After a long haitus, we reopen with the commemoration of a quintessentially English saint’s day today. St. Etheldreda, Abbess of Ely (AD 636-679).
The praises of that saint we sing,
to whom all lands their tribute bring,
who with indomitable heart,
bore throughout life true woman’s heart.
Restraining every froward sense
by gentle bonds of abstinence,
with prayer her hungry souls she fed,
and thus to heavenly joys hath sped.
King Christ, from whom all virtue springs,
who only doest wondrous things,
as now to thee she kneels in prayer,
in mercy our petitions hear.
All praise to God the Father be,
all praise, eternal Son, to thee;
whom with the Spirit we adore
forever and forevermore.
-English Hymnal (1906)
The Cathedral Close 