Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works

Patrick Comerford

This is the sermon I was supposed to preach today (2 February 2009) at a Service of Light in Saint Botolph without Bishopsgate in the City of London on the Feast of the Presentation of Christ (Candlemas) ... but the snow that has been falling across England since last night has covered Cambridge in snow, has led to trains and flights being cancelled, and has prevented me from getting to London.

Leviticus 12: 6-8 (The Law of Purification); Isaiah 6: 1-8 (I saw the Lord and his train filled the Temple); Haggai 2: 1-9 (I will fill this house with splendour); Luke 2: 22-40 (the Candlemas Gospel).

In the name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Today we are marking the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple. This day is also known as the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, or Candlemas. As you can imagine – with a name like Candlemas – this day was traditionally associated with candles and lights.

The story in our Gospel reading (Luke 2: 22-40) tells how Mary and Joseph bring the Christ Child to the Temple in Jerusalem 40 days after his birth and dedicate him to God, according to the legal, financial and religious traditions of the day.

As they bring Jesus to the Temple, they meet Simeon, who had been promised “he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord” (Luke 2:26). This old man says the little child is to be a light for revelation to the nations – an idea that sparked a tradition of blessing beeswax candles on this day, Candlemas (Candle Mass), for use for the rest of the year.

Candlemas was the final day of the Christmas liturgical season, the day that bridged the gap between Christmas and Lent, that bridged the gap between a time of celebration and a time of reflection, a time of joy and a time for taking stock once again.

For many of us, not just in the City, but throughout this nation and throughout the world, we have moved from a time of financial certainty that allowed us to celebrate easily to a time of reflection and uncertainty.

This time of uncertainty is not just confined to people working here in the heart of the financial capital of Europe. We are going through similar anxieties and uncertainties in Ireland too. We once gave little thought to – or thanks for – the prosperity that came in with the Celtic Tiger.

There is a gallows-humour joke doing the rounds in Ireland by email and on Forums like MySpace and Facebook that asks: “What’s the difference between Ireland and Iceland?” And the answer is: “One letter and six months.”

Yes, the lights of Christmas and our easy celebrations seem to have gone out this Candlemas and given way to uncertainty as we try to grasp for signs of hope, and wonder how long we have to remain in the dark.

A few weeks ago, The Guardian symbolised this with a front-page report with the headline: “Lights go out across Britain as recession hits home. Electricity demand falls as economy slows at fastest rate since 1980” (The Guardian, 24 January 2009, p. 1). Consumers are turning off the lights as the National Grid predicts that over the next year weekly peak electricity demand is to fall by 600-1,000 megawatts, the equivalent of one large power plant.

The future is uncertain. I am reminded today of how Mary was promised by her cousin’s husband, Zechariah, that her child would be a light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death (Luke 1: 79). How she must have wept in her heart as in today's Gospel story the old man hands back her child and warns Mary that a sword would pierce her heart (Luke 2: 35).

So often it is difficult to hold on to hope when our hearts are breaking and are pierced. So often it is difficult to keep the light sof our hearts burning bright when everything is gloomy and getting dark. But Simeon points out that the Christ Child does not hold out any selfish hope for any one individual or one family. He is be a light to the nations, to all of humanity.

And as our leaders – political, social, economic and financial leaders – search in the dark for the hope that will bring light back into our lives, let us remind ourselves that this search will have no purpose and offer no glimmer of hope unless it seeks more than selfish profit. This search must seek the good of all, it must seek to bring hope and light to all, not just here, but to all people and to all nations.

The candles of Candlemas link the Christmas candles with Good Friday and with the Easter hope symbolised in the Pascal candle. And so, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5: 16).

And now may all praise honour and glory be to + God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Canon Patrick Comerford is Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, Dublin.

A church in the heart of the City of London

Saint Botolph-without-Bishopsgate is in the heart of the financial centre of the City of London

Patrick Comerford

I was supposed to be back in London today (2 February 2009) for the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, also known as the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin, or Candlemas, and to preach at lunchtime at a Service of Light in Saint Botolph without Bishopsgate in the City of London. However, the snow that has been falling since last night has blanketted most of England and is preventing me getting from Cambridge to London. Instead, I’m in the B Bar, close to Sidney Sussex and Christ’s College, telling the Revd Dr Alan McCormack that I can’t get to London ... I’m even wondering if I can catch my flight back to Dublin from Stansted this evening.

Alan is the Parish Priest of Saint Botolph’s and a former colleague in the Dublin University Far Eastern Mission while he was Chaplain and Dean of Residence in Trinity College Dublin.

I was looking forward to being in Saint Botolph’s today. It is a living church set in Bishopsgate in the heart of the City of London, between Liverpool Street Station and London Wall. Many Irish visitors pass it by, often not noticing the church as they emerge from Liverpool Street station and the express train from Stansted Airport.

Saint Botolph’s is a Church of England parish church committed to a welcoming and inclusive ministry in heart of the financial centre of London. Today apart, the church is open every weekday from 8 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. and there are regular services at lunchtime every Wednesday (1.10 p.m.) and Thursday (12.10 p.m.) that last no longer than 40 minutes. Visitors from every religious background, from any faith, or from none, are welcome and are encouraged to rest, to reflect, or to join the parish in prayer.

It is probable that Christian worship has been offered on this site since Roman times. Saint Botolph, who died ca 680, was one of the earliest and most revered of East Anglian saints. A missionary bishop and an early Benedictine, the Breviary says that he was Irish by birth. He later became known as the patron saint of wayfarers. The foundations of the original Saxon church were unearthed when the present church was being built.

The early church is first mentioned in 1212 as Sancti Botolfi Extra Bishopesgate. The parish registers, which date from 1558, record the baptisms and burials of many notable people. The great actor Edward Alleyn – Shakespeare’s contemporary and the founder of Dulwich College – was baptised here in 1566, and an infant son of the playwright Ben Jonson (1572-1635) was buried here.

Sir William Allen was Lord Mayor of London in the year Jonson was born. He too was born and buried in the parish, and he marked his time as mayor by repairing the church at his own expense.

The most famous parishioner of Saint Botolph’s may have been Sir Paul Pindar, who died in 1650. He was James I’s Ambassador to Turkey, and his epitaph says that he was “faithful in negotiation, foreign and domestick, eminent for piety, charity, loyalty and prudence.” The magnificent Jacobean facade from Pindar’s mansion in Bishopsgate is on display in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The church survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 unscathed, but by the early 18th century Saint Botolph’s had fallen into disrepair and a new church had to be built. The old church was demolished in 1725, and the present church, which is the fourth on this site, was completed in 1729 to the designs of James Gould, under the supervision of George Dance.

The church is aisled and galleried in the classical style. It is unique among London’s City churches in having its tower at the East End, with the chancel underneath. The font, pulpit and organ all date from the 18th century. The English romantic poet John Keats (1791-1825) was baptised in this font in 1795.

Several rectors of Saint Botolph’s went on to become Bishops of London. The Revd William Rogers, who was rector from 1863 to 1896, was a great social reformer. He devoted his time and money to the education and welfare of his poor parishioners, and founding the Bishopsgate Institute which carries on his ideals to this day. He also took a leading part in rebuilding Dulwich College.

The church contains the regimental memorial chapel of the Honourable Artillery Company and the Book of Remembrance of the London Rifle Brigade. The most recent addition is a memorial for people with hæmophilia who died as a result of contaminated blood products.

Saint Botolph’s lost only one window during World War II. However, in 1992, the Saint Mary Axe bomb damaged the exterior joinery and windows. A year later, the church was one of many buildings in London that were damaged by an IRA bomb on 24 April 1993. The bomb opened up the roof and left the church without any doors or windows, the rector’s office and the vestry were shattered, and papers and files were scattered across Bishopsgate. The building was declared a dangerous structure and was cordoned-off.

The extensive restoration project that followed took 3½ years to bring the church to its former glory. At a Thanksgiving Service in January 1997 to mark its completion, the Bishop of London dedicated a new stained glass window commissioned by the Worshipful Company of Bowyers.

The churchyard at Saint Botolph’s was the first burial ground in the City to be converted into a public garden. There was much opposition to this transformation, but today the open space is much appreciated by many people who find it a tranquil place to sit, or who use the netball and tennis courts.

Saint Botolph’s Hall in the church garden was once an infants’ school, but now serves as a multipurpose church hall. At its front entrance, there is a pair of Coade stone figures of a schoolboy and girl in early 19th century costumes. Nearby is the large tomb of Sir William Rawlins, Sheriff of London in 1801 and a benefactor of the church.

Near the Bishopsgate entrance to the garden, a memorial cross is said to be the first World War I memorial erected in England – it was erected in 1916 after the Battle of Jutland and the death of Lord Kitchener.

I was in Saint Botolph’s when the Bishop of London, Dr Richard Chartres, introduced Alan as parish priest in 2006. It is such a pity to have missed the opportunity to be there today. Now I’m off to trudge through Cambridge in the snow; hopefully the trains are running to Stabsted this afternoon.

Canon Patrick Comerford is Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, Dublin.

‘The Ears of the Heart … Listening to Prayers from the East’

The Chapel of Christ’s College, Cambridge

Patrick Comerford

Sunday 1 February 2009, The Eve of Candlemas: The Chapel of Christ’s College, Cambridge

Solemn Orchestral Eucharist: Hebrews 2: 14-18; Luke 2: 22-40

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

It is wonderful to be back in Cambridge, in Christ’s College, and in this Chapel once again. Anyone who has loved the poetry of John Milton, who has been challenged by Charles Darwin, or who has delighted in the writings and insights of Rowan Williams, would be delighted to be here.

The Revd Christopher Woods provided wonderful hospitality last year when I was in Cambridge on a course, and I hope many of you will come to realise the wonderful blessing it is when a student becomes a friend, and a very welcoming friend at that too.

It is a particular pleasure to be here for this Eve of Candlemas. The snow today probably reminds us all of Christmas. This feast, also known as the Feast of the Presentation, is a festival in the Church Calendar that bridges the gap between Christmas and Lent; that links the joy of the Christmas candles with the hope of the Pascal candle at Easter; that invites us to move from celebration to reflection and preparation, and to think about the source of our hope, our inspiration, our enlightenment.

The theme of this Lent Term series of sermons is “The ears of the heart …” We are looking at and learning from different styles of prayer and different approaches to prayer, for Candlemas is truly a time of listening and hoping.

Over the years, in my spiritual growth and my pilgrimage through life, I have been shaped and enriched most of all by two traditions in the Church more than any other: Anglicanism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

Both traditions have much in common, and both have much to learn from each other. We share synodical government and an incarnational approach to life; we celebrate diversity in unity; we combine liturgical beauty and relaxed formality; and we appreciate the spiritual richness and value of stillness.

The Eastern Orthodox approaches to prayer can be a rich treasure and can shine a light for the Western Church. So let me share a few of these insights and gifts with you this evening.

In the Orthodox tradition, prayer is not about formulas. It is first and foremost doxology, praise, thanksgiving, confession, supplication, and intercession to God. Prayer is a personal dialogue with God, a spiritual breathing of the soul, a foretaste of the bliss of God’s kingdom.

“When I prayed I was new,” wrote a great Orthodox theologian, “but when I stopped praying I became old.” So prayer is the way to renewal and spiritual life; prayer is being alive to God; prayer is strength, refreshment and joy. Prayer lifts us up into that loving communion with God in which we experience everything in a new light.

There are six aspects of prayer life within the Orthodox tradition that I wish to introduce briefly and share this evening.

1, The Liturgy: The word Orthodoxy means, primarily, not right doctrine but right worship or praise. The beauty of the liturgy is impressive. The story is told that when the ambassadors from Kiev first arrived in the great Church of Aghia Sophia in Byzantium they were so in awe of the beauty and the splendour of the liturgy, they reported:

“We knew not whether we were on heaven or on earth, for surely there is no such splendour or beauty anywhere upon earth. We cannot describe it to you: only this we know, that God dwells there among humans, and that their service surpasses the worship of all other places. For we cannot forget that beauty.”

2, Daily and Personal Prayer: Orthodox prayer is not confined to Sundays and the liturgy. How many Anglican churches today continue the cycle of the daily offices? How many of us maintain a regular habit of daily prayer?

For the Orthodox, daily prayer in the church and at home sanctifies the times at which they are celebrated, from early morning to late evening.

3, Icons and iconography: In the west, we still see art, including religious art, in terms of beauty, form and statement. Orthodox icons are not meant to be beautiful – they are meant to provide a window into spiritual reality.

For the Orthodox, the church building, the whole edifice, is one great icon of the Kingdom of God. The frescoes, the icons and the icon screen separating the congregation in the main body of the church from the sacred mysteries behind the royal doors are there not to make the church look pretty or beautiful, but are central to understanding the worship and life of the Orthodox Church, its teachings, its liturgy and its prayers.

At the present Byzantium exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the final treasure, appropriately, is the 12th century Icon of the Heavenly Ladder of Saint John Klimakos. This icon is so well-known that visitors to the exhibition are amazed it is so small. Yet this one small icon is a reminder that at the heart of Orthodox spirituality and prayer is the ability to bridge the chasm between earth and heaven.

4, The monastic life: In the Orthodox tradition, the monastery is not a retreat from the “real world,” but is a fountain for nurturing spirituality and the life of prayer of all believers. Although some of the great writers on Mount Athos lived as hermits, they gathered many followers, and were particularly known for their practice of the Jesus Prayer.

5, The Jesus Prayer: The Jesus Prayer is one of the best known traditions within Orthodoxy. Its words say simply: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner” (Κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστέ, Υἱὲ Θεοῦ, ἐλέησόν με τὸν ἁμαρτωλό). This is what some of the Church Fathers knew as the Prayer of the Heart. It is a short, simple prayer, widely used and taught throughout Eastern Christianity.

For the Eastern Orthodox, this prayer is one of the most deep, profound and mystical prayers. It is often repeated, continually and throughout the day, as a part of personal ascetic practice. For all of us, the Jesus Prayer is a way of taking one of the most important first steps on the spiritual journey: the recognition of our own sinfulness, our essential estrangement from God and from the people around us. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner.

6, The Hesychast tradition: The practice of the Jesus Prayer is an integral part of Hesychasm (ἡσυχασμός), a tradition that values stillness and the quiet, not for their own sake, as some sort of comfort zone, but as leading to the contemplation and experience of God as light, what Saint Gregory Palamas was referring to when he spoke of experiencing the Uncreated Light.

The Hesychast, who by the mercy of God has such an experience, does not remain in that state for too long a time, but returns “to earth” and continues to practise the full Christian life.

To summarise: the life of an Orthodox Christian is one of prayer. In the Orthodox tradition, it is the person who truly prays who is a theologian and a God-seer. The goal of a life of prayer is living a life of active love for all people. And the result of a life of prayer is to be filled with mercy and forgiveness, to bind up wounds and to love.

Evgarius is quoted in the Philokalia as having once written: “If you are a theologian, you will pray truly. And if you pray truly, you are a theologian.”

To pray truly, we can learn from the traditions of others. The beauty of Orthodox liturgy, the insights provided by the Orthodox use of icons, the practice of the Jesus Prayer, and the rich treasures in the Orthodox monastic writings can help each of us to develop our own practice of prayer.

As you pray, may you learn from the insights of others. And may the light of Christ continue to shine in your hearts, in your souls, and in your eyes.

And now, may all praise, honour and glory be to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Canon Patrick Comerford is the Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, Dublin. This sermon was preached in the Chapel of Christ’s College, Cambridge, on Sunday 1 February 2009, at the Solemn Orchestral Mass for the Eve, with Ceremony of Light and Blessing of Candles.

The sermon was part of the Lent Term series, ‘The ears of the heart …’

The other preachers in the series include: the College Chaplain, the Revd Christopher Woods (18 January); Dr Katherine Dell, Lecturer in Old Testament, the University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Saint Catharine’s College (25 January); Father Alexander Lucie-Smith, Cambridge Theological Federation (8 February); Priscilla Slusar, Student Priest, Christ’s College Chapel (15 February); the Revd Anna Macham, Succentor of Southwark Cathedral and Chaplain of Guy’s Campus, King’s College, London (22 February); the Revd Canon Andrew Freany, Vicar of Little Saint Mary’s, Cambridge (1 March).

The Chapel of Christ’s College, Cambridge is at: http://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/college-life/chapel-and-choir/