Praying with USPG and the music of Vaughan Williams: Sunday 28 August 2022

‘Mary, Mother meek and mild, / Blessèd was she in her Child’ … the former High Altar and reredos in Saint Mary’s Church, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

Today is the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity. Later this morning, I hope to attend the Parish Eucharist in the Church of Saint Giles and Saint Mary in Stony Stratford.

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

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, whose music is celebrated throughout this year’s Proms season. In my prayer diary for these weeks I am reflecting in these ways:

1, One of the readings for the morning;

2, Reflecting on a hymn or another piece of music by Vaughan Williams, often drawing, admittedly, on previous postings on the composer;

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

‘When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind (Luke 14: 13) … tables waiting for diners outside a restaurant in Rethymnon, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 14: 1, 7-14 (NRSVA):

1 On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely.

7 When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honour, he told them a parable. 8 ‘When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honour, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; 9 and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, “Give this person your place”, and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, “Friend, move up higher”; then you will be honoured in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11 For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’

12 He said also to the one who had invited him, ‘When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’



Today’s reflection: ‘Virgin born, we bow before thee’

For my reflections and devotions each day these few weeks, I am reflecting on and invite you to listen to a piece of music or a hymn set to a tune by the great English composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958).

This morning, I invite you to join me in listening to the hymn ‘Virgin born, we bow before thee’ by Bishop Reginald Heber (1783-1826).

This hymn is found in both the New English Hymnal (187) and the Irish Church Hymnal (No 185). It is addressed to Christ, but praises his mother, the Virgin Mary.

In the New English Hymnal, this hymn is set to the melody Mon dieu, prête moi l’orielle by Louis Bourgeois (ca 1510-1561) in the French Psalter of 1542 (Psalm 86), and harmonised for the English Hymnal in 1906 by Vaughan Williams. However, this tune is the only second choice of setting for this hymn in the Irish Church Hymnal.

The same tune was also used by Gustav Holst in 1920 as the basis for his setting of Psalm 86 for chorus, string orchestra and organ.

Louis Bourgeois was the choirmaster of Saint Peter’s Church, Geneva. Under the patronage of the Reformer John Calvin, he was the music editor of successive versions of the Geneva Psalter from 1542 to 1551.

The author of this morning’s hymn, Bishop Reginald Heber, also wrote ‘God that madest earth and heaven’ (‘Ar Hyd Y Nos’), which we listened to last Thursday [25 August 2022].

Heber wrote this hymn with the Third Sunday in Lent or Mothering Sunday in mind, with lines 2 and 5 of Stanza 1 (‘blessed was the womb that bore thee’) echoing the closing words of the Gospel reading originally appointed for that Sunday in The Book of Common Prayer: ‘Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked’ (Luke 11: 27).

Today, this hymn is often used on the Feast of the Presentation (2 February), the Feast of the Annunciation (25 March), and Christmas Day (25 December), as well as being suitable on Mothering Sunday.

Virgin-born, we bow before thee:
Blessèd was the womb that bore thee;
Mary, Mother meek and mild,
Blessèd was she in her Child.
Blessèd was the breast that fed thee;
Blessèd was the hand that led thee;
Blessèd was the parent’s eye
That watched thy slumbering infancy.

Blessèd she by all creation,
Who brought forth the world’s salvation,
And blessèd they, for ever blest,
Who love thee most and serve thee best.
Virgin-born, we bow before thee;
Blessèd was the womb that bore thee;
Mary, Mother meek and mild,
Blessèd was she in her Child.

The Virgin Mary and the Christ Child … a statue at the West Door of Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Today’s Prayer, Sunday 28 August 2022 (Trinity XI):

The Collect:

O God, you declare your almighty power
most chiefly in showing mercy and pity:
mercifully grant to us such a measure of your grace,
that we, running the way of your commandments,
may receive your gracious promises,
and be made partakers of your heavenly treasure;
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:

Lord of all mercy,
we your faithful people have celebrated that one true sacrifice
which takes away our sins and brings pardon and peace:
by our communion
keep us firm on the foundation of the gospel
and preserve us from all sin;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The theme in the USPG prayer diary all this week is ‘A New Province.’

The Igreja Anglicana de Mocambique e Angola (IAMA) was officially created on 24 September 2021 at the conclusion of the provincial synod of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.

The new province is made up of the second and third largest Portuguese-speaking countries in the world and joins provinces in Brazil and Portugal as the only Lusophone provinces in the Anglican Communion.

IAMA is ‘a province standing on its own feet, steeped in evangelism and focused on sharing the love of God’, according to the Most Revd Carlos Simao Matsinhe, Acting Presiding Bishop of the province. He adds, ‘I hope this province is driven by discipleship and evangelism. Part of our plan is to build a provincial theological college so that we can equip our clergy and lay people. Communities in Mozambique and Angola face issues such as climate change, political unrest and income inequality, and we hope our new province will be able to practically serve these communities’.

The Right Revd Vicente Msosa, Bishop of the Diocese of Niassa in the Igreja Anglicana de Mocambique e Angola, shares his prayer requests in the USPG Prayer Diary throughout this week.

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

Giving God,
May we prioritise people over profit.
Lead us not to pursue worthless things,
but to truly value each other.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Bishop Vicente Msosa of Niassa speaking on the formation of the new Anglican Province of Mozambique and Angola at the USPG conference in High Leigh last month (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

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

The elusive search in Lichfield for Darwin’s ‘missing link’ with with the Comberford family

Erasmus Darwin House with the spires of Lichfield Cathedral … was there ever a link with the Comberford family? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

Walking around Lichfield Cathedral twice earlier this week, my eyes – as always – were drawn to both the Comberford hassock in the north side aisle and the memorial to Erasmus Darwin in the south choir ambulatory, just behind the screen.

Erasmus Darwin is remembered in Lichfield for being more than the grandfather of Charles Darwin. But when I posted a photograph of a £10 note shortly before Charles Darwin was replaced by Jane Austen, another member of the Comerford family commented: ‘You look well on the tenner … I mentioned to you before about the hair and beard lines in Comerfords.’

In haste, I mentioned: ‘There is a vague link to Charles Darwin in the Comberford family … too distant to boast about, too near not to consider the resemblance.’ To which an old school friend responded: ‘The apple doesn’t fall far …’

In Darwin’s Gardens and Vicars’ Close, beside Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

In a subsequent search, I realised, of course, that there was no direct link between the Darwin and Comberford families.

But I decided, nevertheless, to cross the Cathedral Close this week to enjoy some time in Erasmus Darwin’s Gardens, between Vicars’ Close and his house, and to revisit Erasmus Darwin House, where he lived and raised many of his children.

Could I find that missing link between the Darwin family and the Comberford family?

The spires of Lichfield Cathedral and Darwin’s Gardensseen from a Venetian window in Erasmus Darwin House (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

In Lichfield, Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) is remembered in his own right as a physician, a natural philosopher, a physiologist, and an inventor. He was also an advocate of the abolition of slavery and a poet, whose poems included a discourse on evolution and the relatedness of all forms of life.

He was a member of the Darwin-Wedgwood family nexus that includes his grandsons Charles Darwin and Francis Galton, and he was a founding member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, a group of pioneering industrialists and natural philosophers. On one occasion, it is said, he turned down an invitation from George III to become his personal physician.

Erasmus Darwin was born at Elston Hall, Nottinghamshire, and educated at Chesterfield Grammar School and Saint John’s College, Cambridge, before studying medicine in Edinburgh.

He moved to Lichfield in 1757 to set up practice in the cathedral city. A few weeks after his arrival in Lichfield, he used a novel course of treatment and restored the health of a young man whose death seemed inevitable. This ensured his success in Lichfield, and for more than 50 years Darwin was a highly successful physician in the Midlands.

In Lichfield, his inventions included a carriage steering mechanism, a manuscript copier and a speaking machine.

Original portrait of Erasmus Darwin by James Rawlinson in Erasmus Darwin House … reputedly the last portrait of Darwin before he died in 1802 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Darwin married twice and had 14 children, and also had two illegitimate daughters with his children’s governess, and he may have had at least one other illegitimate child.

His first wife, Mary (Polly) Howard (1740-1770), was the daughter of Charles Howard, a Lichfield lawyer, and their children included Robert Waring Darwin (1766-1848), the father of the naturalist Charles Darwin.

When Polly died in 1770, Darwin employed Mary Parker as a governess to look after young Robert. By late 1771, Erasmus and Mary were intimately involved and they were the parents of two daughters, Susanna and Mary. Erasmus may also have fathered another child with Lucy Swift, a married woman.

A portrait of Elizabeth Pole, Erasmus Darwin’s second wife, in Erasmus Darwin House (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Darwin met Elizabeth Pole in 1775. She was a daughter of Charles Colyear, 2nd Earl of Portmore and wife of Colonel Edward Pole (1718-1780), which led to a family connection with Comberford Hall. But, as Elizabeth was married at the time, Erasmus could only make his feelings known for her through poetry.

When Edward Pole died in 1780, Elizabeth was only 30. It is said, ‘half the wealthy youth of Derbyshire’ asked to marry her. Instead, Elizabeth married Erasmus, and he moved from Lichfield to her home, Radbourne Hall, 6 km west of Derby. In 1782, they moved to Full Street, Derby, and they were parents of four more sons.

Darwin died suddenly on 18 April 1802, only weeks after he had moved to Breadsall Priory, north of Derby. He was buried in All Saints’ Church, Breadsall.

A large family tree of the Wedgwood and Darwin families in Erasmus Darwin House (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

A large family tree on a wall in Erasmus Darwin House outlines the nexus of connections in the Darwin and Wedgwood families, including the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, who is the inspiration for many of my morning prayer diaries and reflections on my blog these days.

But when I scrutinised this family tree again this week in search of connections with the Comberford family, all I could find were very remote connections with Comberford Hall that I already knew about.

Over 100 years ago, Comberford Hall was the home of Christopher Askew Chandos-Pole from about 1912 until about 1916. Christopher Askew Chandos Pole was the great-great-grandson of Colonel Edward Sacheverell Pole (1718-1780) and his wife Elizabeth Collier, Erasmus Darwin’s second wife.

Edward Sacheverell Pole had fought at Fontenoy and Culloden. Within a year of his death, the widowed Elizabeth married the widowed Dr Erasmus Darwin, then 49 and already the father of a large family. Following their marriage in 1781, Erasmus Darwin left Lichfield and Elizabeth and Erasmus Darwin lived briefly at Radbourne Hall, the Derbyshire seat for generations of the Pole family.

The memorial to Erasmus Darwin in Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Elizabeth Pole and Erasmus Darwin were the parents of seven more children, and Elizabeth was also the stepmother of his children from his first marriage. They included Robert Waring Darwin (1766-1848), who was born in Lichfield in 1766 and who grew up as a step-brother of Sacheverell Chandos-Pole.

This Sacheverell Chandos-Pole was the father of the Revd William Chandos-Pole (1833-1895), whose kinship with Robert Darwin’s son, Charles Darwin, was akin to them being first cousins.

A succession of Poles and Chandos-Poles were rectors of Radbourne, including the Revd William Chandos-Pole, who was appointed in 1866. He was married to Christina (Askew) and a year later their son, Christopher Askew Chandos-Pole, was born at Radbourne in 1871. In 1898, Christopher married Constance Marian Schwind in 1898, and they moved to Comberford Hall with their children, Christina and Peter, around 1912.

I have long realised that the connection between Charles Darwin and Comberford Hall is both remote and obscure … a true ‘missing link.’

The rector who was the equivalent of his first cousin but who was related only through marriage was the father of a man who had lived briefly at Comberford Hall … and that is as near as I could get, yet again, during this week’s visit to Lichfield and Erasmus Darwin House.

Comberford named on a cassock in Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)