06 January 2021

A renewed search in
Dun Laoghaire for links
with TS Eliot’s in-laws

Haigh Terrace, between the Mariners’ Church and Upper George’s Street, Dún Laoghaire, provided the private income for TS Eliot’s first wife, Vivienne Haigh-Wood (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Patrick Comerford

As I was preparing my Epiphany sermon for this morning, it was tempting, as in many previous years, to fall back on simply reading TS Eliot’s poem, ‘Journey of the Magi.’

In this poem, Eliot does not resort to the Epiphany tradition of referring to the magi as kings, nor does he give their number as three. The only number three refers to ‘three trees on the low sky,’ and the only concession to the tradition that the magi were kings is in his reference to ‘our places, these Kingdoms.’

I wonder, as he pondered ‘these Kingdoms’ while writing the first of his Ariel poems in 1927, whether Eliot was conscious of his wife Vivienne’s family connections with Kingstown. Kingstown had become Dún Laoghaire five years earlier in 1921, and the name of the harbour was changed only in 1924.

Was Eliot aware in the 1920s that the source of Vivienne Haigh-Wood’s private income was the rental from a group of six houses on Haigh Terrace, between the Mariners’ Church and Upper George’s Street, and a seventh house on Upper George’s Street, on the corner with Haigh Terrace?

When I was in Dublin last week for a medical check-up on my pulmonary sarcoidosis and an injection for my B12 deficiency, I decided to visit Dún Laoghaire and once again try to find out more about those connections.

Haigh Terrace is a cul-de-sac of six early Victorian houses, and it runs northward from Upper George’s Street, almost opposite McDonald’s, to the former Mariners’ Church.

No 1 and No 2 are separated by a laneway from the other houses on Haigh Terrace, and are shown in Griffith’s Valuation as owned by James Haigh, but with low values. Of these two houses, No 2 was Haigh’s office. The low value probably means that they were not complete at that time. Haigh also owned No 3, which was shown in Griffith’s Valuation at full value. This probably means that it was completed but not yet leased to a tenant.

James Haigh (1797-1878) was an engineer and a millwright, and he had many business interests. He is also shown as the lessor of a number of houses at Mount Haigh, just around the corner on Upper George’s Street.

On the west side of the end of Haigh Terrace there was once a stagnant pond that previously was a reservoir for storing fresh water for ships. The site is marked today by a modern fountain and water feature. On the east side at the end of Haigh Terrace, the former Mariners’ Church is now the National Maritime Museum.

No 1 and No 2 Haigh Terrace, with the spire of the Mariners’ Church, Dún Laoghaire, in the background (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

James Haigh’s daughter, Mary Haigh, was not in the conventional meaning, ‘an Anglo-Irish Protestant girl from Dublin with financial expectations,’ as Vivienne’s biographer Carole Seymour-Jones paints her. Nor is it possible that she was forced to ‘sail from Kingstown to Liverpool’ due to ‘the 1845 potato famine.’

In fact, Mary moved to England before the Famine, and was living with her father, James Haigh, in Paradise Street, Bury, in Lancashire, by 1841. She married Charles Wood, a gilder and picture framer from Bolton, in Bramham, near Wetherby, Leeds, in August 1850. She may have been related to the Revd Dr Benjamin Bentley Haigh (1803-1869), a Congregational minister at Tadcaster (1828-1845), and for 26 years headmaster of Bramham College, Yorkshire, and his son, Edward Haigh (1832-1911; MA, Cambridge), who was a schoolmaster in a boarding school in Bramham.

Mary was seven years younger than Charles, and by 1851 Mary and Charles had set up home in four rooms over a shop at 22 Fleet Street, Bury, in Lancashire, where six children were born in quick succession: Laura Annie (1851-1904), Sylvia (1852-1854), Charles (1854-1927), another son James Atkinson (1856-1865), Emily Spencer (1858-1919) and Sarah Ann (1860-1912).

Mary inherited her father’s seven semi-detached houses in Kingstown, along with Eglinton House, a substantial property rby, which gave eventually her family financial stability. Her inheritance from her father’s property portfolio in Kingstown allowed their only surviving son, Charles Haigh-Wood (1854-1927), to study at the Manchester Art College and the Royal Academy School in London.

As a boy, Charles was sent to nearby Bethel Sunday School in Henry Street, an independent Congregationalist chapel, and attended Bury Grammar School.

The rents from the semi-detached houses in Ireland made a substantial difference to the family fortunes. They made it possible for Charles Wood to sign the 999-year lease on a house at 14 Albion Place for £780, and for Charles and Mary to send their promising son to Manchester Art College, where he won several prizes.

Charles left Bury in 1873 to attend the Royal Academy School in London. At some stage, he decided to combine his parents’ surnames as Haigh Wood – later hyphenated as Haigh-Wood – perhaps when his mother Mary inherited her father’s Irish properties in 1878.

Charles Haigh-Wood inherited his mother’s property when she died, as well as the family home at 14 Albion Place in Bury. He was an artist and a member of the Royal Academy of Arts, but his inheritance from the Haigh family made him a landlord and provided him with a substantial private income.

Charles Haigh-Wood married Rose Esther Robinson (1860-1941) from London, and their first child, Vivienne, was born on 28 May 1888 in Bury while they had returned there for an exhibition of his paintings.

Vivienne was registered at birth as Vivienne Haigh, although as an adult she called herself Haigh-Wood. Her father, Charles Haigh-Wood, used his income from the houses on Haigh Terrace to move his family to Hampstead, by then a fashionable part of north London. They settled at 3 Compayne Gardens around 1891, and Vivienne’s brother Maurice was born there in 1896.

The rentals from Haigh Terrace provided financial stability for the Haigh and Haigh-Wood families (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Although her family was financially secure, Vivienne’s biographer, Carole Seymour-Jones, says she was ashamed of her connection to Lancashire, perceived as working-class, and was left with a sense of inferiority that made her self-conscious and snobbish, especially when mixing with TS Eliot’s aristocratic London friends.

She described the Haigh and Wood families in a letter to her brother-in-law, Henry Ware Eliot, as ‘the most dreadful people really; very, very rich manufacturing people; so provincial.’ She made no reference to her grandmother’s Irish background.

Vivienne was committed to an asylum in 1938, five years after TS Eliot deserted her, and by then she was a lonely, distraught figure. Shunned by literary London, she was the ‘neurotic’ wife Eliot had left behind.

However, in Painted Shadow (2002), Carole Seymour-Jones gives a voice to the woman who, for 17 years, had shared a unique literary partnership with Eliot but who was scapegoated for the failure of the marriage and all but obliterated from literary records.

Vivienne would wrote in her diary: ‘You who in later years will read these very words of mine will be able to trace a true history of this epoch.’ She believed – as did Virginia Woolf – that she was Eliot’s muse. Yet Vivienne knew the secrets of his separate and secret life.

Out of this emotional turbulence came one of the most important English poems of the 20th century, ‘The Waste Land,’ which Carole Seymour-Jones argues cannot be fully understood without reference to the relationship of the poet and his first wife, who had family roots in Haigh Terrace in Kingstown or Dún Laoghaire.

Haigh Terrace runs from Upper George’s Street in Dún Laoghaire to the former Mariners’ Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Chalking the Doors:
an Epiphany tradition
adapted for use in 2021

‘Chalking the Doors’ on the Feast of the Epiphany at Saint Mary's Church, Askeaton, Co Limerick (Photograph: Barbara Comerford, 2021)

Patrick Comerford

We introduced the Epiphany tradition of ‘Chalking the Doors’ at Saint Mary’s Rectory in Askeaton, Co Limerick, at Epiphany 2018. I was first introduced to this Epiphany tradition when I was visiting Westcott House, the Anglican theological college in Cambridge some years ago.

The formula for this traditional rite – adapted for Epiphany 2021 – is simple. Take chalk and write these letters and figures above the doors into the Church or the house: 20 + C + M + B + 21.

The letters have two meanings. Firstly, they represent the initials of the Three Wise Men or Magi – Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar – who came to visit the Christ Child in his first home.

Secondly, they also abbreviate the Latin phrase, Christus mansionem benedicat, ‘May Christ bless the house.’

The ‘+’ figures signify the cross, and the figures ‘20’ at the beginning and ‘21’ at the end mark the year.

Taken together, this inscription is a request for Christ to bless the building that has been marked, church or home, and that he may stay with those who worship or live there throughout the entire year.

The chalking of the doors is a centuries-old practice throughout the world, though it appears to be somewhat less well-known in Ireland. But it is an easy tradition to adopt, and a good symbol of dedicating the New Year to God from the beginning, asking his blessing on our homes and on all who live, work, or visit here.

The timing for chalking the doors varies from place to place. In some places, it happens on New Year’s Day. More commonly, though, it takes place on the Feast of the Epiphany, 6 January, the Twelfth Day of Christmas.

In many places, the chalking takes place after the Epiphany Eucharist or Liturgy, and it can be carried out at any church, home or dwelling. Traditionally, the blessing is done by either a priest or the father of the family. This blessing can involve simply writing the inscription and offering a short prayer, or more elaborately, including songs, prayers, processions, the burning of incense, and the sprinkling of holy water.

After many Epiphany Masses, satchels of blessed chalk, incense, and containers of Epiphany water, blessed with special blessings for Epiphany, are distributed. These are then brought home and used to perform the ritual.

Another common practice is to save a few grains of the Epiphany incense until Easter, so that it can be burned along with the Easter candle.

The Visit of the Magi seen on a panel on the triptych in the Lady Chapel in Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Prayer:

Leader (Priest or senior member of the family): Peace be to this house.

All: And to all who dwell herein.

Leader: Let us pray.

Bless, + O Lord God almighty, this home, that in it there may be health, purity, the strength of victory, humility, goodness and mercy, the fulfilment of your holy law, the thanksgiving to God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And may this blessing remain upon this home and upon all who dwell herein. Through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

After the prayers of the blessing, the initials of the Magi are inscribed upon the doors with the blessed chalk: 20 + C + M + B + 21.

May all who come to our home this year rejoice to find Christ living among us; and may we seek and serve, in everyone we meet, that same Jesus who is your incarnate Word, now and forever. Amen.

God of heaven and earth, you revealed your only-begotten One to every nation by the guidance of a star. Bless this house and all who inhabit it. Fill us with the light of Christ, that our concern for others may reflect your love. We ask this through Christ our Saviour. Amen.

Loving God, bless this household. May we be blessed with health, goodness of heart, gentleness, and abiding in your will. We ask this through Christ our Saviour. Amen.

Another set of prayers and blessings:

Blessing the Chalk:

Priest: Our help is the name of the Lord:

All: The maker of heaven and earth.

Priest: The Lord shall watch over our going out and our coming in:

All: From this time forth for evermore.

Priest: Let us pray.

Loving God, bless this chalk which you have created, that it may be helpful to your people; and grant that through the invocation of your most Holy Name that we who use it in faith to write upon the door of our home the names of your holy ones Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, may receive health of body and protection of soul for all who dwell in or visit our home; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Blessing the Home

Using the blessed chalk, mark the lintels of the doors as follows: 20 + C + M + B + 21, while saying:

The three Wise Men, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar followed the star of God’s Son who became human two thousand and twenty-one years ago. May Christ bless our home and remain with us throughout the new year. Amen.

Then this prayer:

Visit, O blessed Lord, this home with the gladness of your presence. Bless all who live or visit here with the gift of your love; and grant that we may manifest your love to each other and to all whose lives we touch. May we grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of you; guide, comfort, and strengthen us in peace, O Jesus Christ, now and forever. Amen.

Continuing the tradition

Traditions like the Epiphany chalking of the doors serve as outward signs of our dedication to Christ, marked by daily prayer, reading, work and in our daily lives.

Seeing the symbols over the doors can be a reminder, going in and going out on our daily routines, that our homes and all those who dwell there belong to Christ.

In time, the chalk will fade. As it does, we can think of the meaning of the symbols written sinking into the depths of our hearts and being manifest in our words and actions.

Christus mansionem benedictat.

May Christ bless the house.

The Adoration of the Magi … a stained glass window by Heaton, Butler and Bayne in Saint Nicholas Church, Adare, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)



Gold, frankincense and
myrrh: bringing our best to
Christ as gifts at Epiphany

The Magi arriving at the crib outside Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Patrick Comerford

Wednesday 6 January 2021 (The Epiphany):

11 a.m.: Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton, Co Limerick

The Epiphany Eucharist (Holy Communion 2)

Readings: Isaiah 60: 1-6; Psalm 72: 1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3: 1-12; Matthew 2: 1-12

There is a link to the readings HERE.

The visit of the Magi in the sixth century Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

The 12 Days of Christmas have come to an end, and we have arrived at the Feast of Epiphany. Yes, the season of Christmas continues in the Church until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation on 2 February. But this Feast of the Epiphany is part and parcel of the Christmas celebrations.

In Epiphany-tide, we mark three events in which Christ is revealed to all nations and peoples:

● the Visit of the Wise Men, told of in this morning’s Gospel reading (Matthew 2: 1-12, 6 January 2021).
● the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan, which we read about next Sunday (Mark 1: 4-11, Sunday 10 January 2021).
● the Wedding Feast in Cana (John 2: 1-12, a Gospel story we miss reading about this year).

Today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 2: 1-12) is a story that symbolises the Gentiles coming to Christ, bowing before him in worship, and laying their gifts and treasurers at his feet.

The promise of Isaiah after the return to Jerusalem is that the ‘nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn … the wealth of the nations shall come to you. A multitude of camels shall cover you’ (Isaiah 60: 3, 5-6).

The images in the Psalm of the kings across the known universe coming to visit the king in Jerusalem after the return from exile in the Persia empire also inspires Saint Matthew’s account of the visit of the magi.

Saint Paul reminds us in the Epistle reading of the promises in Christ being brought as gifts to the Gentiles.

In the Gospel reading, we are reminded of the Gentiles bringing their gifts to Christ and worshipping him with all they have.

The Magi, as the ‘Three Kings’ or ‘Three Wise Men,’ are regular figures in traditional nativity stories and in Christmas and Epiphany celebrations.

Saint Matthew’s phrase ‘from the east’ (ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν, apo anatolon, Matthew 2: 1), more literally means ‘from the rising [of the sun],’ but it does not tell us who they were or where they came from.

Saint Matthew does not count the number of wise men, nor does he describe them as kings. But the number of their gifts gives rise to the popular tradition that there were three Magi.

In Western tradition, these Epiphany magi have been named as Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. These names may come from an early sixth century Greek manuscript (ca 500) in Alexandria, although other authorities say the names are first found in an eighth century Irish manuscript.

In our cribs, they are often portrayed as European, African and Asian, with the European giving gold and the other two giving myrrh and frankincense.

As the tradition developed, the three wise men were transformed into kings who have been named as:

● Melchior, a Persian scholar;
● Caspar, an Indian scholar;
● Balthazar, an Arabian scholar.

The early mediaeval Church historian from Northumbria, the Venerable Bede, is the first scholar to say that Balthazar is black.

In Western art from the 14th century on, they are portrayed in these ways:

● Caspar is the older man with a long white beard, who is first in line to kneel before the Christ Child and who gives him the gift of gold.

● Melchior is portrayed as a middle-aged man, giving frankincense.

● Balthazar is presented a young man, very often black-skinned, with the gift of myrrh.

The story of the late mediaeval and Renaissance paintings of the Visit of the Magi is told in the Christmas exhibition, ‘Seeing the Unseen’, in the National Gallery in London, from today (6 January 2021) until the end of next month (28 February 2021). The exhibition creates a soundscape to enhance ‘The Adoration of the Kings,’ a wonderfully detailed painting by Jan Gossaert of the Low Countries. Although the gallery is closed because of Covid-19, the exhibition is available online.

Perhaps those mediaeval traditions and those Renaissance paintings were already making a statement against racism, centuries ago when Europe was beginning to engage in slave trading and began thinking of Africa as the ‘dark continent.’

Christ comes into the world as God’s gift of love and light, salvation and redemption, for all nations, for all peoples, and not just for the self-selecting elect.

And the gifts brought in turn by the magi and kings have been named by Saint Matthew names their gifts as: gold, frankincense, and myrrh: χρυσον (chryson), λιβανον (libanon) and σμυρναν (smyrnan) (Matthew 2: 11).

Traditionally these gifts have been given spiritual meanings:

● Gold as a symbol of Christ’s kingship;
● Frankincense as a symbol of worship and so of Christ’s deity;
● Myrrh as an anointing oil for his priesthood, or as an embalming oil and a symbol of his death.

These interpretations are alluded to by John Henry Hopkins (1820-1891), the son of a Dublin-born Episcopalian bishop, in his carol We Three Kings (No 201, Irish Church Hymnal), in which the last verse summarises this interpretation:

Glorious now behold him arise,
King, and God and Sacrifice
.

But whatever the traditions, whatever the myths, whatever the legends may say, the truth they are trying to get at is that Christmas and Epiphany find their full meaning and their fulfilment in Good Friday and Easter Day, in the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, when we see the Suffering and Risen Christ fully revealed to us as Prophet, Priest and King.

And they challenge us to ask whether we are offering our best, or merely our second best to Christ – to Christ in the suffering world, to Christ in the Church, to Christ who is to come again.

It was a challenge that was thrown down over a century and a half ago by John Keble (1792-1866), who concludes his poem Epiphany with these words:

Behold, her wisest throng thy gate,
Their richest, sweetest, purest store,
(Yet owned too worthless and too late,)
They lavish on thy cottage-floor.

They give their best – O tenfold shame
On us their fallen progeny,
Who sacrifice the blind and lame –
Who will not wake or fast with thee!


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

‘The Adoration of the Kings’ by Jan Gossaert in the ‘Seeing the Unseen’ exhibition at the National Gallery, London, from 6 January to 28 February 2021

Matthew 2: 1-12 (NRSVA):

1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

6 “And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.”

7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ 9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

The Adoration of the Magi … a window in Saint Mary’s Church, Tipperary Town (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Liturgical Colour: White (or Gold)

The Penitential Kyries:

God be merciful to us and bless us,
and make his face to shine on us.

Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

May your ways be known on earth,
your saving power to all nations.

Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

You, Lord, have made known your salvation,
and reveal your justice in the sight of the nations.

Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

The Collect:

O God,
who by the leading of a star
manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth:
Mercifully grant that we, who know you now by faith,
may at last behold your glory face to face;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Introduction to the Peace:

Our Saviour Christ is the Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there shall be no end. (cf Isaiah 9: 6, 7)

Preface:

For Jesus Christ our Lord
who in human likeness revealed your glory,
to bring us out of darkness
into the splendour of his light:

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Lord God,
the bright splendour whom the nations seek:
May we, who with the wise men
have been drawn by your light,
discern the glory of your presence in your incarnate Son;
who suffered, died, and was buried,
and who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
now and for ever.

The Blessing:

Christ the Son be manifest to you,
that your lives may be a light to the world:

The Magi waiting to arrive at the Epiphany … a scene in Saint Brendan’s Church, Kilnaughtin (Tarbert), Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Hymns:

202, What child is this, who laid to rest (CD 13)
201, We three kings of Orient are (CD 13)

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.



Praying at Christmas with USPG:
13, Wednesday 6 January 2021

‘The Adoration of the Kings’ by Jan Gossaert in the ‘Seeing the Unseen’ exhibition at the National Gallery, London, from 6 January to 28 February 2021

Patrick Comerford

Throughout Advent and Christmas this year, I have been using the Prayer Diary of the Anglican Mission Agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) for my morning reflections each day.

I was one of the contributors to the current USPG Diary, Pray with the World Church, introducing the theme of peace and trust this morning:

Before this day starts, I am taking a little time this morning for my own personal prayer, reflection and Scripture reading.

The theme of the USPG Prayer Diary this week (3 to 9 January 2021), ‘David and Goliath’, was introduced by the Right Revd Shourabh Pholia, Bishop of Barishal Diocese in the Church of Bangladesh.

Wednesday 6 January 2021:

Let us pray for those who have been affected by flooding in Bangladesh as they try to return to normal life following the floods of the monsoon season.

The Collect of the Day (Epiphany):

O God,
who by the leading of a star
manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth:
Mercifully grant that we, who know you now by faith,
may at last behold your glory face to face;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Lord God,
the bright splendour whom the nations seek:
May we, who with the wise men
have been drawn by your light,
discern the glory of your presence in your incarnate Son;
who suffered, died, and was buried,
and who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
now and for ever.

Matthew 2: 1-12 (NRSVA):

1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

6 “And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.”

7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ 9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Yesterday’s morning reflection

Series Concluded

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