Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 35, Thursday 11 June 2026, Saint Barnabas the Apostle

An icon of Saint Barnabas in Saint Barnabas Church in Jericho, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and this week began with the First Sunday after Trinity (Trinity I, 7 June 2026). The Church Calendar today commemorates Saint Barnabas the Apostle (11 June).

Later day, I plan to meet a visiting writer from New Zealand at lunchtime in London. I hope to be back in Stony Stratford this evening in time to watch the openi match of the World Cup, between Mexico and South Africa, although this time round I plan to watch only matches played in Mexico and Canada, and to avoid any matches played at venues in the US, in my own personal protest against the Trump regime and the way it has hijacked this World Cup in very politically-motivated way. Before today begins, meanwhile, 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.

An icon of Saint Barnabas in Saint Barnabas Church, Jericho, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 15: 12-17 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 12 ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.’

Saint Paul (left), the Prophet Elijah (centre) and Saint Barnabas (right) in a window in Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

Later this month, I hope to mark the 25th anniversary of my ordination as pariest in 2001 and the 26th anniversary of my ordination as deacon in 2000. Shortly before my ordination, over diner with our friend Canon Norman Ruddock at the Rectory in Wexford, Bishop Noel Willoughby, told me about what he called his ‘Barnabas File.’

He had retired as Bishop of Cashel and Ossory and was then living in Wexford. As a bishop, he told me, he regularly got letters moaning and groaning about what he had done or what he had failed to do. He read them, acted on them if he needed to, and then dumped them. But when he got encouraging letters, praising him, or just simply nice letters, he filed them away in his ‘Barnabas File’ and then take them out and read them when the pressures of ministry and the critics were grinding him down. Those letter writers were to him what Saint Barnabas was to the Apostle Paul on their shared missionary journeys.

In the Church Calendar, today is the Feast of Saint Barnabas. The lectionary readings for the Eucharist today include Acts 11: 19-30, set in Antioch, where we are called Christians for the first time. Earlier, Barnabas had sold all his goods and had given his money to the apostles in Jerusalem (Acts 4: 36-37). Now, in Acts 11, Barnabas arrives in Antioch. He then brings Saul from Tarsus to Antioch, and the two are sent out together.

Barnabas and Paul travel together for such a long time that their names are almost inseparable. When a dispute arises about taking John Mark with them, that dispute ends with Paul and Barnabas taking separate routes.

In today’s Gospel reading (John 15: 12-17), we are reminded that the great commandment Christ gives us is to love one another as Christ loves us (verse 12), and that we are called to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last (verse 16).

Christ tells us we have been given his commands so that we may love one another (verse 17). If we love one another, and if that becomes our priority in ministry, then we too can be like Barnabas to the other Pauls we meet in our Christian life.

Love one another. And that is enough.

Saint Barnabas (left) among the icons in the Baptistry in the west apse of Saint Barnabas Church, Jericho (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 11 June 2026, Saint Barnabas the Apostle):

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 7 to 13 June 2026 (pp 8-9), is ‘Safe Churches in Zambia’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a programme update from Fran Mate, Senior Regional Manager for Africa, USPG.

The USPG prayer diary today (Thursday 11 June 2026, Saint Barnabas the Apostle) invites us to pray:

God of encouragement, as Saint Barnabas strengthened the early Church, strengthen leaders in Zambia. Help them build churches where every person is treated with dignity and respect.

The Collect:

Bountiful God, giver of all gifts,
who poured your Spirit upon your servant Barnabas
and gave him grace to encourage others:
help us, by his example,
to be generous in our judgements
and unselfish in our service;
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:

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 Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

With Canon Norman Ruddock (left) and Bishop Noel Willoughby (right) in Wexford in 1998 … a reminder of the ‘Barnabas Files’

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 Christmas 2025-2026: 30, Friday 23 January 2026

‘And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles’ (Mark 3: 14) … the Twelve Apostles depicted in an icon in a church in Panormos, east of Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The 40-day season of Christmas continues until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation (2 February). This week began with the Second Sunday of Epiphany (Epiphany II, 18 January 2026), with readings that continue to focus on the Baptism of Christ by Saint John the Baptist, one of the three great Epiphany themes, alongside the Visit of the Magi and the Wedding at Cana.

Today is the sixth day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, from 18 to 25 January. This year’s theme is ‘One Body, One Spirit’ – from Ephesians 4: 1-13 – which was prepared by the Armenian Apostolic Church, along with the Armenian Catholic and Evangelical Churches.

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 Glorious Company of the Apostles … six of the 12 apostles in a fresco in Saint Barnabas Church in Jericho, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 3: 13-19 (NRSVA):

13 He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, 15 and to have authority to cast out demons. 16 So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

A modern icon of the Communion of the Apostles

Today’s Reflection:

The Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Mark 3: 13-19) tells of the appointment by Jesus of the 12, ‘whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons.’

In Saint Matthew’s Gospel, this episode takes place shortly before the miracle of the man with a withered hand, but both Mark and Luke place it appears shortly after that miracle.

The liturgy for the Ordination of a Bishop in the Episcopal Church includes an examination at the beginning of which the candidate is reminded that ‘A bishop in God’s holy Church is called to be one with the apostles in proclaiming Christ’s resurrection and interpreting the Gospel, and to testify to Christ’s sovereignty as Lord of lords and King of kings.’

Then follows a series of questions and answers for the candidate for ordination, including:

Bishop: Will you boldly proclaim and interpret the Gospel of Christ, enlightening the minds and stirring up the conscience of your people?

Answer: I will, in the power of the Spirit.

These questions were put to Mariann Edgar Budde when she was being consecrated as Bishop of Washington in Washington National Cathedral on 12 November 2011. Last year (21 January 2025), the day after Donald Trump’s second inauguration as president, Bishop Budde preached at the interfaith prayer service in the same cathedral.

She urged Trump, who was sitting in the first pew, to show mercy and compassion to vulnerable people, saying: ‘Millions have put their trust in you. And as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now.’ She specifically cited the LGBTQ+ communities, immigrants, and refugees fleeing from war in their countries.

Her sermon shows that Bishop Budde takes her ordination vows seriously, and answering her call ‘to be one with the apostles in proclaiming Christ’s resurrection and interpreting the Gospel, and to testify to Christ’s sovereignty as Lord of lords and King of kings’, seeking to ‘boldly proclaim and interpret the Gospel of Christ, enlightening the minds and stirring up the conscience of your people’.

The Communion of the Apostles is an image that I find only in Orthodox iconography. In Greek it is generally known as Η Θεια Κοινωνια (He Theia Koinonia), ‘the Holy Communion’, while in Slavic it is known as ‘the Communion of the Apostles.’

This icon of the Communion of the Apostles is often found as a fresco in the apse in Eastern Orthodox churches, below images of the Theotokos or Virgin Mary as ‘Wider than the Heavens’, but is also found the icon screens on the ‘Royal Doors’ leading into the altar.

The icon shows Christ standing at an altar, giving communion to the Twelve, who approach from left and right. Christ is often depicted twice, at the left in the so-called μετάδοσης (metadosis, imparting) of the bread, and at the right in the so-called μετάληψις (metalepsis, partaking) of the wine.

When inscriptions are included in icons or frescoes with this image, they are generally words from Matthew 28: Λάβετε φάγετε, τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ σῶμά μου (Labete phagete, touto estin to soma mou), ‘Take, eat; this is my body’; and, Πίετε ἐξ αὐτοῦ πάντες, τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν τὸ αἷμά μου τῆς διαθήκης τὸ περὶ πολλῶν ἐκχυννόμενον εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν (Piete ex autou pantes, touto gar estin to haima mou tes diathekes to peri pollon ekkhunnomenon eis aphesin hamartion), ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’

In some instances, the icon may also include an excerpt from the Liturgy of Saint Basil: ‘Unite us all, who receive of one bread and chalice, one with another in the communion of one Holy Spirit.’

In some versions of this icon, the number of apostles included is indistinct, but usually they are 11, six to the left and five to the right, excluding ‘Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him’ (Mark 3: 19). Judas is generally omitted, because this is a liturgical icon showing a scene ‘in eternity’, and Judas is not considered part of that eternal celebration. Other icons have included Judas, who may be shown turning away, or even in some cases, with a black halo to distinguish him from the other, remaining 11.

In this icon, Christ has the bread at his right hand, and the chalice or sometimes a jug at his left. But, instead of the room of the Last Supper, the setting is usually in a church. Instead of Christ being at the table with the Apostles around it, he is at the altar, often with a canopy above the altar.

In this way, Christ is seen as giving the Communion in and to the Church on earth, the Church as one related communion, which makes it an appropriate icon to reflect on during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

‘And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles’ (Mark 3: 14) … the Twelve Apostles depicted in the East Window in Saint Editha’s Collegiate Church, Tamworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Friday 23 January 2026):

The theme this week (18-24 January 2026) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Freedom Theologies’ (pp 20-21). This theme was introduced on Sunday with Reflections from Dr Thandi Gamedze, poet, theologian, and senior researcher at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice.



The USPG Prayer Diary today (Friday 23 January 2026) invites us to pray:

Lord, we thank you for the Fellowship of Anglican Scholars of Theology (FeAST) and its work in encouraging encounter and fresh thinking. Bless this network with creativity, insight, and courage, building up scholarship that serves the Church and the world.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
in Christ you make all things new:
transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace,
and in the renewal of our lives
make known your heavenly glory;
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 glory,
you nourish us with your Word
who is the bread of life:
fill us with your Holy Spirit
that through us the light of your glory
may shine in all the world.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of the Conversion of Saint Paul:

Almighty God,
who caused the light of the gospel
to shine throughout the world
through the preaching of your servant Saint Paul:
grant that we who celebrate his wonderful conversion
may follow him in bearing witness to your truth;
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.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

The Twelve Apostles … an icon in the Cathedral in Rethymnon in Crete (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 the Kingdom Season: 18, Tuesday 18 November 2025

James Tissot, ‘Zacchaeus in the Sycamore Awaiting the Passage of Jesus’ (Brooklyn Museum)

Patrick Comerford

We are in the Kingdom Season, the time between All Saints’ Day and Advent, and this week began with the Second Sunday before Advent. The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Saint Elizabeth of Hungary (1231), Princess of Thuringia, Philanthropist.

Before the day begins, before I have breakfast, I am taking some quiet time early 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.

Jesus calls Zacchaeus down from the sycamore tree (Illustration © Henry Martin)

Luke 19: 1-10 (NRSVA):

1 He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ 6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ 8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ 9 Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’

Do we neglect Christ’s presence in Word and Sacrament too often? … an icon of the Last Supper in a shop window in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s reflection:

The Gospel reading at the Eucharist this morning (Luke 19: 1-10) is a reminder that the oppressed, the small people, those who are made to feel small by others, especially the proud and the violent, are truly cared for by God, have the promise of new life, and are invited into the kingdom.

In this reading, Zacchaeus is despised both as a tax collector and as a man who is ‘short in stature.’ Both his occupation and his physique squeeze him to the margins and put him outside the community of faith. Yet, he is seen by Christ not as he seems to others, but as God sees him to truly be.

In the previous chapter in Saint Luke’s Gospel, we read the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the Temple (Luke 18: 9-14). I sometimes ask: what if Zacchaeus was the model for that publican, that tax collector.

The story of Zacchaeus is a fast-moving story: every verse from verse 1 to 7, in the original Greek, begins with the word καὶ (kai, and), indicating that the pace has heightened, the story is speeding up, we are moving closer to the climax of this Gospel.

Christ is about to set out from Jericho to Jerusalem. From Jericho, the road is going to be uphill and more treacherous: remember that it is on this road between Jericho and Jerusalem that a certain man is mugged and left for dead until the Good Samaritan passes by (Luke 10: 25-37).

Jericho was a major resting place or stopping point on a main trade route, making it a lucrative and profitable location both for tax collectors and for bandits.

But Jericho has other significance: the walls of Jericho fell down at the call of the trumpets (see Joshua 6). So, in this reading, after Christ passes through the walls of Jericho, his call breaks down all the walls people erect around themselves, individually and collectively.

Who is Zacchaeus?

Certainly, Zacchaeus is not any run-of-the-mill tax collector. He is the ἀρχιτελώνης (architelonis), the chief tax collector, and so by contract had the right to collect revenues throughout this district. His name (Ζακχαῖος, Zakchaios) means pure, but his neighbours would have despised him, not only because they believed he squeezed the last drachma and the last lepta out of widows and children, but because they would also have seen him as a collaborator with the Roman administration.

There, a man who wants to see Christ is probably pushed to the back of the crowd for two reasons that count him out: he is small in stature, and he is a tax collector.

The physical problem shows how Zacchaeus is pushed to the margins by those who should have counted him into their social and religious community. He is of little stature not just physically, but socially too.

Can you imagine yourself as a little child trying to see a great parade or a football match when you were small?

Did everyone want to let you through?

Or did you not count? Did no-one stand aside for you?

No-one is going to stand aside for Zacchaeus. They belittle him, and they probably think he deserves it – after all, the taxes he collects support the Roman occupation and administration.

But Zacchaeus overcomes, rises above, his exclusion, by climbing the tree – is there a symbolic reference here to clinging to the Cross? In any case, Zacchaeus climbs the tree to see Jesus – something you could imagine a child doing, but surely not the sort of thing a well-paid civil servant should be seen doing?

Zacchaeus sees Jesus and Jesus sees Zacchaeus.

And Jesus invites himself not just to dine with Zacchaeus, but to stay with him: ‘Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for I must stay at your house today’ (verse 5).

Normally, it is the potential host rather than the intended guest who does the inviting. So once again, Jesus the Guest becomes Jesus the Host.

Zacchaeus is delighted. But the good burghers of Jericho are unsettled. They murmur that Jesus is heading off to dine with sinners.

We are so self-righteous at times in our churches that I am worried we are in danger of being unwilling to welcome those who would be seen today as the little people.

One priest I know in a comfortable parish challenged his parishioners, who are very generous in their giving, especially when it comes to development agencies, mission agencies and what we once called Third World causes. He asked them how they would react if refugees or asylum seekers were moved into a vacant hotel or hostel in the parish on a Saturday night, and all of them presumed to come to church on the following Sunday morning.

In welcoming Jesus, Zacchaeus has what can only be described as a conversion experience.

The NRSV translation tells us that he promises to amend his ways and that, in the future, he will give half his possessions to the poor, and return anything extra he has squeezed out of people when he has been collecting taxes.

Unfortunately, the NRSV translation is a little inaccurate here. Zacchaeus makes no such promise about the future. He says, in the original Greek, that this is what he is doing in the present – the present tense is used.

If he is telling the truth, then Zacchaeus has been grossly misrepresented, misunderstood and libelled by his neighbours and within his own community, even at the point where he is dining with Jesus.

The present tense is important. For this day, on this day, Christ affirms that Zacchaeus too is a child of Abraham, that he too is an heir to those promises made long, long ago to Abraham.

Those who needed conversion were not Zacchaeus and others like him on the margins, who were in need of seeing people as Christ sees them.

Christ seeks out the sinners, the lost, those who are excluded, those counted out, and invites them to the heavenly banquet. Like Zacchaeus, they too are brought from the margins into the centre.

The one person everyone thought was outside, is on the inside as far as Christ is concerned. And those who think they are on the inside are in danger of finding that they are on the outside.

Are we welcoming enough, as individuals and as a Church?

How would we feel if Jesus came to our parish next weekend, but decided not to come to our church on Sunday morning, but to go somewhere else?

What if we were left without Christ being present in our church on Sunday morning … in either Word or Sacrament?

How often are we prepared to welcome Christ’s presence among us only in the way we choose, on our terms?

For those of us in what might be described as ‘High Church’ or Anglo-Catholic traditions, do we neglect Christ’s presence in the Word too often?

To those of us in what might be described as ‘Evangelical’ traditions, do we neglect Christ’s presence in the Sacrament too often?

May our faith and love continue to increase and to grow abundantly so that we count in those who are overlooked, those who are not counted in, those who are pushed to the margins.



Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 18 November 2025):

The theme this week (16 to 22 November) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘In the Shadow of the Carneddau’ (pp 56-57). This theme was introduced on Sunday with Reflections from Bishop Andrew John, who stepped down as Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Bangor on 27 June.

.

The USPG Prayer Diary today invites us to pray:

Pray for scientists and other researchers who help us understand the challenges posed by climate change.

The Collect:

Lord God,
who taught Elizabeth of Hungary
to recognize and reverence Christ in the poor of this world:
by her example
strengthen us to love and serve the afflicted and the needy
and so to honour your Son, the servant king,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post-Communion Prayer:

Faithful God,
who called Elizabeth of Hungary to serve you
and gave her joy in walking the path of holiness:
by this eucharist
in which you renew within us the vision of your glory,
strengthen us all to follow the way of perfection
until we come to see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

Inside Saint Margaret’s Church, the Anglican church in Budapest … Saint Margaret of Hungary is remembered on 18 November (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 the Kingdom Season: 17, Monday 17 November 2025

The window depicting Christ the healer in the Chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in the Kingdom Season, the time between All Saints and Advent, and this week began with the Second Sunday before Advent. The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Saint Hugh (1200), Bishop of Lincoln.

Before the day begins, before breakfast, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, and for reflection, prayer and reading 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 healing of the blind man depicted in a fresco in Analipsi Church in Georgioupoli, Crete … those looking on can hardly believe what they see (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 18: 35-43 (NRSVA):

35 As he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When he heard a crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.’ 38 Then he shouted, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ 39 Those who were in front sternly ordered him to be quiet; but he shouted even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ 40 Jesus stood still and ordered the man to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him, 41 ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ He said, ‘Lord, let me see again.’ 42 Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.’ 43 Immediately he regained his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, praised God.

What does the blind man at the roadside near Jericho see that the 12 have passed by? … one of the sculptures by Bettina Seitz at the homefarm and courtyards in Markree Castle, Co Sligo (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

The story of a blind man or blind men at the gate of Jericho is told in all three Synoptic Gospels (see: Matthew 20: 29-34, Mark 10: 46-52 and Luke 18: 35-43).

In Saint Matthew’s account, there are two, unnamed blind men sitting by the roadside outside Jericho. In Saint Luke’s version, the blind man is sitting by the roadside begging as Christ approaches Jericho. In all three accounts, the location of Jericho is important. It claims to be the oldest inhabited and the oldest walled city in the world.

The Battle of Jericho is the first battle in the conquest of Canaan in the Book of Joshua. The walls of Jericho fall after Joshua’s Israelite army marches around the city blowing their trumpets (Joshua 6: 1-27).

In later times, Jericho was a private estate of Alexander the Great and then a garden city in the royal estates of the Hasmoneans, the priestly ruling dynasty. Mark Anthony gave Jericho to Cleopatra as a gift, but Herod leased it back again and the Herodians had their winter palace here, with their winter gardens.

By the time of Christ, Jericho is an important commercial city, a crossroads, the winter resort for Jerusalem’s aristocracy and the ruling priestly class. Which explains why, in the parable of the Good Samaritan earlier in this Gospel, a priest and a Levite were regular passers-by on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem (Luke 10: 30-37).

In Saint Luke’s Gospel too, Jericho is the home of Zacchaeus, the repentant tax collector, as we hear in the Gospel reading at the Eucharist tomorrow (Luke 19: 1-10).

Christ and his disciples are now near the end of their journey from Caesarea Philippi in the north to Jerusalem: Jericho is about 25 km from Jerusalem. On their journey, the disciples have misunderstood the message of Jesus and have been blind to who he truly is. But in this Gospel reading, it is a blind man who sees who Christ truly is.

The blind man cries out to ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ This cry is one of the Biblical foundations of the Jesus Prayer, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.’

Until now, the disciples have been blind to who Jesus truly is. It takes a blind man to see the truth, and he calls Jesus is ‘Son of David,’ King of the Jews, and the Messiah. In other places, Christ orders silence on the matter, but not here. His time is approaching.

The blind man gives up all he has, leaves everything behind to follow Christ.

The question Christ now puts to the blind man – ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ (verse 41) – is the same question Jesus also puts to James and John when they seek status in the kingdom: ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ (Mark 10: 36). James and John asked to be seated at his right hand and his left hand, symbolising power and prestige (see Mark 10: 37). But this blind man is humble in his reply: ‘Lord, let me see again’ (Luke 18: 41).

Christ tells him simply that his faith ‘Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.’ He is not only cured immediately, but he follows Jesus on the way (verse 43).

‘Christ Healing the Blind’ (ca 1570) by El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) … in the Met, New York

Today’s Prayers (Monday 17 November 2025):

The theme this week (16 to 22 November) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘In the Shadow of the Carneddau’ (pp 56-57). This theme was introduced yesterday with Reflections from Bishop Andrew John, who stepped down as Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Bangor on 27 June.

The USPG Prayer Diary today invites us to pray:

Look around you. Give thanks for the wonder of the Creation and its life sustaining power.

The Collect:

O God,
who endowed your servant Hugh
with a wise and cheerful boldness
and taught him to commend to earthly rulers
the discipline of a holy life:
give us grace like him to be bold in the service of the gospel,
putting our confidence in Christ alone,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post-Communion Prayer:

God, shepherd of your people,
whose servant Hugh revealed the loving service of Christ
in his ministry as a pastor of your people:
by this eucharist in which we share
awaken within us the love of Christ
and keep us faithful to our Christian calling;
through him who laid down his life for us,
but is alive and reigns with you, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

The blind man’s cry is one of the Biblical foundations of the Jesus Prayer, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner’ … an image from Crete (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

Twining House on Banbury Road recalls the grocer who developed the suburbs of north Oxford

Twining House at 294 Banbury Road, Oxford, built by TH Kingerlee for Francis Twining in 1909 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

I stayed overnight in Oxford at the end of last week in the Summertown area at the north end of Banbury Road. This is a major road leading north out of the city centre, running from Saint Giles at the south end, through the leafy suburbs of North Oxford and Summertown. Woodstock Road runs parallel to and to the west of Banbury Road.

Summertown is home to several independent schools and some of the most expensive houses in Oxford. In the past, the residents of Summertown have included Iris Murdoch and John Bayley. Summertown is also home to much of Oxford’s broadcast media, including the BBC Oxford studios on Banbury Road.

Most of North Oxford came into being the university decided in 1877 to allow college fellows to marry and live in private houses rather living in college rooms in college, and large houses were built on Banbury Road and Woodstock Road on land that once belonged to Saint John’s College.

I had stayed before at the south end of Banbury Road, when I was a guest in Wycliffe Hall. But this was my second time to stay at this end of Banbury Road in Summertown: we stayed there overnight after I was discharged from the John Radcliffe Hospital following a stroke in 2022; and I was back there again last week, three years later, for yet another medical procedure.

This stretch of Banbury Road in Summertown is known for its shops, from boutique book shops and niche stationery shops to bakeries, cafés and estate agents, as well as branches of Marks and Spencer, Tesco and Sainsbury.

Breckon and Breckon must have the most attractive premises for any estate agents in Summertown. But their premises, Twining House, was also one of the earliest grocer’s shop on Banbury Road.

When I saw Twining House and the former United Reformed Church side-by-side on Banbury Road last week, I thought one had been the church hall for the other. But, instead, I found they told the story of Alderman Francis Twining, an enlightened and benevolent philanthropist and entrepreneur who had risen from began life as an impoverished child, became a grocer’s boy at a young age and rose to being the Mayor of Oxford and one of the main property developers in late Victorian and Edwardian north Oxford.

The builder Thomas Henry Kingerlee (1843-1929), who designed Summertown Congregational Church, was a Liberal city councillor and he too was the Mayor of Oxford, in 1898-1899 and 1911-1912.

Kingerlee built a number of prominent buildings in Oxford, including the Rivermead Hospital, Headington Junior School, the original New Theatre, Elliston & Cavell (later Debenhams) and the Oxford Marmalade Factory. He used patterns similar to Summertown Congregational Church a decade later when he built the grocery shop for Twining in 1902 next door at 294 Banbury Road, now known as Twining House.

Francis Twining (1848-1929) was born in Thompson Buildings, St Aldate’s, Oxford, and was baptised in Saint Aldate’s Church on 7 May 1848. His mother, Mary Ann, was born in Evesham, Worcestershire, in 1811; his father Robert Twining was a stonemason and was distantly related to the Twining’s Tea family. The Twining family originated in Gloucestershire, where they were weavers and fulling millers. Recession drove the family to London in 1684, bringing with them nine-year-old Thomas Twining, later the founder of the tea business.

Francis was only nine when his father Robert Twining, who was working on Addington Church, was killed in an accident near Winslow railway station while trying to catch the last train back to Oxford on 30 January 1858. Soon after, the young Francis Twining began working as a grocer’s boy for Grimbly Hughes at 55-56 Cornmarket.

By the age of 22, Francis Twining was a grocer’s assistant and living in Victor Street, Jericho, when he married Elizabeth Ann Smith (26) in the newly-oepned Saint Barnabas Church, Jericho, in 1870. Two years later, in 1872, they were living over his own grocer’s shop at 23 Saint Ebbe’s Street.

When a vacancy arose in the West Ward of the city in 1879, Twining was the only candidate and was elected to the council; he was still in his 20s. Although he was not a freeman, he was elected Sheriff of Oxford in 1885.

Around this time, he moved to Llantrisant House at 78 Kingston Road, near the corner of St Margaret’s Road. By 1890, he had moved into a new home, Summertown House on the Banbury Road, and this was his address when he was elected as a Liberal member of the town council.

Twining bought 25 acres at Hawkswell Farm in 1895, and combined this with 25 acres at Stone’s Estate for a major housing development in North Oxford, building 350 houses in all. He also laid out Portland, Lonsdale, King’s Cross, Victoria, Hamilton and Lucerne Roads in 1901. He also bought the White Hart Hotel at Cornmarket in 1899.

Meanwhile, Twining donated the site for Summertown Congregational Church – later the United Reformed Church – that was built on this stretch of the Banbury Road in 1893. He lived in Summertown House, a 15-roomed mansion at the junction of Apsley Road and Banbury Road. He opened the Summertown branch of his grocery chain in 1902, and at one time he had six shops throughout Oxford.

Twining’s new purpose-built branch at 294 Banbury Road, Summertown, opened in 1902. But later that year, he handed over his wholesale and retail grocery businesses to three of his sons. By 1915, there were six Twining Brothers branches throughout Oxford: the original shop at 23-24 St Ebbe’s Street, 53 Cornmarket Street, 16 North Parade Avenue, 46 High Street, 56 St Aldate’s Street and 294 Banbury Road.

Twining was a member of the city council in Oxford for 50 years, first as a councillor and then as an alderman, and in 1905 he was elected Mayor of Oxford for 1905-1906. As Mayor, he welcomed the Chinese Imperial Commissioners to Oxford in 1906.

Twining donated the site for Saint Michael and All Angels, a new Church of England parish church for Summertown, in 1909.

During World War I, his youngest son, Sidney Twining, died of his wounds in Thessaloniki on 27 February 1917. After the war, Alderman Twining gave £500 to buy the site of the Summertown War Memorial in 1919.

Elizabeth Twining was 84 when she died at Summertown in 1927; Francis Twining was 81 when died at Summertown House in 1929; they are buried at Wolvercote Cemetery.

His sons Ernest, Gilbert, and Francis Twining, continued to run Twining Bros. There were still six Twining’s shops in 1935, but some were in larger premises: 15-19 George Street, 164 Cowley Road, 15 North Parade Avenue, 83-84 High Street, 294 Banbury Road and 3 Woodstock Road. All of these except the High Street branch were still open in 1955.

By 1971, the shop on Banbury Road had become Moore’s wineshop, and by 1976 the only Twining’s branches that survived in Oxford were at North Parade Avenue and Woodstock Road.

Summertown House was sold at auction in 1939, and is now graduate housing known as Mansion House, with three blocks of graduate flats in the grounds.

Oxford city council decided to rename George Street in Summertown as Twining Street in 1955. But 62 residents signed a petition, saying they did not want to live on a street named after a grocer. What must those (presumably) Tory voters have thought in the decades that followed when Ted ‘Grocer’ Heath and the grocer’s daughter Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister? Instead, the street was named Middle Way. But the name of Francis Twining is still celebrated in Twining House and the offices of Breckon and Breckon.

As for the church next door, that is a story for another day, I hope. [see here]

The façade of Twining House retains the symbols of Twining’s once prosperous grocery business (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2025: 33, Wednesday 11 June 2025, Saint Barnabas the Apostle

An icon of Saint Barnabas in Saint Barnabas Church in Jericho, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The 50-day season of Easter, which began on Easter Day (20 April 2025), came to an end on Sunday with the Day of Pentecost or Whit Sunday (8 June 2025), and once again in the Church Calendar we are in Ordinary Time.

The Church Calendar today commemorates Saint Barnabas the Apostle (11 June). Later day, I have a lunchtime meeting in Saint Mary’s Church, Wavendon, I hope to join the choir rehearsals this evening 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.

An icon of Saint Barnabas in Saint Barnabas Church in Jericho, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 15: 12-17 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 12 ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.’

Saint Paul (left), the Prophet Elijah (centre) and Saint Barnabas (right) in a window in Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

Shortly before my ordination, Bishop Noel Willoughby, who had retired as Bishop of Cashel and Ossory and was then living in Wexford, told me about what he called his ‘Barnabas File.’

As a bishop, he regularly got letters moaning and groaning about what he had done or what he had failed to do. He read them, acted on them if he needed to, and then dumped them. But when he got encouraging letters, praising him, or just simply nice letters, he filed them away in his ‘Barnabas File’ and then take them out and read them when the pressures of ministry and the critics were grinding him down. Those letter writers were to him what Saint Barnabas was to the Apostle Paul on their shared missionary journeys.

In the Church Calendar, today is the Feast of Saint Barnabas. The lectionary readings for the Eucharist today include Acts 11: 19-30, set in Antioch, where we are called Christians for the first time. Earlier, Barnabas had sold all his goods and had given his money to the apostles in Jerusalem (Acts 4: 36-37). Now, in Acts 11, Barnabas arrives in Antioch. He then brings Saul from Tarsus to Antioch, and the two are sent out together.

Barnabas and Paul travel together for such a long time that their names are almost inseparable. When a dispute arises about taking John Mark with them, that dispute ends with Paul and Barnabas taking separate routes.

In today’s Gospel reading (John 15: 12-17), we are reminded that the great commandment Christ gives us is to love one another as Christ loves us (verse 12), and that we are called to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last (verse 16).

Christ tells us we have been given his commands so that we may love one another (verse 17). If we love one another, and if that becomes our priority in ministry, then we too can be like Barnabas to the other Pauls we meet in our Christian life.

Love one another. And that is enough.

Saint Barnabas (left) among the icons in the Baptistry in the west apse of Saint Barnabas, Jericho (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Wednesday 11 June 2025, Saint Barnabas the Apostle):

‘Pentecost’ is the theme this week (8-14 June) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel). This theme was introduced on Sunday with reflections by Dr Paulo Ueti, Theological Advisor and Regional Manager for the Americas and the Caribbean, USPG.

The USPG prayer diary today (Wednesday 11 June 2025, Saint Barnabas the Apostle) invites us to pray:

Lord, we pray for your blessing on the Church of Saint Barnabas in Limassol and the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf more widely. May they follow the example of Saint Barnabas, Patron Saint of Cyprus, in faith, generosity, and perseverance.

The Collect:

Bountiful God, giver of all gifts,
who poured your Spirit upon your servant Barnabas
and gave him grace to encourage others:
help us, by his example,
to be generous in our judgements
and unselfish in our service;
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:

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 Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

With Canon Norman Ruddock (left) and Bishop Noel Willoughby (right) in Wexford in 1998 … a reminder of the ‘Barnabas Files’

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

The Church of the Annunciation near Marble Arch and a visit to mark the Feast of the Annunciation

The Church of the Annunciation near Marble Arch … likened by Niklaus Pevsner to ‘a fragment of a major medieval church’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

Today is the Feast of the Annunciation [25 March 2025], and one of the churches in London I visited in recent weeks is the Church of the Annunciation near Marble Arch and close to Oxford Street. The architectural historian Sir Niklaus Pevsner said that to enter the church is to have stumbled upon ‘a fragment of a major medieval church’.

The Church of the Annunciation is between Bryanston Square and Montagu Square in the neoclassical Portman Estate, developed by Henry William Portman in the 18th century. It is a Grade II* listed building at the south end of Marylebone, and is a Gothic Revival church designed by Sir Walter Tapper and built in 1912-1914.

The area around the church was originally known as Tyburn, from its location near a small bourne or rivulet, once known as Ayebrook or Eye-brook, and later known as Tybourn-brook, that flowed into the Thames.

The parish church, Saint Mary’s Church, stood where Marylebone Parish Church now stands. Saint Mary’s came to be known as Saint Mary at the Bourn, giving its name to Saint Mary le bone, or Marylebone. The city of London contracted Sir Gilbert de Sandford in 1236 to draw water from Tyburn Springs that he owned to serve as the first piped water supply for the city.

Tyburn became notorious from 1196 as a place of execution. The Tyburn Tree was erected in 1571 and remained in some shape or form until 1783. A number of Roman Catholics martyrs were executed there during the Reformation.

Inside the Church of the Annunciation, designed by Sir Walter Tapper (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The Portman family became the local landowners in the 16th century, when Sir William Portman (1498-1557) acquired 270 acres in 1532. The estate was later developed by Henry William Portman (1738-1796).

The Church of the Annunciation stands on the site of a chapel of ease built by Lord Portman in 1787. It was named the Quebec Chapel after the street on which it stood, and the street in the turn had acquired its name after General Wolfe captured the city of Quebec in 1759.

According to a contemporary report, the chapel was ‘a square, ugly edifice … with no pretensions to ecclesiastical fitness.’ It is said the original chapel was converted from the riding school of the nearby Portman Barracks – although this is probably untrue.

The High Altar and the reredos were designed by Walter Tapper Tapper and executed by John Charles Norman Bewsey (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The perpetual curates or priests in charge of the Quebec Chapel included:

• Henry Alford (1810-1871), hymn-writer and author of ‘Come, ye thankful people, come’, patron of Pugin and later Dean of Canterbury (1857-1871);

• Edward Meyrick Goulburn (1818-1897), afterwards Dean of Norwich (1866-1899);

• John Hampden Gurney (1802-1862), who gives his name to Hampden Gurney School, established in 1863 as a memorial to the Reverend John Hampden Gurney, former Vicar of St Mary’s, Bryanston Square. The first school building was situated on Hampden Gurney Street in the parish of the Church of the Annunciation,

• and, in 1860-1861, William Connor Magee (1821-1891), who was born in Cork and later became Dean of Cork (1864-1868), Bishop of Peterborough (1868-1891) and briefly Archbishop of York (1891).

The high triumphal crucifix over the arch is thought to have been made by Robert Bridgeman of Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The interior of the chapel was redecorated in the 1850s in an elaborate Byzantine style by the architect Sir Arthur Blomfield (1829-1899), who was also the architect of Saint Barnabas Church, Jericho, Oxford (1869), Selwyn College, Cambridge (1882-1889), and the nave of Southwark Cathedral (1890-1897).

When he was the chaplain, the Revd Edward Bickersteth Ottley (1853-1910) raised a public subscription and the chapel was bought from the Portman Estate in 1894.

The chapel had fallen into disrepair by the early 20th century, and the congregation wanted to build a new church on the whole city block between Seymour Street and Bryanston Street, and between Great Cumberland Place and Quebec Street.

Inside the Church of theAnnunciation, looking towards the west end (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The Revd Bernard Day Douglas Shaw was the inspiration behind the new building. However, the original grand plan was halted due to the beginning of the World War I, resulting instead in a unique building that is both richly furnished and unfinished.

Sir Walter Tapper (1861-1935) was chosen as the architect of the new church, and the old chapel was demolished in 1911. Tapper was deeply religious with Anglo-Catholic convictions. His son later recalled that the Church of the Annunciation, a fine lofty building with something of the scale of a cathedral or a major medieval church, was Tapper’s favourite work.

Tapper was a Royal Academician, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and President of the Royal Institute of Architects. Tapper was a pupil of George Frederick Bodley (1827-1907), a leading designer of mediaeval revival architecture. He was chief assistant and then manager in the office of George Bodley and Thomas Garner before setting up his own practice.

Later, he became Surveyor to the Fabric of Westminster Abbey, where he is buried.

The Lady Chapel in the Church of the Annunciation (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The Church of the Annunciation is in the Edwardian Gothic style. It is a tall red brick church in the Late Gothic Revival (or Edwardian Gothic) style. It features stone dressings and buttresses and a gabled bell tower.

Tapper’s street elevations of the Church of the Annunciation are windowless at ground level, but high windows and vaulting throughout give the interior spaciousness. The rich furnishings are in keeping with the Anglo-Catholic tradition.

The Rood supporting Christ on the Cross flanked by the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint John is in the shape of the rainbow, a symbol of the covenant between God and creation. The high triumphal crucifix over the arch is thought to have been made by Robert Bridgeman of Lichfield to designs by Tapper.

The high altar reredos was designed by Tapper and executed by John Charles Norman Bewsey (1880-1940). Bewsey, who trained with Charles Eamer Kempe (1837-1907), also designed the stained glass. A brass memorial to the Revd Bernard DD Shaw in the floor of the sanctuary is the only brass known to have been designed by Tapper, and was engraved by hand.

The organ case built by Sir Frederick Rothwell (1853-1944) was designed by Tapper and may be based on organ cases in Westminster Abbey designed by John Loughborough Pearson (1817-1897). Pearson, in turn, was the architect of Truro Cathedral (1879-1910) and the Fitzrovia Chapel (1890), London. He also restored Saint Lawrence’s Church, Towcester, added the two towers at the west end of Bristol Cathedral and designed additions to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, in 1890.

The Stations of the Cross are by the Belgian sculptor Aloïs de Beule (1861-1935) of Ghent. They are plaster casts of originals in wood.

The Somerset Memorial in the north aisle is dedicated to Norman Somerset who was killed at the First Battle of Ypres (1914) at the age of 20.

The statue of Saint George in the Somerset Memorial in the north aisle (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The church also has furnishings brought from other churches. The lampidarium spanning the arch between the sanctuary and the Lady Chapel originally hung above the high altar of Saint Chad’s Cathedral, Birmingham, and was designed by AWN Pugin (1812-1852).

The single bell was cast in 1913 by John Warner and Sons of Spitalfields.

The church was dedicated by the Bishop of London, Arthur Winnington-Ingram, on 24 June 1914. World War I was imminent and there were rumours too that the Suffragettes had planned to disrupt the service.

The Marylebone Calvary War Memorial on the corner of Old Quebec Street and Bryanston Street is at the south-east corner of the church. The memorial is also by Walter Tapper and includes local names from World War I.

The south porch of the Church of the Annunciation on Bryanston Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

In the early 20th century, many of the people associated with the church were strongly opposed to the growing ecumenical movement. An interdenominational rally was held nearby in Hyde Park in May 1951 to coincide with the launch of the Festival of Britain. A number of Anglo-Catholic clergy and lay people, led by Revd Hugh Ross Williamson, who later became a Roman Catolic, organised a protest meeting at the Church of the Annunciation to express their opposition to bishops of the Church of England sharing a platform with Methodists, Baptists and other nonconformists.

In their opinion, these churches did ‘not accept the traditional Faith of the Church’. In a signed letter, they expressed the concern that ‘the participation of the Church of England may give the additional impression that Roman Catholics are the only religious body which defend the full Catholic Faith.’

The poet John Betjeman was among the signatories. He admitted to TS Eliot, a fellow Anglo-Catholic and a churchwarden of Saint Stephen’s, Gloucester Road, that he found the tone of the protest ‘somewhat extreme.’ But he declared ‘I have nailed my colours to the mast and cannot let down my co-signatories.’ Rose Macaulay, the author of The Towers of Trebizond (1956), also commented on the protest, expressing her dismay at opposition to the rally.

Betjeman later opened new premises of Hampden Gurney School in 1967. The school continues its strong links with the Church of the Annunciation, and the Vicar, Father Lincoln Harvey, is chair of the governing body.

The Church of the Annunciation has always been closely associated with the Anglo-Catholic movement and has a distinguished tradition of music and choral singing.

Father Lincoln Harvey has been the Vicar of the Church of the Annunciation since 2021. He is a former Assistant Dean and Lecturer in Systematic Theology at Saint Mellitus College, and the author of a number of books, including A Brief Theology of Sport.

• The Parish Mass on Sundays is at 10:30 am. The weekday services usually include Mass at 12:30 pm each day. The church is open from Monday to Friday between 10 am and 6 pm for private prayer.

The Marylebone Calvary War Memorial on the corner of Old Quebec Street and Bryanston Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Daily prayer in Christmas 2024-2025: 31, Friday 24 January 2025

‘And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles’ (Mark 3: 14) … the Twelve Apostles depicted in an icon in a church in Panormos, east of Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The 40-day season of Christmas continues until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation (2 February). This week began with the Second Sunday of Epiphany (Epiphany II), with readings that focussed on the Wedding at Cana, the third great Epiphany theme, alongside the Visit of the Magi and the Baptism of Christ.

Today is the Seventh Day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers the life and work of Saint Francis de Sales (1622), Bishop of Geneva and Teacher of the Faith. 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 Glorious Company of the Apostles … six of the 12 apostles in a fresco in Saint Barnabas Church in Jericho, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 3: 13-19 (NRSVA):

13 He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, 15 and to have authority to cast out demons. 16 So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

A modern icon of the Communion of the Apostles

Today’s Reflection:

The Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Mark 3: 13-19) tells of the appointment by Jesus of the 12, ‘whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons.’

In Saint Matthew’s Gospel, this episode takes place shortly before the miracle of the man with a withered hand, but both Mark and Luke place it appears shortly after that miracle.

The liturgy for the Ordination of a Bishop in the Episcopal Church includes an examination. At the beginning of the examination, the candidate is reminded that ‘A bishop in God’s holy Church is called to be one with the apostles in proclaiming Christ’s resurrection and interpreting the Gospel, and to testify to Christ’s sovereignty as Lord of lords and King of kings.’

Then follows a series of questions and answers for the candidate for ordination, including:

Bishop: Will you boldly proclaim and interpret the Gospel of Christ, enlightening the minds and stirring up the conscience of your people?

Answer: I will, in the power of the Spirit.

These questions were put to Mariann Edgar Budde when she was being consecrated as Bishop of Washington in Washington National Cathedral on 12 November 2011. On Tuesday (21 January 2025), the day after Donald Trump’s second inauguration as president, Bishop Budde preached at the interfaith prayer service in the same cathedral.

She urged Trump, who was sitting in the first pew, to show mercy and compassion to vulnerable people, saying: ‘Millions have put their trust in you. And as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now.’ She specifically cited the LGBTQ+ communities, immigrants, and refugees fleeing from war in their countries.

Her sermon shows that Bishop Budde takes her ordination vows seriously, and answering her call ‘to be one with the apostles in proclaiming Christ’s resurrection and interpreting the Gospel, and to testify to Christ’s sovereignty as Lord of lords and King of kings’, seeking to ‘boldly proclaim and interpret the Gospel of Christ, enlightening the minds and stirring up the conscience of your people’.

The Communion of the Apostles is an image that I find only in Orthodox iconography. In Greek it is generally known as Η Θεια Κοινωνια (He Theia Koinonia), ‘the Holy Communion’, while in Slavic it is known as ‘the Communion of the Apostles.’

This icon of the Communion of the Apostles is often found as a fresco in the apse in Eastern Orthodox churches, below images of the Theotokos or Virgin Mary as ‘Wider than the Heavens’, but is also found the icon screens on the ‘Royal Doors’ leading into the altar.

The icon shows Christ standing at an altar, giving communion to the Twelve, who approach from left and right. Christ is often depicted twice, at the left in the so-called μετάδοσης (metadosis, imparting) of the bread, and at the right in the so-called μετάληψις (metalepsis, partaking) of the wine.

When inscriptions are included in icons or frescoes with this image, they are generally words from Matthew 28: Λάβετε φάγετε, τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ σῶμά μου (Labete phagete, touto estin to soma mou), ‘Take, eat; this is my body’; and, Πίετε ἐξ αὐτοῦ πάντες, τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν τὸ αἷμά μου τῆς διαθήκης τὸ περὶ πολλῶν ἐκχυννόμενον εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν (Piete ex autou pantes, touto gar estin to haima mou tes diathekes to peri pollon ekkhunnomenon eis aphesin hamartion), ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’

In some instances, the icon may also include an excerpt from the Liturgy of Saint. Basil: ‘Unite us all, who receive of one bread and chalice, one with another in the communion of one Holy Spirit.’

In some versions of this icon, the number of apostles included is indistinct, but usually they are 11, six to the left and five to the right, excluding ‘Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him’ (Mark 3: 19). Judas is generally omitted, because this is a liturgical icon showing a scene ‘in eternity’, and Judas is not considered part of that eternal celebration. Other icons have included Judas, who may be shown turning away, or even in some cases, with a black halo to distinguish him from the other, remaining 11.

In this icon, Christ has the bread at his right hand, and the chalice or sometimes a jug at his left. But, instead of the room of the Last Supper, the setting is usually in a church. Instead of Christ being at the table with the Apostles around it, he is at the altar, often with a canopy above the altar.

In this way, Christ is seen as giving the Communion in and to the Church on earth, the Church as one related communion, which makes it an appropriate icon to reflect on as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity draws close to its end.

‘And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles’ (Mark 3: 14) … the Twelve Apostles depicted in the East Window in Saint Editha's Collegiate Church, Tamworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Friday 24 January 2025):

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 ‘Whom Shall I Send?’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with a Programme Update by Rachael Anderson, Senior Communications and Engagement Manager, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Friday 24 January 2025, International Day of Education) invites us to pray:

Lord, we thank you for the gift of education and its power to transform lives. Open doors for young people denied access and inspire us to work for a world where education is available to all.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
in Christ you make all things new:
transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace,
and in the renewal of our lives
make known your heavenly glory;
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 glory,
you nourish us with your Word
who is the bread of life:
fill us with your Holy Spirit
that through us the light of your glory
may shine in all the world.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of the Conversion of Saint Paul:

Almighty God,
who caused the light of the gospel
to shine throughout the world
through the preaching of your servant Saint Paul:
grant that we who celebrate his wonderful conversion
may follow him in bearing witness to your truth;
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.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

The Twelve Apostles … an icon in the Cathedral in Rethymnon in Crete (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