Daily prayer in Advent 2025: 19, Thursday 18 December 2025

‘When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him’ (Matthew 1: 24) … a mosaic in the Cathedral of Christ the King, Mullingar, Co Westmeath (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in the final days of the Season of Advent, and Christmas Day is just a week away. This week began with the Third Sunday of Advent (Advent III, 14 December 2025), also known as Gaudete Sunday.

We are catching a train to London later this morning for some pre-Christmas family meetings and perhaps lunch together. But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

The betrothal of Saint Joseph and the Virgin Mary … a panel in the Saint Joseph Window by the Harry Clarke studios in the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Kilmallock, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 1: 18-24 (NRSVA):

18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ 22 All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

23 ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel’,

which means, ‘God is with us.’ 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife.

Saint Joseph with the Christ Child … a statue at Saint Joseph’s Cathedral, Kuching (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Today’s Reflections:

In the Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Matthew 1: 18-24), we continue in a series of readings before Christmas that draw on the two nativity narratives found in Matthew 1: 1-24 and Luke 1: 5-79.

During the week before Christmas, the great canticle Magnificat at Evensong traditionally has a refrain or antiphon attached to it proclaiming the ascriptions or ‘names’ given to God through the Old Testament. Each name develops into a prophecy of the coming of the Messiah.

The Advent carol O come, O come, Emmanuel is a popular reworking of the seven ‘O Antiphons’.

O Sapientia, or O Wisdom, is the first of these days, and was marked yesterday (17 December). It is followed today (18 December) by O Adonai, O Root of Jesse tomorrow (19 December), and then O Key of David, O Dayspring, O King of the Nations, and, finally on 23 December, O Emmanuel.

In the old Sarum rite, these were sung one day earlier, beginning on 16 December, requiring another ascription for 23 December, this being O Virgin of Virgins. Since this was clearly apposite to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and not a ‘title’ of God, it was not adopted much beyond Sarum and, with the revision of the Calendar, Anglicans have adopted the more widely-used formulæ and dating.

The seven majestic Messianic titles for Christ are based on Biblical prophecies, and they help the Church to recall the variety of the ills of humanity before the coming of the Redeemer as each antiphon in turn pleads with mounting impatience for Christ to save his people.

The Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Matthew 1: 18-24), continues the Nativity narrative in the first Gospel. This is a reading about choices, about obedience to God’s plans, and about the fulfilment of God’s plans for all nations.

So often we talk about the Virgin Mary and her obedience, about Mary’s ‘Yes’ to the birth of Christ But it means Joseph is often pushed to the side of the stage. Joseph says ‘Yes’ too, but he says it silently; he has no scripted lines; he has no dramatic part or role; he is mute; but he is obedient.

And, like the earlier Joseph, his Biblical namesake, he too is dreamer of dreams and a doer of deeds.

Saint Matthew’s nativity story lacks the romantic imagery of Saint Luke’s account, whose heady mixture of heavenly angels with earthy shepherds is missing. Instead, the hope of all the earth takes shape under the sign of arrangements being made for a betrothal that is apparently violated. The gifts of God’s grace and the promise of God’s reign are hidden, are to be searched for and to be found in the midst of what appears be a tawdry story.

The Virgin Mary may have been a mere teenager at the time, just 14 or 15. And, like so many other teenage brides, she turns up for her wedding – pregnant! Joseph knows he could not possibly be the father. He decides to do the right thing and take off, quietly dropping out of the arrangement.

If Joseph goes ahead, then this child is going to be known in his family, among his neighbours, perhaps by everyone who needs to know, as illegitimate for the rest of his life. His critics indelicately remind Jesus of this in Saint John’s Gospel: ‘You are indeed doing what your father does.’ They said to him, ‘We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself’ (John 8: 41). The original Greek is more direct, crude and blunt: they taunt him that they were not conceived through illicit intercourse.

These fears and sneers, those social judgments and wagging fingers, must have been confronting Joseph like a nightmare. Yet the angel of Joseph’s dream makes a startling suggestion. He tells him to marry Mary, and then he is to name the child. To take on naming the child requires becoming his father. And this is suggested not as a nice thing to do, a courteous thing to do, a gallant or gentlemanly sort of thing to do. Joseph is told why: ‘You are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins’ (verse 21).

It is not a promise of immediate reward. Joseph is not promised that if he does this he is going to earn points towards the forgiveness of his own sins; that God will see him as a nice guy; that unexpected prosperity is on the horizon; or even that if he lives long enough, this child may grow up, be apprenticed to him, take over the family business, and act as a future pension plan.

If Joseph is not the father of the Child Jesus, he must have wondered what the angel meant by ‘his people’ and ‘their sins.’ But the forgiveness here is spoken of in apocalyptic terms. It is the declaration of a new future. To be forgiven is to receive a future. Forgiveness breaks the simple link between cause and effect, action and reaction, failure and disaster, rebellion and recrimination.

Advent is a time of repentance, forgiveness and expectation. It is a time of preparation, anticipation and hope. It is a time for dreaming dreams, and putting behind us all our nightmares.

Joseph dreams something wonderful. God would enter the world; God would be born to his new, young wife, Mary. But to believe this, Joseph had to trust not only his dream, but to trust Mary, to trust the future child, to trust God.

Do you love the people you trust and trust the people you love?

To trust the Virgin Mary, Joseph must have truly loved her. But trust in this predicament must have gone beyond trust. Joseph must have truly glimpsed what it is to trust God, to have hope in God, to love God, to have faith in God.

Joseph dreams a dream not of his own salvation, but of the salvation of the world.

Sometimes, like Joseph, we are supposed to trust God and then get out of the way. Do you trust that God is working through the people you love? Do you trust that God is working through people you find it difficult not to love but merely to like … working through God’s people for their salvation?

Too often we forget about poor Joseph. We tend to focus on the story of the Virgin Mary, but the Annunciation occurs not just to Mary, but to Joseph too. And they both say ‘Yes.’

And Joseph says a second ‘Yes’ too later when he agrees to the angel’s prompting to flee with Mary and the Christ Child to Egypt.

Joseph listens, God sends a messenger again, Joseph dreams again, and he remains true to God, he answers God’s call.

Joseph has no speaking part; he just has a walk-on part in this drama. But his actions, his obedience to God’s call, speak louder than words. Yes, God appears over and over again, to men, women, to ‘all sorts and conditions of people.’

Joseph’s ‘Yes’ is not only a ‘Yes’ to the Christ Child but a ‘Yes’ to all children who seem unwanted and who are easily pushed to one side. Joseph’s ‘Yes’ is not only a ‘Yes’ to the Christ Child but a ‘Yes’ to the promises the Coming Christ brings to all who are marginalised and in danger today, for because of his ‘Yes’ God is among us.

Advent is an opportunity to echo that ‘Yes’, time and time again.

Mary’s ‘husband Joseph [was] a righteous man’ (Matthew 1: 8-19) … Joseph and the Christ Child depicted at Saint Joseph’s Cottage in Thame, Oxfordshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 18 December 2025):

The theme this week (14 to 20 December 2025) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘The Floating Church’ (pp 10-11). This theme was introduced on Sunday with a Programme Update by Sister Veronica of the Community of the Sisters of the Church in Melanesia.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 18 December 2025) invites us to pray:

We pray for the Sisters as they travel across the islands by boat, canoe, and on foot. May their journeys be safe, and may their pastoral care, Scripture teaching, and witness bring encouragement to isolated communities.

The Collect:

O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

We give you thanks, O Lord, for these heavenly gifts;
kindle in us the fire of your Spirit
that when your Christ comes again
we may shine as lights before his face;
who is alive and reigns now and for ever.

Additional Collect:

God for whom we watch and wait,
you sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of your Son:
give us courage to speak the truth,
to hunger for justice,
and to suffer for the cause of right,
with Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

Saint Joseph depicted in a stained-glass window in Saint Joseph’s Cathedral, Kuching (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

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

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2025: 140, Monday 29 September 2025, Saint Michael and All Angels

‘Archangel Michael The Protector’ by Emily Young at Saint Pancras Church, London … today is the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar. This week began with the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XV, 28 September 2025) and today the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels (29 September).

This morning, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time to give thanks, and for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

Angel I by Emily Young (2003), Paternoster Square, London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 4: 47-51 (NRSVA):

47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said of him, ‘Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’ 48 Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you come to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.’ 49 Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ 50 Jesus answered, ‘Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.’ 51 And he said to him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’

Angel II by Emily Young (2003), Paternoster Square, London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

Like many people, I never cease to be fascinated by the Caryatids that make Saint Pancras Church facing Euston Station in London a unique and captivating church. But I wonder how many miss the opportunity to appreciate Emily Young’s ‘Archangel Michael The Protector’ in the church gardens.

‘Archangel Michael The Protector’ is in onyx and can be viewed in the church grounds from Upper Woburn Place, around the corner from Euston Road. An inscription on a plaque between the sculpture and the railings reads: ‘In memory of the victims of the 7th July 2005 bombings and all victims of violence. ‘I will lift up my eyes unto the hills’ Psalm 121.’

Nothing moves in this image, a silent reminder of what is being commemorated in the sculpture. Because Saint Michael’s face has only one eye, and this is closed, some critics have wondered whether the quotation is ill-chosen. But the full context is provided in Psalm 121: 1-2:

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills –
from where will my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

The London bombings twenty years ago on 7 July 2005, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of four co-ordinated suicide attacks that targeted commuters on the public transport system in the morning rush hour.

Three homemade bombs packed into backpacks were detonated in quick succession on Underground trains on the Circle line near Aldgate and at Edgware Road, and on the Piccadilly line near Russell Square; later, a fourth bomb went off on a bus in Tavistock Square, near Upper Woburn Place and Saint Pancras Church.

Apart from the four bombers, 52 people of 18 different nationalities were killed and more than 700 people were injured in the attacks. It was Britain’s deadliest terrorist incident since the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 near Lockerbie, and the first Islamist suicide attack in the UK.

Emily Young has been described as ‘Britain’s foremost female stone sculptor’ and ‘Britain’s greatest living stone sculptor.’ On different occasions, as I have strolled through London, I stopped and taken time at an open-air exhibition at ENO Southbank of works by Emily Young.

A number of her works have formed a sculpture trail or garden at the NEO Bankside development on South Bank in ‘Emily Young: Sculptor Trail.’ The exhibition was both a continuation and a broadening of her presence on the South Bank, echoing three large-scale works on long-loan facing the Tate Modern from NEO Bankside.

Emily Young’s sculptures of five angel heads in stone stand on five columns in Saint Paul’s Churchyard, London. The sequence of heads are mounted on columns under the arcade of a new classical-inspired building to the north west side of Saint Paul's, redeveloped as part of the redesign of Paternoster Square at the top of Ludgate Hill.

Her five angels’ heads are placed dramatically on columns in the arcade of Juxon House and almost face the west front of Saint Paul’s Cathedral.

Emily Young’s works are instantly recognisable and accessible. She deals in spectacular lumps of stone – quartzite, onyx, marble, alabaster – to which she gives an identity by carving a face but leaving the remainder of the rock displayed in its raw, craggy intensity, as if the face had grown or evolved organically. The Financial Times says: ‘Her sculptures meditate on time, nature, memory, man’s relationship to the Earth.’

xxx Emily Young was born in London in 1951 into a family of writers, artists and politicians. Her grandmother, the sculptor Kathleen Scott (1878-1947), was a colleague of Auguste Rodin, and the widow of the Polar explorer, Captain Robert Falcon Scott, ‘Scott of the Antarctic’. Her works included a statue of Edward Smith, the captain of the Titanic, now in Beacon Park, Lichfield. She later married Emily Young’s paternal grandfather, the politician and writer Edward Hilton Young, 1st Lord Kennet.

Emily Young’s father, Wayland Hilton Young, 2nd Lord Kennet, was also a politician, conservationist and writer. Her mother was the writer and commentator Elizabeth Young; her uncle was the ornithologist, conservationist and painter, Sir Peter Scott.

She was still a student when she achieved fame (or notoriety) in 1971 as the inspiration for the Pink Floyd song See Emily Play written by Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd. But the song had earlier origins in the 1960s. She was 15 when she met Syd Barrett at the London Free School in 1965. ‘I used to go there because there were a lot of Beat philosophers and poets around,’ she said many years later. ‘There were fundraising concerts with The Pink Floyd Sound, as they were then called. I was more keen on poets than rockers. I was educating myself. I was a seeker. I wanted to meet everyone and take every drug.’

As a young woman, Emily Young worked primarily as a painter while she was studying at Chelsea School of Art in 1968 and later at Central Saint Martins. She travelled around the world in the late 1960s and 1970s, spending time in the US, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, France, Italy, Africa, South America, the Middle East and China, encountering a variety of cultures and developing her experiences of art.

In the early 1980s, she abandoned painting and turned to carving, sourcing stone from all over the world. Travelling from a London childhood, to a European education, to a life lived as an artist round the world, she began to interact with the timeless quality of stone to produce breath-taking sculptures of luminous intensity and great beauty.

As well as marble, she carves in semi-precious stone – agate, alabaster, lapis lazuli. These not only reflect and refract the light – but glow with a passionate intensity (as Winged Golden Onyx Head), revealing the hidden crystalline structure of the material and the subtle layers the time has laid down, showing the liquid qualities of hard rock.

The primary objective of her sculpture is to bring the natural beauty and energy of stone to the fore. Her sculptures have unique characters because each stone has an individual geological history and geographical source. Her approach allows the viewer to comprehend a deep grounding across time, land and cultures. She combines traditional carving skills with technology to produce work that is both contemporary and ancient, with a unique, serious and poetic presence.

Emily Young now divides her time between studios in London and Italy. Her permanent installations and public collections can be seen in many places, including Saint Paul’s Churchyard, Saint Pancras Church, NEO Bankside, and the Imperial War Museum in London; La Defense, Paris; Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire; the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester; and the Cloister of Madonna Dell’Orto, Venice.

After years of being feted as ‘Britain’s foremost female stone sculptor,’ the art critic of the Financial Times called her ‘Britain’s greatest living stone sculptor.’ The Daily Telegraph has written: ‘Emily Young has inherited the mantle as Britain’s greatest female stone sculptor from Dame Barbara Hepworth.’

She recently explained: ‘So my work is a kind of temple activity now, devotional; when I work a piece of stone, the mineral occlusions of the past are revealed, the layers of sediment unpeeled; I may open in one knock something that took millions of years to form: dusts settling, water dripping, forces pushing, minerals growing – material and geological revelations: the story of time on Earth shows here, sometimes startling, always beautiful.’

She told an interviewer: ‘I carve in stone the fierce need in millions of us to retrieve some semblance of dignity for the human race in its place on Earth. We can show ourselves to posterity as a primitive and brutal life form – that what we are best at is rapacity, greed, and wilful ignorance, and we can also show that we are creatures of great love for our whole planet, that everyone of us is a worshipper in her temple of life.’

Angel III by Emily Young (2003), Paternoster Square, London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Monday 29 September 2025, Saint Michael and All Angels):

The theme this week (28 September to 4 October) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘One Faith: Many Voices’ (pp 42-43). This theme was introduced yesterday with Reflections from Rachel Weller, Communications Officer, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Monday 29 September 2025, Saint Michael and All Angels) invites us to pray in these words:

O God, who has given us the feast of Saint Michael and All Angels, grant us your protection and guidance. May we, with the help of your heavenly hosts, stand firm in the faith and be strong in your service.

Angel IV by Emily Young (2003), Paternoster Square, London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Collect:

Everlasting God,
you have ordained and constituted
the ministries of angels and mortals in a wonderful order:
grant that as your holy angels always serve you in heaven,
so, at your command,
they may help and defend us on earth;
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.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

Angel V by Emily Young (2003), Paternoster Square, London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

‘Archangel Michael The Protector’ by Emily Young in the gardens of Saint Pancras Church near Euston Station (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Inspiring a composer’s ‘Epiphanies’ before this 40-day season draws to a close

‘And three trees on the low sky’ (TS Eliot, ‘The Journey of the Magi’) … three trees against the setting sun in winter on Cross in Hand Lane, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The season of Christmas and Epiphany comes to an end tomorrow with the celebration of the Feast of the Presentation or Candlemas (2 February). Many churches celebrated moved these celebrations to Sunday (28 January), for understandable practical and pastoral considerations. But that also means people often miss out on the significance of the season having a full 40 days – just as Lent is a season of 40 days.

The Epiphany events might better be described as epiphanies, as they include three major epiphanies recounted in the Gospel readings that are traditionally read during the Sundays throughout the season: the Visit of the Magi, the Baptism of Christ by Saint John the Baptist, and the Wedding at Cana.

The Epiphany readings became part of my readings, reflections and prayers in my prayer diary each morning throughout this season. On the Day of Epiphany (6 January 2024), my reflections on my prayer diary also discussed TS Eliot’s poem, ‘The Journey of the Magi.’

So it was a delightful surprise a few days later to find once again that my reflections had inspired the American composer Fran Schultz, a long-standing Facebook friend who lives in Howell, New Jersey. She described my Epiphany blog posting and my interpretation of Eliot’s poem as an ‘insightful’ and ‘inspirational piece’.

She went on to say: ‘I think his writing inspired me to make the music and to present the theme in a new light.’

Fran composed ‘Epiphanies’ on the night of 6 January 2024 and released it a week later, on 13 January 2024. She describes this composition as in the genre of pop, symphonic and soundscape. The recording includes Orchestral Strings, String Movements, Warm Synth Pad Future Strings and Percussions.

Later, she said: ‘Thanks so much Patrick. Thank heavens for the wisdom you provide.’

Last year, Fran said my writing and ideas had inspired another composition and recording, ‘How Many Angels Can Dance on the Head of a Pin.’ On her website, she was generous when she extended ‘special thanks to Patrick Comerford for his writing and his allowing me use of his photos.’

She introduced that new piece saying ‘How Many Angels Can Dance on the Head of a Pin’ was ‘very inspired’ by a recent piece I had written and that she wrote that piece of music because of my ‘inspirational writing.’

She added: ‘I also enjoyed reading all the links he provided about the artist, Emily Young, his thoughts and quotes by her.’

She continued: ‘The connection point for me in his writing was immediate in his succinct and direct insightful recognition of such questions and in my seeing how in social media distracts us into questions that are essentially “A metaphor for wasting time discussing trivial topics that have no practical value, or asking questions whose answers hold no practical value, or asking questions whose answers hold no consequence, at times when we have more urgent concerns to debate”.’

She was unexpectedly generous when she says my ‘writing has many layers of depth to it that I particularly am drawn to in the subjects of architecture, sculptures, history, theology, questions, the deeper meaning of things and the beauty of things we might not have noticed or fully appreciated before. I love his thoughtful responses to the questions and what brought those very questions up upon reflecting the sculptures made by Emily Young as he was taking a walk in London … and taking photos. Hope you enjoy his writing and enjoy my music too!’

And she then offered a link to my website and my posting on 25 February 2023, ‘Emily Young’s Five Angels on Columns,’ HERE.

You can listen to Fran Schultz’s composition, ‘Epiphanies’, HERE.

Epiphanies © 2024 Fran Schultz

Saint Michael’s Church in St Albans is the most significant surviving Saxon building in Hertfordshire

Saint Michael’s Church, St Albans, is the best-preserved Saxon building in Hertfordshire and the most significant surviving Anglo-Saxon building in England (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

Saint Michael’s Church on the western edges of St Albans in Hertfordshire is near the centre of the site of Roman Verulamium, the Roman Theatre and the Verulamium Museum.

Saint Michael’s Church is the best-preserved Saxon building in Hertfordshire, and many regard it as the most significant surviving Anglo-Saxon building in England.

Saint Michael’s Church was built in the 10th century on the site of the basilica, the headquarters of Roman Verulamium. It may have been here that Saint Alban was tried for being a Christian before he was executed outside the town walls, perhaps where St Albans Abbey now stands.

According to the 13th century chronicler Matthew Paris, Wulsin (or Ulsinus), Abbot of St Alban’s Abbey, founded a church on each of the three main roads into the town in the year 948 – Saint Michael’s, Saint Peter’s and Saint Stephen’s – to serve pilgrims on their way to the shrine of Saint Alban.

However, Wulsin may have been abbot ca 860-880, and the earliest parts of Saint Michael’s are at least a century later. The church certainly dates from the late Anglo-Saxon era and there may have been an earlier wooden church on the site.

Inside Saint Michael’s Church, facing the east end (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

A stone church was built on a simple plan in the late 10th or early 11th century, with a chancel and a nave. The building includes much Roman material salvaged or purloined from the surrounding Roman ruins of Verulamium, including Roman brick used in the splays of the nave windows.

A north aisle and then a south aisle were added in the early 12th century. They were linked with the nave by arcades of plain round-headed arches cut in the north and south walls of the nave, leaving sections of the Saxon wall as piers. The arcades do not match: the earlier north arcade has three bays spaced irregularly; the later south arcade was built with four bays. The round-headed Norman window at the east end of the north aisle may also date from the 12th century.

When the aisles were added, the church became much darker inside. A clerestory with six Early English lancet windows on each side was added to the nave in the 13th century to increase the amount of natural light. Another Early English lancet window from this period survives in the north wall of the chancel.

Efforts were made to stabilise the south aisle when it became unstable, but it was demolished at a later date.

Inside Saint Michael’s Church, facing the west end (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The south chapel was added in the 13th century, and the easternmost arch of the south aisle became the entrance to the chapel. Three of the chapel’s windows are round-headed 13th century late Norman arches: two in the east wall and one in the south wall.

The south chapel is taller than the nave, so the more easterly windows on the south side of the clerestory now look into the chapel instead of outside. The church may also have been given a west tower in the 13th century.

The chancel and the north aisle were rebuilt ca 1340 and the chancel arch was enlarged. The Decorated east window, an ogee-headed south window and matching tomb recess in the chancel, and one of the windows in the north aisle, all date from this time.

Three of the single lancets on the north side of the clerestory were replaced in the 15th century with two-light square-headed windows, two large windows were inserted in the south wall of the south chapel and one in the south wall of the chancel.

The piscinas in the chancel and south chapel, and the octagonal font also date from the 15th century. The font is now known to have been carved from a single piece of stone. The 13th-century clerestory was given a new roof on stone corbels late in the 15th century.

Mediaeval wall paintings in the south chancel and the Ascension window by Burlison and Gryllis in Saint Michael’s Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Also in the 15th century, a wooden tympanum was inserted in the 14th-century chancel arch and a ‘Doom’ was painted on it, spreading over the upper part of the east wall of the nave. A rood screen was added to the chancel arch at that time. It has since been removed, but stone stairs to it survive on the south side of the arch next to the south chapel.

The tower may have been remodelled in the late 15th or early 16th century. In its final form it had paired bell-openings, an embattled parapet and a polygonal stair-turret that was taller than the tower. A late Perpendicular west window of three lights was inserted in the west wall of the nave, probably early in the 16th century.

St Alban’s Abbey was suppressed in 1539 at the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The patronage of Saint Michael’s then passed from the abbey to the nearby Gorhambury Estate. One of the owners of Gorhambury was the Tudor politician, author, philosopher and early scientist Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626).

The 17th century monument in the chancel to Francis Bacon who died in 1626 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The most significant 17th century monument in Saint Michael’s is the monument to Francis Bacon, Viscount St Alban, who died in 1626. It is in a round-arched recess inserted in the north wall of the chancel.

Bacon had a successful political career, becoming Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England before being forced out of office on charges of corruption. He then retired to Gorhambury, outside St Albans, where he devoted his time to the study of philosophy and developed what became known as the scientific method, the basis for modern science.

The monument is a life-sized sculpture showing Bacon sitting in an armchair in a relaxed pose. The sculptor may have been Nicholas Stone. A copy of the statue sculpted by Henry Weekes (1845) is in the chapel in Trinity College, Cambridge.

The octagonal font, wooden pulpit and Victorian pews in Saint Michael’s Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Saint Michael’s present wooden pulpit, tester and altar table date from the late 16th or early 17th century. The east wall of the south chapel may have been rebuilt in the early 17th century. Between its two lancet windows is a circular one that may date from this time. The present roof of the south chapel may also date from the 17th century.

The royal coat of arms on the west wall of the Lady Chapel dates from the reign of Charles II.

A west gallery was inserted in the nave late in the 17th century, and box pews were also added.

The church was restored in 1866 by Sir George Gilbert Scott. He had the box pews and west gallery removed and added the Gothic Revival south porch, which uses one of the 12th-century arches of the former south aisle.

The 19th century oak pews date largely from Scott’s reordering in the 1860s, and some incorporate late mediaeval or early modern linenfold panelling.

The south chapel or Lady Chapel in Saint Michael’s Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe, who left his mark on St Albans Cathedral at the same time, remodelled the west end of Saint Michael’s in 1896-1898 to his own designs and at his own expense. When he had the west tower demolished, the possible 13th century origins of the tower were discovered under its late Perpendicular external fabric.

Grimthorpe replaced the tower with a northwest tower in a ‘fanciful’ Gothic Revival interpretation of Early English Gothic. He extended the nave to the west, demolishing its old west wall and late Perpendicular west window, and also added a vestry on the site of the south aisle.

During these Victorian-era restorations, the 15th-century tympanum was taken down and the rest of the ‘Doom’ painting was obliterated.

The architect John C Rogers carried out further restoration work in 1934-1935 and added a second vestry on the north side of the chancel in 1938.

As well as Francis Bacon’s monument, Saint Michael's has some notable monumental brasses, including a 14th-century brass to John Pecock and his wife Maud in the south chapel.

Nathaniel Westlake’s window in the south chancel illustrates verses in the canticle ‘Te Deum’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The oldest glass in the church dates from the 17th century, and is a 13th century lancet window on the north side of the chancel, beside the Bacon monument. It may have come from the chapel in Gorhambury House. It shows the impaled heraldic arms of local families: Grimston impaling Croke, Grimston and Bacon impaling Cooke.

The other stained glass is mainly Victorian and the windows include:

Clayton and Bell: the Transfiguration (east window).

Burlison and Gryllis: the Ascension (south chancel); the visit of the Magi (north aisle); the Nativity (north aisle).

Nathaniel Westlake: a couple receiving Holy Communion at their wedding (bottom right), a woman and child by a man’s deathbed (bottom left), and above an illustration of words in the canticle Te Deum, ‘Make them to be humbled with thy saints in glory everlasting’ and ‘The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge Thee’ (south chancel).

Ward and Hughes: two lancets showing the Beatitudes and a roundel with the Star of David (Lady Chapel, east end); Christ blessing the children (Lady Chapel, south wall); early events in the life of Christ, including the Wedding at Cana, the Presentation in the Temple, and the visit of the shepherds (Lady Chapel, south wall); Christ carrying the Cross and the angels announcing the Resurrection (Lady Chapel, south wall).

Hardman: Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead (north aisle); Saint Peter and Saint Paul (north facing clerestory); Saint Alban and Saint Stephen (north facing clerestory).

The west window, installed in 1866 and moved to its present place in 1899, depicts the three archangels, Gabriel, Michael and Rapael.

The surviving section of the ‘Doom’ painting is painted on a semi-circular section of wood (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

For me, though, the most fascinating survivals in the church are three remnants of mediaeval painting. One of the timber roof beams is painted, as well as a lancet window embrasure in the nave. But the most interesting painting is a section of a ‘Doom’, a depiction of the Day of Judgement painted on a semi-circular section of wood.

The Doom, dated to the 15th century, acted as a tympanum at the top of the chancel arch. The Doom was boarded over at the Reformation and was covered by layers of lime wash. It was only rediscovered in 1808 during building work. The entire scene was sketched, and the tympanum rescued, before the arch was rebuilt in its present form.

A tapestry on the south wall depicts the 1808 drawing of the entire Doom painting. As for the tympanum, it shows six figures rising up from their coffins on the Day of Judgment. Two of the figures wear a crown and another appears to be wearing a bishop’s mitre.

Saint Michael’s has been a Grade I listed building since 1950 because of its extensive late Anglo-Saxon fabric, the phases of expansion in the High Middle Ages, the 15th century nave roof, the tympanum with surviving part of the 15th century Doom painting, the late Elizabethan or early Jacobean pulpit, and Bacon’s Jacobean monument.

The three archangels, Saint Michael (centre), Saint Gabriel and Saint Rapael, in the west window in Saint Michael’s Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

• The Revd Jonny Lloyd, former Minor Canon and Precentor of St Albans, is the Vicar of Saint Michael’s. Sunday services are at 8 am, Said Eucharist; 9:30 am, the Parish Eucharist; with a mid-week Eucharist on Wednesdays at 10:30. The church is open daily.

Saint Michael’s Church is open daily (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Daily prayers in Advent with Leonard Cohen and USPG: (19) 21 December 2023

‘And twenty-seven angels from the Great Beyond … In the Tower of Song’ (Leonard Cohen) … angels in a window by Ninian Comper in the south porch in Saint Mary’s Church, Bletchley (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

We are in the final stages of countdown to Christmas, with just four days to go to Christmas Day. The last week of Advent began on Sunday with the Third Sunday of Advent or Gaudete Sunday (17 December 2023), and this is a very short Advent this year.

Before today begins, I am taking some time for prayer, reflection and reading this morning.

Throughout Advent this year, my reading and reflection each day includes a poem or song by Leonard Cohen. These Advent reflections are following this pattern:

1, A reflection on a poem or song by Leonard Cohen;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

‘I’m just paying my rent every day / In the Tower of Song’ (Leonard Cohen) … the Shard at London Bridge at night (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Songs and Poems of Leonard Cohen: 19, ‘Tower of Song’:

‘Tower of Song’ by Leonard Cohen is the keynote work on his 1988 album I’m Your Man. In a readers’ poll in 2014, Rolling Stone listed it as the eighth favourite Cohen song.

The origins of ‘Tower of Song’ are described in Ira Nadel's Cohen memoir Various Positions (1996). Cohen wanted to ‘make a definitive statement about the heroic enterprise of the craft’ of songwriting. In the early 1980s, he called the work ‘Raise My Voice in Song.’ His concern was with the ageing songwriter, and the ‘necessity to transcend one’s own failure by manifesting as the singer, as the songwriter.’

Cohen had abandoned the song, but then one night in Montreal he finished the lyrics, called an engineer and recorded it in one take with a toy synthesiser.

Cohen later revised the song, which contains the self-deprecating claim,

I was born like this, I had no choice
I was born with the gift of a golden voice.

Cohen was constantly aware of his reputation as a ‘flat singer’ among critics. But his audiences responded with warmth and humour when he sang or spoke these lines in his concerts.

Cohen admired for Hank Williams, a songwriter he refers to in the song, describing how, when they are both dead and have passed to the their eternal reward, Hank Williams is ‘coughing all night long … a hundred floors above me.’

The lyrics also hint at Cohen’s social conscience, and his engagement with the Jewish mystical concept of tikkum olam or divine justice:

The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And there’s a mighty judgement coming

In this song, he also expresses his religious hopes for eternal life, not just for himself but also for these he loves and has loved in the past:

I see you standing on the other side
I don’t know how the river got so wide
I loved you baby, way back when
And all the bridges are burning that we might have crossed
But I feel so close to everything that we lost
We’ll never, we'll never have to lose it again

Now I bid you farewell, I don’t know when I’ll be back
They’re moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track
But you’ll be hearing from me baby, long after I’m gone
I’ll be speaking to you sweetly from a window
In the Tower of Song

Cohen recited the lyrics of Tower of Song’ in full when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

‘Tower of Song’ has been covered by many artists, notably on the tribute albums I’m Your Fan, with separate covers by Robert Forster and by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and on Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man, with separate covers by Martha Wainwright and U2.

The song appears on Marianne Faithfull’s album Vagabond Ways and on Tom Jones’s album Spirit in the Room. Shaar Hashomayim Choir, Willie Nelson, Céline Dion, Peter Gabriel and Chris Martin performed the song at the concert Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen, in Montreal in 2017.

Tower of Song: The Songs of Leonard Cohen is a tribute album to Leonard Cohen, released in on A&M Records in 1995. It takes its name from this song by Cohen on his album I’m Your Man. Oddly, though, the song ‘Tower of Song’ does not actually appear on this tribute album.

The tribute album Tower of Song included Elton John, Sting with the Chieftains, Billy Joel, Peter Gabriel and Bono of U2. The album was the initiative of by Cohen’s manager, Kelley Lynch, who, a decade later, was found liable for fraud, having drained almost all of Cohen’s life savings.

‘I don’t know how the river got so wide … And all the bridges are burning that we might have crossed’ (Leonard Cohen) … London Bridge and the River Thames at night (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Leonard Cohen, Tower of Song:

Well my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I’m crazy for love but I’m not coming on
I’m just paying my rent every day
In the Tower of Song

I said to Hank Williams, ‘How lonely does it get?’
Hank Williams hasn’t answered yet
But I hear him coughing all night long
Oh, a hundred floors above me
In the Tower of Song

I was born like this, I had no choice
I was born with the gift of a golden voice
And twenty-seven angels from the Great Beyond
They tied me to this table right here
In the Tower of Song

So you can stick your little pins in that voodoo doll
I’m very sorry, baby, doesn’t look like me at all
I’m standing by the window where the light is strong
Ah they don’t let a woman kill you
Not in the Tower of Song

Now you can say that I’ve grown bitter but of this you may be sure
The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And there’s a mighty judgement coming, but I may be wrong
You see, you hear these funny voices
In the Tower of Song

[Bridge]

I see you standing on the other side
I don’t know how the river got so wide
I loved you baby, way back when
And all the bridges are burning that we might have crossed
But I feel so close to everything that we lost
We’ll never, we’ll never have to lose it again

Now I bid you farewell, I don’t know when I’ll be back They’re moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track
But you’ll be hearing from me baby, long after I’m gone
I’ll be speaking to you sweetly from a window
In the Tower of Song

Yeah my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I’m crazy for love but I’m not coming on
I’m just paying my rent every day
In the Tower of Song.

‘Mary set out and … she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth’ (Luke 1: 39-40) … the Visitation in the triptych in the Lady Chapel in Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 1: 39-45 (NRSVA):

39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’

The Presentation depicted in a window in Saint Mary the Great Church, Saffron Walden (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 21 December 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 ‘The Joy of Advent.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (21 December 2023) invites us to pray in these words:

We ask you God to heal us, restore our relationships, and finish Your good work in us. Mend this broken world so joy can be felt by all nations.

The Collect:

O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

We give you thanks, O Lord, for these heavenly gifts;
kindle in us the fire of your Spirit
that when your Christ comes again
we may shine as lights before his face;
who is alive and reigns now and for ever.

Additional Collect:

God for whom we watch and wait,
you sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of your Son:
give us courage to speak the truth,
to hunger for justice,
and to suffer for the cause of right,
with Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

Leonard Cohen, ‘Tower of Song,’ Live in London

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

Daily prayers in Ordinary Time with USPG: (135) 10 October 2023

The tower of Saint Michael’s Church is incorporated into the Synod Hall beside Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and the week began with the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVIII, 8 October 2023).

Today, the Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship remembers the lives and witness of Paulinus (644), Bishop of York and Missionary, and Thomas Traherne (1674), Poet and Spiritual Writer.

Later today, I have a post-stroke consultation with the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. But, before the day begins, I am taking some time early this morning for prayer and reflection.

The Church recently celebrated Saint Michael and All Angels last month (29 September). So in my reflections each morning this week I am continuing the Michaelmas theme of the last two weeks in this way:

1, A reflection on a church named after Saint Michael or his depiction in Church Art;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Saint Michael’s Church on High Street, Dublin, gave its name to one of three prebendal stalls in Christ Church Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Saint Michael’s Church, High Street, Dublin:

Saint Michael’s Church on High Street, Dublin, which gave its name to one of three prebendal stalls in Christ Church Cathedral, was originally erected by Donat, Archbishop of Dublin, in 1076. It was converted into a parish church by Archbishop Richard Talbot in 1417, and it was used by the mediaeval Guild of Shoemakers.

From 1541, the Rectors of Saint Michael’s were Prebendaries in Christ Church Cathedral and they were also the Dean’s Vicar in the cathedral from 1541 to 1604.

Saint Michael’s was rebuilt in 1676, but in 1807 the Visitation Book describes the church as being in ruins, and the parish services were being held in the Lady Chapel in Christ Church Cathedral.

Thomas Taylor, founder of the Bective family, who worked with William Petty in compiling the Down Survey of Ireland, was buried there in 1682. It was also the burial-place of the Fielding family, ancestors to the Earls of Desmond. Ford Lambart, 5th Earl of Cavan, was buried there in 1772.

The rectors and prebendaries of Saint Michael’s in the 18th century included Canon Robert Law (1730-1789), whose son, the Revd Francis Law (1768-1807), married Belinda Isabella Comerford, daughter of Patrick Comerford of Summerville, Cork, and was the father of the Revd Patrick Comerford Law.

Saint Michael’s Church stood on High Street, at the corner of Christ Church Lane, immediately opposite the west end of the cathedral. The church was rebuilt yet again in 1815, when Dr Richard Graves (1763-1829), Dean of Ardagh and Regius Professor of Greek in Trinity College Dublin, was Prebendary of Saint Michael’s (1801-1823).

Rectors and prebendaries of Saint Michael’s in the 19th century included Canon Thomas Percival Magee (1797-1854), father-in-law and uncle of Archbishop William Magee of York; the hymn-writer Canon Thomas Bewley Monsell; and Canon William O’Neill, 1st Baron O'Neill (1813-1883), who was at Saint Michael’s from 1845 to 1859.

William O’Neill was born William Chichester, a younger son of Canon Arthur Chichester, Chancellor of Armagh. He changed his surname to O’Neill in 1855 when he succeeded to the large O’Neill estates in Co Antrim at the death of his distant cousin John O'Neill, 3rd Viscount O’Neill. The O’Neill title was revived in 1868 when he was made a peer as Baron O’Neill, of Shane’s Castle, Co Antrim.

Two of his descendants were prominent in politics in Northern Ireland. His grandson, Robert William Hugh O’Neill, was Speaker of the Northern Ireland House of Commons and was given the title Baron Rathcavan. His great-grandson Terence O’Neill was Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and became Baron O’Neill of the Maine in 1970.

The parish was one of the smallest in Dublin, covering just over 5 acres (20,000 sq m), and had 1,317 inhabitants in 1850.

When the Church of Ireland was disestablished, the rectors of Saint Michael’s ceased being prebendaries in the cathedral, although their title has been retained in the chapter. The last Rector of Saint Michael’s in Dublin was Canon Edward Seymour, who held office until 1872. He later became Precentor of Christ Church Cathedral.

When Christ Church Cathedral was being rebuilt in 1870-1878, Saint Michael’s Parish was amalgamated with Saint Audeon’s in 1872, the church was demolished, and the Synod Hall was built on the site.

The new Synod Hall was designed by George Edmund Street, the same architect who led the restoration of Christ Church Cathedral in the 1870s, and incorporated parts of the later church, including the church tower.

Street’s original design for the Synod Hall placed it to the south of the cathedral, but it was decided instead to situate it on the site of the Church of Saint Michael and All Angels. The new design connected the synod hall to the cathedral by an elevated passageway over Winetavern Street, and incorporates the tower of the earlier church. The building is in the pointed style, with simple buttresses, circular turrets and plate tracery, an element of stonemasonry that supports the glass in a Gothic window.

The former Synod Hall now houses the Dublinia Exhibition. Many of the interiors remain intact. The building contains a two-storey hall surrounded by many passages and lobbies that are now used as exhibition spaces. The Great Hall on the second floor is accessed by a contouring stone stairway. An imposing multi-arched wooden roof still exists on the upper level where the words ‘Aye’ and ‘Nae’ two double doors once facilitated synod voting.

Street’s stone bridge linking the former Saint Michael’s or Synod Hall with Christ Church Cathedral was completed in 1875. It has been compared with the earlier ‘Bridge of Sighs’ by Henry Hutchinson in Saint John’s College, Cambridge (1831), and the later ‘Bridge of Sighs’ by Sir Thomas Jackson at Hertford College, Oxford (1913-1914). Roger Stalley says Street’s bridge is his ‘final touch of genius’ in the restoration of the cathedral.

The present Prebendary of Saint Michael’s in the chapter of Christ Church Cathedral is Canon Mark Gardner.

The former Synod Hall now houses the Dublinia Exhibition (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 10: 38-42 (NRSVA):

38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ 41 But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’

When Saint Michael’s Church was in ruins in the 19th century, parish services were held in the Lady Chapel in Christ Church Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayer:

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 ‘After the Storm.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (10 October 2023, World Mental Health) invites us to pray in these words:

Let us pray for all those who are struggling with their mental health, and who are feeling lost or in despair. May they know how loved and cherished they are. Help us provide support and a listening ear.

Street’s bridge is regarded as his ‘final touch of genius’ in his restoration of Christ Church Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Collect:

God our Saviour,
who sent Paulinus to preach and to baptize,
and so to build up your Church in this land:
grant that, inspired by his example,
we may tell all the world of your truth,
that with him we may receive the reward
you prepare for all your faithful servants;
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:

Holy Father,
who gathered us here around the table of your Son
to share this meal with the whole household of God:
in that new world where you reveal
the fullness of your peace,
gather people of every race and language
to share with Paulinus and all your saints
in the eternal banquet of Jesus Christ our Lord.

An icon of the Archangel Michael by Canon Olive Donohoe in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (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

An icon of the Archangel Michael by Adrienne Lord in an exhibition in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Daily prayers in Ordinary Time with USPG: (58) 25 July 2023

The East Window in Saint George’s Chapel in Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth … in memory of John Peel MP is by Sir Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and this week began with the Seventh Sunday after Trinity (23 July 2023). Today, the Church Calendar celebrates the life of Saint James the Apostle (25 July).

Before this day begins, I am taking some time this morning for prayer, reading and reflection.

In the weeks after Trinity Sunday, I was reflecting each morning with Trinity-themed images from cathedrals, churches and chapels. That series came to a conclusion on Saturday (16 July) with my search for the mediaeval Holy Trinity altar in Saint Editha’s Collegiate Church, Tamworth. This week, my reflections each morning involve:

1, Looking at stained glass windows in Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

The window in memory of Canon EH Rogers is by Florence Camm (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Saint George’s Chapel Windows, Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth:

During this week, I am reflecting in this prayer diary each morning on windows in Saint Editha’s Collegiate Church, Tamworth.

The Pre-Raphaelite windows in Saint George’s Chapel, at the east end of the north aisle of Saint Editha’s Church, provide a unique collection of works by leading members of the Pre-Raphaelite and Arts and Crafts movements at the end of the 19th century and in the early 20th century.

Saint George’s Chapel was the venue for my lecture in 2019 on the Comberford Family, Comberford Hall and the Moat House at the invitation of the Tamworth and District Civic Society.

The East Window in Saint George’s Chapel is an artistic treasure in memory of John Peel (1804-1872), Liberal MP for Tamworth in 1863-1868 and again in 1871-1872.

The six panels in the tracery are known as the ‘Angels of Creation’ and are by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) of Birmingham. Burne-Jones was heavily influenced in his work by the Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rosetti, and worked closely with William Morris (1834-1896).

There are Burne-Jones windows in many Midlands churches, including Saint Philip’s Cathedral and Saint Martin in the Bull Ring, Birmingham, and there is a Burne-Jones window also in Saint Carthages’s Cathedral, Lismore, Co Waterford.

The East Window in Saint George’s Chapel was made in the 1874 in the workshops of William Morris, textile designer, poet, novelist, translator, and socialist activist. He was associated with the Pre-Raphaelites and the Arts and Crafts Movement, and had been an architectural student of George Edmund Street.

The design of the window connects the story of the six days of Creation with the story of the redemption of humanity.

Day 1: A six-winged seraph with a flame upon his brow, signifying energy, stands upon the greenness of the void and holds the globe of the universe enclosing the spheres of light and darkness: ‘and God separated the light from the darkness’ (Genesis 1: 4).

Day 2: A six-winged seraph with sad eyes: ‘So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome’ (Genesis 1: 7).

Day 3: Here a seraph is standing on the dry land, studded with forlorn flowers, showing the birth of delicate foliage with her mystic globe: Then God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation …’ (Genesis 1: 11).

Day 4: This is brighter in tone, with more gold, symbolic of the sun, the moon and the infinite glories of the heavens: And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the dome of the sky … to give light upon the earth’ (Genesis 1: 14-15).

Day 5: Still brighter in effect, the seraph on the wet sea margin, strewn with fragile shells. The sphere contains a swift whirl of white-winged seabirds sweeping up from the stormy sea: And God said, ‘Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures’ (Genesis 1: 20).

Day 6: This panel shows the angel of the sixth day holding the sphere, the angels of the former days beside him, and the angel of the seventh day at his feet. This angel of the day of rest has a garland of flowers and is playing a stringed instrument among the roses.

The sphere shows the first meeting of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden beside the tree of the forbidden fruit, and we can see the great coils of the serpent behind the tree. This has been described as the best of the six panels, and the figures of Adam and Eve are full of grace and simplicity.

Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image … male and female he created them’ (Genesis 1: 26-27).

The smaller lights surrounding these are filled with depictions of angels who are playing musical instruments, making melody in honour of the Creation, the Incarnation and the Redemption.

The Incarnation is shown in an image of the Annunciation at the top of the arch which, through the Creation of Humanity, links with the impressive panel in the centre of the window, depicting the story of Saint Christopher, representing the Redemption of humanity.

On either side are two rows of three images of Old Testament prophets and New Testament saints: (top left) Noah, Enoch and Saint John the Baptist; (bottom left) Abraham, Moses and Saint Peter; (top right) Saint John the Evangelist, Samuel and David; (bottom right) Saint Paul, Elijah and Saint Barnabas.

The inscription in a scroll beneath the feet of Saint Christopher reads: ‘To the glory of God and in memory of John Peel sometime representative of this borough in parliament. Born Feb 4 1804. Died April 2 1872.’

The four four-light windows on the north wall of Saint George’s Chapel are the work of Burne-Jones, Morris and the Camm family.

Thomas William Camm (1839-1912) was born West Bromwich and founded the TW Camm stained studio in Smethwick. After he died, the studio and its work were continued by his sons Walter Camm (died 1967) and Robert Camm (died 1954) and his daughter Florence.

The first four-light window at the west end of the chapel contains stained glass by Florence Camm (1874-1960). The inscription reads: ‘This window was erected to the Glory of God and in loving memory of the Revd EH Rogers, Prebendary of Lichfield Cathedral and Vicar of this Parish Church of Tamworth from 1922 to 1938.’

Florence Camm spent all her life in Smethwick, running the Camm stained glass company with her brothers at a time when women artists and designers were struggling to be taken seriously.

She was a stained glass designer, painter and decorative metalworker, and was taught stained glass design by the arts and crafts designer Henry Payne (1868-1940). She exhibited 43 times at the Royal Academy in London and also showed at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool and the Royal Scottish Academy. The Camm studio in the High Street, Smethwick, was demolished in the 1980s.

This window illustrates four New Testament scenes (from left):

1, The first light illustrates Saint Peter being delivered from prison: ‘Behold the angel of the Lord came upon them, and a light shined in the prison’ (Acts 12: 7).

2, The second light depicts Saint John the Evangelist writing to the seven churches in Asia: ‘John to the seven churches, Grace be unto you, and peace, which is to come’ (Revelation 1: 4).

3, The third light tells the story of the church in Antioch sending relief to the Church in Jerusalem at a time of famine: ‘The disciples sent relief unto the brethren in Judaea, by the hands of Barnabas’ (Acts 11: 30).

4, The fourth light shows Saint Paul preaching in the synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia, in the Province of Galatia: ‘Paul stood up and beckoning said, Men of Israel, ye that fear God, give audience’ (Acts 13: 16).

The second four-light window from the west is a well-designed, four-light window, designed long after the death of both William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones, but filled with richly-coloured glass by Morris & Co.

The two central figures, Ruth (left) and Naomi (right), were designed by John Henry Dearle (1860-1932), who was trained by William Morris. The text beneath the two women reads, ‘Intreat me not to leave thee’ (Ruth 1: 16). The outer figures are Samuel (left) and David (right), probably designed from the stock of cartoons by Burne-Jones held by Morris & Co.

The inscription reads: ‘In faithful remembrance of Emma Pipe Cooke, this window was erected by Annie Cooke, her daughter, AD 1925.’

Below this window, a marble plaque commemorates William Allport of Comberford Hall, who died 5 December 1813, aged 53: ‘He lived respected and died lamented by all who knew him.’

The third four-light window in this chapel also contains stained-glass by Florence Camm.

The inscription reads: ‘To the Glory of Almighty God and in loving memory of Esther Dean, who died the 11th day of October 1939, this memorial was placed here by her husband, Herbert Dean.’

The four lights depict the four key events in the life of Christ, with pithy Biblical or credal commentaries:

1, The Incarnation: ‘For unto you is born this day, a saviour which is Christ the Lord’ (Luke 2: 11).

2, The Crucifixion: ‘Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by’ (Lamentations 1: 12).

3, The Resurrection: ‘The third day he rose again from the dead.’ This is not a direct scriptural quotation, but a clause taken directly from the Apostles’ Creed.

4, The Ascension: ‘He blessed them. He was parted from them and carried up into heaven’ (Luke 24: 51).

The fourth, four-light window at the east end of the north wall in Saint George’s Chapel, is in memory of the Revd Brooke Lambert (1834-1901), Vicar of Tamworth (1872-1878).

Brooke Lambert was born on 17 September 1834. He spent six years in Tamworth, and was succeeded by the Revd William MacGregor as Vicar of Tamworth (1878 to 1887). MacGregor would play a leading part in the regeneration of Tamworth in the late 19th century, but was forced to resign as vicar because of his controversial support of the co-operative movement.

Meanwhile, as Vicar of Greenwich, Brooke Lambert was known for his work as an Anglo-Catholic ‘slum priest’ in the East End of London. He died on 5 January 1901.

The striking figures in this window were designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones and the glazing is the work of Morris & Co. The figures represent (from left) Saint Martin, Saint Lambert, Saint Nicholas and Saint George.

Saint Martin was chosen as the champion and protector of the poor and known for his charity.

Saint Lambert was chosen because of Brooke Lambert’s family name, and because the former vicar was born on the saint’s day, 17 September. Saint Lambert was Bishop of Maastricht and was martyred for his defence of marriage.

Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of children (‘Santa Claus’) and represents Brooke Lambert’s love of children and his pioneering work in education.

Saint George was chosen because of the dedication of Saint George’s Chapel, and because Brooke Lambert was involved in the restoration of Saint George’s Chapel and building Saint George’s Church in Glascote.

The words of Hebrews 12: 1-3 in the Latin Vulgate New Testament are written diagonally across the lights of this window, and behind the figures and the other lettering:

ideoque et nos tantam habentes inpositam nubem testium deponentes omne pondus et circumstans nos peccatum per patientiam curramus propositum nobis certamen aspicientes in auctorem fidei et consummatorem Iesum qui pro proposito sibi gaudio sustinuit crucem confusione contempta atque in dextera sedis Dei sedit recogitate enim eum qui talem sustinuit a peccatoribus adversum semet ipsos contradictionem ut ne fatigemini animis vestris deficientes

‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.’

The Cooke window is by John Henry Dearle and Morris & Co (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Matthew 20: 20-28 (NRSVA):

20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favour of him. 21 And he said to her, ‘What do you want?’ She said to him, ‘Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.’ 22 But Jesus answered, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?’ They said to him, ‘We are able.’ 23 He said to them, ‘You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.’

24 When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 26 It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’

The Dean window is by Florence Camm (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Today’s Prayer:

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 ‘Reflections from the International Consultation.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by Michael Clarke of the West Indies.

The Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (25 July 2023) invites us to pray in these words:

We thank God that we are able to meet in person now following Covid-19 so that relationships can strengthen, and important conversations take place.

Collect:

Merciful God,
whose holy apostle Saint James,
leaving his father and all that he had,
was obedient to the calling of your Son Jesus Christ
and followed him even to death:
help us, forsaking the false attractions of the world,
to be ready at all times to answer your call without delay;
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.

Post Communion:

Almighty God,
who on the day of Pentecost
sent your Holy Spirit to the apostles
with the wind from heaven and in tongues of flame,
filling them with joy and boldness to preach the gospel:
by the power of the same Spirit
strengthen us to witness to your truth
and to draw everyone to the fire of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

The Brooke Lambert window is by Morris & Co, with striking figures by Sir Edward Burne-Jones (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

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