Daily prayers in Ordinary Time with USPG: (52) 19 July 2023

Holy Trinity Church, Bratislava … an 18th century baroque church near the Old Town in the capital of Slovakia (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and this week began with the Sixth Sunday after Trinity (16 July 2023).

Today (19 July 2023), the Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship celebrates the lives of Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa (ca 394), and his sister Macrina (ca 379), Deaconess, Teachers of the Faith.

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

Over these weeks after Trinity Sunday, I have been reflecting each morning in these ways:

1, Looking at relevant images or stained glass windows in a church, chapel or cathedral I know;

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

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Inside Holy Trinity Church, Bratislava, reflects the new thinking in the 18th century on the function and form of baroque churches

Holy Trinity Church, Bratislava:

Holy Trinity Church, Bratislava, is an 18th century baroque church near the Old Town in the capital of Slovakia. The official name of the church is the Church of Saint John of Matha and Saint Felix of Valois. However, because of its association with the Trinitarian Order, the church is commonly known as the Holy Trinity Church.

The church was built on the site of the older church of Saint Michael. But the older church and the settlement of Saint Michael were demolished in 1529 during the Ottoman wars as a defensive measure.

The Trinitarian Order started building the present church in 1717, and it was consecrated in 1727. At the same time, a Trinitarian monastery was built on the site.

The Trinitarian Order was dissolved in the Austro-Hungarian Empire by Emperor Joseph II in 1782 in his ‘storm against the monasteries’ (Klostersturm) and the city council took possession of the building. However, it did not suit the needs of the city and the monastery portion was almost completely demolished.

The design of the church reflects the new thinking in the 18th century on the function and form of baroque churches, emphasising space and light. The design may have been influenced by Saint Peter’s Church in Vienna, with the architect of Saint Peter’s possibly having a hand in the blueprint.

Outside, the main portal is richly decorated in rococo style, celebrating the Holy Trinity. Inside, the arch of the church is dominated by a cupola with trompe-l’œil frescoes by the Italian baroque painter Antonio Galli da Bibiena (1744). In the inner cupola is a blue and red cross, the symbol of the Trinitarian Order.

The church has a massive main altar and several side altars. The main work of art is the large altar painting depicting Saint John of Matha and Saint Felix of Valois – the two founders of the Trinitarian Order – ransoming Christian prisoners. This masterpiece was painted by Franz Xaver Palkó in 1745, and the artist painted himself into the picture as the boy on the far right.

On either side of the main altar are large statues of Saint Agnes (left) and Saint Catherine of Alexandria (right) by the Bavarian sculptor Johann Baptist Straub.

An elaborate side altar on the far right of the main altar was commissioned by Count Zichy in 1736. Above it is a copy of the miraculous Regensburg icon of the Virgin Mary.

The other six side altars are dedicated to Saint Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary; the Holy Angels, with an image of the Pietà; Saint John Nepomuk, a Czech national saint; Saint Michael the Archangel, victorious over the Devil; Saint Mary Magdalene; and Saint John the Evangelist.

Today Holy Trinity Church is a parish church in the Catholic Archdiocese of Bratislava.

Inside, the arch of the church is dominated by a cupola with trompe-l’œil frescoes by the Italian baroque painter Antonio Galli da Bibiena

Matthew 11: 25-27 (NRSVA):

25 At that time Jesus said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’

The large altar painting depicts Saint John of Matha and Saint Felix of Valois – the two founders of the Trinitarian Order – ransoming Christian prisoners

Today’s Prayer:

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Abundant life – A human right.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday.

The Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (19 July 2023) invites us to pray in these words:

We pray for the people of the Philippines as they face uncertainty and unrest in their country. Lord bring peace and stability.

Collect:

Lord of eternity, creator of all things,
in your Son Jesus Christ you open for us the way to resurrection
that we may enjoy your bountiful goodness:
may we who celebrate your servants Gregory and Macrina
press onwards in faith to your boundless love
and ever wonder at the miracle of your presence among us;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion:

God of truth,
whose Wisdom set her table
and invited us to eat the bread and drink the wine
of the kingdom:
help us to lay aside all foolishness
and to live and walk in the way of insight,
that we may come with Gregory and Macrina to the eternal feast of heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Holy Trinity Church is a parish church in the Catholic Archdiocese of Bratislava

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Daily prayers in Ordinary Time with USPG: (50) 17 July 2023

Saint Michael’s Church in Sneem, Co Kerry, is formally dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity and Saint Michael (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and this week began with the Sixth Sunday after Trinity (16 July 2023).

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

Over these weeks after Trinity Sunday, I have been reflecting each morning in these ways:

1, Looking at relevant images or stained glass window in a church, chapel or cathedral I know;

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

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Saint Michael’s Church stands above the east bank of the River Sneem (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Church of the Holy Trinity and Saint Michael, Sneem, Co Kerry:

Sneem is on the Ring of Kerry, on the banks of the River Sneem, on the road between Kenmare and Waterville. The Roman Catholic parish church is generally known as Saint Michael’s Church, but its formal dedication is to the Most Holy Trinity and Saint Michael. The church stands on the east bank of the river, with spectacular views of the River Sneem as it falls below the below the bridge and opens out on its way into Kenmare Bay.

The first known Roman Catholic church in Sneem was built on the site in the early 19th century. There has been a church in Kilcrohane or Sneem since at least the 14th century, and the first Roman Catholic parish church and the Church of Ireland parish church, the Church of the Transfiguration, may have been built at the same time, ca 1810.

This early church was small, with a mud floor and no pews, and was unable to meet the needs of the village.

Edwin Richard Wyndham-Quin (1812-1871), 3rd Earl of Dunraven, had become a Roman Catholic in 1855. He lived at Adare Manor, and was renting a holiday home near Sneem on Garnish Island, from the Bland family. He became appalled by the condition of the small church in Sneem, and in 1855 he resolved to build a fitting place for divine worship at his own expense.

He commissioned a leading London architect, Philip Charles Hardwick (1822-1892), who was then working on rebuilding Adare Manor, to build a new church in Sneem. Hardwick’s other works included the Bank of England, Saint John’s Cathedral, Limerick, the Redemptorist church at Mount Saint Alphonsus in Limerick, and the parish churches in Adare, Co Limerick.

The design for the new church in Sneem was cruciform, and in the Italian style, with the length from the chancel to nave 100 ft, and the breadth across the transepts 74 feet. The cost of the project was estimated at £3,000 in the Dublin Builder on 15 September 1863. But it had soared 33 per cent by 4 August 1865, when the Dublin Builder reported that Lord Dunraven had spent the ‘princely sum of £4,000.’

The demolition of the old church began in 1861, and Denis William Murphy (1799-1863), from Bantry, Co Cork, was the building contractor. But Murphy died suddenly before the foundation stone was laid. His eldest son William Martin Murphy (1845-1919), then a mere 19-year-old, took over the business and completed the building.

William Martin Murphy laid the foundations for a fortune that he would build on by building railways and tram-tracks in England, Scotland and Argentina. He established the Irish Independent, was manager of the Dublin United Tramways Company, and played a controversial and antagonistic role in the workers’ strike and lockout in Dublin of 1913. He became the most hated man in Ireland before the outbreak of World War I.

The Bishop of Kerry, David Moriarty, blessed the foundation stone of the church in Sneem on 3 September 1863. He wrote in his diary that day: ‘Blessed the first stone on the new church in Sneem in honorem Sanctissimae Trinitatis et Sancti Michaelis Archangeli. Lord Dunraven, who donated the money for the church, was present. Dominus conservet eum et beatus faciat illium in terra! Father Michael Walsh, the most venerable of Irish priests PP, and Father Davis CC. A joyous day, bonfire and illuminations at night: I preached in English, and Archdeacon O’Sullivan in Irish. Lord Dunraven gave a very appropriate speech.’

The Parish Priest of Sneem, Father Michael Walsh, was the subject of ‘Father O’Flynn,’ a celebrated ballad by the poet and songwriter, Arthur Perceval Graves (1846-1931). Graves was a son of Charles Graves (1812-1899), who had a summer residence home nearby at Parknasilla and who became Bishop of Limerick (1866-1899).

Local people packed the village for the ceremony that began at 1 pm. The bishop and several clergy assembled on the Fair Green. The bishop led a procession to the site, and there they met the Earl of Dunraven. After the bishop preached, he blessed the foundation stone. Archdeacon O’Sullivan from Kenmare then stood on the foundation stone and spoke in Irish.

Lord Dunraven said he had travelled all over Ireland before deciding that Sneem was the place to build his holiday retreat. He recalled first going to Mass in the old church, and that while he was having his house built with every comfort, the House of God was ‘left desolate and in ruin.’ He praised the Bland family for leasing the site for the church, more land to plant the grounds, and refusing to take rent for the land. The original lease was for 91 years from Saint Michael’s Day, 29 September 1864, at a rent of one shilling a year.

The contractors completed their work in less than two years. Bishop Moriarty returned to Sneem to open the new church on 27 July 1865 and to confirm 271 children.

In his diary on that date he wrote: ‘Blessed the church of Sneem sub invocatione SS Trinitatis et S Michaelis Archangeli. Doctor Butler celebrated High Mass. I preached. Lord Dunraven, the founder, was present, with Mr Maunsell and Mr S de Vere, Father Michael Walsh PP, Father Thomas Davis CC. Great festivities that evening in the village; confirmed 271. Well prepared.’

Dr George Butler (1815-1866) was the Bishop of Limerick (1864-1866); Maunsell was Dunraven’s brother-in-law, William Monsell (1812-1894) MP for Limerick (1847-1874) and later Lord Emly (1874); and Sir Stephen Edward de Vere (1812-1904) of Curraghchase, who was MP for Co Limerick (1854-1859), had become a Roman Catholic in 1847 and was a brother of the poet Aubrey de Vere (1814-1902), who is buried in Saint Mary’s churchyard in Askeaton.

Father Walsh entertained the guests to dinner in his presbytery. To cope with the numbers, he borrowed cutlery and crockery from his friend Dean Charles Graves of Parknasilla, then Dean of the Chapel Royal, Dublin, and of Saint Brendan’s Cathedral, Clonfert, and about to become Church of Ireland Bishop of Limerick in 1865. Dean Graves was a guest too at the celebrations that night. Whenever Father Walsh entertained his own bishop, it is said, he would borrow the quality tableware from the Graves household, but never let the bishop know he was dining off ‘Protestant plates.’

Press reports said Lord Dunraven and the other dignitaries left at 11 pm. But the parishioners continued the festivities until the next morning. One account said that during the whole night there was not the least sign of disorder, and not a single man was to be seen with the signs of liquor on him.

Father Walsh died a year after the new church was completed and after a 37-year ministry in Sneem.

Saint Michael’s Church is a listed building. It is a cruciform-plan double-height Italianate style church, and it is oriented on a west-east axis rather that the traditional east-west liturgical axis. There is a three-bay double-height chancel at the west end, a three-bay double-height nave, single-bay double-height transepts, and a single-bay, three-stage tower that was renovated 1892.

The rubble stone walls have their original buttered mortar joints, and sandstone quoins with cement replacements at the lower levels. There are round-headed lancet windows with sandstone surrounds, including paired lancets in the nave. The round-headed doorways have sandstone surrounds and limestone steps.

Inside, the church has an open-truss roof, round arches in the transepts on circular columns, stained-glass windows and a marble font.

Major work was carried out on the roof in the early 1950s, and the church was reordered following the liturgical changes introduced by Vatican II, including the removal of the altar rails in the 1970s. Further restoration work was carried out in the 1980s.

The parish priest, Father Pat Murphy, launched an appeal in 2009 to raise €1 million for major renovation works.

The roof was insulated and re-slated, underfloor insulation and modern heating were installed, the floor was renewed – uncovering a Victorian mosaic – and the joints in the external walls were repointed. The lighting and sound systems were upgraded, wheelchair and vehicular access were provided, and the former ‘Nuns’ Chapel’ or ‘small church’ as it was known, was transformed into the sacristy. A new spacious entrance now faces the village. These recent renovations cost €1.2 million in total.

The present parish priest of Sneem is Father Liam O’Brien.

The round-headed main door has sandstone surrounds and limestone steps (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 10: 34 to 11: 1 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 34 ‘Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
35 For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
36 and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

40 ‘Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; 42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple – truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.’

1 Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities.

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

Today’s Prayer:

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Abundant life – A human right.’ This theme was introduced yesterday.

The Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (17 July 2023) invites us to pray in these words:

Loving God we pray for the Filipino Church – for all their important work alongside Indigenous communities. May they be empowered to strive towards dignity and freedom for all.

Saint Michael’s Church, Sneem, has an open-truss roof and round arches in the transepts on circular columns (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Collect:

Merciful God,
you have prepared for those who love you
such good things as pass our understanding:
pour into our hearts such love toward you
that we, loving you in all things and above all things,
may obtain your promises,
which exceed all that we can desire;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion:

God of our pilgrimage,
you have led us to the living water:
refresh and sustain us
as we go forward on our journey,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

A stained-glass window in Saint Michael’s Church, Sneem, depicts the life of Saint Brendan the Navigator (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Saint Michael and two whales depicted in the Saint Brendan window in Sneem (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Daily prayers in Ordinary Time with USPG: (49) 16 July 2023

The Church of the Trinità dei Monti stands at the top of the Spanish Steps in Rome (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and this is the Sixth Sunday after Trinity (16 July 2023). Later this morning I hope to be at the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford.

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

Over these weeks after Trinity Sunday, I have been reflecting each morning in these ways:

1, Looking at relevant images or stained glass window in a church, chapel or cathedral I know;

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

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

The Spanish Steps lead from the Piazza di Spagna up to the Church of Trinità dei Monti (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Trinità dei Monti, Spanish Steps, Rome:

The church of the Santissima Trinità dei Monti, often called merely the Trinità dei Monti, stands at the top of the Spanish Steps which lead down to the Piazza di Spagna. The church and its surrounding area, including the Villa Medici, are French state property.

Saint Francis of Paola, a hermit from Calabria, founded a monastery for the Minimite Friars here in 1494. Louis XII of France began building the Church of the Trinità dei Monti next to this monastery in 1502 to celebrate his successful invasion of Naples.

The present church was eventually built here and was consecrated in 1585 by Sixtus V, whose Via Sistina connected the Piazza della Trinità dei Monti outside the church to the Piazza Barberini across the city. This has been a titular church since 1587 and has been held ever since by a French cardinal.

The double staircase in front of the church was designed by Domenico Fontana. The Obelisco Sallustiano in front of the church is one of the many obelisks in Rome, and was moved here in 1789.

The kings of France were patrons of the church until the French Revolution and the church continued to be the church of the Minimite Friars until its partial destruction in 1798. During the Napoleonic occupation of Rome, the church was despoiled of its art and decorations. After the Bourbon restoration, the church was restored in 1816 at the expense of Louis XVIII.

By diplomatic Conventions in 1828, the church and monastery were entrusted to the Religieuses du Sacré-Coeur de Jésus (Society of the Sacred Heart), a French religious educational order.

Early in the 21st century, the order decided to withdraw from the Trinità and in 2005, the Vatican and the French Embassy agreed to transfer the church, convent and school to the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem. These communities were founded in 1975 by Brother Pierre-Marie Delfieux with the aim of promoting the spirit of the monastic desert in the heart of cities.

The communities’ Rule of Life, advices, ‘Be vigilant to keep in your heart a true concern for communion with all the sons of Abraham, Jews and Muslims, who are like you worshippers of the one God and for whom Jerusalem is equally a holy City.’

Close to the church, at the bottom of the steps, the Column of the Immaculate Conception is a 19th-century monument in Piazza Mignanelli, towards the south-east part of Piazza di Spagna. It stands in front of the Palazzo di Propaganda Fide and the offices of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

The column was designed by the architect Luigi Poletti, commissioned by Ferdinand II, King of the Two Sicilies, and was dedicated on 8 December 1857. Since 1953, the Popes have visited the monument each year the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and offered a bouquet of flowers at the base of the column.

The fresh water fountain at the bottom of the Spanish Steps, the Fontana della Barcaccia (‘Fountain of the Ugly Boat’), was commissioned by Pope Urban III and built by father and son Bernini.

Babington’s English Tea Rooms is a traditional English tea shop at the foot of the Spanish Steps, in the Piazza di Spagna. The shop was founded in 1893 by Isabel Cargill and Anne Maria Babington with the intention of catering for the many English-speaking people in Rome.

Isabel Cargill was a granddaughter of Captain William Cargill (1784-1860), the founder of Dunedin in New Zealand; Anna Maria Babington was a descendant of Anthony Babington, who was hanged for plotting against Queen Elizabeth I. Their tea shop remains a ‘must-see’ site for many tourists and visitors to Rome.

The Column of the Immaculate Conception, close to the Spanish Steps, was dedicated on 8 December 1857 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23 (NRSVA):

1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. 2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 Let anyone with ears listen!’

18 ‘Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. 23 But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.’

Babington’s Tea Rooms beside the Spanish Steps … a ‘must-see’ for many visitors to Rome (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayer:

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Abundant life – A human right.’ This theme is introduced today:

‘Abundant Life is a programme that USPG has been supporting since 2019 alongside the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI). It seeks to empower the Filipino Church to respond to the issues indigenous people face. The IFI had been standing in solidarity with indigenous people for many years prior and Abundant Life builds on the work those ministries have already established. The programme operates in three areas: Manila, the Caraga Region of Mindanao and the Western Mindanao Region.

‘Throughout the history of the Philippines, indigenous people have been subjected to discrimination, violence and human rights abuses. Some communities have been forcibly removed from ancestral lands. Many live below the poverty line - “abundant life is not a reality in the Philippines today”.

‘Abundant Life’s approach is two-fold. Alongside indigenous communities, it offers education and advocacy: people can explore and learn more about their rights whilst lobbying the authorities when these rights are threatened. Within the church, Abundant Life mobilises Christians to stand in solidarity with indigenous peoples and fight for a more just society.’

The Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (16 July 2023, Trinity VI) invites us to pray in these words:

Lord, may we secure justice and equality for every human being,
an end to all division,
and a human society built on love and peace.

Collect:

Merciful God,
you have prepared for those who love you
such good things as pass our understanding:
pour into our hearts such love toward you
that we, loving you in all things and above all things,
may obtain your promises,
which exceed all that we can desire;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion:

God of our pilgrimage,
you have led us to the living water:
refresh and sustain us
as we go forward on our journey,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Fontana della Barcaccia (‘Fountain of the Ugly Boat’) was commissioned by Pope Urban III and built by father and son Bernini (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 prayers in Ordinary Time with USPG: (5) 2 June 2023

The portico at the church at Kimmage Manor … the Spiritans or Holy Ghost Congregation moved to Kimmage Manor in 1911 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The Fifty days of Easter season came to an end on Sunday, the Day of Pentecost (28 May 2023), or Whit Sunday, and Ordinary Time resumed on Monday (29 May 2023).

Before this day gets busy, I am taking some time this morning for prayer and reflection.

In this first week in Ordinary Time, between the Day of Pentecost and Trinity Sunday (4 June 2023), I am reflecting each morning in these ways:

1, Looking at an image or stained glass window in a church or cathedral I know depicting Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, or the Feast of the Day;

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

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Kimmage Manor was the home of the Holy Ghost Missionary College from 1911 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

My photographs this morning (2 June 2023) are from Kimmage Manor, Dublin. I studied theology at the Holy Ghost Missionary College, later the Kimmage Mission Institute, in 1984-1987 on a course leading to the BD from the Pontifical University Maynooth, and in my final year I was a student member of the Theology Faculty Council.

I was studying theology full-time there while holding down a full-time position as a journalist with The Irish Times. Although I was a complete outsider – most of the other students were members of religious communities, such as the Spiritans and the Redemptorists – I was made welcome and I still keep in contact with friends I made over those three years.

All the lands of Kimmage, Terenure and Milltown were owned by Peter Barnewall in 1641, and they included a castle on the lands of Kimmage. Through the years that followed, there were various owners and tenants, and Rocque’s map from the mid-18th century shows extensive buildings on the site of the present Manor House.

Frederick Shaw (1799-1876), his wife Thomasine-Emily, and their children came to live in Kimmage House in 1829. Shaw was the second son of Colonel Sir Robert Shaw (1774-1849) of Bushy Park, Co Dublin. The Shaw family originally came from Co Kilkenny and Frederick Shaw’s grandfather, Robert Shaw (1749-1796), first leased Terenure House (Terenure Castle or Terenure College) from Joseph Deane in 1785. His younger brother, Bernard Shaw (1768-1826), was the grandfather of the playwright and Nobel Prize laureate, George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950).

Sir Robert Shaw, who inherited Terenure House, was MP for New Ross, Co Wexford, in the Irish House of Commons and voted against the Act of Union. Later, he was MP for Dublin from 1804 to 1826 in the British House of Commons. He was a founder of Shaw’s Bank, which later became the Royal Bank of Ireland.

He inherited a vast estate in south Co Dublin, including Bushy Park House and Kimmage House (now Kimmage Manor), through his marriage to Maria Wilkinson of Bushy Park, a wealthy heiress.

His second son, Frederick Shaw, was Recorder (or part-time municipal judge) for Dublin and Dundalk. A year after moving into Kimmage House, Shaw was elected MP for Dublin City in 1830, and was then sat MP for Dublin University (1832-1848).

Shaw rebuilt Kimmage House on the banks of the old Dublin watercourse in the style of Tudor manor, with high, triangular gables, spiral turrets and tall chimneys. The windows, especially the projecting oriel window, the doorways and the interior designs – including the vaulted vestibule, miniature great hall, panelled ceilings and ornate mouldings – are all modelled on Elizabethan architectural styles.

The Shaw family lived in an L-shaped section of the present manor house. The historian of Kimmage Manor, Father Paddy Ryan, who was my lecturer in Church History, estimates this L-shaped section of the house is at least 250 years old.

Within two years of their arrival, the Shaw family had built a two-storey addition to the south side of the L-shaped existing building and more than doubled their floor area, building the front entrance, entrance hall, reception area and staircase.

Frederick Shaw’s younger brother, the Revd George Augustus Shaw (1815-1839), was the perpetual curate or Vicar of Rathfarnham when he died of typhus fever at their father’s house, Bushy Park, at the age of 24 in 1839.

When his elder brother, Sir Robert Shaw, died in 1869 and Sir Frederick Shaw inherited the family title, he decided not to move to Bushy Park, and continued living at Kimmage Manor. He died at Kimmage House in 1876 and was buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery, Harold’s Cross. His eldest son, Sir Robert Shaw (1821-1895), became the fourth baronet and the moved with his family to Bushy Park, where he lived until he died.

Kimmage House was leased to various tenants. Edward Chetwode later sold his lease to Edgar Kenyon, but the house was often unoccupied. Mrs Mary Ida Clayton leased the house and lands in perpetuity in 1898, and came to live in the house with her two sons. By the beginning of the 20th century, Kimmage House was known as Kimmage Manor.

The Spiritans bought Kimmage Manor in 1911, and the new foundation was named the Holy Ghost Missionary College, Kimmage, Dublin.

Students from other orders, including Redemptorists, and lay people were accepted in Kimmage Manor from the 1970s, and from the 1980s students received our BD degree from the Pontifical University Maynooth. The college church became the Kimmage Manor Parish Church in 1990.

The Kimmage Mission Institute of Theology and Cultures (KMI) was founded in Kimmage in 1991, in association with other Irish missionary congregations. KMI moved to the Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy in 2003, and formally merged with Milltown in 2006

The Milltown Institute closed in 2015. Kimmage Manor is now the location of the Spiritan Mission Resource and Heritage Centre. Training for Transformation, which has worked with the Spiritans, is based in Kimmage Manor.

Kimmage Manor … remodelled by Sir Frederick Shaw as Kimmage House after moving in 1829 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 8: 1-4 (NRSVA):

1 When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; 2 and there was a leper who came to him and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.’ 3 He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 Then Jesus said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’

The oriel window at Kimmage Manor … part of the Elizabethan and Tudor restyling of Kimmage House by Sir Frederick Shaw (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s prayer:

The theme in the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) this week is ‘Pentecost.’ USPG’s Chaplain, the Revd Jessie Anand, introduced this theme on Sunday, reflecting on Pentecost and languages.

The USPG Prayer invites us to pray this morning (Friday 2 June 2023):

Let us pray for peace and stability in the Philippines. May its government build a nation free from fear and oppression and work to build a society that is just and fair.

Collect:

Almighty God,
you have broken the tyranny of sin
and have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts
whereby we call you Father:
give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service,
that we and all creation may be brought
to the glorious liberty of the children of God;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion:

O God, whose beauty is beyond our imagining
and whose power we cannot comprehend:
show us your glory as far as we can grasp it,
and shield us from knowing more than we can bear
until we may look upon you without fear;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

The Spiritans offered me a warm welcome at Kimmage Manor in 1984-1987 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Daily prayers in Ordinary Time with USPG: (2) 30 May 2023

The Church of the Holy Spirit in the grounds of Prague Castle and Prague Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The Fifty days of Easter season came to an end on Sunday with the Day of Pentecost (28 May 2023), or Whit Sunday, and Ordinary Time resumed yesterday (29 May 2023).

Before this day gets busy, I am taking some time this morning for prayer and reflection. In this first week in Ordinary Time, between the Day of Pentecost and Trinity Sunday (4 June 2023), I am reflecting each morning in these ways:

1, Looking at an image or stained glass window in a church or cathedral I know depicting Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, or the Feast of the Day;

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

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Josephine Butler … ‘God and one woman make a majority’

This morning, the calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship commemorates Josephine Butler (1906), Social Reformer; Joan of Arc (1431), Visionary; and Apolo Kivebulaya (1933), Priest, Evangelist in Central Africa, 1933.

Josephine Butler (1828-1906) was active campaigner against the way Victorian society and legislation treated prostitutes, most of whom were forced into their lifestyle activity through desperate poverty.

Josephine Butler was born on 13 April 1828 at Milfield House, Milfield, Northumberland, and was baptised on 30 May in Northumberland. She was the seventh child of John Grey (1785–1868) and Hannah Eliza Annett (1792-1860). Her father, John Grey, was an eminent agricultural expert, and the cousin of the reformist Prime Minister, Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey. John Grey campaigned for the abolition of slavery and played a significant role in Catholic Emancipation. He lost most of his savings in 1857 with the failure of the Newcastle Bank.

In 1852, Josephine married the Revd George Butler (1819-1890), who encouraged her in her public work. From her 20s on, Josephine was active in feminist movements, and the Butlers had strong radical sympathies, including support for the Union in the American Civil War.

Josephine and George Butler had four children. While they were living in Cheltenham, where George was the vice-principal of Cheltenham College, their only daughter, Evangeline, died in 1863 at the age of six.

The family moved to Liverpool in 1866 when George was appointed headmaster of Liverpool College. There Josephine decided to seek solace by ministering to people with greater pain than her own. She became involved in the campaign for higher education for women, and with Anne Jemima Clough, later principal of Newnham College, Cambridge, she helped to establish the North of England Council for Promoting the Higher Education of Women.

Against the advice of her friends and family, she began visiting Brownlow Hill workhouse in Liverpool, which led to her first involvement with prostitutes. She saw the women as being exploited victims of male oppression, and attacked the double standard of sexual morality.

Her campaign took on an international dimension when she travelled through Europe in 1874-1875 addressing meetings. Her campaign succeeded with the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act in 1883. She became involved in a successful campaign against child prostitution in 1885.

She was a devout Anglican and a woman of prayer, and once said: ‘God and one woman make a majority.’ She modelled her spirituality on that of Saint Catherine of Siena, and wrote a biography of the Dominican saint.

When George Butler retired from Liverpool College, he became a Canon of Winchester Cathedral; he died on 14 March 1890. Josephine continued her campaigns until the early 1900s; she died on 30 December 1906.

Josephine Butler is celebrated in the Calendar of Common Worship in the Church of England both today (30 May), the anniversary of her baptism, and on 30 December, the anniversary of her death.

She is depicted in windows in the Anglican Cathedral, Liverpool, and Saint Olave’s Church, London.

Many of her papers are in the Women’s Library in London Metropolitan University and in the Josephine Butler Museum, Southend-On-Sea. Durham University honoured her in 2005 by giving her name to Josephine Butler College. A building in the Faculty of Business and Law in Liverpool John Moores University is named Josephine Butler House. Her former home in Cheltenham was demolished in the 1970s.

Mark 10: 28-31 (NRSVA):

28 Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ 29 Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age – houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions – and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’

Today’s prayer:

The theme in the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) this week is ‘Pentecost.’ USPG’s Chaplain, the Revd Jessie Anand, introduced this theme on Sunday, reflecting on Pentecost and languages.

The USPG Prayer invites us to pray this morning (Tuesday 30 May 2023):

Let us pray for women in the Philippines. May their strong ties of kinship bring mutual support and may they find strength in solidarity.

Collect:

God of compassion and love,
by whose grace your servant Josephine Butler
followed in the way of your Son
in caring for those in need:
help us like her to work with strength
for the restoration of all to the dignity
and freedom of those created in your image;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion:

God our redeemer,
who inspired Josephine Butler to witness to your love
and to work for the coming of your kingdom:
may we, who in this sacrament share the bread of heaven,
be fired by your Spirit to proclaim the gospel in our daily living
and never to rest content until your kingdom come,
on earth as it is in heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Morning prayers in Easter with USPG: (50) 28 May 2023

Titian’s painting of ‘Pentecost’ or ‘the Descent of the Holy Spirit’ in the Church of Santa Maria della Salute in Venice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The Easter season enters its final day today, the Day of Pentecost (28 May 2023), or Whit Sunday.

A note on the Easter Season in the service booklets in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton, and Saint George’s Church, Wolverton, reminds us:

‘The Great Fifty Days of Eastertide is where the joy created on Easter Day is sustained through the following seven weeks, and the Church celebrates the gloriously risen Christ.

‘The Paschal Candle we lit on Easter Day stands prominently in our church for all the Eastertide services. The Alleluia appears frequently in the liturgy, speech and song, and white or gold vestments and decorations emphasise the joy and brightness of the season.

‘On the fortieth day of Easter, there is a particular celebration of Christ's ascension. He commissions his disciples to continue his work, he promises the gift of the Holy Spirit, and then he is no longer among them in the flesh. The ascension is therefore closely connected with the theme of mission.

‘The arrival of the promised gift of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost completes and crowns the Easter Festival.’

As the booklet for the midday Eucharist in Lichfield Cathedral reminds me: ‘The Great Fifty Days of Eastertide form a single festival period in which the tone of joy created at the Easter Vigil is sustained through the following seven weeks, and the Church celebrates the gloriously risen Christ’.

Later this morning I hope to be at the Parish Eucharist celebrating Pentecost in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton. Later this afternoon, as part of the celebrations for Pentecost, the church is sharing a Taizé service, a reflective service of music, silences, scripture and prayer, including prayers for healing.

Ordinary Time resumes tomorrow.

But, before this day gets busy, I am taking some time this morning for prayer and reflection. I am reflecting each morning during Easter and Ascensiontide in these ways:

1, Looking at images or stained glass windows in a church or cathedral I know;

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

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

The Church of Santa Maria della Salute seen from the Grand Canal (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

‘Pentecost’ by Titian, the Church Santa Maria della Salute, Venice:

This morning, on the Day of Pentecost, I am looking back on a recent visit to the Church Santa Maria della Salute in Venice, where the treasures include Titian’s painting of ‘Pentecost’ or ‘the Descent of the Holy Spirit.’

In A Passage to India (1924), EM Forster describes Salute, one of the most painted and depicted churches in Venice, as ‘holding the entrance of a canal which, but for it, would not be the Grand Canal.’

Santa Maria della Salute is at the southern-most entrance to the Grand Canal. The dome of the Salute is an emblem of the skyline of Venice and the church and its silhouette have inspired artists from Canaletto to Turner and Sargent.

This baroque church stands between the Grand Canal and the Giudecca Canal, at the Bacino di San Marco, on the narrow finger of Punta della Dogana. It can be seen clearly from the waterfront at the Piazza San Marco.

Although Salute is best-known for the dome that makes it an architectural landmark, its spacious, light-filled interior – like so many churches in Venice – is filled with artistic treasures.

So often, people raise their glasses in Italy with the toast Salute!. It might be too easy to translate this as ‘Cheers!’ or ‘Your health!’ But the name of this church is associated with prayers for the health of Venice and deliverance from the plague almost 400 years ago.

The Salute is one of the so-called ‘plague churches’ in Venice and its full name is Santa Maria della Salute: Saint Mary of Health, or Saint Mary of Deliverance.

After Venice was devastated in an outbreak of the plague in 1630, the Serene Republic agreed to build a church dedicated to Our Lady of Health or of Deliverance as a thank-offering for the city’s deliverance. The church was designed by the architect Baldassare Longhena, who studied under Vincenzo Scamozzi.

Venice was devastated by a the plague in a wave that began in the summer of 1630 and continued into 1631, killing almost one-third of the population of the city. In all, 46,000 people died in the city, and 94,000 more died in the lagoon and the surrounding islands.

As they prayed for an end to the plague, the people of Venice held processions and public displays of the Blessed Sacrament, with processions to the churches of San Rocco and San Lorenzo Giustiniani. Over half a century earlier, during another plague attack in 1575-1576, the city had responded by commissioning Andrea Palladio to design the Church of Il Redentore (the Redeemer) on Giudecca.

On 22 October 1630, Church and State responded as the Venetian Senate decreed that a new church should be built, dedicated not to a another ‘plague’ saint or patron but to the Virgin Mary, who was revered as a protector of the Republic.

But the Senators also wanted a monumental church in a place that could be reached easily from Saint Mark’s Square. The location was chosen from among eight potential locations, partially because it was possible to link it with San Giorgio, San Marco and Il Redentore, and the four churches form an arc in Venice. The Salute also stands close by the custom house or Dogana da Mar, the symbol of the maritime commerce of Venice, and near the civic centre of the city.

At first, the Patriarch of Venice opposed the location of the church. He owned a church and seminary that stood on the site until the dispute was resolved. Eventually, building work began in 1631.

The architect Baldassare Longhena was only 26 when he was chosen by the Senate in a 66-29 vote to design the new church.

The Salute was novel in many ways, showing the influence of Palladian classicism and the domes of Venice. But this octagonal church is also influenced by Byzantine designs, including the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna.

Salute is a vast, octagonal building with two domes and a pair of bell-towers, designed by Longhena as a crown-like church. However, the decorative circular building also looks like a reliquary, a ciborium, or an embroidered, inverted chalice that shelters the piety of Venice. It is full of Marian symbolism: the great dome represents her crown, the cavernous interior her womb, and the eight sides the eight points on her symbolic star.

Salute stands on a platform made of a million wooden piles, and is built of Istrian stone and marmorino or brick covered with marble dust. At the top of the pediment, a statue of the Virgin Mary presides over the church. The façade is decorated with figures of Saint George, Saint Theodore, the Four Evangelists, the Prophets, and Judith with the head of Holofernes. Recently, the statues of the four evangelists have been identified as the work of Tommaso Rues.

Inside, the church is octagonal with eight radiating chapels on the outer row. The three altars to the right of the main entrance are decorated with scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary by Luca Giordano: the Presentation, the Assumption and the Nativity, and there is a painting by Titian of Pentecost or the Descent of the Holy Spirit.

Longhena himself designed the Baroque high altar, which displays a 12th or 13th century icon from Crete of the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child, known in Greek as Panagia Mesopantitisa, the ‘Virgin Mediator’ or the ‘Virgin Negotiator.’ The icon was brought to Venice from Iraklion in 1669 when the capital of Crete was captured by the Ottoman Turks.

The group of statues above the high altar shows the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven driving the Plague out of Venice. This theatrical Baroque masterpiece was executed in 1670 by the Flemish sculptor Josse de Corte.

Tintoretto painted the ‘Marriage at Cana’ in the great sacristy, which includes a self-portrait. Titian painted Saint Mark Enthroned with Saints Cosmas, Damian, Sebastian and Roch, seen in the altarpiece in the sacristy, as well as ceiling paintings of David and Goliath, Abraham and Isaac and Cain and Abel, and eight tondi of the eight Doctors of the Church and the Evangelists, all in the great sacristy, and the Pentecost in the nave.

The church was not completed until 1681, shortly before Longhena died. He wrote:

‘I have created a church in the form of a rotunda, a work of new invention, not built in Venice, a work very worthy and desired by many. This church, having the mystery of its dedication, being dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, made me think, with what little talent God has bestowed upon me of building the church in the … shape of a crown.’

Later he wrote: ‘It is a virgin work, never before seen, curious, worthy and beautiful, made in the form of a round monument that has never been seen, nor ever before invented, neither altogether, nor in part, in other churches in this most serene city.’

Longhena’s last great work in Venice before he died is the Ca’Pesaro, a colossal baroque palace on the Grand Canal.

The Senate agreed to visit the church each year. On 21 November, the Feast of the Presentation of the Virgin, or the Festa della Madonna della Salute, the city officials paraded from San Marco to the Salute for a service in gratitude for deliverance from the plague. This involved crossing the Grand Canal on a specially-built pontoon, and this parade is still a major event in Venice each year.

As time passed, the dome of the Salute became an important landmark on the Venetian skyline and it soon became an emblem of the city, inspiring painters from Canaletto (1697-1768) to JMW Turner (1775-1851) and John Singer Sargent (1856-1925).

Inside the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute in Venice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Acts 2: 1-21 (NRSVA):

1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs – in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ 13 But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

17 “In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”’

The High Altar in the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute in Venice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 20: 19-23 (NRSVA):

19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’

Inside the dome of the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s prayer:

The theme in the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) this week is ‘Pentecost.’ USPG’s Chaplain, the Revd Jessie Anand, introduces this theme this morning, reflecting on Pentecost and languages:

‘On the first day of Pentecost, hearing people speak in different languages and understanding the mighty works of God was a first-hand experience. Today in the world church, Pentecost reminds us of the importance of gathering multilingual worshippers to witness Christian unity.

‘In the Philippines, Filipino Christians from 7,640 islands, and speaking many different mother tongues, worship in the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Philippine Independent Church) and the Episcopal Church. There are 183 languages in the country. Among them, Tagalog and English are the official languages. The presence of multilingual worshippers in Philippine’s churches, and their witness in their communities, certainly promotes the Pentecostal experience in the life journey of Filipino Christians.

‘In Saint Luke’s Episcopal Cathedral at Quezon City in Manila, the worshippers had a vision to include deaf people and people who do not speak. Many worshippers have undertaken sign language training which helps to unite all worshippers in a meaningful Pentecostal experience. No one is excluded on grounds of language.

‘Pentecost enables us to rise above the limitations of our own languages. It is transformative and demonstrates the inclusive nature of God’s kingdom.’

The USPG Prayer invites us to pray this morning (Sunday 28 May 2023):

O Breath of life, come sweeping through us,
revive your Church with life and power;
O Breath of life, come, cleanse, renew us,
and fit your Church to meet this hour.
– Elizabeth Ann Head (1850-1936).

Collect:

God, who as at this time
taught the hearts of your faithful people
by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit:
grant us by the same Spirit
to have a right judgement in all things
and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort;
through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion:

Faithful God,
who fulfilled the promises of Easter
by sending us your Holy Spirit
and opening to every race and nation
the way of life eternal:
open our lips by your Spirit,
that every tongue may tell of your glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute seen from the waterfront at Saint Mark’s Square in Venice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Praying in Advent with Lichfield Cathedral and USPG: Saturday 24 December 2022

The Nativity depicted in the reredos in Saint Mary’s Church, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We have arrived at the end of Advent and have come to Christmas Eve.

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

During Advent, I am reflecting in these ways:

1, The reading suggested in the Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar produced by Lichfield Cathedral this year;

2, praying with the Lichfield Cathedral Devotional Calendar;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary, ‘Pray with the World Church.’

‘The Nativity of Christ’ by Francesco Bassano (1549-1592) in the Church of Il Redentore in Venice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Luke 2: 1-14 (NRSVA):

1 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

14 ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’

The Lichfield Cathedral Devotional Calendar:

As we begin the celebrations, pray for the people with whom we will share Christmas: give thanks for the story of Jesus’s birth, the tenderness and humility of it all, casting its light on all human pomposity and ideas of power. Pray for everyone you love, cherish them before God.

Collect:

Almighty God,
you make us glad with the yearly remembrance
of the birth of your Son Jesus Christ:
grant that, as we joyfully receive him as our redeemer,
so we may with sure confidence behold him
when he shall come to be our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion:

Eternal God, for whom we wait,
you have fed us with the bread of eternal life:
keep us ever watchful,
that we may be ready to stand before the Son of man,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Almighty God,
as we prepare with joy
to celebrate the gift of the Christ–child,
embrace the earth with your glory
and be for us a living hope
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

USPG Prayer Diary:

The theme in the USPG Prayer Diary this week has been ‘International Migrants Day.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with a reflection on International Migrants Day by Bishop Antonio Ablon, Co-ordinator of the Filipino Chaplaincy in Europe, part of the Philippine Independent Church.

The USPG Prayer Diary invites us to pray today in these words:

Let us give thanks for the work of the Filipino Chaplaincy amongst migrants. May their example of hosting the vulnerable and befriending the stranger inspire us to do likewise.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow



Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Praying in Advent with Lichfield Cathedral and USPG: Friday 23 December 2022

The Birth of Saint the Baptist (see Luke 1: 57-66) … an icon from the Monastery of Anopolis in the Museum of Christian Art in Iraklion, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in the last week of Advent, and there are just two days to Christmas Day.

The traditional counting of the ‘O Antiphons’ began last Saturday (17 December) with ‘O Sapientia.’ For eight days before Christmas, the canticle Magnificat at Evensong has a refrain or antiphon proclaiming the ascriptions or ‘names’ given to God through the Old Testament.

Each name develops into a prophecy of the forthcoming and eagerly-anticipated Messiah, Jesus, the Son of God. O Sapientia, or ‘O Wisdom’, was followed on Sunday by ‘O Adonai’, then O Radix Jesse (‘O Root of Jesse’) on Monday, O Clavis David (‘O Key of David’) on Tuesday, O Oriens (‘O Dayspring’) on Wednesday, then O Rex Gentium (‘O King of the Nations’) yesterday and, finally, today, O Immanuel Immanuel (‘God is with us’).

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

During Advent, I am reflecting in these ways:

1, The reading suggested in the Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar produced by Lichfield Cathedral this year;

2, praying with the Lichfield Cathedral Devotional Calendar;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary, ‘Pray with the World Church.’

Saint John the Baptist as a child with his mother Saint Elizabeth … a stained-glass window in Saint Mary’s Church, Dingle, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 1: 57-66 (NRSVA):

57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 Her neighbours and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. 60 But his mother said, ‘No; he is to be called John.’ 61 They said to her, ‘None of your relatives has this name.’ 62 Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. 63 He asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And all of them were amazed. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 Fear came over all their neighbours, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard them pondered them and said, ‘What then will this child become?’ For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.’

Saint John the Baptist (right) with the Virgin Mary and Christ in a stained glass window in Saint Mary’s Church, Lichfield … the births of these three alone are celebrated in the Church Calendar (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Lichfield Cathedral Devotional Calendar:

Reflect on this story: God is shaping a new future and John the Baptist will be the forerunner and herald of a new age. Pray for the new-born – for all the delight, joy and promise they bring. Pray for parents wondering about the kind of world their children will grow up in and inherit.

Collect:

God our redeemer,
who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be the mother of your Son:
grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour,
so we may be ready to greet him
when he comes again as our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion:

Heavenly Father,
who chose the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be the mother of the promised saviour:
fill us your servants with your grace,
that in all things we may embrace your holy wil
l and with her rejoice in your salvation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Eternal God,
as Mary waited for the birth of your Son,
so we wait for his coming in glory;
bring us through the birth pangs of this present age
to see, with her, our great salvation
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

USPG Prayer Diary:

The theme in the USPG Prayer Diary this week is ‘International Migrants Day.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with a reflection on International Migrants Day by Bishop Antonio Ablon, Co-ordinator of the Filipino Chaplaincy in Europe, part of the Philippine Independent Church.

The USPG Prayer Diary invites us to pray today in these words:

Let us pray for workers who are vulnerable and exploited. May their voice be heard, wrongs revealed and injustice righted.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

The entrance to the Hospital of Saint John Baptist without the Barrs, Lichfield (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