Saint Athanasius III of Rethymnon and stories of Byzantine intrigues, murders and persecution

An icon Saint Athanasius Patellarios of Rethymnon, Patriarch of Constantinople, completed by Alexandra Kaouki in 2011 (icon © Alexandra Kaouki)

Patrick Comerford

Saint Athanasius was a 17th century saint who was born in Rethymnon and who was twice Patriarch of Constantinople on two brief occasions, in 1634 and 1652. His story is entwined and entangled with Ottoman intrigue, that saw patriarchs removed, returned, deposed, exiled and even strangled at the whim of capricious sultans. Many Patriarchs held office for a few days and no more, while others returned to the throne, two, three, four and five times, and in one case six times.

I was reminded on Friday of these intrigues and the persecutions and traumas that faced the church in Orthodox Church over the centuries after my friend Alexandra Kaouki (Αλεξανδρα Καουκι), the foremost icon writer in Rethymnon, posted an icon she had completed in 2011 of Saint Athanasius.

Saint Athanasius Patellarios ((Άγιος Αθανάσιος ο Πατελάρος), commonly known as Saint Athanasius of Lubny or the Wonderworker, was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople for two brief periods, in 1634 and again in 1652, and had also been the Metropolitan of Thessaloniki.

He was born Ἀλέξιος Πατελλάριος (Alexios Patellarios) ca in 1597 in the village of Axos, in the hills above Panormos, east of Rethymnon, when Crete was under Venetian rule. His ancestors were Greek noble family with ancestry dating back to the Byzantine imperial house of Palaiologos. His father Georgios was a scientist and publisher, and his elder brother Eustaphios became a physician.

Saint Athanasius studied at Arkadi Monastery, near Rethymnon and his home village of Axos (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

He studied at Arkadi Monastery, near Rethymnon, where his studies included studied rhetoric, grammar and poetry, mathematics and astronomy, music and literature, theology and philosophy, sciences and languages (Greek, Latin, Italian, Arabic and Hebrew). He lived at Arkadi until he was 26 and then, after his parents died, he shared his property among the poor and with the name Ananias was became a novice in a monastery in Thessaloniki.

From Thessaloniki, he moved to the Monastery of Esphigmenou on Mount Athos, then travelled on to monasteries in Jerusalem, Palestine and Mount Sinai, and was tonsured with the name Athanasius.

When he returned to Thessaloniki he was ordained priest and worked as a missionary among the Vlachs and the Moldovians. At times, he returned to Mount Athos in search of solitude.

His work drew him to the attention of the controversial Patriarch Cyril I (Lukaris) of Constantinople (1621-1623), who appointed him a preacher of the patriarchal throne. He became the Metropolitan of Thessaloniki in 1622, and remained there as bishop until 1634 when he was chosen as the Ecumenical Patriarch in controversial circumstances.

The Church of Saint Gregory Palamas has been the cathedral of Thessaloniki since the end of the 16th century … Saint Athansius became the Metropolitan of Thessaloniki in 1622 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Cyril I, who was also from Crete, was a controversial patriarch, known for his supposed attempts to reform the Eastern Orthodox Church along Calvinist lines, although those attempts were rejected and his actions, motivations and opinions are still debated.

Cyril I, who had been the Patriarch of Alexandria as Cyril III, was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople on six occasions, constantly deposed, banished or forced to resign several times at the instigation of both his Orthodox opponents and the French and Austrian ambassadors. He was the Patriarch for 21 days in October 1612; for 29 months from 4 November 1620 to 12 April 1623; for about 10 years from 22 September 1623 to 4 October 1633; for 4½ months from 11 October 1633 to 25 February 1634; for 11 months from April 1634 to March 1635; and, finally, for 15 months from March 1637 to 20 June 1638.

When Cyril I was deposed for a fourth time in 1634, he was succeeded by Saint Athanasius, who lasted as Patriarch for little more than month, and Cyril returned to the patriarchal throne for a fifth time.

Cyril Lucaris was born in Candia, present-day Iraklion, in Crete in 1572, and travelled throughout Europe, studying theology in Venice, Wittenberg and Padua, and in Geneva, where he was influenced by Calvinism and Reformed theology and developed great antipathy for Roman Catholicism. During that time, he may also have been the Rector of Ostroh Academy, in present-day Ukraine. In 1596 he was sent to Poland by Patriarch Meletius I of Constantinople to lead Orthodox opposition to the Union of Brest, a proposed union of Kiev with Rome.

He became the Patriarch of Alexandria at the age of 29 in 1601. Apart from his first brief time as Patriarch of Constantinople in 1612, he remained in Alexandria for 20 years until he became the Patriarch of Constantinople for the second time.

As Patriarch, Cyril I adopted a theology that was heavily influenced by Reformation theology. Faced with Turkish oppression on the one hand, and on the other by Jesuit missionaries working among Orthodox people, he recognised the need for schools teaching Orthodoxy and the Greek language, and founded a theological seminary on Mount Athos and a Greek printing press in Constantinople. However, the French government protested when the press began publishing anti-Catholic pamphlets and the Ottoman authorities forced it to close.

In his efforts to reform the Eastern Orthodox Church along Calvinist lines, Cyril I sent young Greek theologians to study in Switzerland, the Netherlands and England. He was particularly interested in the Church of England, corresponded with William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, and sent Metrophanes Kritopoulos, a future Patriarch of Alexandria (1636-1639), to study at Balliol College, Oxford.

His Confessio or the Eastern Confession of the Christian Faith, was published in Geneva in two Latin editions In 1629, with four French, one German and one English edition, and a Greek edition in 1633.

Saint Athansios moved to the Monastery of Esphigmenou on Mount Athos at an early stage in his life (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Cyril I was deposed by the sultan for a fourth time on 25 February 1634, and was imprisoned on the island of Tenedos. He was succeeded by Athanasius III, who assumed the Patriarchal throne on the Feast of the Annunciation, 25 March 1634. But he was Patriarch only for less than 40 days until April 1634, and he was deposed in intrigues that brought Cyril I back to the throne.

After he was deposed, Saint Athanasius was exiled to the island of Rhodes. He then lived in solitude on Mount Athos for over a year, fasting and praying at a that later became the Skete of the Prophet Elijah, near the Pantocrator Monastery.

For a time, Saint Athanasius lived in Ancona and Venice in Italy, where the Pope tried him to induce him to become a Catholic, promising to make him a cardinal.

Meanwhile, Cyril I, who had returned to Constantinople and replaced Athanasius as Patriarch, remained in office for only 11 months, and was deposed yet again in March 1635. Cyril returned as patriarch for his sixth and final time in March 1637 but was deposed on 20 June 1638. When Sultan Murad IV was to setting out for the Persian War, the Patriarch was accused of a design to stir up the Cossacks. To avoid trouble during his absence, the Sultan had him strangled by the Janissaries on 27 June 1638 aboard a ship in the Bosporus, and his body was thrown into the sea. The Council of Constantinople in September 1638 anathematised both Cyril I and his Eastern Confession.

Meanwhile Athanasius became Bishop of Thessaloniki once again in 1638. Because of a problem with paying metropolitan taxes, he was imprisoned and but was released through the intercession of Tsar Mikhail Romanov.

Athanasius was invited to Moscow in 1643, but on the way he fell ill in Moldova. He stayed there and founded there the monastery of Saint Nicholas near Galaţi, where he remained until 1651, returning often to Mount Athos where he hoped to spend his last days.

However, at the beginning of 1651 he returned to Constantinople. When Patriarch Cyril III was deposed in June 1652 after eight days, Athanasius was called back as Patriarch and was enthroned once again on 25 May was again enthroned. But on this occasions he remained patriarch for only 15 days. He found he was not acceptable to either the Muslims or the Catholics in the city, and in his sermon at his final Patriarchal service he denounced papal claims to universal jurisdiction over the whole Church.

After two weeks, he stepped down as Patriarch of Constantinople in favour of Metropolitan Paisius of Laureia, who remained in office as Patriarch Paisius I for only nine months, from July 1652 to April 1653.

After he was deposed a second time, Athanasius returned to Thessaloniki once again and renewed his connections with Mount Athos, expressing the hope that he could live out his life there.

Saint Athanasius visited Russia in April 1653, and he was met with honour in Moscow by Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich and Patriarch Nikon (1652-1658) who donated generously to his monastery. He left to return to Galaţi in December 1653, but on the journey he fell ill and stayed at the Monastery of Transfiguration Mhar near Lubny in Ukraine in February 1654. When he died on 5 April at the Mhar Monastery, Abbot Petronios and the monks buried the former patriarch in a sitting position, according to the Greek custom for a bishop.

Saint Athanasius was recognised as a saint by the Russian Church on 1 February 1662 and his feast day was 2 May, the feast of Saint Athanasius the Great. His relics were later moved to Cathedral of the Annunciation in Kharkiv in Ukraine. Today the Mhar Monastery is part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, affiliated to the Moscow Patriarchate, while the Annunciation Cathedral is the main Orthodox church of Kharkiv and the seat of the Kharkiv and Bohodukhiv Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).

A part of the saint’s relics, said to be a fragment of a finger, was brought to his home village of Axos near Rethymnon in 1993, and is kept in the Church of the Saint Athanasius Patellarios, built in 2008. The day the relic was moved, 21 August, is kept as his feast day in Crete. Alexandra Kaouki shared her icon of Saint Athanasius last Friday (21 August) to mark that feast day in Crete.

As for Cyril I – the controversial patriarch whose career is intertwined with the life story of Saint Athanasius – his body was recovered from the Bosphorus and was buried in Nicomedia, and after many years was brought back to Constantinople. He has been reappraised in recent decades, and the overwhelming majority of Greek and Russian Orthodox scholars today deny the authenticity of the Eastern Confession. This recent rehabilitation has led to the canonisation of Cyril I by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria in 2009 and by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in 2022.

The Church of the Four Martyrs in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

There is widening chasm between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Church of Russia today, and it is in danger of becoming a real schism. On the surface, these problems centre around the attitude of the two churches to the competing claims of Orthodox churches in Ukraine at a time of war in Ukraine. But at its heart this is a deeper conflict about the attitude of the Patriarchate of Moscow towards the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Moscow has refused to take part in many Pan-Orthodox initiatives, including the synod in Kolymbari in Crete ten years ago (19-26 June 2016) and has since continued to undermine the Ecumenical Patriarchate in intrigues and conflicts that have drawn in other Orthodox churches, including those in Greece, Romania and Alexandria.

An example of how divisions within Orthodoxy have been exploited by the Patriarchate of Moscow has been seen in recent days with the visit to Moscow by Metropolitan Nektarios of Corfu with relics of Saint Spyridon. The bishop’s decision to concelebrate with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow has caused controversy within the Orthodox Church of Greece, with church circles in Greece describing the visit as a ‘coup’ and questioning why the bishop celebrated with a patriarch who does not commemorate Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens, the head of the Church of Greece.

The Moscow Patriarchate suspended Eucharistic communion with the Church of Greece in October 2019 after the Church of Greece recognised the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Metropolitan has been criticised for praising and presenting honours and medals to Patriarch Kirill who supports Russia’s war in Ukraine. There are in Greece that visit is being exploited by Moscow for its own purposes.

The life of Saint Athanasius is a reminder that there is nothing new in these conflicts and intrigues and that they stretch back many centuries. But there is also a reminder in the story of this one saint from Rethymnon of the thread that links together all these churches, including Constantinople, Greece, Crete, Alexandria, Romania, Ukraine and Russia.

The Cathedral of the Presentation of the Theotokos in Rethymnon … Saint Athanasius is commemorated in Crete on 21 August (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Greeks have a word for it: 67, Εἰρήνη (Eirene), Peace

A statue of Eirene, the Greek goddess of Peace, with a laurel wreath and a cornucopia, at Vergina restaurant in Platanias, near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The Stony Stratford Playreaders this week have been reading Peace (Εἰρήνη), the anti-war play with timeless value by Aristophanes. He is one of the greatest comedians in classical literature, with a special sense of humour, and he wrote many comedies and satires.

In Greek mythology, Eirene (Εἰρήνη) was the goddess of peace, and she was a symbol of spring, wealth and order. She is depicted in art her statues and in art as a beautiful young woman carrying a cornucopia, sceptre and a torch or rhyton. She is usually said to be the daughter of Zeus and Themis and the sister of Dike and Eunomia.

The Greek word εἰρήνη (eirēnē) means peace, quiet and rest. In ancient Greek, it meant a time without war but it also speaks of more than just a lack of war: it describes wholeness, harmony, quietness, and a state of general well-being or flourishing.

It comes from a word that means to join together. Peace brings things back into a whole. It comes from verb εἴρω (eiro), to join or bind together that which has been separated, binding or joining together again what had been separated or divided and thus setting at one again.

Older theories also link the word εἴρω (eírō), ‘to speak, say’. We might compare it with the word ῥήτρα (rhḗtra), a verbal agreement or treaty.

A poster for a Shadow Puppet Theatre production of ‘Eirene’ by Aristophenes in Thessaloniki

The idea of the Common Peace (Κοινὴ Εἰρήνη, Koinē Eirēnē) was one of the most influential concepts of 4th century BCE Greek political thought, along with the idea of Panhellenism. The term described both the concept of a desirable, permanent peace between the Greek city-states (πόλεις, poleis) and a sort of peace treaty that fulfilled the three fundamental criteria of this concept: it had to include all the Greek city-states, it had to recognise the autonomy and equality of all city states without regard for their military power, and it had to be intended to remain in force permanently.

The advocates of the Common Peace saw it as a way to end the endemic warfare which engulfed the Greek poleis after the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War in 431 BCE. From the King’s Peace of 387-386 BCE down to the foundation of the League of Corinth in 338 BCE, the idea of the Common Peace influenced all peace treaties between Greek poleis. In the end, however, it turned out that only a strong hegemonic power could maintain a comprehensive peace for long.

The concept has been revived in modern times, and in the 20th century it was a foundation stone of international organisations such as the League of Nations and the United Nations.

‘Eirene’ by Aristophenes continues to appeal to adults and children alike in Greece

The Septuagint or Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible regularly uses εἰρήνη to translate the Hebrew shalom (שלום), a word that embraces completeness, prosperity, and relational harmony with God, neighbour, and creation. Priestly benedictions, such as Numbers 6: 26, anticipated a day when the Lord would ‘give you peace’. First-century Jews greeted one another with ‘peace’, and Jesus’ disciples continued the practice (see Luke 10: 5-6).

In the Greek New Testament, the word εἰρήνη (eirēnē) or peace is much like the Hebrew word shalom (שלום). It occurs over 90 times, and means inner calm, well-being, and right relationships with others. Well-known and well-loved examples include:

• πορεύου εἰς εἰρήνην, Go in Peace (Luke 7: 50; 8: 48);
• ἰρήνη τῷ οἴκῳ τούτῳ, Peace to this house (Luke 10: 5);
• Εἰρήνη ἀφίημι ὑμῖν, εἰρήνην τὴν ἐμὴν δίδωμι ὑμῖν, My peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you (John 14: 27);
• Εἰρήνη ὑμῖν, Peace be with you (Luke 24: 36; John 20: 19, 20-21, 26).

Every Pauline letter opens with the twin blessing ‘grace and peace’ (for example, see Romans 1: 7; Ephesians 1: 2) and most conclude with a similar wish (see Romans 15: 33). Peter, John and Jude follow the same pattern (see I Peter 1: 2; II John 1: 3; Jude 1: 2). These formulas are more than courteous salutations – they declare and confer the benefits of God’s favour and covenant well-being on those who receive the greeting.

Saint Irene (left), Saint Catherine and Saint Barbara … three women saints in a fresco in the Church of Panagia Dexia in Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

In the Greek Orthodox tradition and in popular Greek piety today, there are three popular saints with the name Irene.

Saint Irene, Saint Catherine and Saint Barbara are three saints who are often found together in icons and frescoes in Greek churches. They form a traditional grouping, such as the Apostles Peter and Paul, as an icon of Church Unity, Saint Paul and Sant Barnabas or Saint Paul and Saint Titus as missionary companions, the three Cappadocian Fathers (Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory of Nazianzus), and the Three Holy Hierarchs (Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom).

Saint Irene is one of three saints and sisters – Irene, Agape and Chioni – who were born in Thessaloniki and who were martyred there for their faith in the year 304 CE. Their names mean Peace, Love and Purity, and their feast day is on 3 April.

The story of their martyrdom is the subject of Dulcitius, a 10th-century Latin drama by Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim, the first-known female playwright.

Irene, Agape and Chione were brought before Dulcitius, governor of Macedonia, on the charge of refusing to eat food that had been offered in sacrifice to the gods. When Agape and Chionia again refused to eat this food, they were burned alive.

Dulcitius found that Irene was keeping prohibited Christian books that she had taken with her when she fled to the mountains. Dulcitius ordered Irene to be stripped and exposed in a brothel. When no one mistreated her in the brothel, the governor gave Irene a second chance. When she refused this, Dulcitius sentenced her to death and her books found were burned with her.

Saint Irene (752-803), a Byzantine empress who was instrumental in restoring the use of icons in the Orthodox Church … a fresco in a church in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

A second significant Saint Irene in the Orthodox Calendar is Saint Irene (752-803), a Byzantine empress who was instrumental in restoring the use of icons in the Orthodox Church. She was the wife of the Byzantine emperor Leo IV, and when her husband died in 780, she became guardian of their 10-year-old son, Constantine VI, and co-emperor with him. Later that year she crushed a plot by the iconoclasts or opponents of the use of icons to put Leo’s half-brother, Nicephorus, on the throne.

The use of icons had been prohibited since 730. When one of the Empress Irene’s supporters, Tarasius, was elected patriarch of Constantinople, he summoned the Council of Constantinople in 786 and then the Seventh Ecumenical Council in Nicaea in 787 and restored the reverence of images.

Constantine VI banished his mother from court, but she later had her son arrested and blinded. From 797, she reigned alone as emperor for five years until she was deposed in 802 and exiled to the island of Lesbos. She is remembered for her zeal in restoring icons and her feast day is celebrated on 9 August.

Saint Irene of Lesbos with Saint Raphael and Saint Nicholas … an icon in the Church of the Transfiguration in Piskopiano in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

There is a third Saint Irene in the Greek Orthodox tradition and popular piety: Saints Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene of Lesbos (Ραφαήλ, Νικόλαος και Ειρήνη) are venerated as saints and martyrs.

According to legend, they lived on the island of Lesbos in the 15th century and were killed by Turkish raiders on 9 April 1463. Raphael was the abbot of the monastery of Karyes, near the village of Thermi, Nicholas was a deacon in the monastery, and Irene was the 12-year-old daughter of the village mayor: she was brutally executed and burned inside a clay cask in front of her parents.

The site of their martyrdom was excavated in 1959 and the relics of the saints are kept in a monastery that was rebuilt on Karyes, about 12 km from Mytilene, the island capital. The three saints were canonised in 1970. The monastery has become a prominent centre of pilgrimage.

A quiet corner in the monastery of Agia Irini, near Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

One of my favourite places in Rethymnon for peace and quiet, with time to be calm and to pray is the Monastery of Aghia Irini, about 5 km south of Rethymnon in the mountains above the town, and one of the oldest monasteries in Crete. Various accounts say it was founded sometime between 961 and 1204, and it was certainly built before 1362, when it is escribed in a Venetian document.

The monastery was destroyed several times during the many revolutions in Crete against Ottoman rule. During the last Cretan revolution of 1897-1898, the Turks burnt the monastery, the ruined monastery was formally closed in 1900, and the ruins remained deserted throughout most of the 20th century.

Sister Akaterina, who once brought me on a tour of the monastery some years ago, told of how the Metropolitan of Rethymnon, the late Bishop Theodoros Tzedakis, had a vision in 1989 for its restoration and invited a group of nuns to form a new community at Aghia Irini.

The nuns moved into the buildings and restoration work began in 1990. At the time, Aghia Irini was a jumble of dilapidated buildings. Today, it must be one of the most beautiful monasteries in Crete, and the restoration work has received architectural and cultural awards. The church was officially opened in 2003, and was consecrated in 2011 by Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria. The buildings include an older three-aisled church of Saint Irene, Saint Catherine and Saint Euphemia.

An icon of Aghia Irini (Αγία Ειρήνη) or Saint Irene by Alexandra Kaouki … a present from Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

When I was in Rethymnon last year for a five-day ‘mini-retreat’ in Crete during Holy Week and Easter, my friend Alexandra Kaouki (Αλεξανδρα Καουκι), one of the foremost icon writers in Rethymnon today, gave me a gift of one of her early icons, depicting Aghia Irini (Αγία Ειρήνη) or Saint Irene, completed in 2012.

Saint Irene seemed such a special choice for me that weekend. Alexandra explained how she thought it was appropriate for me because of my campaigning past, as the saint’s name means ‘Peace’, and because I had written appreciatively in the past about Aghia Irini convent in the hills above Rethymnon.

A fresco depicting Saint Irene or Aghia Irini by Alexandra Kaouki in a church in Rethymnon

Previous words in this series:

1, Neologism, Νεολογισμός.

2, Welcoming the stranger, Φιλοξενία.

3, Bread, Ψωμί.

4, Wine, Οίνος and Κρασί.

5, Yogurt, Γιαούρτι.

6, Orthodoxy, Ορθοδοξία.

7, Sea, Θᾰ́λᾰσσᾰ.

8,Theology, Θεολογία.

9, Icon, Εἰκών.

10, Philosophy, Φιλοσοφία.

11, Chaos, Χάος.

12, Liturgy, Λειτουργία.

13, Greeks, Ἕλληνες or Ρωμαίοι.

14, Mañana, Αύριο.

15, Europe, Εὐρώπη.

16, Architecture, Αρχιτεκτονική.

17, The missing words.

18, Theatre, θέατρον, and Drama, Δρᾶμα.

19, Pharmacy, Φᾰρμᾰκείᾱ.

20, Rhapsody, Ραψῳδός.

21, Holocaust, Ολοκαύτωμα.

22, Hygiene, Υγιεινή.

23, Laconic, Λακωνικός.

24, Telephone, Τηλέφωνο.

25, Asthma, Ασθμα.

26, Synagogue, Συναγωγή.

27, Diaspora, Διασπορά.

28, School, Σχολείο.

29, Muse, Μούσα.

30, Monastery, Μοναστήρι.

31, Olympian, Ολύμπιος.

32, Hypocrite, Υποκριτής.

33, Genocide, Γενοκτονία.

34, Cinema, Κινημα.

35, autopsy and biopsy

36, Exodus, ἔξοδος

37, Bishop, ἐπίσκοπος

38, Socratic, Σωκρατικὸς

39, Odyssey, Ὀδύσσεια

40, Practice, πρᾶξις

41, Idiotic, Ιδιωτικός

42, Pentecost, Πεντηκοστή

43, Apostrophe, ἀποστροφή

44, catastrophe, καταστροφή

45, democracy, δημοκρατία

46, ‘Αρχή, beginning, Τέλος, end

47, ‘Αποκάλυψις, Apocalypse

48, ‘Απόκρυφα, Apocrypha

49, Ἠλεκτρον (Elektron), electric

50, Metamorphosis, Μεταμόρφωσις

51, Bimah, βῆμα

52, ἰχθύς (ichthýs) and ψάρι (psari), fish.

53, Τὰ Βιβλία (Ta Biblia), The Bible

54, Φῐλοξενῐ́ᾱ (Philoxenia), true hospitality

55, εκκλησία (ekklesia), the Church

56, ναός (naos) and ἱερός (ieros), a church

57, Χριστούγεννα (Christougenna), Christmas

58, ἐπιφάνεια (epipháneia), θεοφάνεια, (theopháneia), Epiphany and Theophany

59, Ζέφυρος (Zéphuros), the West Wind

60, Αύριο (Avrio), Tomorrow

61, καλημέρα (κaliméra), ‘Good Morning’, and καλαμάρι, κalamári, ‘squid’

62, Ελευθερία ή θάνατος, ‘Freedom or Death’

63, Ποδόσφαιρο, ‘Football’

64, καφές (coffee), Φραπές (frappé)

65, Odyssey (η Οδύσσεια) and Odysseus (Ὀδυσσεύς)

66, Cosmopolitan, Κοσμοπολίτης

67, Εἰρήνη (Eirene), Peace

Series to be continued

‘Eirene’ by Aristophenes continues to appeal to adults and children alike in Greece

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 101, Sunday 16 August 2026, Eleventh Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XI)

The Syro-Phoenician or Canaanite Woman … a modern icon by Brother Robert Lentz OFM

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and today is the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XI, 16 August 2026). Later this morning, I hope to take part in the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford.

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, reading 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 Crying Women of Sidon … a sarcophagus from Sidon now in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum

Matthew 15: [10-20] 21-24 (NRSVA):

[10 Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, ‘Listen and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.’ 12 Then the disciples approached and said to him, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees took offence when they heard what you said?’ 13 He answered, ‘Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.’ 15 But Peter said to him, ‘Explain this parable to us.’ 16 Then he said, ‘Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. 19 For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.’]

21 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ 23 But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ 24 He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ 26 He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ 27 She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ 28 Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.

Iokasti, a restaurant in Koutouloufari in Crete … are there comparisons between Iocasta and her daughter in ‘The Phoenician Women’ and the Greek-speaking Syro-Phoenician or Canaanite woman in Tyre and Sidon? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

The Gospel reading at the Eucharist today comes in two parts: an optional prelude in Matthew 15: 10-20; and then Matthew 15: 21-24. We have read much of both parts in recent weeks: part of Matthew 15: 10-20 when we read Matthew 15: 1-2, 10-14 on 4 August; and Matthew 15: 21-28 as the reading on 5 August.

The second part of today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 15: 21-28) recalls how one of the first decisions of Jesus on his visit to Tyre and Sidon is to hear the cry for mercy from a Canaanite or Syro-Phoenician woman, to heal her daughter, and to commend their faith. The outsiders are counted in, and judgement is experienced as love and mercy, compassion and inclusion.

Can you recall a moment, a place, or an occasion when you felt rejected? To be rejected I do not need to be an outsider. We can be rejected by our own brothers or sisters, by those who live around us, by those who share our religious or cultural values.

We can be rejected because of our lifestyle, our family background, our political and social values, our ethnic or religious backgrounds, our personal habits, our family circumstances, our sexuality, or marital status or lack of marital status … the list is endless.

Can you think of how you feel when you are made to feel rejected, an outsider, sent away?

And, have you found yourself blaming yourself rather than those who reject or marginalise you?

If so, then you know what it is like to become a double victim: a victim of the prejudices of others, and a victim of the perceptions that are projected onto you.

The disciples reject the Canaanite woman who is pleading for mercy, seeing her as unclean and an outsider, and bring judgement down on this woman and her daughter in Tyre and Sidon.

Having heard the Pharisees suggest Jesus should reject them, they now say to Jesus, ‘send her away’ (verse 23).

But there is a paradox in their rejection of her, for they use a word (ἀπόλυσον, apoluson) that also means to set free, to let go, to give liberty to, to release.

The same verb is used to set a debtor free of debts, or to allow a woman to divorce her husband, setting her free from the bonds that tie husband and wife. In wanting to be free from her demanding calls, they – ironically – call for mother and daughter to be freed from their torments.

In our feelings of rejection and marginalisation, how do we find acceptance, liberation, and a place in God’s unfolding plan for his people, for all people, God’s future for us?

The disciples want to turn her away. They see her as a pest, a nuisance, a pushy woman, breaking into their closed space, their private area.

Christ and the Disciples are in the coastal area of Tyre and Sidon, an area of small villages, perhaps looking for a quiet break for a few days. But if they are planning to get away for a few quiet days, those plans are frustrated when this woman arrives with her pressing demands.

This is foreign territory, inhabited by Canaanites or Phoenicians, who were culturally Hellenised and mainly Greek-speaking. It is also the territory associated with Elijah, who raised the widow’s child from death (I Kings 17: 9-24) and who ‘was markedly open to foreigners.’

So, Christ could expect to find himself among a large number of Greek-speaking ‘Gentiles.’ Would the Disciples expect him to behave like Elijah and break all the rules in being open to them, taking miraculous care of a lone mother and her child?

In the classical world, Phoenician women were pushy women. About 400 years earlier, the great Greek playwright Euripides wrote his tragedy The Phoenician Women (Φοίνισσαι, Phoenissae).

The title of the play, The Phoenician Women, refers to the Greek chorus, which is composed of Phoenician women on their way to Delphi and who are trapped in Thebes by war.

The two key women in the play are Jocasta and her daughter Antigone, who have survived against all odds. They challenge the accepted concepts in Classical times of fate and free-will.

In the face of death, they refuse to accept what others see as their destiny, they refuse to be pushed aside, marginalised and dismissed as the men around then compete for power.

So, in Christ’s time, educated people could expect a Phoenician woman and her daughter to be pushy in the face of what appears to be a cruel fate, even if this involves confronting successful or ambitious men: they are prepared to stand up to kings and rulers, prepared to challenge them, and prepared to risk judgement that means rejection and exile.

Faced with her daughter’s needs, this woman ignores the disciples: she is direct and aggressive in demanding healing and justice. And in demanding justice and healing for her daughter, she is, of course, demanding these for herself too.

Nothing is said about the response of the disciples to the woman. They had been trying to push her away, despite her crying, her tears, her distress, her plight over her daughter.

Perhaps nothing is said about the response of the disciples … because we are the disciples. How do you and I respond to encounters like this?

As a social response, for example, we might consider that the confrontation is an illustration of how we might respond to the needs of strangers and foreigners.

Do we find them pushy and demanding?

How do we respond when the foreign woman in our society wants the same treatment in hospital for her child as a child born here?

How do we respond when foreigners who are more open and joyful in conversation, appear to be encroaching on our privacy on the bus, on the street or in a shop?

Are we like the Disciples, and want to send them away? Or are we like Jesus, and engage in conversation with them?

Do we think we have some privileges that should not be shared with the outsider and the stranger?

How do we respond to people who are pushy and continue to demand care for their children in the face of society’s decision to say no?

The parents who want teaching support for children with learning disabilities, the parents who want to know why children’s hospitals are so badly funded that they have to raise funds with charity events while their children wait for treatment.

But this Gospel story also raises questions at a personal, spiritual level too, when it comes to matters of faith.

How many people do you know who give up when they turn to God in prayer and find those who are supposed to represent Jesus appear to turn them away?

How many times have I dismissed the needs and prayers of others because they appear to be outside the community of faith as I understand it?

This woman is insistent, she is persistent; she refuses to accept what other people regard as her fate and destiny.

In the end, she receives the mercy and help she asks for, and much, much more … she is commended in front of the disciples for her faith, and her daughter is healed instantly.

We do not have to accept misery and rejection, especially when others see them as our fate or our destiny. And, in simple prayers, we may find more in the answer than we ever ask for.

‘What overwhelms us?’

‘What can we do about being overwhelmed?’

These questions were put to us some years ago by Bishop Margaret Vertue of the Diocese of False Bay in South Africa, at the USPG conference in High Leigh.

Bishop Margaret, who was the second woman to become a bishop in Africa, was leading that morning’s Bible study in 2017 on Matthew 11: 20-24.

She challenged us to think of how we respond in love and not in judgement. And, drawing on the wisdom of the Carthusian monks of Grand Chartreuse, she asked: ‘I became human for you, will you become God with me?’

To illustrate how we might respond in love and not in judgement, she shared ‘The Story of a Sign’ by Alonso Alvarez Barreda, with music by Giles Lamb. This short film from Purplefeather illustrates the power of words to radically change our message and our effect upon the world.

She challenged us that morning to consider our own contexts and to discuss: ‘What overwhelms us? What can we do about being overwhelmed?’

And she asked, in the words of the wisdom of the Carthusian monks of Grand Chartreuse: ‘I became human for you, will you become God with me?’

‘The Story of a Sign’ by Alonso Alvarez Barreda / Purplefeather, music by Giles Lamb

Today’s Prayers (Sunday 16 August 2026):

In Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), the theme this week, from 16 to 22 August 2026 (pp 30-31), is ‘Hope in the Making’. This theme is introduced today with a reflection by Grace Murray, a USPG volunteer:

Last summer was my second time at Greenbelt. Volunteering on the USPG stand felt like a natural extension of the things that already shape my life. In my work at a small social impact consultancy, and at the UK Youth Climate Coalition, I spend a lot of time thinking about justice and how change happens. So, the chance to bring together faith, justice and creativity was a big part of what drew me to volunteer.

Being on the stand was a real gift, giving me the chance to learn more about USPG’s work and to have meaningful conversations with festivalgoers about faith, creativity, justice and mission. Getting to know the brilliant USPG staff was also a lot of fun!

One of the highlights for me was meeting Jocabed Solano, whose work with Memoria Indígena I had followed for some time. Hearing her speak alongside Dr Paulo Ueti in Prophetic Voices from the Earth and its Peoples was both grounding and challenging. They shared wisdom from Indigenous theological traditions, reminding us that we are deeply connected to the Earth and to one another. It was a powerful call to listen more closely - to creation, and to voices too often ignored. Back at the stall, we shared the work of the Diocese of Amazonia and invited festivalgoers to write their own prayers for creation.

I walked away with a deeper appreciation for the conversations USPG is willing to host, and a broader view of social, racial and environmental justice from a faith perspective.

Thanks to the team for bringing me along!

Contact volunteer@uspg.org.uk if you’d like to find out more about volunteering at a summer festival or event.

The USPG prayer diary today (Sunday 16 August 2026, Trinity XI) invites us to pray as we read and meditate on Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28.

The Collect of the Day:

O God, you declare your almighty power
most chiefly in showing mercy and pity:
mercifully grant to us such a measure of your grace,
that we, running the way of your commandments,
may receive your gracious promises,
and be made partakers of your heavenly treasure;
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 all mercy,
we your faithful people have celebrated that one true sacrifice
which takes away our sins and brings pardon and peace:
by our communion
keep us firm on the foundation of the gospel
and preserve us from all sin;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

God of glory,
the end of our searching,
help us to lay aside
all that prevents us from seeking your kingdom,
and to give all that we have
to gain the pearl beyond all price,
through our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

The Theatre of Dionysus, beneath the slopes of the Acropolis in Athens … plays by the great playwrights, Euripides, Aeschylus and Sophocles were first performed there (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

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 100, Saturday 15 August 2026, the Blessed Virgin Mary

The icon of the Dormition by Alexandra Kaouki in the old town of Rethymnon in Crete

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and this week began with the Tenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity X), and tomorrow is the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XI). The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship lists today simply and plainly as ‘the Blessed Virgin Mary’, without specifying what aspect of her life or death is being commemorated.

The Greek Orthodox Church in Stony Stratford began celebrating the Feast of the Dormition last night (14 August) with Festal Vespers with Artoclasia for the Dormition of the Theotokos at 6:30 pm, and the celebrations continue today with Matins and Divine Liturgy for the Dormition of the Theotokos at 9 am and Vespers at 6 pm.

Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, 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.

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 99, Friday 14 August 2026

Potiphar names Joseph administrator … Potiphar is a Biblical example of a married eunuch (Bode Museum, Berlin)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and this week began with the Tenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity X). The Church Calendar today remembers Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941), Friar and Martyr in Auschwitz. Later this evening, at 6 pm, there are Great Vespers with Artoclasia for the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos in the Greek Orthodox Church in Stony Stratford.

Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, 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.

An icon of Saint Philip the Deacon with the Ethiopian Eunuch, by Ann Chapin (2008)

Matthew 19: 3-12 (NRSVA):

3 Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?’ 4 He answered, ‘Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning “made them male and female”, 5 and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’ 7 They said to him, ‘Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?’ 8 He said to them, ‘It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but at the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery.’

10 His disciples said to him, ‘If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.’ 11 But he said to them, ‘Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.’

Alessandro Moreschi (1858-1922), the last surviving castrato of the Sistine Chapel’s Choir

Today’s Reflections:

This morning’s Gospel reading comes in two parts that are both difficult and painful to read, to the point that it would be easier to reflect on one of the other appointed readings in the Lectionary (Ezekiel 16: 1-15, 60-63; Psalm 118: 14-18 or the Canticle Song of Deliverance; Isaiah 12: 2-6).

As a priest who is divorced and remarried, I find the first part of the Gospel (Matthew 19: 3-11) is a challenge every time I read it, even though I have dealt with its topics on many occasions in sermons I have preached in a parish and pastoral setting, in preparing couples for marriage, and in my own life. I wish some of my priest colleagues had been as generous to me in the past as I hope they are to their own parishioners when it comes to providing true pastoral care, understanding and support.

The second part of the reading (Matthew 19: 11-12) causes me even greater confusion and all my attempts to understand its context still leave me in search of meaning and understanding. But then even the text itself warns that some readers will not be able to receive what is being said.

Jesus’ words seem to find echoes in Saint Paul’s writings when, for example, he seems to advocate remaining single if someone is called to do so (see I Corinthians 7: 24-28), yet says it is wrong to forbid marriage to anyone (I Timothy 4: 1-3). However, both Jesus and Paul stress that relatively few people were called to a life of celibacy, a lifestyle that was generally unacceptable socially in their time.

I wince and even imagine physical pain when it comes to thinking about the concept of a eunuch, thinking of references to men who had been castrated before puberty, especially the castrati or male singers who, for the sake of retaining their high voices, underwent surgical castration before puberty.

Castration affected boys’ vocal cords, but it also had a profound effect on the rest of their body. By disrupting normal growth hormones, castration could result in a variety of unusual physical attributes, including remarkable height and an abnormally large chest cavity – which, in singing terms, meant powerful thoracic muscles and extra lung capacity. As such, castrati were uniquely equipped to produce the loud, sustained, highly ornamented phrases that Baroque audiences loved.

The earliest records of castrati date from the 1550s. At the time, castrati sang only sacred music. A supposed biblical injunction against women singing in church left a dearth of singers able to sing the high parts in sacred choral works.

When opera became part of the musical scene ca 1600, the castrato’s unusual voice was quickly embraced by composers working in the new genre. Claudio Monteverdi’s opera Orfeo (1607) featured castrati singing the opera’s Prologue as well as two female roles. Yet the castrato’s vocal powers lead them to be cast as the manliest role in opera: the primo uomo, or heroic male lead.

Successful castrati were the rock stars and celebrities of their day. The castrato known as Farinelli, born Carlo Broschi (1705-1782) was knighted by the King of Spain and held a ministerial role at the Spanish court.

By the 19th century, however, changing operatic styles and new conceptions of medical ethics meant the castrato tradition was quickly dying out. The Vatican banned castrati in 1903, and the last known castrato, Alessandro Moreschi, died in 1922. Recordings of Moreschi singing are the only surviving example of this voice type.

The Biblical references to eunuchs include impotent men and men not capable of sexual relations. In this morning’s reading, however, Jesus says that some men were born this way, some were made impotent by men and some made themselves impotent to better serve the kingdom of God.

The terms also described men who were trusted in royal courts to serve as chamberlains and to care for harems (see Esther 2: 15) or men trusted in royal courts with high positions and authority (see Daniel 1: 3-18; Acts 8: 27). Because eunuchs often served in the courts of kings, the words translated as ‘eunuch’ may have come to be used as a label for many senior officials, whether or not we would now regarded them as having been castrated.

The Hebrew word in the Bible is סְרִ֨יס (sarís) and it means ‘to castrate’. But this word is translated ‘officer’ or ‘officers’ 12 times in the Old Testament (see Genesis 37: 36; 39: 1; 40: 2; and 40: 7) and as ‘chamberlain’ or ‘chamberlains’ 13 times (see Esther 1: 10, 12, 15; 2: 21; and 4: 4-5).

In the Septuagint, the Hebrew word סְרִ֨יס is translated into Greek by εὐνοῦχος, and the word also has the meaning ‘eunuch’. However, in its context in the Tanakh, the word almost always refers to ministers or high servants at the court of a king. Not all of them were castrated in order to hold their posts, maybe they were merely bound to practise celibacy; the Bible, in Genesis, mentions at least one married eunuch, Potiphar, who is one of Pharoah’s courtiers in Egypt.

The Greek word εὐνοῦχοι (eunouchoi is usually understood as castrates, but the context speaks for understanding εὐνοῦχοι as ‘single’, and its etymology suggests the Greek word εὐνοῦχος (eunouchos) originally meant either ‘bedroom guard’ or ‘of good mind.’ Later, the word rendered ‘eunuch’ came to refer to a castrated man, to an impotent man and to an unmarried man.

At the time Jesus is speaking, the word ‘eunuch’ may have simply referred to a senior and trusted official in royal courts, a courtier who could be trusted not to take advantage of others, particularly people who depended on royal justice and who must not be exploited for personal financial or sexual advantage.

In the Roman world, the word eunuch was used to refer to a homosexual man. Some translations refer to ‘men who never marry,’ instead of ‘eunuchs’. Both terms were used as euphemisms for homosexual men.

Some commentators suggest that at the time of Jesus the word eunuch was used as a euphemism for people who were seen as being different or even outsiders because of their sexuality, men who were gay but dismissed as being ‘effeminate’, people who were gay and found it difficult to explain why they remained single in a society where marriage was the norm and celibacy was frowned on, individuals whose sexuality was not of their own choice but would have been unacceptable if they admitted to it publicly.

In the any case, in both the Hebrew and Christian texts, eunuchs had the same standing in God’s eyes as anyone else (see Isaiah 56: 3-5; Acts 8: 26-39).

These definitions might mean that those who make themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven are simply men who remained unmarried to spend more time seeking the Lord and spreading the Gospel.

This morning’s passage was interpreted so literally in some parts of the early Church that Origen of Alexandria (185-254 CE), in the impetuosity of youth, castrated himself. In later life he knew better. In his commentary on Saint Matthew’s Gospel, Origen rejects the literal interpretation of the words. He acknowledges that he once accepted a literal reading, but came to accept the saying should be understood spiritually and not ‘according to the flesh and the letter.’ But it was too late by then to reverse the process, I imagine, as I wince yet again this morning.

Perhaps, this passage should no more be taken literally than Christ’s words about cutting off my hand or foot, or gouging out my eye. If so, should the preceding verses on divorce be taken literally either? Perhaps they too are hyperbole, raw humour or reminders of the ideals of marriage which some may attain but many cannot live up to.

Both parts of this morning’s Gospel reading may be read more easily if we hear Jesus saying that all Christians, are representatives of the Kingdom of God, courtiers or ambassadors of that kingdom, irrespective of our marital status, our gender, our sexuality or what others may see as inappropriate or unacceptable lifestyles judged only by the cultural standards of the world today. We are called by Christ into the Church and into the kingdom, and some of us are even called to give up everything in order to pursue this calling.

Origen of Alexandria (185-254 CE), in the impetuosity of youth, castrated himself … in later life he knew better (Icon: Eileen McGuckin)

Today’s Prayers (Friday 14 August 2026):

In Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), the theme this week (9-15 August 2026, pp 28-29), is ‘Mission to the Mangyans’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a Programme Update by the Revd Jewel B Tumaliuan, Programme Director, Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI).

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Friday 14 August 2026) invites us to pray:

God of mission, we give thanks for our partners, the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, and for the growth of the ministry to Mangyans as well as other joint projects. Bless bishops, clergy, and lay leaders, and strengthen shared work in building resilient communities and sustainable futures.

The Collect:

Let your merciful ears, O Lord,
be open to the prayers of your humble servants;
and that they may obtain their petitions
make them to ask such things as shall please you;
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:

God of our pilgrimage,
you have willed that the gate of mercy
should stand open for those who trust in you:
look upon us with your favour
that we who follow the path of your will
may never wander from the way of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Lord of heaven and earth,
as Jesus taught his disciples to be persistent in prayer,
give us patience and courage never to lose hope,
but always to bring our prayers before you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of The Blessed Virgin Mary:

Almighty God,
who looked upon the lowliness of the Blessed Virgin Mary
and chose her to be the mother of your only Son:
grant that we who are redeemed by his blood
may share with her in the glory of your eternal kingdom;
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.

Joseph and Potiphar’s wife … a ceramic plate produced in Urbino ca 1537 … Potiphar is a Biblical example of a married eunuch (National Museum of Bargello, Florence)

Yesterday’s reflections

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