Philip Larkin ‘… this frail / travelling coincidence; and what it held / Stood ready to be loosed with all the power / That being changed can give’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
Patrick Comerford
Philip Larkin is one of Britain's most popular poets, despite controversy about his personal life and opinions, and despite his reputation for being dour and grumpy. In 2003, almost two decades after his death, he was chosen as ‘the nation’s best-loved poet.’
Despite Larkin’s misogynist and often racist views, his crude and cruel turn of phrase, and his sometimes right-wing opinions, his poetry is down-to-earth and authentic, and speaks frankly about life and the human condition.
I have long been interested in his family connections with Lichfield, and to an extent his connections with Coventry and Belfast, and I have written about him occasionally for magazines. With his many and often serial affairs and dalliances, it is difficult to think of him as a romantic, and certainly not as a romantic poet. Yet ‘The Whitsun Weddings’ is one of his best-known poems gives the title to one of his most successful collections.
As we travelled in and out of London by train last Friday and Saturday, we were more than a little self-conscious, wondering what a coincidence it would be should anyone would notice how we were dressed or what we were about in the way that Larkin noticed wedding couples and wedding parties 60 years ago during the train journey he describes in that poem.
The Whitsun Weddings, a collection of 32 poems by Philip Larkin, was first published by Faber in London on 28 February 1964. It was a commercial success by the standards of poetry publication, with the first 4,000 copies sold within two months. That volume cemented Larkin’s reputation and includes many of his best-known poems, including ‘The Whitsun Weddings’, ‘Days’, ‘Mr Bleaney’, ‘MCMXIV’, and ‘An Arundel Tomb’.
‘The Whitsun Weddings’ was written and rewritten and finally published in this collection in 1964. This is one of three poems that Larkin wrote about train journeys, and it is one of his’s longest poems. He describes a stopping-train journey southwards from Kingston upon Hull, where he was a librarian at the university, to London on a hot Whit Saturday afternoon.
It has always been supposed the poem was based on an actual train journey Larkin took in 1955 on Whitsun Saturday, a day that at the time was popular for weddings. However, there was a rail strike that weekend, and John Osborne of the University of Hull, author of Radical Larkin, points out that this particular journey is unlikely. Instead, Larkin’s letters refer to two journeys that may have been conflated in the poem: one to Grantham, that was not at Whitsun but when there were some weddings; and one to London, that was not at Whitsun, and when there were no weddings.
The narrator in the poem describes the scenery and smells of the countryside and towns that the largely empty train passes through. The train’s windows are open because of the heat, and gradually he becomes aware of bustle on the platforms at each station, eventually realising that this is the noise and actions of wedding parties that are seeing off couples who are boarding the train.
He notes the different classes of people involved, each with their own responses to the occasion: the fathers, the uncles, the children, the unmarried female family members. He imagines the venues where the wedding receptions have been held.
As the train continues on into London, the afternoon shadows lengthen and rain begins to fall, and his reflections turn to the permanence of what the newly-weds have done. The significance of this is huge for them, and seems to give Larkin an ultimately disappointing message, suggested by the poem’s final phrase.
The Whitsun Weddings, by Philip Larkin:
That Whitsun, I was late getting away:
Not till about
One-twenty on the sunlit Saturday
Did my three-quarters-empty train pull out,
All windows down, all cushions hot, all sense
Of being in a hurry gone. We ran
Behind the backs of houses, crossed a street
Of blinding windscreens, smelt the fish-dock; thence
The river’s level drifting breadth began,
Where sky and Lincolnshire and water meet.
All afternoon, through the tall heat that slept
For miles inland,
A slow and stopping curve southwards we kept.
Wide farms went by, short-shadowed cattle, and
Canals with floatings of industrial froth;
A hothouse flashed uniquely: hedges dipped
And rose: and now and then a smell of grass
Displaced the reek of buttoned carriage-cloth
Until the next town, new and nondescript,
Approached with acres of dismantled cars.
At first, I didn’t notice what a noise
The weddings made
Each station that we stopped at: sun destroys
The interest of what’s happening in the shade,
And down the long cool platforms whoops and skirls
I took for porters larking with the mails,
And went on reading. Once we started, though,
We passed them, grinning and pomaded, girls
In parodies of fashion, heels and veils,
All posed irresolutely, watching us go,
As if out on the end of an event
Waving goodbye
To something that survived it. Struck, I leant
More promptly out next time, more curiously,
And saw it all again in different terms:
The fathers with broad belts under their suits
And seamy foreheads; mothers loud and fat;
An uncle shouting smut; and then the perms,
The nylon gloves and jewellery-substitutes,
The lemons, mauves, and olive-ochres that
Marked off the girls unreally from the rest.
Yes, from cafés
And banquet-halls up yards, and bunting-dressed
Coach-party annexes, the wedding-days
Were coming to an end. All down the line
Fresh couples climbed aboard: the rest stood round;
The last confetti and advice were thrown,
And, as we moved, each face seemed to define
Just what it saw departing: children frowned
At something dull; fathers had never known
Success so huge and wholly farcical;
The women shared
The secret like a happy funeral;
While girls, gripping their handbags tighter, stared
At a religious wounding. Free at last,
And loaded with the sum of all they saw,
We hurried towards London, shuffling gouts of steam.
Now fields were building-plots, and poplars cast
Long shadows over major roads, and for
Some fifty minutes, that in time would seem
Just long enough to settle hats and say
I nearly died,
A dozen marriages got under way.
They watched the landscape, sitting side by side
—An Odeon went past, a cooling tower,
And someone running up to bowl—and none
Thought of the others they would never meet
Or how their lives would all contain this hour.
I thought of London spread out in the sun,
Its postal districts packed like squares of wheat:
There we were aimed. And as we raced across
Bright knots of rail
Past standing Pullmans, walls of blackened moss
Came close, and it was nearly done, this frail
Travelling coincidence; and what it held
Stood ready to be loosed with all the power
That being changed can give. We slowed again,
And as the tightened brakes took hold, there swelled
A sense of falling, like an arrow-shower
Sent out of sight, somewhere becoming rain.
09 November 2023
Daily prayers in the Kingdom Season
with USPG: (5) 9 November 2023
The 18th century Duomo di Mestre or Chiesa di San Lorenzo, the Church of Saint Lawrence, is the most important church in Mestre (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
In this time between All Saints’ Day and Advent Sunday, we are in the Kingdom Season in the Calendar of the Church of England, and the week began with the Fourth Sunday before Advent (5 November 2023).
The Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today (9 November) remembers Margery Kempe, Mystic, ca 1440.
Before today begins, I am taking some time for prayer and reflection early this morning.
In recent prayer diaries on this blog, my reflections have already looked at a number of Italian cathedrals, including the cathedrals in Amalfi, Florence, Lucca, Noto, Pisa, Ravenna, Saint Peter’s Basilica and Saint John Lateran, Rome, Siena, Sorrento, Syracuse, Taormina, Torcello and Venice.
So, this week, my reflections look at some more Italian cathedrals, basilicas and churches in Bologna, San Marino, Pistoia, San Gimignano, Mestre, Sorrento and Ravello.
Throughout this week, my reflections each morning are following this pattern:
1, A reflection on an Italian cathedral or basilica;
2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.
Inside, the Duomo of Mestre has a Latin cross plan, with a single nave (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Duomo di Mestre or Chiesa di San Lorenzo:
For many tourists visiting Venice, Mestre is merely an affordable place to sleep and leave luggage, a convenient starting point for a day-trip to Venice. There are cheap and frequent connections to Venice by train and by bus, even through the night, and the bars, hotels, restaurants and supermarkets charge more reasonable prices – even car parking is possible.
Mestre seems to live in the shadow of Venice. Some even claim it is everything that Venice is not: modern, ugly, traffic-filled, ordinary. It often goes without appreciation, yet it has its own charm, character and history as a town that few give themselves time to appreciate.
Mestre was always overshadowed by its powerful neighbour Venice. Yet this is the most populated borough of the comune of Venice, and administratively it is part of Venice, serving as a kind of mainland suburb. Indeed, Mestre has a history that dates back to the Middle Ages … if not earlier.
According to legend, Mestre was founded by Mesthles, a companion of Antenor, a fugitive from Troy, who founded Padua. The true origins of the town are uncertain, although it is known that there was a Roman oppidum or fortress there. The settlement was destroyed by Attila and was probably rebuilt in the 10th century.
The 18th century Duomo di Mestre or Chiesa di San Lorenzo, the Church of Saint Lawrence, is the most important church in Mestre and the religious heart of the city, with its neoclassical exterior and its original Romanesque bell tower.
The first church in the heart of Mestre was probably built in the early Middle Ages and was dedicated to Saint Lawrence the Deacon, an early martyr in Rome. When Mestre was taken by the Republic of Venice in 1337, the Church of San Lorenzo was in a serious state of decay. The town council decided to rebuild it, with the approval of the Senate in 1388. The new church was largely completed in 1398, and was finished in 1446. It was consecrated on Saint Michael’s Day, 29 September 1515.
The duomo was cramped and crumbling by 1770, when the council decided to rebuild it. The present church dates from 1781-1805. It was designed by Bernardino Maccaruzzi, who also designed the Church of San Rocco and the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice.
The neoclassical façade has statues in niches of the four evangelists by the late 16th-century sculptor Agostino Rubini, a pupil of Vittoria. The statues at the top of San Trifone, Archangel Gabriel, San Lorenzo, Archangel Michael, Santo Stefano are by Giacomo Gabardi of Venice and date back from 1804-1805.
The bronze panels of the main door are the work of Gianni Aricò, whose other works in Mestre include the fountain in the Via Piave nearby.
Inside, the church has a Latin cross plan, with a single nave. The High Altar and the altars in the nave are from the deconsecrated church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. The High Altar altarpiece by Pozzoserrato depicts the Madonna and the Christ Child with Angels and Saint Michael, Saint Lawrence and Saint Vincent. It dates from 1593 and is one of the few surviving works of the old church.
The parish was part of the Diocese of Treviso until 1927, but is now part of the Patriarchate of Venice. The duomo was restored completely in 1996.
The bell tower dates from 1515, and has a concert of three bells cast in 1925 by the Cavadini foundry in Verona. An older bell called ‘La Borromea’ was cast in 1580 was donated to the city and blessed by Saint Charles Borromeo when he stayed in Mestre.
To the right side of the church, set back and hidden by an early 20th century building, stands the Scuola dei Battuti, the oldest schola in Mestre. It was founded in 1302 and is housed in a graceful 15th century Gothic building.
The bell tower dates from 1515 and has a concert of three bells cast in 1925 by the Cavadini foundry in Verona (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
The first historical record of Mestre is in the charter of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, in which Rambald, the Count of Treviso, received land in an area named Mestre. A papal bull by Pope Eugene III in 1152 recognised the Bishop of Treviso as lord of Mestre and mentioned the Church of Saint Lawrence, an old castle (Castelvecchio) and a port.
The Bishop of Treviso granted Mestre to Alberico da Romano, the podestà of Treviso in 1257. A fire destroyed the castle in 1274, and the people of Mestre fortified the town with a palisade that became Castelnuovo, the new castle.
The Scaligeri family from Verona conquered Treviso in 1323 and so acquired Mestre. But the Venetians feared Verona’s power on the mainland and conquered Mestre in 1337. They replaced the old fortification with a brick wall with eight towers and a moat.
Unlike Venice, Mestre had no lagoon to protect it, and its fortifications were fought over, conquered, destroyed and rebuilt over the centuries. Even after the town was taken over by Venice in the 14th century, it was still at the mercy of occasional attacks from Venice’s enemies. But the port of Mestre benefited from the economic power of Venice, forming Vnice’s main connection with the mainland.
The Venetian domination of Mestre ended on 16 July 1797 when Napoleon occupied the Republic of Venice.
Mestre followed the French model, and constituted itself into a free municipality or comune in 1806. It remained so under subsequent Austrian rule and under the Kingdom of Italy after the unification of Italy. Mestre remained a comune until 1926, when it was absorbed into the Comune di Venezia, losing its separate status as a town.
A big port and industrial complex was developed on the shores of the lagoon at Porto Marghera, in the 1920s and 1930s, aiming to boost the local economy. Mestre grew as workers arrived from across Italy seeking somewhere to live and to work.
After World War II, Mestre had a fast and disorganised period of urban growth and became a large urban area, so that post-war Mestre experienced a population boom in the 1960s and 1970s fuelled mainly by the growth of the industrial zone in Marghera.
As Venetians left behind dark flats and the threats of high water and rising damp, there was more rapid growth. Mestre suffered inadequate planning control as ugly housing and industrial developments sprang up, and the population of the town grew.
The population of Mestre today is almost three times that of Venice itself. Mestre offers modern houses and apartments, with space for children to play, and families can use cars and bicycles too. There are normal shops with normal prices, including Mestre’s shopping centre, Centro Le Barche.
Mestre’s most appealing feature is the town’s main square, Piazza Ferretto. Large, long and attractive with a friendly bustle, here there are cafés to while away the morning or the afternoon.
Piazza Ferretto, with its beautifully designed water feature and sculpture at its centre, creates a relaxing atmosphere. There too is the Teatro Toniolo, a beautiful theatre that is considered an important architectural landmark. Teatro Toniolo is a centre for the arts in Mestre, with its symphonies, theatre, dance, and comic performances.
The square is pedestrianised and is surrounded by interesting and historic buildings, including the 18th century Duomo di Mestre or Chiesa di San Lorenzo, the Church of Saint Lawrence.
The restored clock tower, the Torre Civica, or the Torre dell’Orologio, at the end of the piazza is Mestre’s principal monument, and was part of the town’s original mediaeval fortifications, called the Castelnuovo, which is believed to have had more than a dozen medieval towers.
The tower dates from the 13th century and has a clock dating from the 16th century. It is 24 meters high, with its dramatic red-brick exterior accentuated by an impressive crenelated structure.
Mestre and neighbouring Carpenedo form the Municipalità di Mestre-Carpenedo, one of the six boroughs in the comune of Venice. With about 89,000 inhabitants, Mestre is the most populated of these urban centres. In contrast, about 53,000 people live in Venice itself, and about 27,700 live in the other major islands of the lagoon, Murano, Burano, Mazzorbo, Torcello, Lido and Pellestrina.
Recent attempts to regain Mestre’s autonomy in five referenda – 1979, 1989, 1994, 2003 and 2019 – have been rejected.
Many people who work in Venice each day – including many gondoliers – commute each morning from Mestre to Piazzale Roma. Mestre is linked to Venice by Ponte della Libertà, the 3.8 km railway and road bridge that crosses the lagoon. Buses run constantly between Mestre and Venice, crossing the lagoon to Piazzale Roma, Venice’s bus terminus.
The duomo looks out onto a corner of the Piazza Ferretto in Mestre (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Luke 15: 1-10 (NRSVA):
1 Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’
3 So he told them this parable: 4 ‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.
8 ‘Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.” 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’
‘The Last Supper’, one of the bronze panels of the main door by Gianni Aricò (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Today’s Prayers (Thursday 9 November 2023):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Community Health Programmes’. This theme was introduced on Sunday.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (9 November 2023) invites us to pray in these words:
Today we pray for Christians across many churches, denominations, and continents. May we work together to share the love of Jesus Christ with each other and with those who may feel outside of the Church.
The present chduomo in Mestre dates from 1781-1805 and was designed by Bernardino Maccaruzzi (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
The Collect:
Almighty and eternal God,
you have kindled the flame of love
in the hearts of the saints:
grant to us the same faith and power of love,
that, as we rejoice in their triumphs,
we may be sustained by their example and fellowship;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Lord of heaven,
in this eucharist you have brought us near
to an innumerable company of angels
and to the spirits of the saints made perfect:
as in this food of our earthly pilgrimage
we have shared their fellowship,
so may we come to share their joy in heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The restored clock tower, the Torre Civica, or the Torre dell’Orologio, is Mestre’s principal monument (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Yesterday’s Reflection
Continued Tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
Mestre has its own charm, character and history that few visitors ever appreciate (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
In this time between All Saints’ Day and Advent Sunday, we are in the Kingdom Season in the Calendar of the Church of England, and the week began with the Fourth Sunday before Advent (5 November 2023).
The Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today (9 November) remembers Margery Kempe, Mystic, ca 1440.
Before today begins, I am taking some time for prayer and reflection early this morning.
In recent prayer diaries on this blog, my reflections have already looked at a number of Italian cathedrals, including the cathedrals in Amalfi, Florence, Lucca, Noto, Pisa, Ravenna, Saint Peter’s Basilica and Saint John Lateran, Rome, Siena, Sorrento, Syracuse, Taormina, Torcello and Venice.
So, this week, my reflections look at some more Italian cathedrals, basilicas and churches in Bologna, San Marino, Pistoia, San Gimignano, Mestre, Sorrento and Ravello.
Throughout this week, my reflections each morning are following this pattern:
1, A reflection on an Italian cathedral or basilica;
2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.
Inside, the Duomo of Mestre has a Latin cross plan, with a single nave (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Duomo di Mestre or Chiesa di San Lorenzo:
For many tourists visiting Venice, Mestre is merely an affordable place to sleep and leave luggage, a convenient starting point for a day-trip to Venice. There are cheap and frequent connections to Venice by train and by bus, even through the night, and the bars, hotels, restaurants and supermarkets charge more reasonable prices – even car parking is possible.
Mestre seems to live in the shadow of Venice. Some even claim it is everything that Venice is not: modern, ugly, traffic-filled, ordinary. It often goes without appreciation, yet it has its own charm, character and history as a town that few give themselves time to appreciate.
Mestre was always overshadowed by its powerful neighbour Venice. Yet this is the most populated borough of the comune of Venice, and administratively it is part of Venice, serving as a kind of mainland suburb. Indeed, Mestre has a history that dates back to the Middle Ages … if not earlier.
According to legend, Mestre was founded by Mesthles, a companion of Antenor, a fugitive from Troy, who founded Padua. The true origins of the town are uncertain, although it is known that there was a Roman oppidum or fortress there. The settlement was destroyed by Attila and was probably rebuilt in the 10th century.
The 18th century Duomo di Mestre or Chiesa di San Lorenzo, the Church of Saint Lawrence, is the most important church in Mestre and the religious heart of the city, with its neoclassical exterior and its original Romanesque bell tower.
The first church in the heart of Mestre was probably built in the early Middle Ages and was dedicated to Saint Lawrence the Deacon, an early martyr in Rome. When Mestre was taken by the Republic of Venice in 1337, the Church of San Lorenzo was in a serious state of decay. The town council decided to rebuild it, with the approval of the Senate in 1388. The new church was largely completed in 1398, and was finished in 1446. It was consecrated on Saint Michael’s Day, 29 September 1515.
The duomo was cramped and crumbling by 1770, when the council decided to rebuild it. The present church dates from 1781-1805. It was designed by Bernardino Maccaruzzi, who also designed the Church of San Rocco and the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice.
The neoclassical façade has statues in niches of the four evangelists by the late 16th-century sculptor Agostino Rubini, a pupil of Vittoria. The statues at the top of San Trifone, Archangel Gabriel, San Lorenzo, Archangel Michael, Santo Stefano are by Giacomo Gabardi of Venice and date back from 1804-1805.
The bronze panels of the main door are the work of Gianni Aricò, whose other works in Mestre include the fountain in the Via Piave nearby.
Inside, the church has a Latin cross plan, with a single nave. The High Altar and the altars in the nave are from the deconsecrated church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. The High Altar altarpiece by Pozzoserrato depicts the Madonna and the Christ Child with Angels and Saint Michael, Saint Lawrence and Saint Vincent. It dates from 1593 and is one of the few surviving works of the old church.
The parish was part of the Diocese of Treviso until 1927, but is now part of the Patriarchate of Venice. The duomo was restored completely in 1996.
The bell tower dates from 1515, and has a concert of three bells cast in 1925 by the Cavadini foundry in Verona. An older bell called ‘La Borromea’ was cast in 1580 was donated to the city and blessed by Saint Charles Borromeo when he stayed in Mestre.
To the right side of the church, set back and hidden by an early 20th century building, stands the Scuola dei Battuti, the oldest schola in Mestre. It was founded in 1302 and is housed in a graceful 15th century Gothic building.
The bell tower dates from 1515 and has a concert of three bells cast in 1925 by the Cavadini foundry in Verona (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
The first historical record of Mestre is in the charter of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, in which Rambald, the Count of Treviso, received land in an area named Mestre. A papal bull by Pope Eugene III in 1152 recognised the Bishop of Treviso as lord of Mestre and mentioned the Church of Saint Lawrence, an old castle (Castelvecchio) and a port.
The Bishop of Treviso granted Mestre to Alberico da Romano, the podestà of Treviso in 1257. A fire destroyed the castle in 1274, and the people of Mestre fortified the town with a palisade that became Castelnuovo, the new castle.
The Scaligeri family from Verona conquered Treviso in 1323 and so acquired Mestre. But the Venetians feared Verona’s power on the mainland and conquered Mestre in 1337. They replaced the old fortification with a brick wall with eight towers and a moat.
Unlike Venice, Mestre had no lagoon to protect it, and its fortifications were fought over, conquered, destroyed and rebuilt over the centuries. Even after the town was taken over by Venice in the 14th century, it was still at the mercy of occasional attacks from Venice’s enemies. But the port of Mestre benefited from the economic power of Venice, forming Vnice’s main connection with the mainland.
The Venetian domination of Mestre ended on 16 July 1797 when Napoleon occupied the Republic of Venice.
Mestre followed the French model, and constituted itself into a free municipality or comune in 1806. It remained so under subsequent Austrian rule and under the Kingdom of Italy after the unification of Italy. Mestre remained a comune until 1926, when it was absorbed into the Comune di Venezia, losing its separate status as a town.
A big port and industrial complex was developed on the shores of the lagoon at Porto Marghera, in the 1920s and 1930s, aiming to boost the local economy. Mestre grew as workers arrived from across Italy seeking somewhere to live and to work.
After World War II, Mestre had a fast and disorganised period of urban growth and became a large urban area, so that post-war Mestre experienced a population boom in the 1960s and 1970s fuelled mainly by the growth of the industrial zone in Marghera.
As Venetians left behind dark flats and the threats of high water and rising damp, there was more rapid growth. Mestre suffered inadequate planning control as ugly housing and industrial developments sprang up, and the population of the town grew.
The population of Mestre today is almost three times that of Venice itself. Mestre offers modern houses and apartments, with space for children to play, and families can use cars and bicycles too. There are normal shops with normal prices, including Mestre’s shopping centre, Centro Le Barche.
Mestre’s most appealing feature is the town’s main square, Piazza Ferretto. Large, long and attractive with a friendly bustle, here there are cafés to while away the morning or the afternoon.
Piazza Ferretto, with its beautifully designed water feature and sculpture at its centre, creates a relaxing atmosphere. There too is the Teatro Toniolo, a beautiful theatre that is considered an important architectural landmark. Teatro Toniolo is a centre for the arts in Mestre, with its symphonies, theatre, dance, and comic performances.
The square is pedestrianised and is surrounded by interesting and historic buildings, including the 18th century Duomo di Mestre or Chiesa di San Lorenzo, the Church of Saint Lawrence.
The restored clock tower, the Torre Civica, or the Torre dell’Orologio, at the end of the piazza is Mestre’s principal monument, and was part of the town’s original mediaeval fortifications, called the Castelnuovo, which is believed to have had more than a dozen medieval towers.
The tower dates from the 13th century and has a clock dating from the 16th century. It is 24 meters high, with its dramatic red-brick exterior accentuated by an impressive crenelated structure.
Mestre and neighbouring Carpenedo form the Municipalità di Mestre-Carpenedo, one of the six boroughs in the comune of Venice. With about 89,000 inhabitants, Mestre is the most populated of these urban centres. In contrast, about 53,000 people live in Venice itself, and about 27,700 live in the other major islands of the lagoon, Murano, Burano, Mazzorbo, Torcello, Lido and Pellestrina.
Recent attempts to regain Mestre’s autonomy in five referenda – 1979, 1989, 1994, 2003 and 2019 – have been rejected.
Many people who work in Venice each day – including many gondoliers – commute each morning from Mestre to Piazzale Roma. Mestre is linked to Venice by Ponte della Libertà, the 3.8 km railway and road bridge that crosses the lagoon. Buses run constantly between Mestre and Venice, crossing the lagoon to Piazzale Roma, Venice’s bus terminus.
The duomo looks out onto a corner of the Piazza Ferretto in Mestre (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Luke 15: 1-10 (NRSVA):
1 Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’
3 So he told them this parable: 4 ‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.
8 ‘Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.” 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’
‘The Last Supper’, one of the bronze panels of the main door by Gianni Aricò (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Today’s Prayers (Thursday 9 November 2023):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Community Health Programmes’. This theme was introduced on Sunday.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (9 November 2023) invites us to pray in these words:
Today we pray for Christians across many churches, denominations, and continents. May we work together to share the love of Jesus Christ with each other and with those who may feel outside of the Church.
The present chduomo in Mestre dates from 1781-1805 and was designed by Bernardino Maccaruzzi (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
The Collect:
Almighty and eternal God,
you have kindled the flame of love
in the hearts of the saints:
grant to us the same faith and power of love,
that, as we rejoice in their triumphs,
we may be sustained by their example and fellowship;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Lord of heaven,
in this eucharist you have brought us near
to an innumerable company of angels
and to the spirits of the saints made perfect:
as in this food of our earthly pilgrimage
we have shared their fellowship,
so may we come to share their joy in heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The restored clock tower, the Torre Civica, or the Torre dell’Orologio, is Mestre’s principal monument (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Yesterday’s Reflection
Continued Tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
Mestre has its own charm, character and history that few visitors ever appreciate (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
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