Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2025: 142, Wednesday 1 October 2025

‘Disturb us, Lord … when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore’ … after sunset on the shore below the Fortezza in Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

We begin a new month today and we are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar. The week began with the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XV, 28 September), and the calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Remigius (533), Bishop of Rheims, Apostle of the Franks, and Anthony Ashley Cooper (1801-1885), Earl of Shaftesbury, Social Reformer.

These are the Days of Awe, or the High Holy Days in the Jewish calendar. The Kol Nidre service begins at sunset this evening, marking the start of Yom Kippur. This solemn service is a prayer for annulling vows made over the past year, allowing individuals to approach the Day of Atonement with a clean conscience. The fast of Yom Kippur concludes tomorrow evening (Thursday 2 October).

Before today begins, 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 reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

‘Disturb us, Lord … when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore’ … sails and boats in the harbour in Rethymnon at sunset (Photograph: Patrick Comerford; click on image for full-screen viewing)

Luke 9: 57-62 (NRSVA):

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ 58 And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ 59 To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ 60 But Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ 61 Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ 62 Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

Sir Francis Drake … ‘it is not the beginning, but the continuing of the same unto the end, until it be thoroughly finished, which yieldeth the true glory’

Today’s Reflections:

Saint Luke is a great story-teller, and we are all captivated by his stories of healing and his parables: the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, the unjust steward, and so on.

So this morning’s Gospel reading comes as a little surprise. The first impression is that there’s no story here, no drama, no healing, no showing how society’s perceived underdog is really a model for our own behaviour, for my behaviour – indeed a model of how God behaves, and behaves towards us.

Instead, what we have what reads like a series of pithy statements from Jesus: like a collection of sayings from the Desert Fathers or even a collection of popular sayings from Zen masters.

Good stories about wayward sons and muggings on the roadside make for good drama, and healing stories are great soap opera. But they only remain stories and they only remain mini-stage-plays if all we want is good entertainment and forget all about what the main storyline is, what the underlying plot in Saint Luke’s Gospel is.

The context of this reading is provided a few verses earlier, when Saint Luke says the days are drawing near and Jesus is setting his face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9: 51).

It is a challenge to us all. We are called to live not for the pleasure of a dramatic moment, but to live in the one great drama that is taking place: to set our faces on the heavenly Jerusalem; to live as if we really believe in the New Heaven and the New Earth.

We are called not to be conditional disciples – being a Christian when I look after everything else, sometime in the future. We are called to be committed disciples – to live as Christians in the here-and-now.

There is the man who wants to follow Jesus, but only if he can hold on to his wealth and property (Luke 9: 57-58). There is the man who wants to follow Jesus, but not until he has looked after burying his father (Luke 9: 59-60). There is the man who wants to follow Jesus, but who thinks first he must consider what his friends and those at home would think before he leaves them (Luke 10: 61-62).

Of course, it is good to have a home of my own and not to live in a foxhole. Of course, it is good that each of us should take responsibility for ageing parents and to bury them when they die. Of course, it is good that we should not walk out on our families, our friends and our responsibilities.

Of course, domestic security, filial duty and loyal affection are high ideals. But they are conditional, while the call of the kingdom is compelling, urgent and imperative. And it demands commitment in such a way that it puts all other loyalties in second place.

Christ is not saying that these men had the wrong values. But he sees how we can use values so that we can end up with the wrong priorities.

As GB Caird pointed out in his commentary on Saint Luke’s Gospel, sometimes the most difficult choices in life for most of us are not between good and evil, but between the good and the best. I am sure these three ‘wannabe’ disciples presented good excuses. But discipleship on my own terms is not what Christ asks of me. It can only be on his terms. There is no conditional discipleship, there is only committed discipleship.

As advertisers remind us constantly, there are terms and conditions attached to most things in life. But there can be no terms and conditions attached when it comes to being a disciple, to being a follower of Jesus.

As his ship, the Elizabeth Bonaventure, lay at anchor at Cape Sakar on 17 May 1587 after the sacking of Sagress, Sir Francis Drake wrote to Elizabeth I’s secretary of state, Sir Francis Walsingham: ‘There must be a begynnyng of any great matter, but the contenewing unto the end untyll it be thoroughly ffynyshed yeldes the trew glory.’

These words were later adapted by Eric Milner-White (1884-1963), who is credited with introducing the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols during his time as Dean of King’s College, Cambridge (1918-1941). In a collection of prayers he compiled and published in 1941 as he was moving from King’s to become Dean of York, he adapted Drake’s words in what has become a well-known prayer:

O Lord God,
when thou givest to thy servants
to endeavour any great matter,
grant us also to know that it is not the beginning,
but the continuing of the same unto the end,
until it be thoroughly finished, which yieldeth the true glory;
through him who for the finishing of thy work
laid down his life, our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

— after Francis Drake (c. 1540-1596)

But there is another prayer that is also attributed to Francis Drake. After the Golden Hinde sailed from Portsmouth to raid Spanish Gold before sailing on to California, he is said to have written:

Disturb us, Lord,
when we are too well pleased with ourselves;
when our dreams have come true
because we have dreamed too little,
when we arrived safely
because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
with the abundance of things we possess
we have lost our thirst
for the waters of life;
having fallen in love with life,
we have ceased to dream of eternity
and in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision
of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly –
to venture on wider seas
where storms will show your mastery;
where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
the horizons of our hopes;
and to push back the future
in strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
who is Jesus Christ.

This prayer exists in different versions, and many of these versions include lines that sound too modern to be Drake’s own words. Indeed, it is difficult to be certain whether any of this prayer was written or prayed by Drake himself, although, as the first person to circumnavigate the globe, he would certainly have understood its sentiment.

There is a well-known saying: ‘A ship in the harbour is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.’ Food, shelter, and warmth are not enough on their own. In order to flourish, we need a dream – a sense of purpose. A dream come true is, by definition, not a dream any more. And when our dreams come true, we need to dream new dreams, for: ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish’ (Proverbs 28.19).

So often, it is true, church life is a tussle between young people who want to try new things and older people who so want to keep things as they are. But young adventurers also need older people with wisdom and perspective who can still retain and nurture a healthy sense of adventure.

Drake’s prayer expresses the excitement of faith. It is so easy for some to dismiss faith as a crutch for the weak and prayer as a sign of weakness. But if all our prayers were prayers for help, then would there be nothing more to life than merely coping with it and whatever it brings us?

‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God’ (Luke 9: 62) … sculpture in Kanturk, Co Cork, of Thady Kelleher (1935-2004), World and All-Ireland Ploughing Champion (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Wednesday 1 October 2025):

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

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Wednesday 1 October 2025) invites us to pray:

Lord, we give thanks for those who have passed down the faith and your faithfulness through the generations.

The Collect of the Day:

God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit
upon your Church in the burning fire of your love:
grant that your people may be fervent
in the fellowship of the gospel
that, always abiding in you,
they may be found steadfast in faith and active in 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:

Keep, O Lord, your Church, with your perpetual mercy;
and, because without you our human frailty cannot but fall,
keep us ever by your help from all things hurtful,
and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Lord God,
defend your Church from all false teaching
and give to your people knowledge of your truth,
that we may enjoy eternal life
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

‘Foxes have holes … but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head’ (Luke 9: 57) … a fox in street art in Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

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

Etz Hayyim Synagogue in Chania launches campaign to saveCrete’s Jewish library

Etz Hayyim Synagogue stands in a small alley off Kondhilaki Streer in Evraiki or the former Jewish quarter in the old town of Chania (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Etz Hayyim, meaning ‘Tree of Life’ (עץ חיים) is a popular name for synagogues. I was writing last week about the reopening of the Etz Hayyim synagogue in Larissa; it is the name of the oldest synagogue in Athens and, closer to home, the name of the synagogue in Milton Keynes. And it is also the home of one of my favourite synagogues, the Etz Hayyim (Ετζ Χαγίμ) Synagogue in Chania.

The phrase is used for the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden (see Genesis 2: 9). It also found throughout the Book of Proverbs, where it refers figuratively to Wisdom (Proverbs 3: 18) and is associated with ‘the fruit of a righteous man’ (Proverbs 11: 30), ‘a desire fulfilled’ (Proverbs 13: 12) and a ‘healing tongue’ (Proverbs 15: 4).

The plural form Atzei Chaim (עצי חיים) is also used for the wooden poles to which the parchment of a Sefer Torah is attached. In Kabbalah, Etz Ḥayim is the name of a work by Rabbi Ḥayim Vital after the death of Isaac Luria in 1572 and the foundational work for later Lurianic Kabbalah.

The courtyard of the Etz Hayyim Synagogue in Chania … there have been Jews in Crete for over 2,300 years (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Etz Hayyim Synagogue in Chania is vital link in Crete’s 2,300-year-old Jewish heritage, and it urgently needs help to buy the neighbouring building on 24 Parodos Kondylaki Street. The building is rented but is integral part of Etz Hayyim as the home to the library, archives, and essential facilities. But now it is at risk of being lost to commercial development.

The synagogue must raise €300,000 by the end of this summer to secure this vital space and protect it for generations to come as part of the historical identity of Etz Hayyim and to protect the synagogue’s cultural and spiritual significance.

Etz Hayyim Synagogue, in the heart of Chania’s historic Jewish quarter, is the last remaining trace of Jewish life on Crete. This space is more than a synagogue – it is a centre for cultural exchange, reconciliation and education. It welcomes over 30,000 visitors annually, offering a unique window into a rich history of resilience and survival.

The building housing the library has been an integral part of Jewish life in Chania for over 15 years. The property is rented and houses the library, archives and the Evlagon Research Centre, as well as an apartment the caretaker and his family.

The building was owned by the Jewish community until 1945. Now it is at risk of being sold and being used for commercial tourism that would pose threats the historical significance and security of the synagogue. Chania is undergoing rapid gentrification, and many properties being transformed into tourist accommodations, eroding the city’s rich cultural fabric.

Losing this building would mean losing the secure location of the library, its archives and the repository of Jewish history in Crete.

The revival of the Etz Hayyim Synagogue in Chania is due to the vision and hard work of Nicholas Stavroulakis (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The name of the Evlagon Institute for Cretan Jewish Studies honours the memory of Avraham Evlagon (1846-1933), the last Chief Rabbi of Crete. The library originated in the personal collection of the founding director, Nikos Stavroulakis. It also houses 250 CDs of Romaniote and Sephardi liturgical and secular music.

A significant portion of the collection was lost or damaged in arson attacks in 2010, when the synagogue’s archive were also destroyed, including documentation of its renovation in the 1990s.

The holdings on Jewish history in Crete continue to expand. In collaboration with the University of Crete’s library in Rethymnon, the collection is being integrated into the university’s online library catalogue, improving access for scholars and researchers worldwide.

Etz Hayyim’s archive is also a resource for people of Romaniote and Sephardi descent tracing their family histories in Chania and Crete.

The library is an integral part of Etz Hayyim and houses books, archives,and essential facilities (Photograph: Etz Hayyim

Anja Zuckmantel has been the Executive Director of the Etz Hayyim Synagogue in Chania since 2014. She worked with Nikos Stavroulakis for over 10 years in putting in place his vision for Etz Hayyim as an inclusive and inspiring place, ‘a true synagogue’.

Nikos died at 85 on 19 May 2017. Since then the team of staff members and volunteers at Etz Hayyim have been working at maintaining the unique character of Etz Hayyim, expanding its outreach, especially in education, research and a variety of initiatives, preserving the memory of the Jewish community of Crete. At the heart of these efforts is the library, built largely on Nikos’s private collection of books and papers and also including the research library.

However, in an email this week, Anja Zuckmantel has reached out to the friends of Etz Hayyim with an urgent request, saying Etz Hayyim is facing a serious challenge.

She points out that the building is a space that safeguards the memory and history of the once-thriving Jewish community of Crete. But it is now up for sale, and unless the synagogue finds the resources to buy it, ‘the space risks being lost to commercial development and overtourism in Hania. At the same time, the synagogue would lose an important pilar in the security arrangements for Etz Hayyim.’

The Aron Hakodesh or Ark in the Etz Hayyim Synagogue (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Etz Hayyim must raise €300,000 by the end of this summer to secure this vital building and preserve its contents for generations to come. ‘Every contribution counts, and even the smallest donation brings us closer to safeguarding this irreplaceable part of our community’s life,’ she says.

A fundraising campaign has started and the urgency of the campaign is further detailed on the crowdfunding page here.

This is not just about a building. It is about protecting the stories, research, and memory of a community almost entirely destroyed during the Holocaust, when the Jews of Crete were deported by the Nazis on the ship Tanais. Tragically, the ship was sunk by a British torpedo – unaware of its human cargo – and the entire community perished.

By the 1950s, Etz Hayyim stood abandoned and in disrepair. But decades later, with the help of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece and international supporters, the synagogue was restored and reopened – transforming it into a living monument, a place of worship, and a centre for interfaith dialogue and cultural preservation.

Today, Etz Hayyim welcomes thousands of visitors each year – Jewish and non-Jewish alike – from around the world.

Etz Hayyim commemorated the Cretan Jewish community in Crete last year (2024) with a series of cultural events. A documentary film, The Tanais, by Vicky Arvelaki recently premiered at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, renewing public awareness of this tragic history. You can watch the trailer here.

The fundraising campaign is administered by Etz Hayyim, a legally registered charitable organisation. In her email, Anja Zuckmantel promises ‘all donations contribute to the purpose of the fundraising campaign. We post regular updates on the status of the campaign on our Social Media channels.’

The bimah or prayer platform in the Etz Hayyim Synagogue (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The campaign to ‘Save Our Library, Safeguard Our Future’ can be supported by

• Donating here: https://whydonate.com/en/fundraising/etz-hayyim-hania

• Sharing the campaign with family, friends and networks

• Following the campaign on social media

• Subscribing to the monthly newsletter on Substack

All these links are in available in one place.

Shabbat Shalom, שבת שלום

Daily prayers in Ordinary Time with USPG: (40) 7 July 2023

The former Ionian Parliament building in Corfu became Holy Trinity Anglican Church in 1870 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and the week began with the Fourth Sunday after Trinity (3 July 2023).

Before this becomes a busy day, 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 former chaplain’s residence now serves as Holy Trinity Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Holy Trinity Church, Corfu:

There has been an Anglican presence in Corfu since 1814, when Corfu and the other Ionian Islands became a British Protectorate. The High Commissioner, the administrators, and the soldiers and sailors based in Corfu, required a place of worship, and a chapel was built in the Doric style in the Old Fortress and was named Saint George.

Saint George’s remained the garrison church until 1864, when Corfu and the other Ionian Islands were incorporated into the modern Greek state. The Greek Parliament in Athens wanted to turn the old fortress into a military base, and Saint George’s became an Orthodox church.

Indeed, this was the church where Prince Philip, later the Duke of Edinburgh, was baptised according to the rites of the Greek Orthodox Church in 1921.

When the former Anglican Church of Saint George in the Old Fortress in Corfu became a Greek Orthodox in 1864, the Anglican community was left without a church. On the other hand, with the incorporation of Corfu and the Ionian Islands into the Greek state, Corfu no longer needed a parliament building. The Greek government offered the former Ionian Parliament building to the Anglican community. The building was designed by a Corfiot architect John Chronis.

The gift was ratified in Greek law in 1869, and the building was given to the ‘British community of Kerkyra (Corfu) of the Anglican faith so long as it might serve as a house of worship of the said persuasion.’

The deed of consecration was signed in 1870, the Ionian Parliament building became Holy Trinity Church, and the premises to the rear became the parsonage or residence of the Anglican chaplain.

Holy Trinity Church was in a unique position because it belonged not to the British Government nor any church body, but solely and entirely to the Anglican community in Corfu. The church flourished from 1869, with a permanent resident chaplain until 1940, and for 71 years the church served the island’s many British residents.

At the outbreak of World War II, most British residents left Corfu, and the Commonwealth and Continental Church Society (now ICS) was appointed trustee of the church.

The church was bombed during World War II, leaving only parts of the outside walls. Although the parsonage to the rear suffered bomb damage, it provided shelter for the Maltese community. However, with the slow return of British residents to post-war Corfu, the Mayor of Corfu took advantage of this situation, the city took over the church, restored the building, and retained it.

Later, through negotiations, the residence part of the building was retained, repaired and served many uses. While he was the British Vice Consul, Major John Forte set about recovering this part of the building. Major John Forte is also known for reviving the game of cricket in Corfu, and for helping to prevent L Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, from setting up a university on Corfu in 1968.

On Easter Day 1971, Holy Trinity Church Corfu reopened on a permanent basis for the first time in 31 years.

For more than half a century later, Holy Trinity Church has been part of the Diocese in Europe and has a vital congregation that continues to reach out to residents and visitors alike in Corfu.

Holy Trinity Church maintains an Anglican presence and outreach in the heart of Corfu (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 9: 9-13 (NRSVA):

9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.

10 And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax-collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ 12 But when he heard this, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’

Saint George’s Church was an Anglican and garrison church in Corfu until 1864 (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 ‘FeAST – Fellowship of Anglican Scholars of Theology.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by the Revd Canon Dr Peniel Rajkumar of USPG.

Find out more HERE.

The Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (7 July 2023) invites us to reflect:

Proverbs 3: 19-22: By wisdom, the Lord laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; by his knowledge the watery depths were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew. My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion; they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck.

Collect:

O God, the protector of all who trust in you,
without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:
increase and multiply upon us your mercy;
that with you as our ruler and guide
we may so pass through things temporal
that we lose not our hold on things eternal;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion:

Eternal God,
comfort of the afflicted and healer of the broken,
you have fed us at the table of life and hope:
teach us the ways of gentleness and peace,
that all the world may acknowledge
the kingdom of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Major John Forte is known for reviving the game of cricket in Corfu (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

Cecil Spring Rice, author of ‘I vow to thee my country’, and his family roots in West Limerick

Sir Cecil Arthur Spring Rice (1859-1918) … author of ‘I vow to thee my country’, he came from a prominent West Limerick

Patrick Comerford

The media outlets have been awash all day with coverage of the coronation. It is been almost impossible to find any alternatives, and I imagine the analysis of every fine detail is going to continue for days.

In Westminster Abbey, as the king made his vows, he used a prayer specially composed for him inspired by biblical language (Galatians 5) and also the language of the hymn ‘I vow to thee my country’, itself inspired by words from the Bible (Proverbs 3: 17). Many commentators have remarked that this is possibly the first time such a personal prayer was voiced so publicly by a monarch.

Unlike the coronation of Elizabeth II, the hymn ‘I vow to thee my country’ was not used during this morning’s service, perhaps because it was specially requested by Princess Diana for her wedding in Saint Paul’s Cathedral in 1981. But this hymn has been heard throughout the land all this week, and it is probably going to be sung in many churches tomorrow morning. Even Billy Mitchell was playing it outside the Vic in Thursday’s episode of EastEnders.

But I wonder how many people know this hymn, which appears consistently in polls as one of Britain’s most popular hymns, was written by a London-born diplomat who always regarded himself as Irish and who had family roots that were firmly planted in west Limerick.

‘I Vow to Thee, My Country’ became a hymn in 1921 when music by Gustav Holst was first used as a setting for a poem by Sir Cecil Spring Rice. The music was a melody, later named ‘Thaxted’ by Holst, that came from the ‘Jupiter’ movement in his suite The Planets (1917).

Sir Cecil Arthur Spring Rice (1859-1918) was the British Ambassador to the US in 1912-1918, and was responsible for British efforts to end US neutrality during World War I. He was also a close friend of President Theodore Roosevelt, and was the best man at his second wedding. But he is best remembered as the writer of the lyrics of ‘I Vow to Thee, My Country.’

Cecil Spring Rice was born on 27 February 1859 into an influential political and landed family in west Limerick. He was the son of a diplomat, the Hon Charles William Thomas Spring Rice. He was grandson of the prominent Whig politician and former Chancellor, Lord Monteagle, and a great-grandson of the 1st Earl of Limerick.

Although brought up in England by his widowed mother, Spring Rice maintained a close affinity with Ireland, and wrote a poem about his Irish identity. I have been working in recent weeks on a paper on Church of Ireland parishioners in Co Limerick and their experiences during the decade of the Irish War of Independence For generations, the Spring Rice family home was Mount Trenchard, near Foynes, Co Limerick, and he was closely related to many leading Irish nationalists of the day, including Mary Spring Rice and Connor O’Brien.

Spring Rice was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, and began a career at the Foreign Office in 1882. He became Assistant Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary, but lost that post under the Conservatives because of his sympathies for Irish Home Rule. He then joined the diplomatic service, and his first posting was to Washington DC in 1887.

Later postings took him to Japan, back to and to Berlin, where he met his future wife, Florence Caroline Lascelles, a cousin of the Duke of Devonshire. He was also posted to Constantinople, Tehran, Cairo and St Petersburg, before becoming Ambassador to Sweden. He was appointed ambassador to the US in 1912, two years before World War I broke out.

He became friends with Theodore Roosevelt on a trans-Atlantic crossing from New York in 1886. He was Roosevelt’s best man when he married Edith Carow, and Roosevelt was the godfather of Spring Rice’s son in 1908. His friends in Washington also included JP Morgan jr, and he was best man at JP Morgan’s wedding.

Spring Rice constantly sought a reprieve for Roger Casement in 1916, but he alerted politicians in London to the content of the ‘Black Diaries’ and he warned about the danger of protests by Irish Americans after the 1916 Rising. One of his closest political friends at home was the Irish nationalist, John Dillon (1851-1927), the last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party.

Spring Rice’s efforts to end US neutrality eventually met with success when the US entered the war in 1917. Following a disagreement with Lord Northcliffe, head of the British war mission to the US, Spring Rice was abruptly recalled to London in a one-line telegram in mid-January 1918. He immediately travelled to Canada to begin his journey back. There he was the guest of his wife’s cousin, the Duke of Devonshire, who was Governor General of Canada. Although only 58, Spring Rice died unexpectedly at the viceregal seat, Rideau Hall in Ottawa, on 14 February. He is buried in Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa.

Spring Rice’s biography was published in 1929 by his cousin Stephen Lucius Gwynn (1864-1950), a grandson of the Irish patriot, William Smith O’Brien of Cahermoyle House, Co Limerick, and a brother of the Revd Robert Malcolm Gwynn who gave the Irish Citizen Army its name.

The ruins of Mount Trenchard Church … the churchyard is the burial place of generation of the Spring Rice family (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Spring Rice was also a poet, and wrote his poem ‘Urbs Dei’ (‘The City of God’) or ‘The Two Fatherlands’ in 1908 or 1912. The poem described how a Christian owes loyalties to both the homeland and the heavenly kingdom.

Shortly before leaving Washington in January 1918, he rewrote and renamed ‘Urbs Dei’, significantly altering the first verse to concentrate on the themes of love and sacrifice rather than ‘the noise of battle’ and ‘the thunder of her guns’, creating a more sombre tone in view of the loss of life suffered in World War. I The first verse in both versions invoke Britain: in the 1912 version, this is Britannia with sword and shield; in the second version, this is simply ‘my country.’ The second verse invokes the Kingdom of Heaven.

He never intended the rewritten verse of 1918 to appear alongside the first verse of the original poem but was replacing it. Still, the original first verse is sometimes known as the ‘rarely sung middle verse’.

The final version of his poem became the text for the hymn ‘I Vow to Thee My Country’ when it was set to music by Gustav Holst.

Holst adapted a tune from Jupiter in his suite The Planets to create a setting for the poem. The music was extended slightly to fit the final two lines of the first verse. At the request of the publisher Curwen, Holst made a version as a unison song with orchestra. Curwen also published Sir Hubert Parry’s unison song with orchestra, ‘Jerusalem.’

Holst named his tune ‘Thaxted’ after the Essex village near Saffron Walden where Holst lived for many years and was the church organist. At the time (1910-1942), the Vicar of Thaxted was Conrad Noel (1869-1942), a friend of Vaughan Williams’s collaborator, Canon Percy Dearmer. Conrad Noel was known as the ‘Red Vicar’ because of his active Christian Socialism, and in Saint John’s Church in Thaxted he hung the red flag and the Irish tricolour alongside the flag of Saint George.

Holst’s version was probably first performed in 1921 and it became a common element at Armistice memorial ceremonies, especially after it was published as a hymn in the 1926 edition of Songs of Praise edited by Holst’s close friend Ralph Vaughan Williams, who may have provided the stimulus for Holst’s co-operation in producing the hymn.

The version of the hymn in Songs of Praise (1925) consisted only of the two stanzas of the 1918 version:

I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
The love that asks no questions, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

And there’s another country, I’ve heard of long ago,
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.

The final line of the second stanza is based on Proverbs 3: 17: ‘Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace’ (KJV). In this context, the feminine pronoun refers to Wisdom.

The original first stanza of Spring-Rice’s poem ‘Urbs Dei’ (1908-1912) was never set to music:

I heard my country calling, away across the sea,
Across the waste of waters, she calls and calls to me.
Her sword is girded at her side, her helmet on her head,
And around her feet are lying the dying and the dead;
I hear the noise of battle, the thunder of her guns;
I haste to thee, my mother, a son among thy sons.

Princess Diana requested that the hymn at her wedding in 1981, saying that it had ‘always been a favourite since schooldays.’ It was also sung at her funeral in 1997 and her memorial service in 2007. It was sung too at Margaret Thatcher’s funeral in 2013.

However, there are divided opinion about the suitability of this hymn. The General Synod of the Church of Ireland decided against including it in the Church Hymnal (5th edition) in 2000.

In August 2004, Bishop Stephen Lowe of Hulme criticised the hymn in Crux, the Manchester diocesan newspaper, calling it ‘heretical.’ The Guardian reported him saying he would not sing the hymn or lead a service that included it, ‘despite the good tune.’

Bishop Lowe expressed unease about growing English nationalism, which he said was stoked by football fervour, and ‘a wish for a white-dominated simple world of Englishness.’ He urged clergy to think ‘long and hard’ about singing the hymn because its lyrics proclaimed love for country ‘which asks no question.’

According to the Daily Telegraph, Bishop Lowe claimed the rise in English nationalism had parallels ‘with the rise of Nazism.’ Later, however, he told Sky News that he was misreported when the Telegraph said he had called for the hymn to be banned.

Writing in Crux, he said ‘I will not sing [it] … I think it is heretical, because a Christian’s ultimate responsibility is to God as revealed by Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And this is where my unease is focused.’ Bishop Lowe said at the time that he was ‘very uneasy’ about growing nationalism at the time of a ‘vicious anti-European campaign,’ the rise of Ukip, and xenophobic attitudes towards other countries in the British tabloid press.

Some years later, the Revd Gordon Giles suggested the lyrics could be rewritten because they seem obscene to many. Writing in the Church Times, he said that ‘in post-colonial Britain’ the words come ‘across as patronising and unjust. Associating duty to King and Empire with a divine call to kill people and surrender one’s own life is a theologically inept reading of Jesus’ teaching.’

He asked at the time: ‘Should we, undaunted, make the sacrifice of our sons and daughters, laying their lives on the altar in wars that we might struggle to call as holy or just? These are real questions for those who go, or see their loved ones go, to fight in arenas of conflict today.’

Westminster Abbey … the royal vows today were based on words by Sir Cecil Spring Rice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

How Helsinki’s Jewish community survived through wars and the Holocaust

Helsinki Synagogue in the Kamppi district was designed by the architect Jac Ahrenberg and built in 1906 (Photograph: Sofia Ek/Wkipedia)

Patrick Comerford

Our visit to Helsinki last week was short and focussed with a packed and demanding programme. This, combined with the shortened daylight hours in mid-January and streets piled high with snow, left virtually no time to see any of places tourists expect to see in the Finnish capital.

I suppose we shall have to visit Helsinki again if I am going to visit Helsinki’s synagogue. But while I was there I learned a little more about the Jewish community in Finland and its history.

Finland is home to 1,300 to 1,900 Jews, the third largest Jewish community in Scandinavia, following Sweden and Denmark. Finland’s Jewish community is largely integrated into Finnish society, and the World Jewish Congress says Jews in Finland enjoy a sense of stability and there has been relatively little antisemitism in Finland.

Most Jews in Finland live in the Greater Helsinki area, with a smaller community in Turku. The synagogue in Helsinki was built in 1906 and the synagogue in Turku was built in 1912. A synagogue in Wiborg built in 1910-1911 was destroyed by air bombings in 1939. The Jewish community in Tampere ceased functioning in 1981.

Jews first came to Finland as Russian soldiers who stayed in Finland in the 19th century after their military conscription came to an end.

Jacob Weikam, later Veikkanen, is said to be the first Jew to have settled on Finnish soil. He moved in 1782 to the town of Hamina, then under Russian rule, although at the time most of Finland was part of the Kingdom of Sweden. Swedish law allowed Jews to live in a only three towns – all of them outside what is now Finland.

Finland became part of the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland in 1809. But Swedish laws remained in force, preventing Jews from settling in Finnish territory.

However, Russian Jews began arriving in Finland as tradesmen and craftsmen. Most were retired soldiers from the Imperial Russian army. They had been forced into the Russian army as children, and after their 25-year terms expired they had the right to remain in Finland regardless of legacy Swedish legislation.

However, it was only after Finland declared independence in 1917 that Jews were granted full rights as Finnish citizens.

Finland’s involvement in World War II began during the Winter War, from 30 November 1939 to 13 March 1940, when the Soviet Union invaded Finland. Many Finnish Jews became refugees and the synagogue in Wiborg was destroyed by air bombings.

When Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, Finland resumed hostilities and was at war with the Soviet Union in 1941-1944. It is recorded 327 Finnish Jews fought for Finland during the war; 21 Jewish women served in the women’s auxiliary; and 15 Finnish Jews were killed in the Winter War and eight in the Continuation War.

The Finnish front had a field synagogue operating in the presence of Nazi troops, and Jewish soldiers were given leave on Saturdays and Jewish holidays.

Eight Jewish Austrian refugees and 19 other people were deported to Nazi Germany in November 1942 at the behest of the head of the Finnish police. Seven of the Jews were murdered immediately. Their deportation caused a national scandal, ministers resigned in protest, and the Archbishop, many Lutheran ministers, and the Social Democratic Party protested.

About 500 Jewish refugees arrived in Finland during World War II, although about 350 moved on to other countries, including about 160 who were moved to Sweden on the orders of Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, commander of the Finnish Army and later President.

Although Himmler twice visited Finland trying to persuade the authorities to hand over the Jewish population, he was unsuccessful. Jews with Finnish citizenship were protected throughout that period, and Finland was the only Axis country where synagogues remained open throughout World War II. Three Finnish Jews were offered the Iron Cross for their wartime service, but all three refused the award.

Migration to Israel depleted Finland’s Jewish community after World War II, but numbers were boosted with the arrival of some Soviet Jews after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Most Finnish Jews speak Finnish or Swedish as their first language. Yiddish, German, Russian, and Hebrew are also spoken in the community.

Helsinki Synagogue in the Kamppi (Kampen) district, nestled between the two big wings of the Radisson Hotel on Runeberginkatu Main Street was designed by the architect Jac Ahrenberg (1847-1914). The city of Helsinki gave the site on Malminkatu Street in Kamppi to the Jewish community in 1900. Construction began in the spring of 1905 and the building was finished in August 1906.

The synagogue is in an international, eclectic style common for 19th century synagogues in Central Europe and England. Its Byzantine-style cupola is a landmark in Helsinki. The façades are defined through the use of round arches. Its religious function is revealed only by Star of David motifs on three small round windows, the cupola and an inscription on the front wall: ‘For I give you good instruction; do not forsake my teaching’ (Proverbs 4: 2).

A memorial on Tähtitorninmäki (Observatory Hill) honours the eight Jewish refugees who were turned over to the Gestapo by Finnish authorities in 1942 and murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau.The memorial is made from a thick slab of granite. It was unveiled in November 2000 and includes a plaque with a relief depicting hands begging for mercy. It is inscribed in Hebrew, Finnish, and English:'‘Even unto them will I give in my house and within my walls a monument and a memorial’ (Isaiah 56: 5). At its unveiling, the Finnish Prime Minister, Paavo Lipponen, issued an official apology for the extradition of the eight Jewish Austrian refugees to Nazi Germany.

Shabat Shalom

Helsinki City Hall designed by Carl Ludvig Engel … the city of Helsinki gave the site for the synagogue to the Jewish community in 1900 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Praying through the Week of Christian Unity and with USPG: 19 January 2023

Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford … ‘Come and Sing Evensong’ this evening is part of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Christmas is not a season of 12 days, despite the popular Christmas song. Christmas is a 40-day season that lasts from Christmas Day (25 December) to Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation (2 February).

Throughout the 40 days of this Christmas Season, I have been reflecting in these ways:

1, Reflecting on a seasonal or appropriate poem;

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

However, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity began yesterday (18 January 2023), and between now and next Wednesday my morning reflections look at this year’s readings and prayers.

Churches Together in Milton Keynes continues to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity this evening with ‘Come and Sing Evensong’ at 7:30 in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford. I hope to be part of this service this evening as a member of the choir in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church.

Choral Evensong is one of the great English musical traditions, with its rich biblical language and emotive music. Choirs and singers from across Milton Keynes are gathering for a brief rehearsal at 6 pm. The Revd Lisa Kerry, the Baptist Regional Minister, is speaking and the Moderator of the United Reformed Church East Midlands Synod, the Revd Geoffrey Clarke is leading the intercessions.

‘If you close your ear to the cry of the poor, you will cry out and not be heard’ (Proverbs 21: 13) … ‘Christ the Beggar’ … a sculpture by Timothy Schmalz on the steps of Santo Spirito Hospital near the Vatican (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Day 2: When justice is done …

Readings:

Proverbs 21: 13-15:

When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous, but dismay to evildoers.

Matthew 23: 23-25:

Justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done.

Reflection:

From the beginning, the Book of Proverbs sets out to provide wisdom and instruction in “wise dealing, righteousness, justice, and equity” (1: 2). Throughout its oracles of wisdom, the call to act justly and to pursue righteousness is a constant refrain, relentlessly shared and affirmed as more acceptable to God than sacrifice. In a one-sentence pearl of wisdom, the speaker testifies that the righteous rejoice when justice is done. But justice upsets the workers of iniquity. Christians, across their separations, should be united in joy when justice is done, and prepared to stand together when this justice brings opposition. When we do what the Lord requires and dare to pursue justice, we may find ourselves in a whirlwind of resistance and opposition to any attempt to make things right for the most vulnerable among us.

Those who benefit from the systems and structures buttressed by White supremacy and other oppressive ideologies such as “casteism” and patriarchy will seek to delay and deny justice, often violently. But to seek justice is to strike at the heart of the powers, making space for God’s just ordering and enduring wisdom in a world all too often unmoved by suffering. And yet, there is joy in doing what is right.

There is joy in affirming that “Black Lives Matter” in the pursuit of justice for God’s oppressed, dominated, and exploited beloved. There is joy in seeking reconciliation with other Christians so that we may better serve the proclamation of the kingdom. Let that joy manifest itself through our shared experiences of God’s presence in community in the known and unknown spaces where God journeys with us toward healing, reconciliation and unity in Christ.

Christian Unity:

The religious leaders Jesus addresses in the Gospel passage have grown accustomed and comfortable with the injustices of the world. They are happy to perform religious duties such as tithing mint, dill and cumin, but neglect the weightier and more disruptive demands of justice, mercy and faithfulness. Similarly Christians have grown accustomed and comfortable with the divisions that exist between us. We are faithful in much of our religious observance, but often we neglect the Lord’s challenging desire that all his disciples be one.

Challenge:

How can local congregations support one another to withstand the opposition that may follow from doing justice?

Prayer:

God, you are the source of our wisdom. We pray for wisdom and courage to do justice, to respond to what is wrong in the world by acting to make it right;

We pray for wisdom and courage to grow in the unity of your Son, Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit, reigns forever and ever. Amen.

‘You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!’ (Matthew 23: 24) … a camel near the Goreme Open Air Museum and the rock-cut churches of Cappadocia (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

USPG Prayer Diary:

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity began yesterday (18 January), and the theme in the USPG Prayer Diary this week is the ‘Week of Prayer For Christian Unity.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with a reflection from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches.

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

Let us pray for a healing of divisions. May we know the humility and wisdom of Christ in our search for reconciliation.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued Tomorrow

30 seconds of bell ringing at Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford … the venue for Choral Evensong this evening (Patrick Comerford)

Why the Church needs to recover a teaching of the Trinity that is relevant today

Trinitarian truths expressed in a stained-glass window in Michaelhouse, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Trinity Sunday, 16 June 2019.

11.30 a.m.: The Parish Eucharist (Holy Communion 2), Saint Brendan’s Church, Kilnaughtin (Tarbert), Co Kerry.

The Readings: Proverbs 8: 1-4, 22-31; Psalm 8; Romans 5: 1-5; John 16: 12-15.

May I speak to you in the name of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

The comedian Brendan Grace has given us the urchin-like Dublin street child he names ‘Bottler.’ He once told of a confirmation in a Dublin church, involving a pompous bishop and poor little Bottler.

The bishop is presented with the children about to be Confirmed and asks each in turn a question from the Catechism: ‘Who is God?’ … ‘Who made the world?’ … and so on.

When he comes to Bottler, he asks the poor child to explain the Trinity.

The child snuffles and shuffles, scratches and sneezes, looks around, and finally spits out an answer in rapid fire.

It is so quick, and so mumbled that the bishop asks again: ‘Tell me about the Trinity.’

Once again, Bottler mutters and mumbles in a speed and an accent that the bishop fails to grasp.

He asks a third time.

Bottler repeats in rapid-fire mumbles, but now he is unnerved and the answer is bawled out at greater speed.

The bishop is perplexed.

Having failed three times, he exclaims with exhaustion: ‘I don’t understand.’

‘You’re not supposed to,’ Bottler spurts out. ‘It’s a mystery.’

Today is Trinity Sunday. And sometimes I wonder if as theologians and priests we have made the Mystery of the Trinity a concept that is beyond the understanding of children and adults alike.

The Book of Common Prayer may have compounded this by encouraging the tradition on Trinity Sunday of using ‘The Creed (commonly called) of Saint Athanasius, also known as the Quicunque Vult,’ on Trinity Sunday (pp 771-773).

To appropriate a saying by the writer Dorothy Sayers, for many Christians the Trinity is incomprehensible, and has nothing to do with daily life.

But the starting point, and the finishing point, like so many other parts of life and belief in the Church, would be much easier if we began and finished with love.

The late Professor Thomas Hopko (1939-2015) of Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary has argued that if God were not Trinity, God could not have loved prior to creating other beings on whom to bestow God’s love.

This love or communion of God as Trinity is extended to us in the communion of the Church. It is not just the Trinitarian faith into which we are baptised, but the love and fellowship of the Trinity.

Throughout the Church, the concept of the Trinity often appears irrelevant, because of poor teaching in many churches and what may be a prevailing anti-intellectual climate.

Because of this, too many of us on Trinity Sunday are reduced to explaining away the Trinity as a ‘mystery’ that we need not to grapple with.

There is a general decline in the Trinitarian character of worship, theology and life in the Church today that parallels a decline in rigorous intellectual thinking. This is mirrored in the decline in social emphasis in our time, typified in the claim by one politician some decades ago that there is no society, that there are only individuals.

But we can only be human through our relationships; we can only have self-respect when we know what it is to respect others.

The Church is primarily communion, a set of relationships, exactly as we find in the Trinitarian God. Christianity is not a private religion for individuals; personal piety is only truly pious and personal when it relates to others and to creation.

Today, the Church needs to recover a teaching of the Trinity that is not divisive and yet is relevant, that shows how the Trinity is a communitarian, inclusive, embracing, co-operative model of God.

Sometimes, because of poor teaching, people are in danger of being left with the notion that the Trinity is a concept invented by men, male leaders on their own, at later Councils of the Church.

Yet our Epistle reading (Roman 5: 1-5) is one of the great and succinct Trinitarian passages in the New Testament. Here, the Apostle Paul writes that union with God comes through faith, and Christ is our entry point to God’s grace.

Similarly, in the Gospel reading (John 16: 12-15), we have a succinct Trinitarian passage, when Christ promises the disciples at the Last Supper that the ‘Spirit of truth’ is coming as gift from God the Father.

In our Old Testament reading (Proverbs 8: 1-4, 22-31), we have a beautiful image of Wisdom like a town crier calling out aloud at the gates and through the streets of the city, proclaiming the good news of God’s creation, and the role of the Holy Spirit in that creation.

In this reading, Wisdom is personified as a woman. She pre-exists the world. She was present at creation, as a witness, she came to know God’s secrets in creating the heavens and the earth, she was ‘beside him’ at the time of creation, had an active role in creation.

It all reminds me of the creation account in Genesis 1, where the Spirit of God hovers over formless void and darkness (Genesis 1: 2; cf John 1: 32).

Authoritarian or monist models have dominated the Church for centuries, providing male, authoritarian images of God. But in the New Testament and in the Early Church, the words used for the Spirit (pneuma, πνευμα), wisdom (Sophia, Σoφíα) and the Holy Trinity (Aghia Triadha, Αγία Τριάδα) are neuter and feminine nouns.

Monist models of God help to confirm men, particularly men with power in the Church, in their prejudices. The Trinity is inclusive rather than exclusive of human images.

During the Nazi era, the German theologian Erik Peterson (1890-1960) argued that monist theologies tend to legitimise absolutist and totalitarian political and social orders, while Trinitarian theologies challenge them.

The Trinity means that as humanity is created in the image and likeness of God, then it is not just as individuals that we reflect God’s image, but that when we are a community we are most human and most like God. In the true community, each is valued, each takes account of the other, each has an equal place, contribution and voice. True community cannot concentrate sole authority, privilege and infallibility in one gender alone, let alone one member.

A recovery of the reality implies respect for diversity and seeks a communal form of unity that respects, desires and even encourages diversity in the community of faith.

Compared with the great social and political challenges facing the Church, discussing the Trinity may seem to many as relevant as debating the number of angels on the head of a pin. Yet the Trinity is not only the archetype of all created reality, but without a fuller understanding of the nature of the Trinity, the Church will never be able to apprehend the truth of the infinite goodness of God.

The love and joyful dance of the Trinity is at the heart of our understanding of God’s love for us and for creation, of our fellowship and communion with God and with one another, and of our understanding of the ministry and mission of the Church.

And so, may all we think, say and do be to the praise, honour and glory of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

An image of the Trinity in Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos in Greece (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 16: 12-15 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 12 ‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.’

Wisdom cries out ‘beside the way … at the crossroads … beside the gates in … the town, at the entrance’ (Proverbs 8: 2-3) … Toby jugs in the image of town criers once seen in a front window in Beacon Street, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Liturgical Colour: White (Green in the weekdays)

Penitential Kyries:

Father, you come to meet us when we return to you.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, you died on the cross for our sins.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

Holy Spirit, you give us life and peace.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty and everlasting God,
you have given us your servants grace,
by the confession of a true faith,
to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity
and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the Unity:
Keep us steadfast in this faith,
that we may evermore be defended from all adversities;
for you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever.

Introduction to the Peace:

Peace to you from God our heavenly Father.
Peace from his Son Jesus Christ who is our peace.
Peace from the Holy Spirit the Life-giver.
The peace of the Triune God be always with you.
And also with you.

Preface:

You have revealed your glory
as the glory of your Son and of the Holy Spirit:
three persons equal in majesty, undivided in splendour,
yet one Lord, one God,
ever to be worshipped and adored:

Post-Communion Prayer:

Almighty God,
may we who have received this holy communion,
worship you with lips and lives
proclaiming your majesty
and finally see you in your eternal glory:
Holy and Eternal Trinity,
one God, now and for ever.

Blessing:

God the Holy Trinity
make you strong in faith and love,
defend you on every side,
and guide you in truth and peace:

Hymns:

321, Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty (CD 19)
323, The God of Abraham praise (CD 19)
468, How shall I sing that majesty (Track 25, Disc 2, Life of Faith)

The Visitation of Abraham or the ‘Old Testament Trinity’ … a fresco in the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist in Tolleshunt Knights, Essex, interprets a Trinitarian and Eucharistic theme (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

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

A mediaeval fresco of the Holy Trinity in the south choir aisle in Lichfield Cathedral … severely damaged by 17th century Puritans (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

The love and joyful dance of the Trinity are at the heart of understanding God’s love

An image of the Trinity in Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos in Greece (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Trinity Sunday, 16 June 2019.

9.30 a.m.: Morning Prayer, Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton, Co Limerick.

The Readings: Proverbs 8: 1-4, 22-31; Psalm 8; Romans 5: 1-5; John 16: 12-15.

May I speak to you in the name of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

The comedian Brendan Grace has given us the urchin-like Dublin street child he names ‘Bottler.’ He once told of a confirmation in a Dublin church, involving a pompous bishop and poor little Bottler.

The bishop is presented with the children about to be Confirmed and asks each in turn a question from the Catechism: ‘Who is God?’ … ‘Who made the world?’ … and so on.

When he comes to Bottler, he asks the poor child to explain the Trinity.

The child snuffles and shuffles, scratches and sneezes, looks around, and finally spits out an answer in rapid fire.

It is so quick, and so mumbled that the bishop asks again: ‘Tell me about the Trinity.’

Once again, Bottler mutters and mumbles in a speed and an accent that the bishop fails to grasp.

He asks a third time.

Bottler repeats in rapid-fire mumbles, but now he is unnerved and the answer is bawled out at greater speed.

The bishop is perplexed.

Having failed three times, he exclaims with exhaustion: ‘I don’t understand.’

‘You’re not supposed to,’ Bottler spurts out. ‘It’s a mystery.’

Today is Trinity Sunday. And sometimes I wonder if as theologians and priests we have made the Mystery of the Trinity a concept that is beyond the understanding of children and adults alike.

The Book of Common Prayer may have compounded this by encouraging the tradition on Trinity Sunday of using ‘The Creed (commonly called) of Saint Athanasius, also known as the Quicunque Vult,’ on Trinity Sunday (pp 771-773).

To appropriate a saying by the writer Dorothy Sayers, for many Christians the Trinity is incomprehensible, and has nothing to do with daily life.

But the starting point, and the finishing point, like so many other parts of life and belief in the Church, would be much easier if we began and finished with love.

The late Professor Thomas Hopko (1939-2015) of Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary has argued that if God were not Trinity, God could not have loved prior to creating other beings on whom to bestow God’s love.

This love or communion of God as Trinity is extended to us in the communion of the Church. It is not just the Trinitarian faith into which we are baptised, but the love and fellowship of the Trinity.

Throughout the Church, the concept of the Trinity often appears irrelevant, because of poor teaching in many churches and what may be a prevailing anti-intellectual climate.

Because of this, too many of us on Trinity Sunday are reduced to explaining away the Trinity as a ‘mystery’ that we need not to grapple with.

There is a general decline in the Trinitarian character of worship, theology and life in the Church today that parallels a decline in rigorous intellectual thinking. This is mirrored in the decline in social emphasis in our time, typified in the claim by one politician some decades ago that there is no society, that there are only individuals.

But we can only be human through our relationships; we can only have self-respect when we know what it is to respect others.

The Church is primarily communion, a set of relationships, exactly as we find in the Trinitarian God. Christianity is not a private religion for individuals; personal piety is only truly pious and personal when it relates to others and to creation.

Today, the Church needs to recover a teaching of the Trinity that is not divisive and yet is relevant, that shows how the Trinity is a communitarian, inclusive, embracing, co-operative model of God.

Sometimes, because of poor teaching, people are in danger of being left with the notion that the Trinity is a concept invented by men, male leaders on their own, at later Councils of the Church.

Yet our Epistle reading (Roman 5: 1-5) is one of the great and succinct Trinitarian passages in the New Testament. Here, the Apostle Paul writes that union with God comes through faith, and Christ is our entry point to God’s grace.

Similarly, in the Gospel reading (John 16: 12-15), we have a succinct Trinitarian passage, when Christ promises the disciples at the Last Supper that the ‘Spirit of truth’ is coming as gift from God the Father.

In our Old Testament reading (Proverbs 8: 1-4, 22-31), we have a beautiful image of Wisdom like a town crier calling out aloud at the gates and through the streets of the city, proclaiming the good news of God’s creation, and the role of the Holy Spirit in that creation.

In this reading, Wisdom is personified as a woman. She pre-exists the world. She was present at creation, as a witness, she came to know God’s secrets in creating the heavens and the earth, she was ‘beside him’ at the time of creation, had an active role in creation.

It all reminds me of the creation account in Genesis 1, where the Spirit of God hovers over formless void and darkness (Genesis 1: 2; cf John 1: 32).

Authoritarian or monist models have dominated the Church for centuries, providing male, authoritarian images of God. But in the New Testament and in the Early Church, the words used for the Spirit (pneuma, πνευμα), wisdom (Sophia, Σoφíα) and the Holy Trinity (Aghia Triadha, Αγία Τριάδα) are neuter and feminine nouns.

Monist models of God help to confirm men, particularly men with power in the Church, in their prejudices. The Trinity is inclusive rather than exclusive of human images.

During the Nazi era, the German theologian Erik Peterson (1890-1960) argued that monist theologies tend to legitimise absolutist and totalitarian political and social orders, while Trinitarian theologies challenge them.

The Trinity means that as humanity is created in the image and likeness of God, then it is not just as individuals that we reflect God’s image, but that when we are a community we are most human and most like God. In the true community, each is valued, each takes account of the other, each has an equal place, contribution and voice. True community cannot concentrate sole authority, privilege and infallibility in one gender alone, let alone one member.

A recovery of the reality implies respect for diversity and seeks a communal form of unity that respects, desires and even encourages diversity in the community of faith.

Compared with the great social and political challenges facing the Church, discussing the Trinity may seem to many as relevant as debating the number of angels on the head of a pin. Yet the Trinity is not only the archetype of all created reality, but without a fuller understanding of the nature of the Trinity, the Church will never be able to apprehend the truth of the infinite goodness of God.

The love and joyful dance of the Trinity is at the heart of our understanding of God’s love for us and for creation, of our fellowship and communion with God and with one another, and of our understanding of the ministry and mission of the Church.

And so, may all we think, say and do be to the praise, honour and glory of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Trinitarian truths expressed in a stained-glass window in Michaelhouse, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 16: 12-15 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 12 ‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.’

Wisdom cries out ‘beside the way … at the crossroads … beside the gates in … the town, at the entrance’ (Proverbs 8: 2-3) … Toby jugs in the image of town criers once seen in a front window in Beacon Street, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Liturgical Colour: White (Green in the weekdays)

Penitential Kyries:

Father, you come to meet us when we return to you.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, you died on the cross for our sins.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

Holy Spirit, you give us life and peace.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty and everlasting God,
you have given us your servants grace,
by the confession of a true faith,
to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity
and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the Unity:
Keep us steadfast in this faith,
that we may evermore be defended from all adversities;
for you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever.

Introduction to the Peace:

Peace to you from God our heavenly Father.
Peace from his Son Jesus Christ who is our peace.
Peace from the Holy Spirit the Life-giver.
The peace of the Triune God be always with you.
And also with you.

Blessing:

God the Holy Trinity
make you strong in faith and love,
defend you on every side,
and guide you in truth and peace:

Hymns:

321, Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty (CD 19)
323, The God of Abraham praise (CD 19)
468, How shall I sing that majesty (Track 25, Disc 2, Life of Faith)

The Visitation of Abraham or the ‘Old Testament Trinity’ … a fresco in the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist in Tolleshunt Knights, Essex, interprets a Trinitarian and Eucharistic theme (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

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

A mediaeval fresco of the Holy Trinity in the south choir aisle in Lichfield Cathedral … severely damaged by 17th century Puritans (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)