30 April 2023

Visiting a new shrine
and five new icons in
Lichfield Cathedral

The shrine of Saint Chad will hopefully enhance Lichfield Cathedral as a destination for pilgrims and for all who seek healing (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

There is always something new to see in Lichfield Cathedral. I have been visiting the cathedral regularly ever since my teens, and I am always delighted to see how this is a living space of prayer and worship and the home of a living community of faith.

It had been many months since I was last in Lichfield Cathedral, so last week, after viewing the ‘Library and Legacy’ exhibition in the Chapter House and attending the mid-day Eucharist, I was delighted to see the new shrine of Saint Chad in the Lady Chapel.

The new shrine celebrates Lichfield’s own saint as Bishop, Evangelist and Disciple, and an inscription reads: ‘Christ is the morning star who, when the night of this world is past, brings to his saints the promise of the light of life and opens everlasting day.’

Last year marked the 1,350th anniversary of the death of Saint Chad (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Last year marked the 1,350th anniversary of the death of Saint Chad, and the cathedral marked the anniversary by reconnecting the cathedral and the community with Saint Chad’s story and his message.

The Shrine of Saint Chad was consecrated and reinstated at two moving services in Lichfield Cathedral six months ago (November 2022). It was 484 years since the original shrine was destroyed, and now a new Altar Shrine and a relic of Saint Chad has been received from Saint Chad’s Roman Catholic Cathedral in Birmingham.

Bishop Michael Ipgrave of Lichfield and Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham both addressed the ecumenical service that marked the occasion. Their cathedrals share the patronage of Saint Chad, and Archbishop Longley spoke at Evening Prayer in Lichfield Cathedral of ‘the bonds of faith and affection that exist between our two dioceses and their respective cathedrals.’

The relic of Saint Chad was brought from Birmingham Cathedral accompanied by the canons of the Metropolitan Chapter.

The celebration was the fruit of lengthy conversations and reflected an ecumenical journey and growing respect and understanding for each other’s history and traditions.

Bishop Michael Ipgrave spoke of the friendship between two communities that ‘seek to follow Christ in the footsteps of St Chad, and that is a friendship which also links us with people of other Christian traditions today; this is a heartfelt celebration of ecumenical trust and partnership.’

He added: ‘Our society, like that of seventh century England, is fearful, divided and sometimes despairing. Our task is Chad’s task all over again: to evangelise our 21st century Mercia with the gospel of peace and hope, of forgiveness and healing for men, women and children in their brokenness and lostness, of a common good in which all can flourish and grow together.’

It is hoped that the shrine, together with the Lichfield Icons and the statue of Saint Chad, will strengthen the cathedral as a destination for pilgrims and for all who seek healing.

In addition, five new icons have been installed the Lady Chapel:

1, The Baptism of Christ

2, The Wedding at Cana

3, The Preaching of the Kingdom of God

4, The Transfiguration

5, The Last Supper

These icons have been used each week as a point of discussion during this year’s Lenten discussion in Lichfield Cathedral. These too will add to the cathedral’s role as a destination for pilgrims and for all who seek healing.

The Baptism of Christ … a new icon in Lichfield Cathedral: (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Wedding at Cana … a new icon in Lichfield Cathedral: (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Preaching of the Kingdom of God … a new icon in Lichfield Cathedral: (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Transfiguration … a new icon in Lichfield Cathedral: (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Last Supper … a new icon in Lichfield Cathedral: (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Morning prayers in Easter
with USPG: (22) 30 April 2023

The Old-New Synagogue or ‘Altneuschul’ dates from 1270 and is the oldest landmark in the Jewish town in Prague (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

We are almost half-way through the season of Easter, and today is the Fourth Sunday of Easter (30 April 2023). As the booklet for the midday Eucharist in Lichfield Cathedral reminded me last week: ‘The Great Fifty Days of Eastertide form a single festival period in which the tone of joy created at the Easter Vigil is sustained through the following seven weeks, and the Church celebrates the gloriously risen Christ’.

Later this morning I hope to be present at the Parish Eucharist in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton. But, before this day gets busy, I am taking some time this morning for prayer and reflection. Following our visit to Prague earlier this month, I am reflecting each morning this week in these ways:

1, Short reflections on a synagogue in Prague;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

The Aron haKodesh or Ark where the Torah scrolls are kept is in the middle of the east wall of the Old-New Synagogue (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Old-New Synagogue or Altneuschul, Prague:

During our visit to Prague earlier this month, I visited the seven surviving, working synagogues in Prague, including the six remaining synagogues in Josefov, the Jewish Quarter in the Old Town in the Czech capital.

Despite World War II, most of the significant historical Jewish buildings in Prague were saved from destruction, and they form the best-preserved complex of historical Jewish monuments in the whole of Europe.

The Jewish Quarter has six synagogues, as well as the Jewish Ceremonial Hall and the Old Jewish Cemetery, the most remarkable of its kind in Europe.

The Old-New Synagogue or Altneuschul is the oldest landmark in the Jewish town in Prague, and the main house of prayer for the Jewish community in Prague to this day. It was built in the 13th century in the early Gothic style and is the oldest preserved and oldest active synagogue in Central Europe.

The Old New Synagogue was completed in 1270 in the Gothic style, and it is one of Prague’s first gothic buildings. A still older Prague synagogue, known as the Old Synagogue, was demolished in 1867 and replaced by the Spanish Synagogue.

The synagogue was originally called the New and Great Shul or Synagogue. But after other synagogues were established in the ghetto in the late 16th century, it became known as the Old-New Synagogue.

Another explanation says the name comes from the Hebrew עַל תְּנַאי (al tnay), which means ‘on condition’ and sounds identical to the Yiddish alt-nay or ‘old-new.’

According to legend, angels brought stones from the Temple in Jerusalem to build the synagogue in Prague – ‘on condition’ that they are to be returned when the Temple in Jerusalem is rebuilt and the stones are needed.

Nine steps lead from the street down into a vestibule, from which a door opens into a double-nave area with six vaulted bays. This double-nave system was most likely adapted by the synagogue’s Christian architects from the plans of monasteries and chapels. It has been suggested that the synagogue was built by the same workshop that completed the nearby compound of Saint Agnes’s Convent.

The moulding on the tympanum of the synagogue’s entryway has a design that incorporates 12 vines and 12 bunches of grapes, representing the 12 tribes of Israel. Two large pillars aligned east to west in the middle of the room each support the interior corner of four bays. The bays have two narrow Gothic windows on the sides, for a total of 12, again representing the 12 tribes.

The narrow windows are probably responsible for many older descriptions of the building as being dark. It is now lit brightly with several electric chandeliers.

The vaulting on the six bays has five ribs instead of the typical four or six. It has been suggested that this was an attempt to avoid associations with the Christian cross. However, many scholars dispute this theory, pointing to synagogues that have four-part ribs and to Christian buildings that have the unusual five rib design.

The almemor or bimah from which the Torah scrolls are read is located between the two pillars. The base of the bimah repeats the 12-vine motif found on the tympanum. The Aron haKodesh or the Ark where the Torah scrolls are kept is in the middle of the eastern wall. There are five steps leading up to the Ark and two round stained glass windows on each side above it. A lectern in front of the ark has a square well a few inches below the main floor for the service leader to stand in.

The stone pews along the longer walls have been preserved from the original mediaeval furnishings of the synagogue.

The 12 lancet windows in the synagogue – five each on the south and north wall and two on the west wall – are said to have inspired worshippers to compare the building with Solomon’s Temple.

The synagogue follows Orthodox custom, with separate seating for men and women during prayer services. Women sit in an outer room with small windows looking into the main sanctuary. The framework of the roof, the gable, and the party wall date from the Middle Ages.

An unusual feature in the nave of this synagogue is a large red flag near the west pillar. In the centre of the flag is a Star of David and in the centre of the star is a hat in the style typically worn by Jews of the 15th century. Both the hat and star, forming the emblem of the Jewish community in Prague, are stitched in gold. In gold stitching too is the text of Shema Yisrael, the basic Jewish confession of faith.

The synagogue was restored by the architect Joseph Mocker in 1883.

Local lore says the body of the Golem, created by Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, rests in the attic which is the genizah or storage space for worn-out Hebrew-language religious book and papers is kept.

A legend is told of a Nazi agent during World War II broaching the genizah, but who died instead. The Gestapo never entered the synagogue attic during World War II, and the building was spared during the Nazi destruction of synagogues.

The lowest three meters of the stairs leading to the attic from the outside have been removed and the attic is not open to the general public. But it is said no trace of the Golem was found when the attic was renovated in 1883, or when it was explored in 2014.

The bimah from which the Torah scrolls are read in the Old-New Synagogue or ‘Altneuschul’ in Prague (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

John 10: 1-10 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 1 ‘Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.’ 6 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

7 So again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.’

The vaulting on the six bays in the Old-New Synagogue has five ribs instead of the typical four or six (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Today’s Prayer:

The theme this week in the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘The Work of Bollobhpur Mission Hospital.’ This theme is introduced today by USPG’s Regional Manager for Asia and the Middle East, Davidson Solanki, who reflects on the work of Bollobhpur Mission Hospital, Bangladesh, for International Midwives’ Day this week:

‘Bollobhpur Mission Hospital is administered by the Church of Bangladesh as part of its health ministry. The hospital is situated in rural Bangladesh, serving residents of the village communities living near the border with India. At the hospital, young women and men train to be midwives, nurses and laboratory technicians.

‘The students participating in this training all come from a similar socioeconomic background, with 35 per cent of residents in the local area living below the poverty line. Their training at Bollobhpur Mission Hospital means that they can now earn more money elsewhere, in turn allowing them to better support their families.

‘Bollobhpur Mission Hospital also provides a community health programme, which consists of four outstation village clinics and a team of six community health workers who visit villages in areas near to the hospital. The village clinics are staffed by experienced midwives who are supported by teams of student midwives, who take on this role as part of their training.

‘USPG feels privileged to partner with the Church of Bangladesh in supporting their health ministry through Bollobhpur Mission Hospital and their community nurses and midwives.’

The USPG Prayer invites us to pray this morning (Sunday 30 April 2023, the Fourth Sunday of Easter):

God, our midwife,
deliver us from harm
and bring to birth in us
all that is life-giving.
Shepherd our longings
and make us one in Christ.

Collect:

Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life
raise us, who trust in him,
from the death of sin to the life of righteousness,
that we may seek those things which are above,
where he reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion:

Merciful Father,
you gave your Son Jesus Christ to be the good shepherd,
and in his love for us to lay down his life and rise again:
keep us always under his protection,
and give us grace to follow in his steps;
through Jesus Christ our Lord..

Women sit in an outer room with small windows looking into the main sanctuary in the Old-New Synagogue (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

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

Legend says the Golem rests in the attic of the Old-New Synagogue (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

29 April 2023

Save your love – and a red rose –
for a romantic dinner in Tamworth

Renato’s has gone from Little Church Lane in Tamworth … and, with it, romantic dinners to the sound of ‘Save Your Love’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

I have been back in Tamworth regularly in recent months, and we passed through Tamworth again twice this week on our way to the ‘Library and Legacy’ exhibition in Lichfield Cathedral … peering out the train window each time between Lichfield and Tamworth for the familiar glimpse of Comberford and Comberford Hall.

Each time I am back in Tamworth, I stop to visit and pray in the Comberford Chapel in the north transept of Saint Editha’s Church and also drop past the Moat House, the former Comberford family home on Lichfield Street, now a pub and restaurant. But over the past year I have also imagined how it would be romantic to have dinner in Renato’s Restaurant on Little Church Lane, close to the north side of Saint Editha’s Church.

For many years, the singer Renato Pagliari wooed diners in his son’s restaurant, singing the Renée and Renato hit from the early 1980s, ‘Save Your Love.’

Perhaps you think a 40-year-old song like that over your pasta or lasagne could be more like treacle than Pinot Grigio – or, more kindly, too sweet a return to Top of the Pops in the 1980s. But I like the idea of a red rose and a romantic dinner to the sound in the background of the lyrics:

Save your love my darling, save your love
For summer nights with moon and stars above
A serenade I long to sing you
The reddest rose I always bring you
Save your love for Roma and for me

Darling I will love you endlessly …
Love like ours will last eternally


Renée and Renato had a Christmas No 1 hit in December 1982 with ‘Save Your Love.’

Renato Pagliari, who lived most of his life in the West Midlands and spent many of his retirement days, and evenings, in Tamworth, was born on 28 June 1940 into a large, impoverished family in Blera, a village outside Rome.

From an early age, Renato had a talent for musical talent and as a boy he joined the local church choir. At 17, he won a place in a school for professional waiters, and there he also learned four languages. He became well-known as a singing waiter, happy to burst out into Neapolitan songs and operatic arias, and restaurateurs soon appreciated his ability to draw in diners.

By the early 1970s, he was working in restaurants in England and entertaining diners in the West Midlands. Delighted customers encouraged him to seek club engagements, and in 1975 he entered a regional heat for the ITV talent show ‘New Faces.’

The songwriter Johnny Edward, who had written the song ‘Save Your Love,’ was watching the show and was impressed with Renato’s tenor voice. Johnny Edward teamed up Renato with the Midlands singer Hilary Lester (now Hilary Gibbon), and the two were renamed Renée and Renato.

After many delays and problems, Renée and Renato recorded ‘Save Your Love’ in 1982, and they entered the charts at No 54 that October. Within weeks, their song became the No 1 hit that Christmas.

A year earlier, in 1981, Renato had recorded his version of ‘Just One Cornetto’ in a celebrated Wall’s ice-cream television commercial. Renato’s son, Remo, denies he had provided the voice-over, and nit-pickers quibbled that while the setting was transformed into Venice, the jingle was adapted from ‘O Sole Mio’, a song written in Naples.

Renée was always at pains to stress that Renée and Renato were never ‘an item.’ She never appeared in the celebrated video, and instead a stand-in took her place.

Their follow-up numbers, ‘Just One More Kiss’ and ‘Jesus Loves Us All,’ had little success. But ‘Save Your Love’ was a big enough hit to launch a number of international tours. After four years, Hilary ‘Renée’ Lester joined another group, and when the fame died down she returned to private life. Renato, on the other hand continued working as a solo singer and found regular spots as a singer on cruise ships. He also recorded six solo albums, and had a regular guest spot on the television comedy show ‘Little and Large.’

Renato was a fan of Aston Villa FC and in the early 1990s he was asked by manager Ron Atkinson to sing Puccini’s ‘Nessun dorma’ at half time following a particularly poor first half performance by the team. When he had finished singing, Ron Atkinson told the players, ‘Now that is passion! Go and show me some of that in the second half!’ Aston Villa went on to win that year's League Cup.

Atkinson later boasted that only Luciano Pavarotti could sing ‘Nessun Dorma’ better than Renato.

In his last few years, Renato had regular singing appearances at the now-closed Renato’s Italian Ristorante in Little Church Lane, Tamworth

In his last few years, Renato had regular singing appearances at Renato’s Italian Ristorante in Little Church Lane, Tamworth. Renato’s was run by his son, Remo Pagliari, and claimed to be ‘one of the best Italian restaurants in Tamworth.’

Although Renato was diagnosed with a brain tumour, he could still break into song on the wards during his hospital stays. After battling the tumour for several months, he died at Good Hope Hospital, Sutton Coldfield, on 29 July 2009, aged 69. His funeral took place in Holy Trinity Catholic Church, on Lichfield Road, Sutton Coldfield. Ron Atkinson and singer Tony Christie – and Renée – were among the 700 people at his funeral.

Renato’s Restaurant later become Daquino Cucina Italiana. Under both names it was noted for its Italian cuisine, including seafood pasta, Mediterranean chicken and prawns, tiramisu, ice cream, cheesecake and coffee. Sadly, though, the place closed and the premises are now the Woodshed Burger Co.

But now I’m also wondering whether, in his various restaurant engagements in Tamworth, Renato ever sang in the Moat House too back in the 1980s or 1990s?



Save your love my darling, save your love
For summer nights with moon and stars above
A serenade I long to sing you
The reddest rose I always bring you
Save your love for Roma and for me

Darling I will love you endlessly
Even though you’re far away from me
I can’t forget the words I told you
How it felt to love and hold you
Love like ours will last eternally

Save your love my darling, save your love
For summer nights with moon and stars above
A serenade I long to sing you
The reddest rose I always bring you
Save your love for Roma and for me

Even though it’s been so very long
The memory of our love still lingers on
I can't wait to hold and kiss you
Don't you know how much I miss you
Darling sing for me our lover's song

Salva l’amore cara salva l’amore
Le notte d’estate la luna l’estelle lassu
A serenade I long to sing you
The reddest rose I always bring you
Salva l’amore per Roma e per me

Io ti amo caro, I love you
I can’t wait to hold and kiss you
Don’t you know how much I miss you
Darling sing for me our lover’s song

Save your love my darling save your love
Oh you know that I will
For summer nights with moon and stars above
Oh I love you still
A serenade I long to sing you
The reddest rose I always bring you
Save your love for Roma and for me



Morning prayers in Easter
with USPG: (21) 29 April 2023

Saint Clement’s Cathedral is the cathedral of the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Church, near the Charles Bridge in Prague (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

We are still in the season of Easter, and this has been the Third Week of Easter. Today, the Church Calendar commemorates Saint Catherine of Siena, Teacher of the Faith (1380).

Before this day gets busy, I am taking some time this morning for prayer and reflection. Following our visit to Prague earlier this month, I have been reflecting each morning this week in these ways:

1, Short reflections on a church in Prague;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Inside, Saint Clement’s is one of the most beautifully decorated Baroque churches in Prague (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Greek Catholic Cathedral of Saint Clement, Prague:

When we were in Prague two weeks ago, I attended the Maundy Thursday liturgy in the Greek Catholic Cathedral Church of Saint Clement, where many people in the congregation were Ukrainian refugees. This church celebrates a Byzantine-rite liturgy that is similar to Orthodox Churches and follows the Orthodox calendar in the dating of Easter. But it is part of a church that is in full communion with the Pope and with the Roman Catholic Church.

Saint Clement’s is the cathedral of the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Church in Prague, serving the Ruthenian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Czech Republic. Many of the people who are part of the church are of Ukrainian origin, alongside people with family roots in Hungary, Slovakia and Poland.

Saint Clement’s Church was made a cathedral by Pope John Paul II in 1996 in the Bull Quo aptius which established the Ruthenian Catholic Exarchate of the Czech Republic.

Saint Clement’s is one of three churches at the Clementinum, including Saint Salvator. This single-nave Baroque church was built for the Jesuits in the Clementinum area in 1711-1715 on the site of an older Gothic church, where the Dominicans founded a monastery in 1227.

The earlier chapel was destroyed during the Hussite wars in 1420. The Italian Chapel, or the Chapel of the Virgin, was built above the church of Saint Clement in 1590-1600 to serve the Italian resident community in Prague.

The present Baroque church was commissioned by the Jesuits and was built in 1711-1715 by Anselmo Lurago to plans by the architect Franciscus Maxmilian Kaňka. The simple exterior makes the interior even more outstanding. This is one of the most beautifully decorated Baroque churches in Prague, with work by major Baroque artists.

The interior of this single nave church is richly decorated, with stone statues by Matthias Bernard Braun of the Church Fathers and the Four Evangelists in niches in the walls. The trompe-l’œil High Altar is dominated by a painting of Saint Clement by Josef Kramolín and a painting of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.

There are six side altars. At the side altar dedicated to Saint Lawrence and Saint Leonard, a painting by Peter Brandl depicts Saint Leonard healing the sick. Ignaz Raab also contributed to painting the interior, with paintings of Jesuit saints and Bohemian patrons in the alcoves and on the pilasters.

The pulpit is the work of Braun, as are the confessionals under the choir loft and other wood carvings. The decorative stucco work was created by S Götzler in 1715. Johann Hiebl’s original frescoes depicting scenes from the life of Saint Clement have been preserved in individual sections of the vaulting.

The richly decorated pews and colourful are also worth noting, and the church has outstanding acoustics.

The church was given to the Greek Catholic Church in 1931. It belonged to the Orthodox Church in 1950-1969, but since 1969 it has again served the Greek Catholic Church. The original iconostasis was replaced by a new one in 1984.

The liturgy is celebrated in Ukrainian and Church Slavonic.

Maundy Thursday in the Greek Catholic Cathedral Church of Saint Clement in Prague (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

John 6: 60-69 (NRSVA):

60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’ 61 But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, ‘Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But among you there are some who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. 65 And he said, ‘For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.’

66 Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. 67 So Jesus asked the twelve, ‘Do you also wish to go away?’ 68 Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’

The simple exterior of Saint Clement’s makes the interior even more outstanding (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Today’s Prayer:

The theme this week in the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) has been ‘Praying for Peace.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by the Anglican Chaplain in Warsaw, Poland, the Revd David Brown, who reflected on peace in the light of the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace earlier this week.

The USPG Prayer invites us to pray this morning (Saturday 29 April 2023):

Let us give thanks for the spirit of community. May we seek to build bonds of trust and friendship within our communities and support one another in good times and bad.

Collect:

God of compassion,
who gave your servant Catherine of Siena
a wondrous love of the passion of Christ:
grant that your people may be united to him in his majesty
and rejoice for ever in the revelation of his glory;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion:

God of truth,
whose Wisdom set her table
and invited us to eat the bread and drink the wine
of the kingdom:
help us to lay aside all foolishness
and to live and walk in the way of insight,
that we may come with Catherine to the eternal feast of heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Reflections in the windows of Saint Clement’s Cathedral in the Old Town in Prague (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

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

Saint Clement’s has again served the Greek Catholic Church in Prague since 1969 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

28 April 2023

Italian-era synagogue on
Greek island of Kos is
restored after 80 years

The exterior of the synagogue in Kos … the building is to be rededicated next month as an active house of Jewish worship (Photograph: Elias Messinas/JHE)

Patrick Comerford

I have been to the Aegean island of Kos on a number of occasions, on family holidays and, in 1990s, working as a journalist with The Irish Times at the height of tensions between Greece and Turkey over the tiny islet of Imia.

During those visits, I have visited the village of Platania, 2 km from Kos town, where the gates of the Jewish cemetery have been locked since the last remaining Jew of Kos was buried there many decades ago: he was the only Koan Jew to survive the transportation of the local Jewish community, along with the Jews of Rhodes, to Auschwitz in 1944.

Back in Kos town, close to the ancient Agora, I was sad that I could not visit the former synagogue at the time. It is a beautiful Art Deco building but had been disused since 1944 and it stood locked in bleak isolation in the midst of the bustle of ‘Bar Street’.

So, it was good news to read in a recent report from Jewish Heritage Europe (JHE) that the building is to be rededicated next month (May 2023) as an active house of Jewish worship.

References to Jews on Kos date back to the 3rd century BCE. Throughout the ages, Jews fleeing persecution, the Spanish Inquisition and conflicts in the Mediterranean region ended up on the.

Graves in the Jewish cemetery show a significant presence of a Jewish population until the Byzantine era. Jews continued to live on the island during era of the Knights of Saint John, although there are reports that Jews were expelled in 1502 by the Knights of Saint John and took refuge in Nice. Jews resettled in Kos when the island was captured by the Turks in 1523.

During the second half of the 19th century, there were 40 Jewish families living in Kos. Those numbers fell to 20 in 1880, to 10 in 1901 , and to three or four in 1910. In the years 1918-1923, and after the occupation of Kos by the Italians, Jews from Asia Minor and Rhodes settled on Kos and the community reached a total of 166 persons just before World War II.

During the early days of Italian rule, the Jews communities of Rhodes and Kos thrived, excelling in the textile trade, banking, including the Bank of the Alhantef Brothers, foodstuffs, haberdashery and the export of grapes and raisins to Egypt and Europe.

After the racist laws voted by Mussolini in 1938, 2,250 Jews fled the Dodecanese to the US, Palestine, South Rhodesia (Simbabwe), the Belgian Congo, and Argentina.

When the Germans moved into Kos, the Jews are relentlessly persecuted and their houses were ransacked and looted. On 23 July 1944, all the Jews of Kos were assembled with their meagre possessions in the courtroom facing the Lotzia Square. Due to the intervention of the Turkish Consul in Rhodes, 39 Turkish citizens from Rhodes and 13 from Kos were released. But the Germans confiscated all the belongings of the remaining Jews and sent them through Athens to Auschwitz.

Of the 1,767 Jews who were seized, only 163 survived: 151 from Rhodes and 12 from Kos. Another 10 Jews from Kos who were not present in Kos when the population was assembled and sent to Auschwitz also managed to survive.

After the Italian surrender on 8 September 1943, British troops landed on Kos on 3 October 1943.

The new ark and bimah in the synagogue in Kos (Photograph: Elias Messinas/JHE)

The synagogue was built during the Italian occupation of Kos (1912-1943). An older synagogue was destroyed in an earthquake in April 1933, and it was replaced by a newer synagogue built in the mid-1930s.

The Jewish community in Kos at the time numbered about 120 people. But the Jewish community in Kos was almost totally wiped out during the Holocaust and the synagogue was abandoned in the immediate aftermath of World War II.

The synagogue was bought by the Kos Municipality around 1984 and it was used for some years as a local cultural centre. But the local municipality and the Greek Central Board of Jewish Communities agreed last year (2022) to bring the synagogue back to its original use and to serve the growing number of Israeli and other Jewish tourists in Kos.

A new Ark and Bimah and other interior furnishings have been installed in the synagogue and it is to be rededicated next month as an active house of Jewish worship.

Elias Messinas, the architect who oversaw the project, is the leading expert on Greek synagogues. For decades he has been involved in the survey, study and restoration of synagogues in Greece.

‘Given that there was no evidence of the pre-World War II state of the synagogue, the design is based on historic examples in Italy and also on the reuse of older furniture in order to raise their sanctity and to address the principles of circular economy,’ he told JHE.

‘The budget is quite limited,’ Elias Messinas said last year. ‘We have been searching in several directions, first to secure reused older furnishings from Israel, Italy, Turkey or Greece, but without success.’ The search was then extended to the US and Europe.

Because the synagogue was built during the Italian occupation of Kos, the project was looking for an Italian tradition synagogue.

The furniture modification was designed by Manos Tsiaousi in Serres and the project was co-ordinated by Dimitris Geroukalis, director of Ippokratis, responsible for the upkeep of the historic synagogue.

Elias Messinas said the restored synagogue will be used as a synagogue mainly in the summer months, but it will also continue to serve as a local cultural centre throughout most of the year.

Shabbat Shalom

An artist’s impression of the interior of the synagogue in Kos (Courtesy Elias Messinas)

Morning prayers in Easter
with USPG: (20) 28 April 2023

The Bethlehem Chapel in the Old Town in Prague is closely linked with Jan Hus and the Bohemian Reformation (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

We are still in the season of Easter, and this is the Third Week of Easter. Today, the Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship commemorates Peter Chanel, Missionary in the South Pacific, Martyr (1841).

Before this day gets busy, I am taking some time this morning for prayer and reflection. Following our visit to Prague earlier this month, I am reflecting each morning this week in these ways:

1, Short reflections on a church in Prague;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Inside the Bethlehem Chapel in the Old Town in Prague (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Bethlehem Chapel, Prague:

The Bethlehem Chapel (Betlémská kaple) is a mediaeval chapel in the Old Town of Prague, and is closely linked with the origins of the Bohemian Reformation, especially with the Czech reformer Jan Hus (1370-1415).

The chapel was named after the Holy Innocents, massacred in Bethlehem by Herod the Great in his attempt to kill the new-born Christ Child (see Matthew 2: 13-18).

The Bethlehem Chapel was founded in Prague in 1391 by Wenceslas Kříž ‘the Merchant’ and John of Milheim. The only language used in sermons in the chapel was the Czech vernacular, breaking with German domination of the mediaeval Bohemian Church.

Bethlehem Chapel was founded in 1391 in Prague by a shopkeeper Jan Kříž and a courtier Hanuš of Műhlheim. Kříž donated a garden of about 800 sq m for building the chapel. The land included a well, and a cottage and acellar that later became the preacher’s and the custodian’s house. The front part of Kříž’s house, which fronts Dominikánská Street, now Husova Street, was used to establish a student college called Nazareth.

Bethlehem was only ever a chapel and was never officially called a church, although it could hold 3,000 people. Indeed, the chapel was withing the boundaries of the Parish of Saint Philip and Saint James, and Hanuš of Milheim paid the rector of that church 90 grossi in compensation.

In the Bethlehem Chapel, ideas found expression that previously then were only heard in debate at Charles University. Jan Hus became the preacher in the chapel in March 1402, and his sermons addressed many of the questions raised by Milič of Kroměříž, Matěj of Janov and the English reformer John Wyclif.

His sermons drew large numbers, and Queen Sophia, the wife of King Wenceslas IV, attended some of them. It is said that she would sit in an oratory built by Kříž by the east wall of the chapel and connected by a passageway to his house.

After the excommunication of Hus in 1412, the Pope ordered the Bethlehem Chapel to be pulled down, although this action was rejected by the Czech majority on the Old Town council.

Hus served in the Bethlehem Chapel until 1412, when he was excommunicated and forced to leave Prague. He was executed in 1415. Hus’s successor, Jakoubek of Stříbro, introduced Communion in both kinds.

The chapel was transferred by the university in the 17th century to the Jesuits, who reinstated Catholic liturgy. The Jesuits were expelled in 1773, the Bethlehem Chapel was linked with Saint Giles Church for a short time, and it then became the property of the state. It fell into disrepair, dangerous cracks appeared, and there was a danger of the vault falling.

The chapel was partly demolished in 1786, and the surviving masonry was incorporated into an apartment building that was built in 1836-1837 and that stood until 1949.

After World War II, the chapel was restored to its state at the time of Hus, using all the surviving materials and engravings. Most of the exterior walls and a small portion of the pulpit date back to the mediaeval chapel.

The renovated Bethlehem Chapel, including the house of the preachers, reopened to the public as a National Cultural Monument in 1954. The wall paintings are largely from Hus’s time there, and the text below is taken from his work De sex erroribus, and contrast the poverty of Christ with the riches of the Church in Hus’s time.

In 1993, the Bethlehem Chapel became the ceremonial hall of the Czech Technical University in Prague, which continues to maintain the chapel. It is the venue for graduations and an annual ecumenical meeting takes here on the anniversary of the execution of Jan Hus on 6 July 1415. The chapel and house of the preachers are open to the public.

Queen Sophia, the wife of King Wenceslas IV, attended some of the sermons by Jan Hus in the Bethlehem Chapel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

John 6: 52-59 (NRSVA):

52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ 53 So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 55 for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live for ever.’ 59 He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

The Bethlehem Chapel ibcludes an exhibition on the life of Jan Hus (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Today’s Prayer:

The theme this week in the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘Praying for Peace.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by the Anglican Chaplain in Warsaw, Poland, the Revd David Brown, who reflected on peace in the light of the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace earlier this week.

The USPG Prayer invites us to pray this morning (Friday 28 April 2023):

Let us pray for families hosting refugees. May their homes be a place of refuge and warmth and may host and hosted be recipients of grace and blessing.

Collect:

Almighty Father,
who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples
with the sight of the risen Lord:
give us such knowledge of his presence with us,
that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life
and serve you continually in righteousness and truth;
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:

Living God,
your Son made himself known to his disciples
in the breaking of bread:
open the eyes of our faith,
that we may see him in all his redeeming work;
who is alive and reigns, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

The well in the Bethlehem Chapel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

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 Bethlehem Chapel was restored after World War II and reopened to the public in 1954 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

27 April 2023

Bistro 19 at Lichfield Cathedral
stands on the site of older
houses in the Cathedral Close

Bistro 19 nestles beneath the spires of Lichfield Cathedral … the house was first built by Archdeacon George Strangeways in the early 16th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

The ‘Green Man’ on the invitations to the royal coronation next week has created some discussion and much ridiculous speculation in the ‘red top’ newspapers. But, if like me, you have no personal invitation, you can still see a ‘Green Man’ above the stables in the Cathedral Close in Lichfield, behind Bistro 19 on the south side of the cathedral.

Two of us had coffee in Bistro 19 earlier this week during our visit to Lichfield, and Richard Sewell, who has been managing the café for the past year, showed us around the building, and basement which dates back to the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, if not earlier.

Bistro 19 sits beneath the three spires of Lichfield Cathedral, and the gardens overlook Minster Pool.

As we wandered around the house and the gardens, Richard Sewell asked me how much I knew about the history of the house, which is nestled beneath the three spires of Lichfield Cathedral and has an interesting view across Minster Pool.

Bistro 19 looks out onto Minster Pool below Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

It is always interesting to see inside historic houses in Lichfield, and the arched and vaulted basement of No 19 in the Cathedral Close with its steep steps, long dark corridors and passageways, and its old wooden doors, posts and beams, may be much older than the Georgian house above and its Caroline and Tudor predecessors.

This was once the house of archdeacons and diocesan registrars, the childhood home of Charles Darwin’s grandmother, and, for one short time, was also the bishop’s house. Later, it was the house of the diocesan registrars, and more recently was part of a visitors’ centre, before becoming a café.

The first known house on the site of No 19 was a brick house, built in the early 16th century by the Archdeacon of Coventry, George Strangeways. It was probably built on the site of an earlier house between the cathedral and Minster Pool.

George Strangeways was the Prebendary of Stotfold from 1485, and later served as Archdeacon of Coventry in the Diocese of Lichfield ca 1505-1509. As Archdeacon of Coventry, he presented the Book of Hours of René d’Anjou to King Henry VII.

Until then, the archdeacons did not have a house in the Cathedral Close. This house may have been the residence of the Archdeacons of Coventry in the Diocese of Lichfield in the late Tudor period.

Strangeway’s immediate successors, who may have lived in this house as archdeacons, included Ralph Colyngwood in 1509-1512, later Dean of Lichfield; John Blythe, who was archdeacon in 1512-1558; and Henry Comberford, who was also Precentor of Lichfield until he was deprived of his church offices in 1559 due to his Catholic sympathies.

No 19 was the home of Bishop John Hacket after the English Civil War and the Caroline restoration (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

After the English Civil War and the Caroline restoration, the Bishop’s Palace in Lichfield was still in ruins in the wake of the Civil War. When John Hacket (1592-1670) became Bishop of Lichfield at the end of 1661, he chose this house built by Archdeacon Strangeways as his new residence.

Hacket believed the bishop’s house was beyond repair, and he moved into No 19 in 1661. He spent £800 on restoring the house and adding to it. At the same time, he was engaged in the unenviable task of overseeing the restoration of Lichfield Cathedral.

When Hacket’s work on the house was completed in 1667, it included a dining room and a gallery and 34 or 35 other rooms, with a stable for 16 horses in the south-east corner of the garden.

Hacket apparently tried to secure the house as the bishop’s palace but after he died in 1670 it once more became a canonical house.

In the later 18th century, Charles Howard (1707-1771), a proctor in the consistory court of Lichfield, lived in the house. Howard, who was a school friend of Dr Samuel Johnson, improved the garden behind the house with a grotto of shells and fossils.

Charles Howard and his wife Penelope (née Foley) were the parents of Mary ‘Polly’ Howard who married Erasmus Darwin in Saint Mary’s Church, Lichfield, in 1757. Polly died on 30 June 1770 and her funeral took place in Lichfield Cathedral. Her grandson was the naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882).

This house was assigned to the diocesan registrar in 1797, when it had a central range with wings at either end. At the back, the ground floor, which extended beyond the Close bank, was supported by arches.

The house was demolished in 1799, and rebuilt by William Mott, a Lichfield lawyer who was the Deputy Diocesan Registrar, Registrar of the Dean and Chapter, and Chapter Clerk. However, Mott retained the vaulted and arched basement that provided sturdy foundations for the house he rebuilt.

Mott also fitted out Hacket’s stable as a muniment room. He bought Wall House near Lichfield and the manorial rights with it in 1813.

When William Mott died in 1826, he was buried in the cathedral churchyard and there is a monument to him in the cathedral. His son John Mott (1787-1869) rebuilt No 20 in the Cathedral Close. He was Sheriff of Lichfield in 1836 and Mayor of Lichfield in 1850. John Mott’s wife, Henrietta Oakeley (1787-1869), was a sister of Canon Frederick Oakeley, the Lichfield hymnwriter associated with the carol, ‘O come, all ye faithful.’

The vaulted and arched rooms and the long corridors of No 19 may predate the house built by Archdeacon George Strangeways in the early 16th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

A new stable was added on the north side of Mott’s muniment room, and part of it was converted into the chapter clerk’s office in 1925. The office was moved in 1975 to No 14 the Close. Most of the diocesan records were deposited in the Lichfield Joint Record Office between 1968 and 1984.

The house continued to be used by the diocesan registrar or his deputy until 1987. When MBS Exham retired as registrar, the house passed to Lichfield Diocesan Board of Finance, and was sold that year to the dean and chapter. The whole building was converted into the Lichfield Cathedral Visitors’ Study Centre, the first part in 1986 and the second part in 1989.

The present house is Georgian in style, two storeys high with a rear basement, and a double-depth plan. In recent years, it housed Chapters, the cathedral restaurant and coffee shop, which closed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bistro 19 opened last year (29 May) and is run by Richard Sewell, and is a perfect place to stop in during a visit to Lichfield Cathedral.

• Bistro 19 is run independently, is set within the grounds of Lichfield Cathedral, and serves Breakfast, Brunch, Coffee with a bar, seven days a week, from 10 am until 4 pm.

The ‘Green Man’ on the walls of the former stables beside Bistro 19 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Morning prayers in Easter
with USPG: (19) 27 April 2023

The Church of Our Lady Sub Catena is the oldest church in Mala Strana, the Lesser Quarter in Prague (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

We are still in the season of Easter, and this is the Third Week of Easter. LToday, the Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship commemorates the poet Christina Rossetti, who died in 1894.

Later today, I hope to take part in a dat-long meeting of clergy in the Milton Keynes area. But, before this day gets busy, I am taking some time this morning for prayer and reflection. Following our visit to Prague earlier this month, I am reflecting each morning this week in these ways:

1, Short reflections on a church in Prague;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

The baroque interior of the Church of Our Lady Sub Catena in Prague (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Church of Our Lady Sub Catena, Prague:

The Church of Our Lady Sub Catena is the oldest church in Mala Strana, the Lesser Quarter in Prague, and it has a certain quiet charm not found in some of the churches in Prague that attract tourists in larger numbers.

The name of the church is something of a mystery. One theory says it was named after an old statue of the Virgin Mary, another suggests that a chain was used either to seal the gate of the commandry, and the more popular explanation says it was named after a chain that was stretched across the Vltava River to prevent ships from passing through without paying a toll to the knights. Some say the chain stretched from this site in the Lesser Town all the way across the Vltava River, along the tower gate of the former Judith Bridge, to the Old Town.

The entrance to the church in Mala Strana leads to a quaint, enchanting courtyard, which in turn leads to the church with a grand Baroque interior.

The Church of Our Lady Sub Catena or the Church of Our Lady Under the Chain is a hewn-stone, mediaeval Romanesque basilica, founded in the 12th century by the Knights Hospitaller or Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, often known today as the Knights of Malta.

The Knights Hospitaller received land south of the bishop’s court, below the castle and near the former Judith Bridge in 1156-1159. They built their first church on the site built after 1158, and the three-aisle Romanesque basilica was completed in 1182.

After 1314, when the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem obtained funds by selling off the property of the suppressed Knights Templar, the Romanesque church was knocked down and work began on a grand Gothic three-aisle basilica, built probably by Peter Parler’s workshop.

Remnants of the older building have been preserved on the right-hand side of what is now the courtyard. From the original plans, only the choir and sacristy were built; the western prism tower was started but never completed.

The church was destroyed by fire in 1420 during the Hussite Wars, and was ruined yet again in 1503. It took on its present mixed Baroque-Gothic appearance with renovations in the 17th century, when the church was rebuilt in Baroque style.

Most work of the work in this phase was carried out by the Italian architect Carlo Lurago and stone mason Giovanni Battista Spinetti. The Gothic steeples were cut down to 32 meters high, a shadow of their former selves, and the appearance of the church has remained the same since.

A Baroque painting by Karel Škréta above the High Altar depicts the Madonna blessing the Knights of Malta at the Battle of Lepanto (ca 1651). Another painting by Škréta of the Beheading of Saint Barbara is at the south altar (1674). Most of the sculptures in the church are the work of Jan Petr Wenda.

The church belongs to the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta and is administered by the Grand Priory of Bohemia of the order of Malta as a monastery church.

The church is open for Mass on Sundays at 10:00 and on Tuesdays at 17:30. Outside those times, visitors can see the garden courtyard, and peer through the grille into the church.

A painting by Karel Škréta above the High A;tar depicts the Madonna blessing the Knights of Malta at the Battle of Lepanto (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

John 6: 44-51 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 44 ‘No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’

The quaint, enchanting courtyard and the entrance to the church in Mala Strana (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Today’s Prayer:

The theme this week in the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘Praying for Peace.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by the Anglican Chaplain in Warsaw, Poland, the Revd David Brown, who reflected on peace in the light of the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace last Monday.

The USPG Prayer invites us to pray this morning (27 April 2023, South Africa Freedom Day):

Let us pray for all who are oppressed. May the remembrance of South Africa’s first post-apartheid elections inspire us to work for the self-determination of every nation and person.

Collect:

Almighty Father,
who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples
with the sight of the risen Lord:
give us such knowledge of his presence with us,
that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life
and serve you continually in righteousness and truth;
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:

Living God,
your Son made himself known to his disciples
in the breaking of bread:
open the eyes of our faith,
that we may see him in all his redeeming work;
who is alive and reigns, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

The church took on its present mixed Baroque-Gothic appearance during renovations in the 17th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

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

Inside the entrance porch to the courtyard and the church in Mala Strana (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

26 April 2023

Lichfield Cathedral Library
exhibition is an insight into
the world of book collectors

The Lichfield Gospels, dating from 730, was the greatest treasure in the mediaeval library at Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

Two of us were in Lichfield earlier this week, when I visited the ‘Library and Legacy’ exhibition telling the story of Lichfield Cathedral Library and the Seymour Family.

The exhibition opened in the Chapter House last Saturday (22 April) and offers an insight into why Lichfield Cathedral Library is unusual – perhaps unique – among cathedral libraries and its link with the Seymour family.

The Cathedral Library, as it is today, began in 1674 with a gift of over 400 books from the private collection of William Seymour, Duke of Somerset, donated by his widow, the former Lady Frances Devereux. The books reflect the wide-ranging interests of a wealthy intellectual in the 17th century and are different from the books normally found in a cathedral library.

The mediaeval library at Lichfield Cathedral was almost totally lost during the English Civil War. A new library was established in the 1670s with the gift of more than 400 books from the widowed Duchess of Somerset.

Frances Devereux inherited her husband’s library when he died in 1660, and bequeathed the collection to Lichfield. She wrote in her will: ‘for the respect which I and my family have received from the City of Lichfield, I give the books which were my late deceased husband’s, to the Church of Lichfield to be put in the new library there.’

In this way, Lichfield Cathedral Library inherited a wide range of books associated with the library of a prominent 17th century intellectual rather than with a cathedral. The exhibition explores William Seymour’s library, illustrating the types of books he and his ancestors included in their libraries and how this reflects the culture of their time.

No catalogue survives for Lichfield Cathedral’s mediaeval library. But the exhibition includes the only three books known to have survived from the mediaeval collection and that survived the ravages of the English Civil War (1642-1648).

The Lichfield Gospels, an eighth century Gospel Book dating from 730, was the greatest treasure in the mediaeval library. It is older than the Book of Kells yet a little younger that the Lindisfarne Gospels. The opening folio contains a faded signature, Wynsige presul, which may refer to Wynsige, Bishop of Lichfield from around 963 to ca 975, and folio four refers to Leofric, Bishop of Lichfield in 1020-1026.

The book was in Lichfield Cathedral until 1646, when the cathedral was sacked during the English Civil War and the cathedral library was looted. Fortunately, one of the cathedral clergy gave it to Frances Devereux for safekeeping. She kept it in a box known as ‘The Ark’, and the book was returned to the cathedral when she died in 1674.

The Gospels have been on public display since 1982. They are used in solemn liturgical occasions on special feasts and the Bishops of Lichfield still swear allegiance on the Lichfield Gospels at their enthronement.

The ‘Decretals of Pope Gregory IX’ … saved by the chapter clerk during the English Civil War (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Another survivor from the mediaeval library is the ‘Decretals of Pope Gregory IX’, a 14th century collection of decrees from the Pope and notes on liturgy, summarising Papal decrees from the early Middle Ages on.

Additional notes in the margin show that the book was a well-used working document, and this explains why it was saved by the chapter clerk during the English Civil War. Geoffrey Glaiser, the Chapter Clerk, removed it from the Cathedral Library in 1647 to keep it safe. It was returned by a later chapter clerk, John Haworth, in 1839.

The third survivor from the mediaeval library is a book of sermons written by a Dominican friar, John Bromyard, in the 14th century.

These three books from the mediaeval library are among more than 400 from the Seymour Bequest, and thousands more have been added over the past 350 years. William Seymour (1588-1660), Duke of Somerset was a wealthy, well-educated aristocrat who loved books. He left the administration of his estates to his wife Frances and spent much of his time in reading and in study.

A book of sermons by John Bromyard, a Dominican friar, survives from the 14th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Some of William’s books had belonged to his grandfather Edward Seymour (1539-1621), Earl of Hertford, who wrote his signature in them. Some were probably inherited from other family members. As books became increasingly available in the 17th century, William bought books that reflected his own wide-ranging interests, including religion, philosophy, classics, ancient and mediaeval history, geography, genealogy, literature and more. He was also a patron, paying authors and publishers to produce books on specific topics.

William and Frances had family connections with the highest levels of English society. His great-grandfather, Edward Seymour (1500-1552), was a brother of Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII, and Lord Protector of Edward VI, making William’s grandfather, Edward Seymour (1539-1621), 1st Earl of Hertford, a first cousin of Edward VI. His grandmother, Lady Katherine Grey (1540-1568), was a sister of Lady Jane Grey, the ‘Nine Days Queen.’

William and Frances supported the Royalists during the English Civil War, although Frances was related to a Parliamentarian general. William was a trusted advisor of Charles I, who in 1640 appointed him to supervise the household of the Prince of Wales, the future Charles II. The royal instructions to William still survive, with each ‘order’ signed by the King. Charles II rewarded William for his loyalty, making him Duke of Somerset when the monarchy was restored in 1660.

The Duchess of Somerset’s catalogue of her husband’s collection of books (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Frances Devereux (1599-1674), Duchess of Somerset, was the daughter of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, a former favourite of Elizabeth I, who was executed for treason in 1601. Through her father’s family she had links with Lichfield, Tamworth and Drayton Bassett, and lived in Drayton Bassett for extended periods.

I was writing yesterday of her friendship with Colonel William Comberford of Comberford Hall and the Moat House, Tamworth, who fought at the Siege of Lichfield during the Civil War, and who left her a bequest one of one of the books in the Lichfield Cathedral Library collection.

William Seymour’s books were listed in 1671 in the ‘Catalogue of Her Grace ye Dutchesse of Somersett’s Great Library.’ This document lists over 1,400 books and manuscripts, and more than 400 of them are now in the Cathedral Library. The catalogue was made a year after he died and lists the books in his library when his widow inherited them. The manuscript is in two sections, with the second part a revision of the first, and the last pages were used as a borrower’s register.

King Charles I gave his orders to William Seymour as guardian of the future Charles II (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The exhibition includes ‘Orders for the Household of Charles, Prince of Wales’ (ca 1640), in which King Charles I gave his orders to William Seymour as guardian of his son, the future Charles II. Separate sets of instructions apply to the various departments of the household. One page describes the frequency of services in the Prince’s chapel and how they should be conducted. Each set of orders is signed by Charles I at the beginning and initialled by him (CR) at the end.

Classical works by ancient Greek or Roman writers were important in 17th century education. William commissioned John Ogilby (1600-1676) to produce an English translation of works by Virgil with coloured and gilded illustrations. Ogilby also translated Aesop’s fables.

William owned a copy of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and a copy of Of the advancement and proficiencie of learning by Francis Bacon (1561-1626), who developed a methodical system of learning in which subjects are divided into smaller topics.

A Greek New Testament published in Paris in 1569 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

An interest in the text of the Bible developed at the time of the Reformation, with a particular interest in Greek versions of the New Testament. Seymour’s library included a 1569 edition of the New Testament in Greek, originally published in Paris by Robert Estienne (1503-1559).

As a Royalist, it is not surprising that William Seymour owned books by Henry Hammond, a chaplain to the royal household, and the royalist poet George Sandys.

William’s interest in heraldry and genealogy is reflected in ‘The booke of all the Knightes of the most noble order of the Garter’ ( 1580). The page on display shows the full heraldic achievement of King Edward VI (1547-1553). This book includes the arms of the other Tudor monarchs along with those of the Garter knights in each reign. Another copy of this rare manuscript is at Windsor Castle.

A book showing the arms of Edward VI (top right) and the Knights of the Garter (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

His interest in architecture is reflected in the collection too. He owned books by Vitruvius, an influential Roman architect who wrote that all buildings should have strength, utility and beauty. His interest in the world beyond Europe is reflected in his collection of early printed map-books. The earliest of his map-books is ‘A description of the world’ by Sebastian Münster (1488-1552).

Jean Froissart’s history of the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) is still regarded by historians as an important source of information. William’s copy contains the signature of his grandfather, dated 1572.

This exhibition invites visitors to reflect on what books we choose to have in our homes these days and whether books are still relevant in a digital age.

• The ‘Library and Legacy’ exhibition in Lichfield Cathedral opened on Saturday (22 April) and remains open during visitor opening hours until Sunday 3 September 2023.

The Duchess of Somerset’s bequest is at the ‘Library and Legacy’ exhibition at Lichfield Cathedral Library