, let us swell the joyful strain!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Lord, by the stripes which wounded Thee.
From death's dread sting Thy servants free
That we may live and sing to Thee.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!