Daily prayer in Lent with early English saints: 28, 12 March 2024, Saint Dunstan of Canterbury

Saint Dunstan depicted in a stained glass window above the High Altar in Saint Dunstan-in-the-West Church, Fleet Street, London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

We are more than half-way through the Season of Lent, which began on Ash Wednesday (14 February 2024), and this week began with the Fourth Sunday in Lent (Lent IV), also known as Laetare Sunday and Mothering Sunday or Mother’s Day (10 March 2024).

Throughout Lent this year, I am taking time each morning to reflect on the lives of early, pre-Reformation English saints commemorated in the Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship.

Later this afternoon, I am taking part by Zoom in an academic meeting in Cambridge, and in the evening I am attending a meeting of the Town Centre Working Group in Stony Stratford. But, before this day begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, A reflection on an early, pre-Reformation English saint;

2, today’s Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Saint Dunstan (second from left) with Archbishop Lanfranc, Saint Anselm and Archbishop Langton depicted in a window above the High Altar in Saint Dunstan-in-the-West Church, Fleet Street, London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Early English pre-Reformation saints: 28, Saint Dunstan of Canterbury

Saint Dunstan (988), Archbishop of Canterbury and Restorer of Monastic Life, is commemorated in Common Worship on 19 May. He was born near Glastonbury ca 910 into a noble family. He received a good education and spent time at the court of the King of Wessex.

A saintly uncle urged him to enter the monastic life; he delayed, but followed the advice in time, on recovering from an illness. Returning to Glastonbury, Dunstan lived as a monk, devoting his work time to creative pursuits: illuminating, music, and metalwork.

The new king made him abbot in 943, and this launched a great revival of monastic life in England. Starting with Glastonbury, Dunstan restored discipline to several monasteries and promoted study and teaching.

Under two later kings, he rose to political and ecclesiastical eminence, being chief minister, Bishop of London and then Archbishop of Canterbury under King Edgar. This enabled him and his followers to extend his reforms to the whole English Church.

As Bishop of London and lord of the manor of Stepney, Saint Dunstan, replaced an existing wooden structure with a stone church ca 952 and dedicated it to All the Saints.

Dunstan fell from political favour in 970, but he continued as Archbishop of Canterbury, preaching and teaching. He died in 988.

Saint Dunstan was canonised by acclamation in 1029, and the church in Stephney was rededicated to Saint Dunstan and All Saints, a dedication it retains to this day.

Saint Dunstan’s Church, Stepney … dates back to long before 952 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

John 5: 1-3, 5-16 (NRSVA):

1 After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. 3 In these lay many invalids – blind, lame, and paralysed.

5 One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ 7 The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.’ 8 Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk.’ 9 At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.

Now that day was a sabbath. 10 So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, ‘It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.’ 11 But he answered them, ‘The man who made me well said to me, “Take up your mat and walk”.’ 12 They asked him, ‘Who is the man who said to you, “Take it up and walk”?’ 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. 14 Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, ‘See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.’ 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath.

The carvings of a ship (left) and the devil and Saint Dunstan’s tongs (right) above the west door (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 12 March 2024):

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 ‘Lent Reflection: JustMoney Movement.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by Matt Ceaser, Movement Builder, JustMoney Movement.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (12 March 2024) invites us to pray in these words:

Help us Lord to be advocates for a fairer economy which prevents poverty and the lack of freedom that comes along with this.

The Collect:

Merciful Lord,
absolve your people from their offences,
that through your bountiful goodness
we may all be delivered from the chains of those sins
which by our frailty we have committed;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for Jesus Christ’s sake, our blessed Lord and Saviour,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Lord God,
whose blessed Son our Saviour
gave his back to the smiters
and did not hide his face from shame:
give us grace to endure the sufferings of this present time
with sure confidence in the glory that shall be revealed;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Merciful Lord,
you know our struggle to serve you:
when sin spoils our lives
and overshadows our hearts,
come to our aid
and turn us back to you again;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday: Alfred the Great

Tomorrow: Saint Alphege of Canterbury (1012), Martyr

The ruined Church of Saint Dunstan in the East is a tranquil oasis in the heart of the City of London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Saint Dunstan in the East is now a popular venue for parties, receptions and photoshoots (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The mosque in Wolverton is the largest and newest mosque in Milton Keynes

The Central Jamia Mosque in Wolverton was converted from an old post office building in 1995 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan began last night, on the evening of Sunday 10 March, and today has been the first day of fasting. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. The annual observance of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam and lasts 29 to 30 days, from one sighting of the crescent moon to the next.

In the days immediately before Ramadan, I visited the Central Jamia Mosque at 14-16 Church Street in Wolverton this week. It is the largest and newest of the Sunni masajids or mosques in Milton Keynes.

It was converted from an old post office building in 1995, with just one main room and an initial capacity for 350 people. Since then, the mosque in Wolverton has gone through many phases of development and progress. As the Muslim population of Wolverton grew over the past 30 years, the mosque has seen much structural change, extension and improvement, inside and outside.

A second larger room, the Shaikan Ahmed Alfarsi Hall, was built in 2003, bringing the capacity of the masjid to close to 1,600 people – 1,450 in the men’s section and 150 in the women’s section upstairs.

The mosque has a fairly large wudu area and also provides facilities for funeral preparation and body-washing. The small car park in the grounds has about 25 spaces.

Inside the Central Jamia Mosque in Wolverton, the largest and newest of the Sunni masajids or mosques in Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Most Pakistanis living in Milton Keynes originate from the Azad Kashmir area and speak Punjabi, Mirpuri and Urdu. The Pakistani community in Milton Keynes is well dispersed, but there is a significant concentration in Wolverton.

At first, the khutbah or sermon was delivered in Urdu, reflecting the large Pakistani community that lives in Wolverton and the surrounding areas. However, an ever increasing number of non-Urdu-speaking Muslims have been living in the area, and the khutbah is now delivered in both Urdu and English, and English is the mosque’s primary language used.

The Central Jamia Mosque is a hub for the Muslim community in Wolverton. As it has grown and developed, it has become a welcoming and inclusive place of worship for a diverse community, fostering a sense of belonging and unity.

Nūr Academy is a children’s madrasah attached to the mosque. It has a full curriculum that includes Quran recitation and memorisation, Islamic law, prophetic biography and Islamic creed.

The Shaikan Ahmed Alfarsi Hall was built in 2003, bringing the capacity of the masjid to close to 1,600 people (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The Central Jamia Mosque is open to visitors throughout the year. It welcomes a large number of visitors from schools, colleges, universities and other institutions wishing to find out more about a mosque and about Islam.

The other Sunni mosques in Milton Keynes include the Milton Keynes Islamic and Cultural Association at South Row in central Milton Keynes, the Jamee Masjid in Bletchley and the Islamic Centre in Coffee Hall. The Shia Muslim community is served by the Zainabiya Islamic Centre in Granby, Bletchley, and there is also an Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Milton Keynes.

The mosque in Granby is in traditional style, with a dome and a minaret, but the other mosques are in buildings converted from other uses.

I have visited a variety of churches throughout Milton Keynes over the past two years, I have a long association with the synagogue, and I have been to the Japanese Buddhist monastery and pagoda at Willen Lake for a number of events, including the annual Hiroshima Day commemorations.

With the frightening rise in antisemitism, Islamophobia and religious hatred, it is important that we all get to know our neighbours well, and to reassure them of their valued place in our society and culture. Ramadan offers suitable opportunities to engage with our Muslim neighbours.

Ramadan offers suitable opportunities to engage with our Muslim neighbours (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)