Download With The Revd Mia Hilborn, Hospitaller, Guys and St Thomas

Please note:
This script cannot exactly reflect the transmission, as it was prepared before the service was broadcast. It may include
editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors that were corrected before the radio
broadcast.
It may contain gaps to be filled in at the time so that prayers may reflect the needs of the world, and changes may also be
made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.
Sunday Worship
“The Lady of the Lamp”
from
The Chapel of St Thomas’ Hospital, London
broadcast
Sunday 8th August 2010
(0810-0850)
With
The Revd Mia Hilborn, Hospitaller, Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital, London (leader)
The Revd Tom Keighley, Scholar of the Nightingale Foundation and Fellow of the RCN (preacher)
The Guy's and St Thomas' Staff Choir (MD: James Mooney-Dutton)
Florence Nightingale School Choir (MD: Laka D)
James Mooney-Dutton (organist)
Andrew Earis (conductor)
Abigail Thomas & Ben Collingwood, broadcast assistants
Simon Vivian, producer
Radio 4 Opening Announcement:
BBC Radio 4. One hundred years ago this week, the nation mourned the death of
Florence Nightingale – ‘The Lady of the Lamp’. Our Sunday Worship now, live from the
chapel of St Thomas’ Hospital, London, celebrates her spiritual and practical legacy. The
service, which is introduced by The Revd Mia Hilborn, the Hospitaller at Guys and St
Thomas’, begins with the hymn: ‘Praise, my soul, the king of heaven’.
1. HYMN: PRAISE MY SOUL, THE KING OF HEAVEN (Tune: Praise my Soul):
1 UNISON
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven,
to his feet thy tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
who like me his praise should sing?
Sunday Worship/St Thomas’ Hospital, London/Simon Vivian /tx 8th August 2010, 08:10/BBC Radio 4
Praise him! Praise him!
Praise him! Praise him!
Praise the everlasting King!
2 SATB
Praise him for his grace and favour
to our fathers in distress;
praise him still the same for ever,
slow to chide, and swift to bless.
Praise him! Praise him!
Praise him! Praise him!
Glorious in his faithfulness.
3 WOMEN
Father-like he tends and spares us;
well our feeble frame he knows;
in his hands he gently bears us,
rescues us from all our foes.
Praise him! Praise him!
Praise him! Praise him!
Widely as his mercy flows.
4 UNISON
Angels help us to adore him;
ye behold him face to face;
sun and moon bow down before him,
dwellers all in time and space.
Praise him! Praise him!
Praise him! Praise him!
Praise with us the God of grace,
[H. F. Lyte (1793-1847), based on Psalm 103]
2. The Revd Mia Hilborn:
Good morning and welcome to St Thomas’ Hospital, here on the banks of the River
Thames, opposite the Houses of Parliament. Judging by the façade, patients, visitors and
passers-by could be forgiven for thinking St Thomas’ was built fairly recently. But this is
an ancient hospital, originally situated where Southwark Cathedral now stands. It moved
to this site in Lambeth in the 1870s and at the heart of this very contemporary hospital
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are the Victorian buildings, including this beautiful Chapel, which Florence Nightingale
would have known well.
By the time of her death in 1910, Florence Nightingale had captured the heart of the
nation, not just because of the compassion she showed to wounded solidiers during the
Crimean War in the 1850s, but because of her pioneering work as a nurse and for the way
in which she laid the foundations of professional nursing with the establishment of her
nursing school here at St Thomas'.
Florence Nightingale herself didn’t approve of the new location for St Thomas’ but the
consultants insisted it be just a carriage-ride away from Harley Street on the other side
of the river. One hundred years after her death, both the hospital and the nursing school
continue to be a major educator of health care professionals. And so it seems fitting that
this service should come from this Chapel, the spiritual home for generations of
Nightingale nurses. I’m joined by the Guy’s and St Thomas’ Staff Choir, the choir of the
Florence Nightingale School and by staff, patients and friends of the hospitals.
On hearing of the death of Florence Nightingale on Saturday 13th August 1910, the nation
mourned. This poem was written by a Chelsea Pensioner and then published in the
Evening News just 3 days later. Today, we are honoured to have it read by Norman
Mitchell, a former Grenadier Guard and now a Chelsea Inpensioner born just 10 years
after Florence Nightingale’s death.
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3. Mr Norman Mitchell:
At Chelsea, under the lime-tree’s stir,
I read the news to a Pensioner,
That a noble lord and a judge were dead –
‘They were younger men than me,’ he said.
I read again of another death;
The old man turned, and caught his breath –
‘She’s gone?’ he said; ‘ she too? In camp
We called her the Lady of the Lamp.’
He would not listen to what I read,
But wanted it certain – ‘The Lady’s dead?’
I showed it to him, to remove his doubt,
And added, unthinking, ‘The Lamp is out.’
He rose – and I had to help him stand –
Then, as he saluted with trembling hand,
I was abashed to hear him say,
‘The Lamp she lit is alight to-day’.
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4. The Revd Mia Hilborn:
Florence Nightingale was known as the lady of the lamp, and so with the words Norman
read echoing in our ears, ‘The lamp she lit is alight today’, we’re now going to light the
Chapel’s very own Nightingale lamp. Gill Prager, a Nightingale who is now Director of
Clinical Standards and Chief Nurse for NHS Milton Keynes, has recently returned from
Istanbul where she lead a group of Nightingales on a trip to Scutari, the actual hospital
where Nightingale worked during the Crimean War. There, in the barracks, Gill and the
Nightingales conducted an act of Christian worship, and lit this very same lamp which we
use here in the Chapel. Gill will light our lamp again today, and then lead us in a prayer
used by the Nightingale Fellowship, a world-wide association of two and a half thousand
nurses.
5. Match-strike SFX:
6. Gill Prager:
As we commemorate Florence Nightingale and remember the joy and achievement of her
life, let us pray for the Church that inspired her and the whole fellowship of Christian
people who seek to mediate God’s love in the world, that they may be guided by God’s
grace in the exercise of the power entrusted to them; let us pray for all places of
learning and education, especially the ancient foundation of St.Thomas’, the Martyr of
Canterbury, and for the development and maintenance of high standards in nursing, that
God’s people may be cared for with skill and tenderness. Let us pray too, for the many
people who support and care for the nurses who labour where the cost is greatest, that
where much is given much may be received. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
All:
Amen.
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7. The Revd Mia Hilborn:
Based on the words of Psalm 23, our next hymn was sung at Florence Nightingale’s funeral
and was said to have been a great favourite of hers. ‘The King of Love my Shepherd is’.
8. HYMN: THE KING OF LOVE MY SHEPHERD IS (Tune: Dominus Regit Me)
1 UNISON
The King of love my Shepherd is,
whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am his
and he is mine for ever.
2 WOMEN
Where streams of living water flow
my ransomed soul he leadeth,
and where the verdant pastures grow
with food celestial feedeth.
3 SATB
In death's dark vale I fear no ill
with thee, dear Lord, beside me;
thy rod and staff my comfort still,
thy cross before to guide me.
4 UNISON
And so through all the length of days
thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise
within thy house for ever.
[H. W. Baker (1821-77) based on Psalm 23]
9. The Revd Mia Hilborn:
The conditions in which Florence Nightingale and her colleagues worked in Scutari must
have been horrendous; the sanitation and ventilation were poor, proper medicine was in
short supply, illnesses such as typhoid, cholera and dysentery were rife. And yet, buoyed
by her Christian beliefs and the conviction that God had called her to be a nurse, she was
determined to do all she could to make a difference in the lives of those she cared for.
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These selected verses are from the poem Santa Filomena written by the American poet
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and published in 1857. Philomena is said to have been a
young Greek princess martyred in the early 4th century, whose name means ‘daughter of
light’ or ‘daughter of the lamp’. And so Longfellow here is comparing Nightingale with
the ancient Catholic saint. It’s read for us by Elizabeth Browse, a Nightingale and former
ward sister at St Thomas’.
10. Elizabeth Browse:
Whene'er a noble deed is wrought,
Whene'er is spoken a noble thought,
Our hearts, in glad surprise,
To higher levels rise.
Thus thought I, as by night I read
Of the great army of the dead,
The trenches cold and damp,
The starved and frozen camp,--
The wounded from the battle-plain,
In dreary hospitals of pain,
The cheerless corridors,
The cold and stony floors.
Lo! in that house of misery
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A lady with a lamp I see
Pass through the glimmering gloom,
And flit from room to room.
On England's annals, through the long
Hereafter of her speech and song,
That light its rays shall cast
From portals of the past.
A lady with a lamp shall stand
In the great history of the land,
A noble type of good,
Heroic womanhood.
Nor even shall be wanting here
The palm, the lily, and the spear,
The symbols that of yore
Saint Filomena bore.
11. The Revd Mia Hilborn:
Nightingale nurses are to be found worldwide, often in field hospitals in places of conflict
and in aid work. Major Eamonn Sullivan is a member of the Territorial Army Medical
Service and has recently served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. His day job is here at Guy’s
& St Thomas’. He reads now from St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 12.
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12. Major Eamonn Sullivan:
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of
service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God
works all of them in all men.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one
there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of
knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another
gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to
another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,
and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the
same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many,
they form one body. So it is with Christ.
[1 Corinthians 12:1-12]
13. The Revd Mia Hilborn:
Later in her life, Florence Nightingale wrote a great deal, not just about ways in which
health care could be improved, but about her own beliefs. And it’s from these writings
that the text of our next piece of music has been taken. ‘Deeper, Wider’ was
commissioned by the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery especially for
this service from the composer John Browne. It’s sung for us now by the Guy’s and St
Thomas’ Staff Choir and the Florence Nightingale School Choir, conducted by the
composer. “I believe we have relations to each other that are deeper, wider and more
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enduring than the ties we see.”
14. DEEPER, WIDER (John Browne)
15. The Revd Mia Hilborn:
The first performance of ‘Deeper, Wider’ - words by Florence Nightingale, set to music
and conducted by John Browne.
In addition to being one of the finest nurses ever known to history, Florence Nightingale,
was also a great scholar of the Bible in particular. Her interests in this area led her to aid
in the publication of the first ever Children’s Bible published in the English language.
Oliver, a patient from the Evelina Children’s Hospital here at Guy’s and St Thomas’ who
received a living donor transplant less than three weeks ago, reads now from Matthew
chapter 5 - the Beatitudes.
16. Ollie Barnes:
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His
disciples came to him, and he began to teach them saying:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
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Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil
against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they
persecuted the prophets who were before you.
[Matthew 5:1-12]
17. The Revd Mia Hilborn:
Our preacher this morning is The Revd Tom Keighley, a Scholar of the Nightingale
Foundation, and Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing with a considerable range of
nursing experience in this country and abroad. Tom is also a priest in the East End of
London. We are delighted to welcome him to St Thomas’ today.
18. The Revd Tom Keighley:
This is an extract from a letter by Florence Nightingale to the mother of John Cope,
written at the Barrack Hospital, Scutari on 12th April 1855
I am very sorry to have to communicate to you the illness of your poor son, Private John
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Cope, 95th Regiment, No. 2884. He was admitted here about ten days ago suffering
from diarrhoea. He was immediately attended to by surgeons, by one of my nurses and
myself. He was fed in small quantities and frequently with port wine and arrowroot. He
wished very much to have a letter written to you, and two or three times I went to him
for the purpose, but he was always too weak and put it off, and once he wandered and
said it was done . He often murmured, “dear, dear mother!” and tried to say many
things to you--that he was well cared for and wanted for nothing--that he had no wish
for anything. I sent for the chaplain, who came twice, and both times he was quite
sensible and prayed fervently, and said he was quite happy in mind and could follow all
that was said. He spoke little after this, and sank rapidly and died at 2 o’clock on the
morning of Easter Sunday, quite quietly and without pain, in the full hope of a
resurrection with Him who rose again on that day.
I remain with true sympathy for your grief....
P.S. I would have sent you something of his, but he left nothing.
This is the Florence Nightingale we recall – the Florence Nightingale we all learn about at
school: the woman who led a group of women, into the wasteland that was Scutari
Barracks. Having won over the support of the doctors, the nurses cleaned it of human
waste, before establishing a place of refuge and recovery for those transported there
from the Crimea.
100-years on from her death almost everything else is forgotten and if it wasn’t for
modern scholars, the work of the Florence Nightingale Foundation, and the presence of
this very hospital, Nightingale might well have completed her journey into mythology.
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Even before the work at Scutari, it was obvious that Nightingale was a person of amazing
gifts. Her work in the field of statistics is reflected in her efforts to establish a chair in
statistics at Oxford. She brought science into the understanding of health care delivery.
Her collection and use of data placed her way ahead of her time.
Her studies in health care had taken her to France and Germany. But it was her sense of
calling from God that led her to continue in her care of the sick and the poor that had
started in her childhood. Nightingale felt called to a life of service. She believed that
she was called to serve those unable to care for themselves. This included teaching in a
ragged school of the East End of London, concern for orphans in Italy during a stay there,
and for landless peasants in India. Most of all, it led her to have great concerns for the
then neglected soldiers of the British army who still, today, hold her in the highest
regard.
Her work spread into many areas and was always underpinned by deep prayer and
worship of God. When ill, suffering it appears from a combination of untreatable typhoid
and brucellosis - an illness that kept her bed bound for many years - she was visited on a
fortnightly basis by Benjamin Jowett, Professor of Greek and future Chancellor of Oxford
University, to bring her the sacraments. Their shared love of Greek and of the Bible led
to joint work on translations and included, as we’ve heard, the production of the first
children’s bible.
Nightingale’s own encounter with God had a mystical element to it. She records in her
diaries hearing the voice of God and being aware of God’s message for her. It led her to
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translate from the mediaeval Spanish texts, significant parts of the writings of Theresa of
Avilla and John of the Cross. And yes, she was master of many languages, a rarity for a
woman in her era.
This complex life, which included government lobbying, report writing, involvement with
Queen Victoria and her family, constant work with Indian Viceroys about how best to
bring hygiene and cleanliness to India, was based on a notion of service, a notion too
often so difficult for us to grasp today. It had emerged from a sense of social justice, and
a concern for those less able. Nightingale’s response was to put her many talents and
abilities to the task of changing public opinion about these things. She was indomitable.
Even in her deepest illness, she retained a concern for others and a focus on the projects
in hand.
Often she wrote about the mass of the sick poor who could not pay hospital fees and had
to go into the dreaded workhouse infirmaries. For Nightingale, it was a matter of faith
that the poor should get health care of the same high quality as the rich, because all
people were, for Nightingale, part of God’s creation and therefore, as God’s creation,
should be treasured and cared for. One feels she must have been a daunting figure
because of her energy and commitment. However, those who worked with her became
committed to her, earning their affection.
Having turned down two invitations to marry, Nightingale saw a life of service to the
causes put before her by God as her part in achieving atonement for the ills of the world.
She wrote atonement as three words: at-one-ment. She was concerned that all that
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could be done, should be done, to achieve God’s work in the world, to bring that at-onement about; an at-one-ment with God and with others. Her study and her work were
efforts to fulfil this, but always in the understanding of it being God’s work. Perhaps her
belief in a deeply rational God still challenges us today. Nightingale believed that the
more the laws of the universe were understood, the easier achieving that at-one-ment
would be.
Florence Nightingale is therefore a woman for today. She took all the gifts that she had,
including the spiritual ones we heard about in our first reading, and developed them. She
then ignored the barriers of the day and ensured that her voice was heard, even when
her health failed her. However, she did all of this because she was certain of God’s
calling to her and not for personal reward. This is perhaps where Nightingale’s
philosophy differs from so much of the world we see around us today; she set her mind on
higher things. It’s something we must surely all learn from Nightingale, that her service
to people was based on respect for God. Making the most of the gifts given to each and
everyone of us, and not being put off by the barriers is part of that, but Nightingale
would have us remember that it’s God’s work that we do, and in so doing we bring God’s
love and healing to others, and to ourselves. Amen
19. MAKE ME A CHANNEL OF YOUR PEACE (Temple arr Leddington Wright)
Prayers:
20. Luhanga Musumadi:
Let us pray:
Lord, we thank you for the life and legacy of Florence Nightingale. For the staff at Guy’s
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and St Thomas’ Hospitals, especially the nurses, midwives, clinical and non-clinical staff
working this morning. We thank you for the link between our hospitals here and
healthcare in Zambia and pray for a blessing upon the health of the Zambian people. And
we ask you to care for all those who are sick this day. Compassionate God, use our
hands, hearts and minds to heal the sick, and comfort those in pain and suffering so that
we may undertake our work for you and in you.
Lord, in your mercy
ALL:
Hear our prayer.
21. Olivia Robinson:
Lord, we ask your blessing on the work of the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and
Midwifery, its students and staff, and for the Evelina Children’s Hospital. Give all in
health care the necessary knowledge, strength and courage to strive for the welfare of
others. We ask that you be with all expectant mothers and children in hospital today.
Creator God, we ask that your loving hand be placed upon the new lives brought into this
world today.
Lord, in your mercy
ALL:
Hear our prayer.
22. Ollie Barnes:
Lord, we pray for those who serve in our armed forces and in particular for those working
in field hospitals and specialist units caring for those injured. Strengthen them in their
mission and bring courage to all who are fearful. And we give thanks for the dedication
and bravery of those who have served our country in times gone by, particularly thinking
this morning of the Chelsea Pensioners. Protector God, prosper all whose vision is of a
world not in conflict but at peace, not in faction but in unity.
Lord, in your mercy
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ALL:
Hear our prayer.
23. David Bendell:
Lord, we ask your comfort on all those who grieve; give all in distress hope in difficult
times. And this morning we pray in particular for the millions of people in Pakistan still
coming to terms with the devastation of the recent flooding. Merciful God, be with all
those who have lost loved ones, livelihoods and shelter and bring a swift response from
the international aid effort.
Lord, our Saviour, healer and friend, in your mercy
ALL:
Hear our prayer
24. The Revd Mia Hilborn:
We sum up our prayers with the words of the Lord’s Prayer:
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.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory. for ever and ever. Amen
Wreath laying:
25. The Revd Mia Hilborn:
Here in St Thomas’ Chapel is a beautiful relief of Florence Nightingale. Coming forward
now is Nightingale nurse Maggie …………………… to lay a wreath; an annual act of honour
and thanksgiving on behalf of nurses everywhere.
[5 SECOND PAUSE]
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The wreath has been laid.
26. The Revd Mia Hilborn:
And so thank you for joining us in this commemoration of the life Florence Nightingale;
not just one of the greatest nurses the world has ever known – as Queen Alexandra wrote
“the greatest benefactor to suffering humanity” - but a model for all of us as we go about
our lives.
Our final hymn, ‘Love Divine, all Loves Excelling’, combines both love and service,
compassion and care, and above all hope; key elements for Florence’s understanding of
nursing practice and the importance of spirituality.
27. LOVE DIVINE, ALL LOVES EXCELLING (Tune: Blaenwern):
1 SATB
Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heaven to earth come down,
fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesu, thou art all compassion,
pure, unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation,
enter every trembling heart.
2 SATB
Come, almighty to deliver,
let us all thy life receive;
suddenly return, and never,
never more thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
serve thee as thy hosts above,
pray, and praise thee, without ceasing,
glory in thy perfect love.
3 UNISON
Finish then thy new creation,
pure and sinless let us be;
let us see thy great salvation,
perfectly restored in thee;
changed from glory into glory,
till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
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lost in wonder, love and praise.
[Charles Wesley (1707-88)]
28. The Revd Mia Hilborn:
May the lamp of Christ’s salvation shine across your life’s path,
May the cross of the Son of God protect you by day and by night,
At morning and at evening, at all times and in all places,
And the blessing of God almighty,
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Be upon you and remain with you always
ALL
Amen
29. ORGAN VOLUNTARY
Radio 4 Closing Announcement:
This morning’s Sunday Worship came live from the chapel of St Thomas’ Hospital, central
London. The preacher was The Reverend Tom Keighley and the service was led by The
Reverend Mia Hilborn. The Guy’s and St Thomas’ Staff Choir and the Florence Nightingale
School Choir were accompanied by James Mooney-Dutton and conducted by Andrew Earis.
The producer was Simon Vivian.
Next week at 10 past 8, Sunday Worship comes live from Leeds Parish Church and
explores our contemporary attitude to treasure and wealth.
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