Praying in Ordinary Time with USPG: Wednesday 2 November 2022

The reredos in the chapel of All Souls College, Oxford … a reminder of the ‘Faithful Departed’ on 2 November (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

All Souls’ Day is observed in many parts of the Western Church today [2 November]. It is particularly associated with the Roman Catholic Church, and while it does not feature in the calendar of the Church of Ireland, it is marked in the calendar of the Church of England which has restored its place in Common Worship as the ‘Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (All Souls’ Day)’ (Common Worship, p 15). Later today I hope to attend the All Souls’ Day Eucharist in the Church of Saint Mary and Saint Giles, Stony Stratford.

All Souls’ Day follows the commemoration of All Saints’ Day on 1 November, and I find it interesting that one of the leading evangelical churches in London is All Souls’ Church, Langham Place, at least since the Revd John Stott was there, first as a curate (1945-1950) and then as the Rector (1950-1975). All Souls is the only surviving church built by the Regency architect John Nash – although the history of the church on the parish website gives no explanation of the choice of name.

I was reminded of the importance of commemorating All Souls’ Day in the calendar of the pre-Reformation Church of England when I visited All Souls College while I was in Oxford the week before last.

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.’

All Souls College was founded in 1438 to commemorate the victims of the Hundred Years’ War and to pray for all souls of the faithful departed (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

John 5: 19-25 (NRSVA):

19 Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. 20 The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. 21 Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomsoever he wishes. 22 The Father judges no one but has given all judgement to the Son, 23 so that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. Anyone who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him. 24 Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgement, but has passed from death to life.

25 ‘Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.’

The college chapel was built in 1438-1442 and takes up the whole north side of the Front Quadrangle (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The Chapel of All Souls College, Oxford:

The full, official name of All Souls College is: The Warden and the College of the Souls of All Faithful People deceased in the University of Oxford.

The college entrance is on the north side of High Street, and there is a long frontage onto Radcliffe Square. To its east is The Queen’s College, while Hertford College is to the north of All Souls.

All Souls is unique in two ways: all its members automatically become fellows or full members of the college’s governing body; and it has no undergraduate members.

The college is primarily a graduate research institution. Each year recent graduate and postgraduate students at Oxford are eligible to apply for a small number of examination fellowships through a competitive examination, once described as ‘the hardest exam in the world.’

The college was founded in 1438 by Henry VI and Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury, to commemorate the victims of the Hundred Years’ War, and to pray for all souls of the faithful departed. The statutes provided for a warden and 40 fellows, all to take Holy Orders: 24 to study arts, philosophy and theology, and 16 to study civil or canon law. The scholars were elected on the morrow of All Souls’ Day. Four Bible Clerks remained on the foundation until 1924.

The Chapel of All Souls was modelled after the chapel of New College, where Chichele was a fellow. It has a hammer-beam roof, mediaeval stained glass, and a large number of original stalls. The niches in the restored reredos retain traces of the original mediaeval paint.

The college chapel was built in 1438-1442 and takes up the whole north side of the Front Quadrangle. It remained largely unchanged until the Cromwellian era. The chapel was designed in the perpendicular Gothic style and was built in the shape of an inverted 'T': a chancel and transepts form the antechapel, but there is no nave. Before the Reformation, the spacious antechapel would have included six side altars.

The chapel is noted for its complete set of original 15th century misericords, seen under the wooden seats of the fellows’ stalls in the chancel. Among the 42 carvings are many lively, grotesque, and fantastic figures.

The reredos dates from ca 1447. Its niches contain statues of saints, bishops, and monarchs, arranged in rows on either side of a Crucifixion scene, just above the altar, and a Last Judgment, high up under the roof. The original statues, destroyed during the Reformation in the 16th century, were not replaced with the present Gothic imitations until the 19th century.

During the 1660s, a screen was installed in the Chapel, based on a design by Sir Christopher Wren, a former fellow of All Souls (1653-1657). However, this screen was rebuilt by 1713.

A new quad was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor in the early 18th century, and is one of the most successful examples of Oxford University architecture. Hawksmoor designed the exterior of the quad in Gothic in style, to blend with the old chapel, but classical on the interior. The sundial on the side of the Library was probably designed by Sir Christopher Wren too.

The west side of the north quadrangle, facing out onto Radcliffe Square, is marked by the cloister, a single arcade open to the interior of the quadrangle and linking the Chapel and the Library. It is enhanced by a central gateway and cupola.

The carved reredos seen through the classical screen in the chapel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The chapel was in need of renovation and restoration by the mid-19th century. At first, Henry Clutton (1819-1893) was involved in restoring the chapel. The roof was being re-slated, the exterior restored and the plaster was being scraped off the hammer-beam roof when a scaffolding pole accidently pierced the lath and plaster screen that covered the east wall of the chapel. The hole in the screen revealed the beautiful but concealed carved mediaeval reredos.

The screen was removed and the senior fellow of the college, the Earl of Bathurst, offered to pay for the restoration of the reredos to its original form, and in 1872 Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878) was commissioned to take over the restoration of the chapel.

Scott produced designs to restore the sanctuary and repave the floor. In June 1873 Farmer and Brindley contracted to restore the stalls and execute the paving, and in October Edward Geflowski agreed to supply the new figures for the reredos. Geflowski carved 35 large figures, including one of Bathurst, and 84 smaller figures. Henry Terry of Lambeth, carried out the architectural sculpture and Symm executed the rest of the stonework.

Lord Bathurst contributed £3,000 to £4,000 for the figures on the reredos. The total cost of the restoration of the chapel was £10,639.

All Souls was a minor triumph for Scott, who was reinvigorated by the challenge. According to The Builder, ‘entered into the work with that zeal and love for old examples that so eminently distinguished him.’ Thanks to Lord Bathurst’s enormous generosity, Scott was able to see the reredos largely completed before he died on 27 March 1878.

The current warden or head of All Souls College is Sir John Vickers, a graduate of Oriel College, Oxford.

The Very Revd Dr John Henry Drury has been the Chaplain of All Souls College since 2003. He is a former chaplain of Downing College, Cambridge (1969-1969), chaplain of Exeter College, Oxford (1969-1973), Residentiary Canon at Norwich Cathedral (1973-1979), lecturer in Religious Studies at Sussex University (1979-1981), Dean of King’s College, Cambridge (1981-1991), and Dean of Christ Church, Oxford (1991-2003). His research interests include theology and the poetry of George Herbert.

Members of the public are welcome at Chapel Services, according to the Book of Common Prayer and using the King James Bible. During University Full Term these are: Sundays, 10 am, Morning Prayer; Wednesdays, 6:45, Evening Prayer. Other services are advertised separately. The chapel does not have a choir.

The cloister is a single arcade open on the North Quadrangle linking the Chapel and the Library (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Today’s Prayer (Wednesday 2 November 2022, All Souls’ Day):

The Collect:

Eternal God, our maker and redeemer,
grant us, with all the faithful departed,
the sure benefits of your Son’s saving passion
and glorious resurrection
that, in the last day,
when you gather up all things in Christ,
we may with them enjoy the fullness of your promises;
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.

Post Communion Prayer:

God of love,
may the death and resurrection of Christ,
which we have celebrated in this Eucharist,
bring us, with all the faithful departed,
into the peace of your eternal home.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ,
our rock and our salvation,
to whom be glory for time and for eternity.

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:

We pray for the Province of South-East Asia, its member churches and its 98,000 members across the region.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

All Souls College and the chapel symbolise all we think of when we speak of the ‘Dreaming Spires’ of 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 Front Quad of All Souls College, behind High Street, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Saint Mary’s Church, Bloxham, with its spire and windows, is ‘one of the grandest’ in England

Saint Mary’s Church, Bloxham, and its 198 ft spire can be seen from miles around, a key landmark in Oxfordshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

Saint Mary’s Church has been at the heart of Bloxham in Oxfordshire for almost 1,000 years, providing a focal point for Christian worship and prayer.

Saint Mary’s, which I visited last week, is a Grade I listed mediaeval church and it has been described by the architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as ‘one of the grandest in the country.’

Saint Mary’s Church stands on the hill dominating the village three or four miles south-east of Banbury in the north Oxfordshire countryside. The church has stood on the site for almost 1,000 years, and the 198 ft spire can be seen from miles around, a key landmark across the North Oxfordshire countryside.

The church also has an East Window is regarded as ‘one of the finest examples’ in Oxfordshire church of some of the best if not in Britain of Pre-Raphaelite stained glass by William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones.

Inside Saint Mary’s Church, Bloxham, facing east (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The first documentary evidence of a church on this site is found in a charter in 1067 when William the Conqueror granted the church and the rectory estate to Westminster Abbey.

King Stephen built a chantry chapel there in the 12th century, when he gave two fields from his royal manor to pay a priest to say daily masses for the repose of the soul of his mother Adela, the daughter of King William I.

Henry II granted patronage of the church to Godstow Abbey near Oxford, causing Westminster Abbey to complain to the Pope. However, the Pope allowed Godstow Abbey to retain the church provided it made an annual payment to Westminster Abbey.

Inside Saint Mary’s Church, Bloxham, facing west (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The church has some notable remaining fragments of Norman architecture, including fragments of 12th-century masonry, two doorways and the responds of the chancel arch. The re-set 12th century doorway in north wall has tympanum with a fish scale pattern.

The arcades date from the rebuilding of the original nave in the 13th century, but the present church was mainly built in the 14th and 15th centuries.

The chancel and aisles were rebuilt in the early 14th century, as were the north and south porches. At this time the church was ornamented with much fine stone sculpture, including tracery and ornate capitals, much of which survives. It may have been crafted by a school of masons who carried out similar work on the nearby churches of Adderbury, Alkerton and Hanwell.

The hammer-bream roof inside Saint Mary’s Church, Bloxham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The tower is thought to have been built between 1300 and 1340. The tower of five stages has angle buttresses, with niches, string courses to all stages and louvred lights to bell stage. At the fifth stage, the tower forms an octagon under the spire, and the broaches are marked by corner pinnacles. The octagon has a cornice of blind tracery, and the spire has canopied lucarnes.

Fragments of mediaeval wall paintings survive inside the church, including a Doom painting over the chancel arch and Saint Christopher over the north doorway. Remnants of 14th-century stained glass survive in some of the windows. The church’s elaborate rood screen dates from the 15th century, with fragmentary remains of painted figures.

Over the west door of the tower is a carving of the Last Judgment. The doorway itself is heavily carved, with depictions of animals, foliage, birds, beakheads, and traditional ballflower ornamentation. The hood-mould is carved with the 12 Apostles on thrones, with Christ with angels presiding over the whole scene.

The south chapel or Milcombe chapel was added in the 15th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The south chapel or Milcombe chapel was added in the Perpendicular Gothic style in the 15th century. The stonework is a fine example of the work of a renowned Banbury based group of stonemasons. Although the patron and the architect are unknown, it is likely that the new chapel was designed by Richard Winchcombe.

The 15th century baptismal font has a Jacobean cover.

With Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries at the Tudor Reformation in the 1530s, the advowson or patronage of Bloxham parish church passed to Crown, which granted it to Eton College in 1547.

The Milcombe chapel contains a number of 18th-century monuments to members of the Thornycroft family and the tomb of Sir John Thornycroft (1725). Other monuments to this family include Elizabeth, Lady Thornycroft (1704), John Thornycroft (1687) and his wife Dorothy (1718).

The East Window is regarded as ‘one of the finest examples’ in Oxfordshire church of Pre-Raphaelite stained-glass (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Saint Mary’s Church was restored in 1864-1866 and significant renovation was carried out under the direction of the Gothic Revival architect George Edmund Street (1824-1881), who also built the Royal Courts of Justice in London and rebuilt Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.

As well as stabilising the spire, Street’s work includes one of his best-preserved chancels in existence, including the pulpit, choir stalls, reredos, flooring and other elements designed specifically for Saint Mary’s.

At the same time, the church was provided with three important Pre-Raphaelite stained-glass windows. William Morris, Sir Edward Burne-Jones and Philip Webb created the east window, filling the four-light west window that has unusual tracery with carved figures.

The East Window is regarded as ‘one of the finest examples’ in an Oxfordshire church of some of the best Victoria stained glass in Britain. Charles Sewter says it is ‘certainly one of the most beautiful windows of the firm’s first decade of activity.’

The four main lights show (with their attributions):

Top row (from left): Angels with censors (Burne-Jones), Michael and Raphael (Morris), Saint Peter and Saint James (Burne-Jones), Ezekiel and Saint John the Baptist (Burne-Jones);

Bottom row (from left): Saint Alban and Saint Stephen (Burne-Jones), King Alfred and King Louis (Burne-Jones), Saint James Bishop of Jerusalem (Burne-Jones) and Saint Augustine (Morris), and Saint Cecilia and Saint Catherine (Burne-Jones).

Burne-Jones also created the stained glass window of Saint Christopher in the chancel and the window depicting Saint Martin of Tours. Other windows are by Charles Eamer Kempe.

The 15th century baptismal font has a Jacobean cover (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Further alterations were made to the church in the 20th century, when the north aisle was dedicated as the War Memorial Chapel.

The high altar became used less frequently with the addition of a nave altar.

The Milcombe Chapel was screened off by a local craft worker, who was also commissioned to create the Millennium Screen at the west end of the central aisle.

The church has a large graveyard, which has been expanded to the east several times.

While the building is historic, the parish is developing a space to serve the community throughout the week, providing a space for community events, concerts and theatrical productions.

The parish was taken to a Church of England consistory court in 2018 for having removed seven Victorian pews from the church to create a children’s play area without applying to the Diocese of Oxford for the necessary faculty. The Victorian Society testified that the pews had been badly stored, causing them to deteriorate. The court granted retrospective permission for the removal of the pews, but ordered that four of them be returned to the church.

Christopher Rogers, deputy chancellor of the Diocese of Oxford, called the decision ‘highly unfortunate, to put it mildly.’ He found that the current vicar and leadership team were not in charge when the decision was taken and added that he had the ‘greatest sympathy’ in having to deal with the ‘mess’ left by their predecessors.

He said: ‘A degree of change and the removal of some pews was necessary in order to serve the wider community and to remain a sustainable place of worship.’ Retrospective permission for the removal was granted but four of the pews must be returned to the church.

Over the west door of the tower is a carving of the Last Judgment, while the doorway and the hood-mould are richly carved (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

A traditional local rhyme says:

Adderbury for length
Bloxham for strength
King’s Sutton for beauty

Nevertheless, Saint Mary’s Church, Bloxham, remains one of the real gems among Oxfordshire churches.

The benefice is now combined with those of Milcombe and South Newington, of which Our Lady of Bloxham is the main church. The Vicar is the Revd Dale Gingrich.

The Sunday services are: 8 am, Holy Communion, a traditional, spoken service using the 1662 Book of Common; 9:30 am, Holy Communion, with hymns, choir and a sermon; except on the fourth Sunday, when there is a café style family service without communion; 6 pm, Evening Prayer following the Book of Common Prayer, with Choral Evensong takes place on the fourth Sundays. Schools in Bloxham use the church for their annual Christmas services.

Saint Mary’s Church, Bloxham, remains one of the real gems among Oxfordshire churches (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)