11 January 2020

Some reflections on words
of blessing we may be
missing in the Eucharist

Communion vessels prepared for a celebratgion of the Eucharist (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

At the Parish Eucharist in Castletown Church, Kilcornan, Co Limerick, and at Morning Prayer in Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale, tomorrow morning [12 January 2020], after listening to Gospel account of the Baptism of Christ, we are going to renew our Baptismal promises or vows.

But as I prepare to preside at the Parish Eucharist tomorrow, I have found myself reflecting on the words we use in the Blessing of the Bread and Wine in the Eucharist, after reading a posting on Thursday morning on a Facebook group, ‘Episcopalians on Facebook’ by Dudley C McLean II.

In Saint Mark’s account of the feeding of the 5,000 (6: 34-44), we read: ‘Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed [he said the blessing] and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all’ (Mark 6: 41-44, NRSVA).

Dudley C McLean II asks whether you have ever wondered what were the words of ‘the blessing’ said by Christ?

His curiosity is also stirred up when he reads the words of the institution of the Eucharist:

‘While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them’ and ‘Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it’ (Mark 14: 22-23, NRSVA).

Saint Luke provides a more comprehensive report on the institution of the Eucharist. His account involves two cups of wine and the loaf of bread.

The first cup begins the opening ceremony of the Passover meal (see Luke 22: 17). Here Jesus would have prayed:

‘Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.’

The first prayer is called Kiddush (Hebrew: קידוש) – literally ‘sanctification’ – a blessing said over wine to sanctify the Shabbat, Passover and other Jewish holidays.

The word refers too to a small repast on Shabbat or festival mornings after the prayer services and before the meal.

The Torah refers to two requirements concerning Shabbat and in particular the Passover: to keep it and to remember it. The celebration of the Feast of Passover each year commemorates the liberation of the people from slavery:

‘When the Lord brings you into the land … you shall keep this observance in this month. It shall serve for you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead, so that the teaching of the LORD may be on your lips; for with a strong hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt. You shall keep this ordinance at its proper time from year to year’ (see Exodus 13: 5, 9-10).

The function of the first cup is to set apart, sanctify or make holy the celebration.

Then follows the Hamotzi or blessing over bread: ‘Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.’

The bread is then broken and shared among those who are present.

The second cup follows after the second Kiddush or blessing over the wine: ‘Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, creator of the fruit of the vine.’

In the Liturgy of the Church, the Eucharistic prayer is the pinnacle of the celebration, a memorial proclamation of praise and thanksgiving for God’s work of salvation, making it present for us at this moment. It is a proclamation in which the Body and Blood of Christ are made present by the power of the Holy Spirit and the people are joined to Christ in offering his sacrifice to the Father.

At the Preface, the priest extends his or her hands and says: ‘Lift up your hearts.’ This functions in the same way as the first cup or Kiddush at the Passover rite. Its purpose or significance includes the intention of gathering, and the priest concludes the Preface with the people singing or saying aloud, ‘Holy, holy, holy Lord ...’

The Eucharistic Prayer continues by recall God’s action in human history:

Blessed are you, Father,
the creator and sustainer of all things;
you made us in your own image,
male and female you created us;
even when we turned away from you,
you never ceased to care for us,
but in your love and mercy you freed us from the slavery of sin,
giving your only begotten Son to become man
and suffer death on the cross to redeem us;

he made there the one complete and all-sufficient sacrifice
for the sins of the whole world:

he instituted,
and in his holy Gospel commanded us to continue,
a perpetual memory of his precious death
until he comes again:

(Holy Communion 2, Eucharistic Prayer 1, Book of Common Prayer, the Church of Ireland).

Then follows the Hamotzi:

On the night that he was betrayed he took bread;
and when he had given thanks to you, he broke it,
and gave it to his disciples, saying …

What is missing are the actual words of the Hamotzi, ‘Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.’ Instead, we only see the priest raising the bread.

In the Kiddush of the second cup, we see similar actions and hear similar words:

In the same way, after supper he took the cup;
and when he had given thanks to you,
he gave it to them, saying …

Here again, the words of the Kiddush are missing, ‘Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe, creator of the fruit of the vine.’

At the time the Gospels were written, Jewish-born members of the Church would have known what was meant when they saw and heard ‘when he had given thanks to you,’ and understood these words as referring to prayers used at the Passover.

These words are implicit, and it was not necessary to spell them out.

The Gospel writes uses a literary deice known as incipit.

The term refers to the use of the opening line of a poem or song or haftarah, as an abbreviated way of referring to the entire song or haftarah.

For example, Christ’s words on the cross, Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (see Mark 15: 34, Matthew 27: 46), refer not just to the first verse of Psalm 22, but by pronouncing the incipit Christ invokes the entire psalm.

Dudley C McLean II points out in his posting this week that 2,000 years of the Eucharist, the Church continues to omit the implicit and implied words used by Christ in his words of blessings over the Bread and the Cup before giving new meaning to them as his body and blood.’

Imagine, he suggests, if instead in the Eucharistic Liturgy we heard the priest say:

On the night that he was betrayed he took bread;
and when he had given thanks to you, he broke it,
and gave it to his disciples, saying …

On the night he was betrayed he took bread,
(the priest raises the bread and says)
Blessed are you, O Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
who brings forth bread from the earth.’
He broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying:
‘Take, eat,
this is my body which is given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.’

In the same way, after supper he took the cup;
(the priest then raises the cup and says)
‘Blessed are you, O Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
creator of the fruit of the vine.’
and when he had given thanks to you,
he gave it to them, saying …

Drink this, all of you,
for this is my blood of the new covenant
which is shed for you and for many
for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this, as often as you drink it,
in remembrance of me.

Of course, he points out, although the words of the prayers of blessings, the Hamotzi and Kiddush, are missing, thise does not invalidate the Eucharist. But their inclusion would have enriched the liturgy and strengthened the connections to ‘the night that he was betrayed.’

Bread prepared for celebrating the Eucharist on Mount Athos (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Comerford family members
who were officers in
the Royal Irish Constabulary

Detective Inspector Frank Comerford of the Royal Irish Constabulary

Patrick Comerford

The debate about appropriate ways of commemorating or remembering members of the Royal Irish Constabulary and the Dublin Metropolitan Police has continued throughout the week, and it is unlikely to be resolved in the near future.

It seems too easy for some contributors to this debate to forget that these were not outside police forces and that their members came from families throughout Ireland.

So, as the debate continues, I thought it might be appropriate to recall some members of the Royal Irish Constabulary who had connections with different branches of the far-flung Comerford family.

Sergeant James Comerford and Inspector Frank Comerford were a father and son who were officers in the RIC.

Sergeant James Comerford (1815-1905) was born in Virginia, Co Cavan, in 1816, although it appears his family was originally from Co Kilkenny, and he spent most of his career in the RIC in Co Kilkenny.

As a sergeant in the RIC, James was based first in Johnstown, Co Kilkenny, and then in Urlingford, Co Kilkenny, and when he retired, he continued to live in Urlingford.

James Comerford married Catherine Tuohy (1827-1904), from Castleconnell, Co Limerick, and they were the parents of 13 children.

At the time of the 1901 census, James and Catherine were living in Urlingford. He was then 85 and she was 72. Living with them were their daughter Margaret (45), their son William (30), their daughter-in-law Margaret née Maher (29), both teachers, and their new-born grandson, later Major James Joseph Comerford (1899-1950).

Catherine Comerford died in Urlingford aged 77 on 27 October 1904; James died in Urlingford aged 90 on 16 November 1905. Their 13 children included District Inspector Francis (‘Frank’) Comerford (1861-1940), who was born in Urlingford, Co Kilkenny.

Frank joined the Royal Irish Constabulary and also married a policeman’s daughter, so that he was the son and the son-in-law of RIC officers. He married Mary Browne (25) from Tarbert, Co Kerry, daughter of William Browne (1835-1904), who was also an RIC officer.

William Browne was born in Waterford in 1835, and he served in Co Clare before being transferred to Co Kerry in 1861. He retired from the RIC in 1882. He lived for most of his life in Tarbert, Co Kerry, where most of his children were born, including his daughter Mary, who was born in Tarbert in 1866 (although other family accounts say she was born on the Island of Geese, Tralee). She married Frank Comerford in Tralee, Co Kerry, on 17 August 1892.

Frank Comerford was an RIC officer in Tralee, Co Kerry, Bagenalstown, Co Carlow and Ballymote, Co Sligo, before he moved to Tuam, Co Galway, in 1912.

In the year before the 1916 Rising, Frank played a key role in events in Tuam. Sean Mac Diarmada, Liam Mellowes and other nationalists set up a platform outside the Cathedral of the Assumption in Tuam after Sunday Mass on a May morning in 1915.

The rally was seen at the time as being pro-German and anti-English, and few people gathered to listen to the speakers or paid attention to them.

When Mac Diarmada said ‘England’s difficulty is Ireland’s opportunity,’ Inspector Comerford and Sergeant Martyn mounted the platform. Comerford caught Mac Diarmada’s hand and arrested him.

‘What for?’ said Mac Diarmada.

‘Under DORA’ Comerford replied, referring to the Defence of the Realm Act.

‘Let go my arm, I’ll go with you,’ Mac Diarmada said.

As Mac Diarmada placed his hand in his hip pocket, Mellows was heard to whisper, ‘Don’t fire,’ and Mac Diarmada’s automatic was seen to pass into the hands of Mellows.

Mac Diarmada was held overnight in Tuam before being moved, first to Arbour Hill and then to Mountjoy, and was jailed for four months. When he was released in September 1915, he joined the secret military committee of the IRB, which planned the Easter Rising in 1916.

It was said in Tuam that Frank Comerford ‘gained the goodwill of all by his tact and forbearance.’ When he retired, he received sincere tributes from all sections of the population of Tuam.

The general feeling was that had he not retired before 1920, ‘the sack of Tuam would never have occurred.’ No attack was made on the police barrack, and the friendliest relations existed between the police and people in Tuam, due in large measure due to the good offices of Frank Comerford.

He died at Saint Jarlath’s Place, Tuam, Co Galway, on 12 December 1940, aged 79.

Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Esmonde, VC (1831-1872), father of Eva Mary Comerford and father-in-law of James Charles Comerford (Photograph courtesy Roger Comerford)

In another branch of the Comerford family, James Charles Comerford (1842-1907) of Ardavon House, Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, married Eva Mary Esmonde (1860-1949), on 7 September 1892. She was a daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Esmonde VC (1831-1872) and a niece of Sir John Esmonde (1826-1876), 10th Baronet, of Ballynastragh, Gorey, Co Wexford, and Glenwood, Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, Liberal MP for Waterford (1852-1876).

Eva Mary Comerford’s father, Colonel Thomas Esmonde, was an officer in the 18th Royal Irish Regiment during the Crimean War. He only 26 when he was the first officer to enter Sebastopol on 18 June 1855 after the siege. He was decorated with the Victoria Cross for his part in the Battle of Sebastopol.

Later, Colonel Esmonde became a Deputy-Inspector General of the Royal Irish Constabulary. He died in Bruges after a riding accident in 1872, and is buried in the Central Cemetery. His grave was restored by volunteers of the Victoria Cross Trust in 2017.

Eva Mary (Esmonde) Comerford was three times tennis champion of Ireland. The stories of two of her children show how divided Irish families were at the time of the 1916 Rising.

One daughter, Mary Eva Comerford (1893-1982), of St Nessan’s, Sandyford, Co Dublin, is better known as Máire Comerford (1893-1982), the Irish Republican activist and journalist. Máire was raised in Co Wexford and Co Waterford. She first became active in politics as a Redmondite in Wexford Town, but then took part in the 1916 Rising. She ran a farm in Co Wexford before working as a journalist with The Irish Press from 1935. She is buried at Mount Saint Benedict outside Gorey, Co Wexford.

One of Eva Mary Comerford’s sons was Colonel Thomas James Comerford (1894-1959), who was also raised in Co Wexford and Co Waterford. He became a Second Lieutenant in his grandfather’s regiment, the Royal Irish Regiment, in September 1914. He was on active service at the Souvla Bay landing (Gallipoli), and was with the Royal Munster Fusiliers in August 1915, when he was badly wounded in the mouth and chest and was not declared fit for active service until December 1915.

He later told his son that he was in Dublin while his sister Máire was involved in the Easter Rebellion in 1916. He was moved to France, and took part in the latter part of Battle of the Somme and then in the of Messines and other battles in Belgium. He joined the Indian Army in November 1917 and spent 25 years in India. He was active in World War II organising supplies for the Chindits. He died aged 65 on 1 January 1959 in West Malling, Kent. He married in Bombay on 10 October 1921 Edith Isobel Donaldson; she died on 9 September 1990.

Colonel Thomas Comerford and Edith Donaldson on their wedding day in Bombay on 10 October 1921 (Photograph courtesy Roger Comerford)