Morning prayers in Easter with USPG: (6) 14 April 2023

Adam and Eve depicted in the East Window in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

Easter Day on Sunday (9 April 2023) ushered in all our hopes and joys.

I am in Prague on the last day of a very brief mid-week visit to the Czech capital. But, before this day begins, and before returning to England, I am taking some time early this morning for prayer, reflection and reading. In these days of Easter Week, I am reflecting each morning in these ways:

1, Short reflections on the stained-glass windows in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton;

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

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

The Sacrifice of Abel depicted in the East Window in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The East Window, Outer Circle:

The East Window in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton, dominates the chancel and the whole church. This is a spectacular Rose window by Nathaniel Westlake in 1888, with eight lobes around a large central circle and.

This window was the final element in the scheme of decoration in the church carried out from 1870 on under the supervision of the Stony Stratford-born architect Edward Swinfen Harris.

The window provides a magnificent climax to the interior of the church, drawing the attention of worshippers and visitors to the high altar below it.

The central panel window depicts the Crucifixion, with the Virgin Mary and Saint John, Christ standing beside the Cross. The inner circle surrounding the central panel depicts four scenes I described on Wednesday morning (12 April 2023).

The middle circle depicts six Biblical figures – King David and five prophets: Jeremiah, Isaiah, Amos, Daniel and Job – and two representations of the IHS monogram, described in my posting yesterday (13 April 2023).

The outer circle surrounding the central image of the Crucifixion depicts six Biblical stories, as well as an image of the Risen Christ and a symbol of the Holy Trinity

These six Biblical scenes combine to tell the story of perfect worship and sacrifice:

1, Adam and Eve: This image shows Adam and Eve beneath the Tree of Knowledge, with the serpent, and Eve offering fruit from the Tree of Knowledge (Genesis 2-3). Westlake’s signature, in the form of his initials, can be seen in this panel, behind one of Eve’s feet.

2, The Sacrifice of Abel: Abel is kneeling before a stone altar, offering his sacrifice (Genesis 4: 2-4).

3, The Sacrifice of Noah: Noah and his family – in all, the eight people who survived the flood – are offering a sacrifice (Genesis 8: 20-22).

4, The Sacrifice of Melchizedek: the priest Melchizedek is offering bread and wine, a foretaste of the Eucharist and a forerunner of Christ as the Great High Priest (Genesis 14: 1-24; see Hebrews 7: 1-28).

5, The Sacrifice of Abraham: Abraham is offering his son Isaac as a sacrifice … but God has other plans (Genesis 22: 1-19).

6, The Tree of Life in the Book of Revelation: The Tree of Life in the Book of Revelation is a symbol of perfect worship:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22: 1-5)

This window is by the stained glass artist NHJ Westlake (1833-1921). He was a partner and finally the sole proprietor of Lavers, Barraud & Westlake (1855-1920s), a London-based firm that changed its name several times and became Lavers, Westlake and Co, and eventually NHJ Westlake, before closing in the 1920s.

The Sacrifice of Noah depicted in the East Window in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

John 21: 1-14 (NRSVA):

21 After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2 Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We will go with you.’ They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ 6 He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. 8 But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

9 When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.’ 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ because they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

The Sacrifice of Melchizedek depicted in the East Window in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Today’s Prayer:

The theme in this week’s prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘USPG’s Lent Appeal: supporting young mothers affected By HIV.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by USPG’s Fundraising Manager, Rebecca Allin, who reflected on the 2023 Lent Appeal supporting young mothers affected by HIV, and their children.

The prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (14 April 2023, Friday of Easter Week) invites us to pray:

Let us pray for our neighbour near and far. May we reach out to those in need and seek to build inclusive communities where all are valued and none excluded.

Collect:

Lord of all life and power,
who through the mighty resurrection of your Son
overcame the old order of sin and death
to make all things new in him:
grant that we, being dead to sin
and alive to you in Jesus Christ,
may reign with him in glory;
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
be praise and honour, glory and might,
now and in all eternity.

Post Communion:

God of Life,
who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son
to the death of the cross,
and by his glorious resurrection
have delivered us from the power of our enemy:
grant us so to die daily to sin,
that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his risen life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

The Sacrifice of Abraham depicted in the East Window in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton (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 Tree of Life in the Book of Revelation depicted in the East Window in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Looking for Kafka’s Charlotte Street in Prague … and in Wexford and Dublin

Charlotte Street in Wexford runs between the Quays and North Main Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Franz Kafka is Prague’s best-known writer, and one of the main selling opportunities for many of the tourist shops and outlets in the Czech capital.

How times of changed. Under Communist rule, Czechs made samizdat copies of Kafka’s works such as The Metamorphosis. Now, along with the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle, Kafka has become a part of Prague kitsch. ‘He’s everywhere and he’s for sale everywhere,’ Jachym Topol, the author of five novels and a political dissident in the 1970s and 1980s, once told the New York Times. ‘It’s his last joke.’

In The Metamorphosis, Gregor lives ‘in the quiet but completely urban Charlotte Street,’ and he could have believed that from his window he was peering out at a featureless wasteland, in which ‘the gray heaven and the gray earth had merged and were indistinguishable.’

Charlotte Street is described as a desert, and Gregor feels less and less like himself as each day goes by. On Gregor’s Charlotte Street, the gray sky and gray earth have become almost indistinguishably fused, and Gregor can no longer tell the difference between his happiness and sadness. Because of his isolation, Gregor has lost his ability to relate to the outside world, causing him severe loneliness.

There may have been a Charlotte Street in Prague in 1912, the year in which The Metamorphosis is set, but I have not found it this week.

Charlotte and I are here for a few days, but we are unlikely to find Charlotte Street this week. BHowever, as I mused about searching for Gregor’s street in Prague, I reminded myself of Charlotte Street, Charlotte Row and Charlotte Quay in Dublin, Charlotte Street in Wexford, Carlow and Sligo, and Charlotte Quay in Limerick.

Charlotte Quay in Dublin … do the street names honour Princess Charlotte or Queen Charlotte? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Charlotte Street is a short street in the centre of Wexford Town, a mere 0.08 km in length, running from the Quays to a point on North Main Street facing the Ulster Bank, which closed last week.

Charlotte Street in Wexford is best known as the home of the Centenary Stores, one of the town’s most popular night spots, and the home of the Charlotte Street Festival, with live music, family activities and an outdoor beer garden.

But who is the Charlotte who gives her name to Charlotte Street in Wexford?

In the past, the street was called Custom House Lane. It may have also been called Courthouse Lane, according to local historian Nicky Rossiter. This may have been because of its proximity to the old Wexford Courthouse.

Nicky Rossiter suggests the street is named after Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales (1796-1817). Princess Charlotte was the only child of George, Prince of Wales, later King George IV, and his wife, Caroline of Brunswick. She was expected to succeed to the throne as Queen after the deaths of her grandfather, George III, and her father, George IV, but she died in childbirth before both of them, at the age of 21 in 1817.

Local historians offer the same explanation for the name of Charlotte Quay in Dublin. However, it is more likely that Charlotte Street in Wexford – and all the other streets with this name in Ireland – was named after Queen Charlotte (1744-1818), wife of George III and mother of his 15 children.

There were efforts to change the name of Charlotte Street to Colbert Street in 1920, after Con Colbert, who was executed by firing squad for his role in the 1916 Rising. But the planned name change was rejected in a plebiscite in 1932.

Charlotte Way in Dublin recalls the name of Charlotte Street, which was closed by ministerial order in 1992 and no longer exists (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Charlotte Street is a lost street in Dublin, close to Kelly’s Corner, where Camden Street now meets Charlemont Street, South Richmond Street and Harrington Street. The names of Charlotte Street and the once tiny Old Camden Street have disappeared in recent decades, although there is a reminder of the name of Charlotte Street in the name of the newly-laid out Charlotte Way.

The road south from Camden Street along Charlemont Street once marked the road to Milltown.’ What became Charlotte Street was developed in 1780, and it connected Camden Street and Charlemont Street.

The street’s name was chosen to honour of Queen Charlotte (1744-1818), wife of George III and mother of his 15 children. She founded Kew Gardens, was the mother of 15 children, a patron of the arts and is said to have commissioned Mozart. At this time, the area was on the edge of the city, but by the 1790s there were significant developments along the route.

Charlotte Street housed many small businesses over the years. The street was in terminal decline by the mid-20th century, and plans were drawn up to close the street and develop a modern office complex. Charlotte Street was closed by ministerial order on 28 July 1992, and no longer exists. But its past is acknowledged in the name of Charlotte Way running around the office complex, from the ‘Bleeding Horse’ pub to Harcourt Street.

A statue in Queen Square, London, of Queen Charlotte, wife of George III (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Queen Charlotte is also remembered in Edinburgh’s New Town in the namesof Charlotte Square and in London by the names of Charlotte Street in Fitzrovia and Queen Square in Bloomsbury.

Queen Square was once said to have been named in honour of Queen Anne, although she died in 1714, before the square was laid out. A lead statue in the square shows a queen in ornamental robes, and she originally held a sceptre. The plaque on the plinth is missing, and it was once thought to be Queen Anne or Mary II. However, most guidebooks now agree this is a statue of Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III.

The Queen’s Larder, the pub at No 1, dates from 1710. According to tradition, Queen Charlotte rented a cellar under a beer shop to store the king’s food while her husband was being treated by his doctor, the Revd Dr Francis Willis, during recurrent bouts of madness.

Although Queen Charlotte was married to the British monarch at the time of the American War of Independence, she is still celebrated over 200 years after her death in Charlotte, the city in North Carolina to which she gave her name.

Coincidentally, the city also has a large statue celebrating Franz Kafka and The Metamorphosis. Known as ‘Metalmorphosis’, it is a mirrored sculpture in the Whitehall Technology Park and is the work of the Czech artist and sculptor David Černý.

Strolling through Prague this week, we are in a city that is as far as I can imagine from Gregor’s experience of a place where the gray heaven and the gray earth merge and are indistinguishable. This is a joyful city to be in with Charlotte this week, and, unlike Gregor, I know the difference between happiness and sadness.

Charlotte Street seen from Wexford’s Quays, with the Centenary Stores on the left, the former Ulster Bank on North Main Street and White’s Hotel in the distance (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)