Praying in Ordinary Time with USPG: Tuesday 1 November 2022

A blessing in the Chapel of the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

Today is in the Church Calendar is All Saints’ Day (1 November). From its earliest days, the Church has recognised as its foundation stones those heroes of the faith whose lives have excited others to holiness and has assumed a communion between the Church on earth and the Church in heaven.

The celebrations of the feast of All Saints began in the fourth century. At first, it was observed on the Sunday after the feast of Pentecost; this was to link the disciples who received the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the foundation of the Church, with those who were martyrs, giving their lives as witnesses to the faith. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III (731-741) dedicated an oratory to All Saints in Saint Peter’s, Rome, on 1 November. Within a century, this day was observed in Britain and Ireland as All Saints’ Day.

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

For the rest of this week, I am reflecting in these ways:

1, One of the readings for the morning;

2, A reflection based on seven more churches or chapels in Oxford I have visited recently;

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

Inside the Chapel in the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Luke 6: 20-31 (NRSVA):

20 Then [Jesus] he looked up at his disciples and said:

‘Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
‘Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.

22 ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

24 ‘But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
25 ‘Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
‘Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.

26 ‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

27 ‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.’

Saint Luke’s Church was the chapel of the Radcliffe Infirmary on Woodstock Road, until the infirmary closed and the hospital sites in Oxford were consolidated (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The Chapel, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford:

It is seven months ago today since I was discharged from the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford on 1 April, where I was treated after suffering a stroke two weeks earlier on 18 March.

On All Saints’ Day, I am remembering with thanks all the ‘saints’ who cared for me then in hospitals in Milton Keynes, Oxford and Sheffield. In this morning’s reflections, I am revisiting the chapel in the John Radcliffe Hospital, which stands within All Saints’ parish in Headington.

The John Radcliffe Hospital (‘the JR’) is a teaching hospital and forms part of the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It is named after John Radcliffe (1650-1714), an 18th-century physician, politician and pious Anglican who endowed the Radcliffe Infirmary, the main hospital for Oxford from 1770 until 2007.

John Radcliffe gives his name to a number of landmark buildings in Oxford, including the Radcliffe Camera in Radcliffe Square, the Radcliffe Infirmary, the Radcliffe Science Library, Radcliffe Primary Care, the Radcliffe Observatory and the John Radcliffe Hospital in Headington.

Radcliffe was educated at University College Oxford (BA 1669) and became a Fellow of Lincoln College. He resigned his fellowship in 1677, partly to avoid taking Holy Orders, as was required by the college statutes, and partly because he had quarrelled with the rector, Dr Thomas Marshall.

As an undergraduate, Radcliffe had been much influenced Obadiah Walker, then senior tutor at University College.

Walker became master of University College and after James II’s accession declared his Catholic leanings. However, Walker’s efforts to convert Radcliffe to the Roman Catholic Church were firmly rebuffed by his friend former pupil. In a letter to Walker in 1688, Radcliffe emphasised his steadfast devotion to the Church of England.

Severe illness in 1703 deepened Radcliffe’s piety. When almost dying, ‘he behaved himself’, in the words of an acquaintance, ‘much like a good Christian’, and would admit no physician, preferring instead the company of Dr George Hooper, the Dean of Canterbury.

In the years that followed, he made several gifts in support of Anglican causes that underline his strong High Church sympathy. He gave £520 to Dr William Lloyd, the nonjuring Bishop of Norwich, in 1704 for distribution among 50 poor nonjuring clergymen. That year he also gave £50 to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG, now USPG), and only agreed that the gift be publicised to encourage more subscriptions.

Radcliffe gave £300 to Dr Thomas Sprat, Bishop of Rochester, in 1707 for the relief of the Episcopalian clergy in Scotland, saying: ‘The insupportable tyranny of the Presbyterian clergy in Scotland, over those of the episcopal persuasion there, … make[s] it necessary that some care should be taken of them by us’.

In later life, Radcliffe concerned himself with theological issues, especially the preservation of the Church of England. He was a member of the commission for building 50 new churches in London from 1711 until he died, and gave generously to churches in Oxford, including Saint Mary’s Church and All Saints’ Church, now the library of Lincoln College.

In preparing his will, Radcliffe was determined that the infant son of his close friend, the Earl of Derwentwater, a Jacobite, should not follow his father’s Catholicism but be reared an Anglican. In the letter offering a substantial legacy, Radcliffe expressed the strength of his commitment to the Church of England, saying its faith ‘is what has been originally taught by Christ and his Apostles, and will lead him to eternal happiness.’ Derwentwater, however, was adamant that his son should be a Catholic.

Radcliffe died on 1 November 1714. He was given an impressive funeral at Saint Mary’s Church, where he was buried. His money went to the John Radcliffe Infirmary, to fund the Radcliffe Camera outside Saint Mary’s, and to fund other institutions that bear his name.

Saint Luke’s Church was the chapel of the Radcliffe Infirmary on Woodstock Road, until the infirmary closed and the hospital sites in Oxford were consolidated.

John Radcliffe Hospital is the main teaching hospital for Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University, and incorporates the Oxford University Medical School. The distinctive large white-tiled structure occupies a prominent position on Headington Hill, on the outskirts of Oxford. The initial hospital building opened in 1972, the second, much larger building opened in 1979, and other facilities have since been added to the site.

All Saints’ Church, the parish church in Headington, was dedicated on All Saints’ Day, 1 November 1870. The Revd James Cocke was the vicar of All Saints’ Church for 63 years and was the longest-serving priest in the Church of England when he retired in 2020. In an interview with the Oxford Mail in 2015, he recalled the many changes he had seen in Headington, over more than six decades, including the building of the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Symbols of hope and peace in the Chapel in the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Today’s Prayer (Tuesday 1 November 2022, All Saints’ Day):

The Collect:

Almighty God,
you have knit together your elect
in one communion and fellowship
in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord:
grant us grace so to follow your blessed saints
in all virtuous and godly living
that we may come to those inexpressible joys
that you have prepared for those who truly love you;
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:

God, the source of all holiness and giver of all good things:
may we who have shared at this table
as strangers and pilgrims here on earth
be welcomed with all your saints
to the heavenly feast on the day of your kingdom;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The theme in the USPG Prayer Diary this week is ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by the Revd David Rajiah, Diocesan Prayer Co-ordinator for the Diocese of West Malaysia.

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

Let us give thanks for the lives and legacies of the saints who have gone before us. May we seek to be like them in our witness and devotion to the faith.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

The Virgin Mary and the Christ Child depicted in a statue in the Chapel in the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford (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 many changes in All Saints’ Parish, Headington, over more than six decades, included building the John Radcliffe Hospital (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

A ‘virtual tour’ of a dozen All Saints and All Hallows churches on Hallowe’en

All Saints’ Church, Calverton, near Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, dates from the 12th century and was rebuilt in 1818 and 1824 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

This evening (31 October 2022) is Halloween or the eve of All Hallows’ Day.

Quite often I hear people suggesting that Halloween is eve of All Souls’ Day, and that Halloween is a night for remembering the souls of the dead. But Hallowe’en is a contraction of ‘All Hallows’ evening,’ or All Saints’ Eve, which falls on 31 October, the day before All Saints’ Day or All Hallows’ Day, which is celebrated on 1 November.

In the past, Allhallowtide, from 31 October to 2 November, was marked as a time in the liturgical year for remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the departed. All Souls’ Day is on 2 November, and Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday occur at this time of the year too.

There is constant speculation that Hallowe’en has its roots in Celtic harvest festivals, such as the festival of Samhain. But the present date of All Saints’ Day or Hallowmas and of its vigil, Hallowe’en, have been traced back to Rome and Pope Gregory III (731-741), who founded an oratory in Saint Peter’s for the relics ‘of the holy apostles and of all saints, martyrs and confessors.’

So, to mark Hallowe’en, All Hallows’ Eve, or All Saints Eve, I have put together a ‘virtual tour’ of a dozen churches I have visited with the names of All Saints and All Hallows, in England, Ireland, Italy and Romania.

1, All Saints’ Church, Calverton:

Inside All Saints’ Church, Calverton, facing east (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The church in Calverton first appears in local records in 1068, and was later known as All Hallows’ Church. The advowson or living of Calverton descended with the manor until the manor was sold in 1806. It was then bought by Charles George Perceval (1756-1840), 2nd Lord Arden, an elder brother of the Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval (1762-1812), who was assassinated in the lobby of the House of Commons.

Lord Arden commissioned the architect William Pilkington to rebuild All Saints’ Church in 1818-1824, on the foundations of All Hallows’ Church.

Lord Arden’s son, the Revd the Hon Charles George Perceval (1796-1858), was the Rector of at Calverton from 1821. A devout High Churchman and a supporter of the Tractarians, he was responsible for much of the decoration in the church, including the stained glass windows and other embellishments. More rebuilding took place in the 1850s, and further restoration and decorations were carried out in 1871-1872, when the architect was Edward Swinfen Harris of Stony Stratford.

Today, All Saints’ Church, Calverton, is in parochial union with Saint Mary and Saint Giles, Stony Stratford.

2, All Saints’ Church, Jesus Lane, Cambridge:

All Saints’ Church on Jesus Lane, Cambridge … one of the best-preserved Victorian Anglo-Catholic Gothic Revival churches in England (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

All Saints’ Church,Cambridge, beside Westcott House and opposite Jesus College, was built in 1863-1864 and is one of the best-preserved Victorian Anglo-Catholic Gothic Revival churches in England. It was designed by George Frederick Bodley (1827-1907), one of the most important architects of the Tractarian Movement.

Although this is Bodley’s first church in the Decorated Gothic style of the early 14th century (1300-1320), it is one of his most successful and became his favourite. The church stands opposite Jesus College, beside Westcott House and just a few steps away from the Jesus Lane Gate below the rooms I have had in Cloister Court, Sidney Sussex College.

The original All Saints’ Church stood on a site opposite Trinity College and close to the Divinity Schools. This site, now marked by a triangular piece of open land with a memorial cross, stood in the old Jewish quarter of Cambridge, and the church was known as All Saints in the Jewry. Jesus College, as patron of the living, donated a site for a new church in Jesus Lane.

3, All Saints’ Church, North Street, York:

Inside All Saints’ Church, North Street, York, facing the east end (Photograph Patrick Comerford, 2022)

All Saints’ Church, North Street, York, is regarded as ‘York’s finest mediaeval church.’ It stands near the River Ouse and next to a row of 15th century timber-framed houses, and should not be confused with All Saints’ Church, North Street, which I described yesterday.

All Saints’ Church was founded in the 11th century on land reputedly donated by Ralph de Paganel, whose name is commemorated in the Yorkshire village of Hooton Pagnell.

The earliest part of the church is the nave dating from the 12th century. The church has an impressive tower with a tall octagonal spire. Inside, the church has a collection of mediaeval stained glass, including the ‘Corporal Works of Mercy’ and the ‘Pricke of Conscience’ window, depicting the 15 signs of the End of the World.

4, All Saints’ Church, Pavement, York:

The East Window in All Saints’ Church, Pavement, York, by Charles Eamer Kempe depicts the saints (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

All Saints’ Church, Pavement, York, has a striking octagonal 15th-century lantern tower that makes the church a local landmark. The church is the Guild Church and Civic Church of York, and dates from the 14th century, although tradition says All Saints’ Church was first built in 685 for Saint Cuthbert.

The church was restored by George Edmund Street in 1887, when the stonework was cleaned, the pinnacles restored, and the central east window depicting All Saints is by Charles Eamer Kempe.

5, All Saints’ Church, Blackrock, Co Dublin:

All Saints’ Church, Blackrock … a Victorian church that continues the legacy of the Tractarians and the Oxford Movement (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

All Saints’ Church, Blackrock, Co Dublin, was built on Proby Square and Newtown Park in 1868-1870 in the Early English style to meet the needs of a growing Victorian suburb. This part of the Carysfort Estate was developed in 1840-1880, and the parish was created in 1868 from parts of Stillorgan, Kill and Monkstown.

The architect was John McCurdy (1824-1884), the official college architect of Trinity College Dublin. The contractors were J & W Beckett; William Beckett was the grandfather of the Nobel playwright Samuel Beckett. The church has some of the finest examples of the work of the stained-glass artist Wilhelmina Geddes (1887-1955), a vital figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts movement

6, All Saints’ Church, Grangegorman, Dublin:

The interior of All Saints’ Church, Grangegorman … redesigned and renovated according to Tractarian principles (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

All Saints’ Church, Grangegorman, where I often did Sunday duty while I was a canon of Christ Church, Cathedral, Dublin, stands in an area that was once a grange belonging to the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church Cathedral, with lands providing rents that supported the Vicars Choral of the cathedral.

The Revd William Maturin (1806-1887), a high-churchman strongly influenced by Pusey and Newman, was the Vicar of All Saints for almost half a century (1843-1887). During his time at All Saints, the church was redesigned and renovated according to Tractarian principles. The chancel was added in 1856, Thomas Drew added the north aisle in 1865, and baptistery and south porch were added in 1887. Drew also remodelled the interior along Tractiarian lines.

7, All Saints Church Mullingar, Co Westmeath:

Inside All Saints’ Church, Mullingar, Co Westmeath (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

All Saints’ Church in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, in 2014 celebrated the bicentenary of the completion of the present church building in 1814. But this prominent, elevated site has been the site of church buildings since ca 1208, when the Bishop of Meath, Simon de Rochford, gave a church here to the Augustinian Priory of Llanthony Prima in Gwent, Wales.

The church was rebuilt in 1813-1814 and was later extensively refit to designs by Joseph Welland (1798-1860) and William Gillespie (1818-1890). In 1878, the chancel and sanctuary and the transepts in All Saints were raised to designs by Sir Thomas Drew (1838-1910.

8, All Saints’ Church, Stradbally, Co Limerick:

All Saints’ Church, Stradbally, Co Limerick … a Co Limerick church in the Diocese of Killaloe (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Stradbally in Co Limerick, is the only, Church of Ireland parish in Co Limerick that is in the Diocese of Killaloe – although some old parishes in Co Limerick are in the Diocese of Emly, and some old parishes in the Co Clare are in the Diocese of Limerick.

Castleconnell and Stradbally form one village and one parish on the banks of the River Shannon, and local lore claims a small church was built here as early as the sixth century. The present church, All Saints’ Church, is a gable-fronted Board of First Fruits style church that was built in 1809, enlarged to the north in 1826 and 1844 by James Pain, with a chancel modified by Welland and Gillespie in 1863.

The church has a number of interesting monuments, including one designed by Pain for Anne Fitzgibbon, Countess of Clare, and a burial vault designed by Pain for General Sir Richard Bourke of Thornfield House, Lisnagry.

9, All Saints, Templetown, Co Wexford:

The East End of All Saints’ Church, Templetown, Co Wexford … strongly influenced by AWN Pugin’s church in Barntown (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

All Saints’ Church in Templetown, Co Wexford, was built in 1896 through the efforts of and financed by Canon William Synnott (1834-1911), Parish Priest of Templetown (1886-1911) and Precentor of Ferns. The church was designed by Michael Power, architect and builder, of Saint Kearns, Tintern, Co Wexford.

All Saints’ Church can be compared with Saint Alphonsus’s Church, Barntown, designed by AWN Pugin (1812-1852) and built in 1844-1851. Pugin conceived of Saint Alphonsus’s Church, Barntown, as a complete Catholic parish church and is his only complete expression in Ireland of the small village parish church. Some writers suggest the church in Barntown is a finer version of the simplest of all Pugin’s designs, Saint Augustine’s Church in Solihull. However, most historians say Pugin’s design for Barntown was based on Saint Michael’s Church in Longstanton, 10 km north of Cambridge .

The design of All Saints’ Church in Templetown shows Pugin’s continuing influence on the design of Roman Catholic churches in Co Wexford and the Diocese of Ferns throughout the 19th century.

10, All Saints’ Church, Rome:

All Saints’ Church on the Via del Babuino is one of two Anglican churches in Rome (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

All Saints’ Church on the Via del Babuino is one of the two Anglican churches in Rome. An Anglican congregation has been worshipping in Rome since 1816, and All Saints’ Church dates from 1882. This iGothic revival red-brick church, about 100 meters from the Spanish Steps, was designed by George Edmund Street (1824-1881.

The electric lighting was a gift in 1909 from Alfred Chenevix Trench (1849-1938), son of Archbishop Richard Chenevix Trench of Dublin and proprietor of the publishing house Kegan Paul Trench. The Stations of the Cross commemorate the Revd Peter Marchant from Dublin, who was chaplain from 1991 to 1995.

A plaque commemorates ‘Lt-Col Baron JW Keen, and … his brave comrades in arms … who fought with Garibaldi in Italy’s struggle for freedom …’ The plaque was unveiled in 1920 by Garibaldi’s daughter-in-law, and some of the few surviving ‘Redshirts’ were present in their uniforms. Born Constance Hopcraft, she was present when the foundation stone of All Saints’ was laid in 1882.

Other monuments recall Hugh Cairns, Earl Cairns, a leading politician from Cultra, Co Down, and Sir John Conroy, an Irish baronet who died in Rome in 1900 – his grandfather, Sir John Conroy from Co Roscommon, has been labelled ‘Queen Victoria’s nemesis’ and was alleged to have had an affair with Queen Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent. The English author AN Wilson even suggests he may have been Queen Victoria’s actual father.

11, All Saints’ Church, Bucharest:

The Byzantine-style dome in All Saints’ Church in Bucharest (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

All Saints’ Church, Bucharest, or Precupetii Vechi, is an inner city Orthodox church in the Romanian I visited it many years ago when the Orthodox parish priest, Father Gheorghe Tudor, had built an old people’s centre and started a project that included three-storey sheltered housing and a food programme.

The project began in 2002 and was feeding up to 100 people three times a week, with a further 25 families receiving food parcels with food donated by local restaurants. The sheltered housing provided a home for 20 old people on fixed pensions who had lost their apartments and short-term respite for old people who could afford to pay for their heating and lighting.

11, All Hallows by the Tower, London:

All Hallows by the Tower claims to be the oldest church in the City of London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

All Hallows by the Tower claims to be the oldest church in the City of London, although recent research questions these claims. It is said the church was founded by the Abbey of Barking in the year 675, 300 years before the Tower of London was built, but the origin and early history of All Hallows-by-the-Tower are obscure.
At one time it was dedicated jointly to All Hallows (All Saints) and the Virgin Mary and at times it was also known as All Hallows Barking. The proximity of the church to the Tower of London gave it many royal connections, and Edward IV made one of its chapels a royal chantry.

The church became the location for the temporary burial of a number of distinguished people following their executions on Tower Hill, including Sir Thomas More, Bishop John Fisher and Archbishop William Laud. Admiral William Penn, father of William Penn of Pennsylvania, and Samuel Pepys watched the Great Fire of London in 1666 burn from the tower of the church.

During World War II , when the vicar was the Revd Philip TB ‘Tubby’ Clayton, founder of the Toc H movement, the church suffered extensive bomb damage. It was rebuilt after the war and was rededicated in 1957.

12, All Hallows’ Church, Bread Street, London:

A plaque from All Hallows’ Church in the churchyard of Saint Mary-le-Bow recalls the baptism of the poet John Milton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

All Hallows’ Church, Bread Street, was a parish church in the Bread Street ward of the City of London. It stood on the east side of Bread Street, on the corner with Watling Street, and was first mentioned in the 13th century.

The church was closed for a month in 1551 following a bloody fight between two priests. As penance, they were obliged to walk barefoot from Saint Paul’s through Cheapside and Cornhill. During the reign of Queen Mary I, the rector, Laurence Saunders, was burnt at the stake in 1555 for preaching Protestant doctrine. John Milton was baptised in All Hallows in 1608.

The church was destroyed in the Great Fire in 1666, and was rebuilt in 1681-1684 by Sir Christopher Wren. The parish of All Hallows Bread Street was combined with that of Saint Mary-le-Bow in 1876 and the church demolished in 1878. The pulpit is now in Saint Vedast alias Foster, the organ case in Saint Mary Abchurch and the font cover in Saint Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe.

At Precupetii Vechi Church in inner city Bucharest with Father Gheorghe Tudor (centre) of the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Revd James Ramsay (right) of the Anglican Church of the Resurrection