Daily prayers in the Kingdom Season with USPG: (12) 16 November 2023

Inside the Church of San Giovanni Battista dei Celestini or the Celestini in Bologna (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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 Third Sunday before Advent and Remembrance Sunday (12 November 2023).

Today, the Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship (16 November) celebrates the lives of Margaret, Queen of Scotland (1093), Philanthropist, Reformer of the Church, and Edmund Rich of Abingdon (1240), Archbishop of Canterbury.

Before today begins, I am taking some time for prayer and reflection early this morning.

Throughout this week, I am continuing my theme of Italian cathedrals and churches. My reflections this morning are following this pattern:

1, A reflection on a church in Bologna;

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

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

The Church of San Giovanni Battista dei Celestini or the Celestini faces Piazza De’Celestini in Bologna (Photograph: Lorenzov it / Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista dei Celestini, Bologna:

The Church of San Giovanni Battista dei Celestini or the Celestini is a Renaissance-style church on the corner of Via D’Azeglio and Piazza De’Celestini in Bologna.

The Celestine order was founded as a branch of the Benedictine by Saint Pietro da Morrone (1215-1296), who was Pope Celestine V briefly for five months from 5 July 1294 until he resigned on 13 December 1294. He died in prison on 19 May 1296 and was canonised in 1313.

The order came to Bologna in 1368 on the invitation of Antonio Galluzzi, who endowed it with a monastery and a church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. Under his patronage, the Celestines built their church and monastery on the other side of Via San Mamolo, where the Galluzzis had their palace. The church became a parish church in 1482.

The church was rebuilt in its present layout in 1535-1554, incorporating the ancient Church of Santa Maria Rotonda dei Galluzzi. The convent was rebuilt in 1560-1561, and the bell tower was added in 1580.

The church was rebuilt once again by Carlo Francesco Dotti and Francesco Tadolini in the 18th century.

The Celestine order was suppressed in 1797. The convent was earmarked as the meeting room of the Council of Thirty, along with the demolition of some buildings to enlarge the space in front. Nothing came of these plans however, and from 1798 the convent housed variously the administration of the Lotto game, the registry office, the conscripts’ bureau, the archive of suppressed religious communities, and an engineering school.

The church continued to act as a parish church until 1806, when it was attached to a new parish centred on the Church of Santissimo Salvatore. It became a parish church once again in 1824, when the Canons Lateran returned to the Salvatore church, and the Celestini remained a parish church until 1987.

Inside the church, the fresco in the vault depicting the soul of Saint Peter Celestine being carried by angels to Heaven is by Giacomo Boni and Giacinto Garofalini (1714).

The sacristy was designed by Francisco Tadolini, and has stuccowork by his brother Petronio, Antonio Gamberini and Pier Martire Bagutti (1765) and an altarpiece by Gaetano Sabbatini.

The presbytery is by Giovanni Antonio Burrini and Enrico Haffner (1688) and the church has paintings by Marc’Antonio Franceschini, Lucio Massari, Anna Maria Crescimbeni, Giovanni Andrea Donducci (known as Mastelletta), Emilio Taruff, Lucia Casalini Torelli, Gaetano Sabbattini and Anna Mignani Grilli, and there are statues by Giuseppe Mazza.

Today, the former convent of the Celestine monks is home to the State Archives.

The fresco depicting the soul of Saint Peter Celestine being carried to Heaven is by Giacomo Boni and Giacinto Garofalini (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 17: 20-25 (NRSVA):

20 Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; 21 nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or “There it is!” For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.’ 22 Then he said to the disciples, ‘The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 They will say to you, “Look there!” or “Look here!” Do not go, do not set off in pursuit. 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 25 But first he must endure much suffering and be rejected by this generation.’

The altarpiece by Gaetano Sabbatini shows the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child with Saint John the Baptist, Pope Celestine V and Saint Luke (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 16 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), draws on ‘A Prayer for Remembrance Sunday and International Day of Tolerance’. This theme was introduced on Sunday.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (16 November 2023, International Day for Tolerance) invites us to pray in these words:

Let us be inclusive and accepting of each other, whatever our differences may be.

The Collect:

God, the ruler of all,
who called your servant Margaret to an earthly throne
and gave her zeal for your Church and love for your people
that she might advance your heavenly kingdom:
mercifully grant that we who commemorate her example
may be fruitful in good works
and attain to the glorious crown of your saints;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

God our redeemer,
who inspired Margaret to witness to your love
and to work for the coming of your kingdom:
may we, who in this sacrament share the bread of heaven,
be fired by your Spirit to proclaim the gospel in our daily living
and never to rest content until your kingdom come,
on earth as it is in heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

The High Altar and chancel in the Celestine Church in Bologna (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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

On the Via Farini in Bologna … the vaulted arcades are attractive features in the city (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Queensway Methodist Church in Bletchley was built in 1908 but has a story dating back to 1813

Queensway Methodist Church is the main Methodist church in Bletchley (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

Queensway Methodist Church is the main Methodist church in Bletchley, a constituent town of Milton Keynes. Bletchley is in the south-west of Milton Keynes, and the town is split between the civil parishes of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and West Bletchley.

Bletchley is best known for Bletchley Park, the headquarters of the codebreakers during World War II and now a major tourist attraction.

Queensway is the main shopping street in Bletchley. Bletchley Road was renamed Queensway after a royal visit in 1966 and part of it was redeveloped as Stanier Square. This area became the new high street in Bletchley with wide pavements where there were once front gardens.

Before Bletchley Road was renamed Queensway in 1966, Queensway Methodist Church was known as Bletchley Road Methodist Church. But the history of the church goes back to 1813, when a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel was first built on the High Street in Bletchley in 1813.

The Methodist Chapel on the High Street was rebuilt in 1845 and was refurbished in 1882, with new seating for at a cost of £155. A site for a new church was bought in Bletchley Road in 1907 from a Mr Lee and the trustees of the Duncombe Estate, and the Methodist trustees set up a committee in 1908 to build a church with seating for 300.

The new church was designed by the Birmingham architect Ewen Harper at an estimated cost of £1,851 10s.

Ewen Harper (1853-1920) was born in Darlaston, Staffordshire, on 31 May 1853 and was articled to David Smith & Son in Birmingham in 1870. He also attended Birmingham School of Art. He was awarded the Queen’s Medal in 1872 and won a South Kensington Art Master’s prize in 1875, having been a teacher of science and art for some years while studying architecture.

Harper established his own practice at 27 Bennett’s Hill, Birmingham, in 1875. He was in partnership with his brother, James Alfred Henry Harper (1866-1952), from 1897 as Ewen & J Alfred Harper, also known as Ewen Harper, Brother & Co, at Ruskin Chambers, 191 Corporation Street, Birmingham.

The Harper brothers were fervent Methodists, and most of their work was in the Birmingham area. As well as designing many commercial, industrial, public and domestic buildings, they designed a large number of non-conformist churches.

Ewen Harper was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1907. When he retired in 1919, his son Leonard Ewen Harper (1886-1954) became a partner in the practice. Ewen Harper died in Birmingham on 5 February 1920. The firm continued as Ewen Harper, Brother & Co, until 1937.

Works by Ewen and J Alfred Harper include: the Wesleyan Chapel, Willenhall (1889); Hart Memorial United Methodist Chapel, Gravelly Hill (1890); the Wesleyan Chapel, King’s Norton (1891); Wolverton Methodist Church (1892); the Baptist Church, the Green, Stafford (1895); the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Waterloo Road, Smethwick (1896); Headless Cross Wesleyan Methodist Church, Redditch (1897); the Mission Hall, Hockley (1897); Friends’ Institute, Balsall Heath (1897); Birmingham Town Mission, Tindal Street, Birmingham (1897); Bournville Almshouses (1897); Ruskin Buildings, Corporation Street, Birmingham (1899); the former Methodist Central Hall, Birmingham (1900-1903); the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Llandrindod Wells, Wales (1903); and the Methodist New Connection Church, Blackheath, Rowley Regis (1904).

The former Methodist Church in Wolverton is one of the four major Grade II listed buildings in the town.

The Methodist church in Bletchley was designed by the Birmingham architect Ewen Harper (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

By 1909, 250 circulars had been sent out seeking subscriptions for the new Methodist church in Bletchley. The foundation stone was laid on 10 July 1909, with music from the Luton Town Band, and singing by the Wolverton and Woburn Sands choirs. There was a similar ceremony at the official opening then church by the Revd William Perkins in November 1909.

Meanwhile, the older Methodist chapel was sold in 1912 to Barber’s Picture Palaces. It became a popular entertainment venue during World War I, when a large number of troops were based in the town.

A recreation room known as ‘The Hut’ was built at the back of Bletchley Road Methodist Church in 1919, providing accommodation for a Sunday School and social functions. A wooden hut in the grounds was used by the Methodist Girl Guides from 1934.

At the outbreak of World War II, hundreds of evacuees arrived in Bletchley and ‘The Hut’ became the Rest Centre, or Bletchley Refugee Reception Centre. The large vestry room was also used in the early months of the World War II to cope with the evacuees arriving in the town.

For the most part the evacuees received a genuine welcome in the town. But when the hut began to be used as the ‘Bletchley Refugee Reception Centre,’ the notices were ripped down.

The wooden hut was destroyed by fire in 1955. The foundation stones for a new Sunday school hall were laid in July 1961, and it was built alongside the church.

When Bletchley Road was renamed Queensway after a royal visit in 1966, Bletchley Road Methodist Church was renamed Queensway Methodist Church.

As for the cinema in the former Methodist chapel in Bletchley, it was known successively as the King George Cinema and the Picture Palace, and then became the County Cinema in 1932. County Cinemas were taken over by the Oscar Deutsch chain of Odeon cinemas in 1941.

The cinema closed in 1957. The building was empty and unused when it was demolished ca 1972, and the Durrans Court housing development was built on the site.

The Revd Edson Edson Dube is the Methodist minister in Bletchley and Superintendent Minister of the Milton Keynes Methodist Circuit. Queensway is grouped with the Freeman Memorial Church and Newton Longville Free Church. Sunday worship in Queensway Methodist Church is at 10:30 am and 2:30 pm. Weekday church activities include ‘Queensway Toddlers’, prayer, Bible study and fellowship meetings, coffee mornings with books and fellowship, and Bible study meetings.

Bletchley Road Methodist Church was renamed Queensway Methodist Church in 1966 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)