Patrick Comerford
In this time between All Saints’ Day and Advent Sunday, we are in the Kingdom Season in the Calendar of the Church of England. This week began with the Feast of Christ the King and the Sunday next before Advent (26 November 2023).
The Church Calendar today celebrates the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle (30 November).
Later today, I am travelling to Dublin for the launch of Christmas and the Irish, a new book edited by my friend and colleague Professor Salvador Ryan of Maynooth, and which includes three essays by me on the Christmas theme. But, before today begins, I am taking some time for prayer and reflection early this morning.
Throughout this week, I am reflecting on Christ the King, as seen in churches and cathedrals I know or I have visited. My reflections are following this pattern:
1, A reflection on Christ the King;
2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.
The Cooper Window, Saint Peter’s Church, Berkhamsted:
I attended the funeral of a friend in Lichfield Cathedral yesterday, and earlier in the day I reflected on images of Christ the King in Lichfield Cathedral and other churches in Lichfield, including the reredos donated by the Cooper family to the former Saint Mary’s Church.
The Cooper family is also associated Cooper Window in the south aisle of Saint Peter’s Church, Berkhamsted, which depicts Christ the King at the centre of images inspired by the canticle Te Deum.
The window in Berkhamsted was made in 1885 by Nathaniel Hubert Westlake (1833-1921), a leading designer in the Gothic Revival movement who was also inspired by the Pre-Raphaelites. His work includes the East Window in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton, and many windows in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, and windows and ceilings in Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth.
Westlake worked under William Burges for a while before joining the stained-glass firm of Lavers and Barraud in 1868. He later became a partner and finally the sole proprietor of Lavers, Barraud & Westlake, established in 1855 by Nathaniel Wood Lavers (1828-1911). The firm changed its name several and was later known as Lavers, Westlake and Co, and then NHJ Westlake, London, before closing in the 1920s.
The perpendicular stone tracery in the Cooper window in Berkhamsted probably dates from the 15th century. The Victorian glass was installed in the late 19th century in memory of the sheep dip manufacturer William Cooper (1813-1885).
William Cooper should not be confused with the 18th-century poet and hymn-writer William Cowper (1731-1800), who was born in Berkhamsted and who is also commemorated in windows in Saint Peter’s. William Cooper set up a factory in 1852 on the east side of Berkhamsted that became famous worldwide for the production of sheep dip.
Westlake’s work in the Cooper window is a fine example of Victorian stained glass. The images and text are all based on the ancient canticle Te Deum, celebrating God’s great glory.
The three-light window depicts Christ enthroned surrounded by angels, saints and martyrs, including Saint Edward the Confessor, with ewelled 3D-like robes, and Saint Hugh of Lincoln, the 13th century bishop, accompanied by his pet swan.
In the window lights, images of angels and saints are shown surrounding Christ. The saints’ names are written faintly in their haloes. Several bear mottoes on scrolls of paper, a sort of mediaeval equivalent of cartoon speech bubbles, with Latin quotations from Te Deum:
1, Top section: The small lights in the top contain figures of prophets and angels bearing the mottoes: ‘Tibi omnes Angeli (proclemant)’ – ‘To thee all Angels cry aloud’, and ‘Te Prophetarum laudabilis numerus’ – ‘The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise thee.’
2, Left light upper, two kneeling figures: Saint John the Evangelist, motto: ‘Te gloriósus Apostolorum chorus’ – ‘The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee’. The Virgin Mary, motto: ‘Te per orbem terrárum sancta confitetur Ecclesia’ – ‘The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee’.
3, Central light middle, the central figure: Christ enthroned in majesty. Christ is shown sitting on a throne in heaven after the Resurrection, his right hand raised in blessing. Christ’s hands and feet bear the scars of the Crucifixion, and above his head the hand of God the Father points down in blessing.
4, Right light upper, two kneeling figures: Saint Joseph holding a wooden staff with lilies blooming from the top, a symbol from the mediaeval ‘Golden Legend,’ and the motto: ‘Te ergo quæsumus, tuis famulis subveni, quos pretioso sanguine redemísti’ – ‘We therefore pray thee, help thy servants whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.’ Saint John the Baptist, motto: ‘Te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus’ – ‘The noble army of martyrs praise thee.’
5, Left light lower, two English saints: King Edward the Confessor was one of the last Saxon Kings of England before the Norman Conquest, He appears to be wearing exquisitely jewelled three-dimensional robes in this window. Saint Hugh of Lincoln is with the swan with whom he had a lasting friendship and who followed him everywhere. He was the Bishop of Lincoln from 1186 until he died in 1200, and he was canonised in 1220. It is sometimes said Saint Hugh of Lincoln installed the first Rector of Saint Peter’s in 1222, but by then he had been dead for 22 years, and the Bishop of Lincoln at the time was Hugh of Wells.
6, Central light lower, two saints: Saint Clement (Pope Clement I), a first century pope, is said to have been consecrated by Saint Peter himself. He is shown wearing the papal tiara and vestments and holding a papal cross. Saint Catherine of Alexandria, with the wheel of her martyrdom, the Catherine wheel, is carrying a palm branch, a symbol of martyrdom. The east chapel beside the south transept in Saint Peter’s Church is dedicated to Saint Catherine.
7, Right light lower, two martyrs: Saint Leonard, according to legend, freed prisoners from their chains, and he is traditionally depicted holding broken manacles. Many churches in Sussex and the Midlands are dedicated to him. Saint Thomas Beckett was at one time in charge of Berkhamsted Castle, and was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral, on the orders of Henry II. He is depicted here with a sword piercing his bishop’s mitre.
The artist’s hidden initials ‘NHW’ are etched in the stained glass in two places, one at the end of Saint Joseph’s robes, above the pavement in the bottom left corner, the other on the end of Saint Clements’s robes, to the right of his papal staff.
William Cooper’s nephew, Sir Richard Powell Cooper (1847-1913), eventually became the sole proprietor of the business, and was given the title of baronet in 1911, associated with Shenstone Court, near Lichfield. Sir Richard’s son, Sir Richard Ashmole Cooper (1874-1946), inherited the family business and title, and donated the reredos depicting Christ the King to Saint Mary’s Church, Lichfield, and the Friary site to the City of Lichfield.
Coopers was bought by the Wellcome pharmaceutical giant in 1973. The Berkhamsted works eventually closed and most of the buildings have since been demolished.
Images of Christ the King can be seen in two other windows in Saint Peter’s Church, Berkhamsted.
The east window (1872) by Clayton and Bell is a memorial to the poet William Cowper. It depicts the Christ the King flanked by the women and disciples going to the empty tomb at the first Easter. The inscription at Christ’s feet is taken from Cowper’s hymn, ‘The Saviour, what a noble flame’: ‘Salvation to the dying man, And to the rising God.’ The original Chancel is now the vestry, and the window is not available to public viewing.
The south transept window (1873), also by Clayton and Bell, depicts the Resurrection of the Dead described in the Book of Revelation. It is a detailed, picturesque window, crowned by an image of Christ the King in the top section.
Matthew 4: 18-22 (NRSVA):
18 As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake – for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’ 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
Today’s Prayers (Thursday 30 November 2023):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Preventing Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (30 November 2023, Saint Andrew) invites us to pray in these words:
Let us pray for a greater awareness of the prejudices we carry. May we be open to one another and change our way of seeing.
The Collect:
Almighty God,
who gave such grace to your apostle Saint Andrew
that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ
and brought his brother with him:
call us by your holy word,
and give us grace to follow you without delay
and to tell the good news of your kingdom;
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:
Almighty God,
who on the day of Pentecost
sent your Holy Spirit to the apostles
with the wind from heaven and in tongues of flame,
filling them with joy and boldness to preach the gospel:
by the power of the same Spirit
strengthen us to witness to your truth
and to draw everyone to the fire of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect
God the Father,
help us to hear the call of Christ the King
and to follow in his service,
whose kingdom has no end;
for he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, one glory.
Yesterday’s Reflection (Images of Christ the King in Lichfield Cathedral)
Continued Tomorrow (Church of Christ the Saviour, Ealing Broadway)
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
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