Daily prayer in Lent with early English saints: 30, 14 March 2024, Saint Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor depicted in a statue on the west front of Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Laura Howard)

Patrick Comerford

Lent began a month ago 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.

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.

King Edward the Confessor (left) and Saint Hugh of Lincoln in the Cooper window in Saint Peter’s Church, Berkhamsted (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Early English pre-Reformation saints: 30, Saint Edward the Confessor

Saint Edward the Confessor is commemorated in Common Worship on 13 October. Edward was born in 1002, the son of the English King Ethelred and his Norman wife Emma. Living in exile during the Danish supremacy, he was invited back to England in 1042 to become king, and was heartily welcomed as a descendant of the old royal line.

However, his reign was a balancing act between the influences of stronger characters at his court or overseas, sustained by Edward’s diplomacy and determination.

Edward’s reputation for sanctity was built on his personal, more than his political, qualities. He was concerned to maintain peace and justice in his realm, to avoid foreign wars, and to put his faith into practice. He was generous to the poor, hospitable to strangers, but no mere pietist.

As a young man, Edward had vowed to go on pilgrimage to Rome should his family fortunes ever be restored. He later felt it irresponsible to leave his kingdom, and was permitted instead to found or endow a monastery dedicated to Saint Peter. Edward chose the abbey on Thorney Island, by the river Thames, thus beginning the royal patronage of Westminster Abbey.

He died on 5 January 1066 and his remains were translated to a new shrine in Westminster Abbey on 13 October 1162.

Edward the Confessor founded Westminster Abbey and is buried there (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 5: 17-30 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 31 ‘If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. 33 You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.

39 ‘You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. 40 Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. 41 I do not accept glory from human beings. 42 But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?’

The tympanum of the portal shows in Westminster Cathedral shows Christ enthroned, with a knelling Edward the Confessor on the right (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 14 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 (14 March 2024, Commonwealth Day) invites us to pray in these words:

Let us pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ across the Commonwealth, a political association of 54 free and equal states across the world.

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: Saint Alphege of Canterbury

Tomorrow: Lanfranc (1089), Prior of Le Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury

The altar in the chapel dedicated to Saint Edward the Confessor in Sint Chad’s Cathedral, Birmingham (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

If Jaipur Restaurant is demolished, Milton Keynes loses a unique taste of India

The former Jaipur Restaurant on the corner of Grafton Gate and Avebury Boulevard in Milton Keynes … closed since 2022 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

Milton Keynes may be about to lose one of its most curious landmarks and a unique architectural work on a prominent, busy city centre corner. Since I moved here two years ago, I have been captivated by the former Jaipur Restaurant on the busy corner of Grafton Gate and Avebury Boulevard, a few hundred paces from Milton Keynes Central train station to the south-west.

With its elegant domed-roof, its covered balconies, verandas and colonnades, the building looks like it has been transplanted from India’s majestic past and the places of the maharajas.

Jaipur is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. The city, with a population of 3.1 million, is the tenth largest city in India. Jaipur is also known as the ‘Pink City’ because of the colour scheme of buildings in old city.

Jaipur was founded in 1727 by Sawai Jai Singh, the Kachhwaha Rajput ruler of Amer, who gave the city its name. It is one of the earliest planned cities of modern India, and during the days of the Raj the city was the capital of Jaipur State.

Jaipur is a popular tourist destination and is part of the west Golden triangle along with Delhi and Agra. It has two World heritage sites and is included on the World Heritage Cities list.

The Jaipur restaurant in Milton Keynes was built in the style of an Indian palace or temple, with a dome, covered balconies and verandas inspired by the Chandra Mahal, or Palace of the Moon, still the palatial home of the Maharajas of Jaipur.

The Chandra Mahal, or Palace of the Moon, the palatial home of the Maharajas of Jaipur, inspired the design of the Jaipur restaurant in Milton Keynes (Photograph: Jakub Hałun / Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 4.0)

When the Jaipur restaurant opened in 2002, it was said to be the largest purpose-built Indian restaurant in the world. At the time, it was owned by Abdul Ahad, a high profile member of the Bangladeshi community, who dubbed the Jaipur not his ‘Chandra Mahal’ but his own ‘mini Taj Mahal.’

The building housed the Jaipur Indian restaurant on the ground floor and the Orchid Lounge Thai restaurant upstairs. It was a busy and popular venue, and also become a well-known wedding venue. Inside, the Jaipur had luxurious decor and opulent architectural features, including a curved staircase, a beautiful chandelier and a raised domed roof light, as well as an ornate veranda and a number of balcony areas.

The company was put into liquidation at the end of 2014, owing substantial debts. But it was bought back two months later, in January 2015, for more than £1 million by a consortium led by Adbul Ahad, who reopened the restaurant.

Jaipur closed suddenly in 2018. When it re-opened it was as a late-night cocktail and clubbing venue housing the Atesh bar and restaurant.

But on the day after Christmas Day, 26 December 2021, Nagiib Maxamed (28) was fatally stabbed outside the premises during a party. He died in hospital from his wounds two days later, on 28 December 2021. The venue’s drink licence was subsequently suspended by Milton Keynes Council and it closed down completely shortly after.

The dome, covered balconies and verandas of the Jaipur restaurant were inspired by the Chandra Mahal, the palace of the Maharajas of Jaipur (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The former Jaipur building has remained closed for the past two years, and developers have now proposed building a 33-storey apartment block on the site, with the proposed name of Jaipur Tower.

The application by Smith Jenkins Planning and Heritage on behalf of Galliford Try Investments seeks full planning permission for a 33-storey high-rise residential tower block with 302 built-to-rent apartments, ranging from one- to two-bedroom flats to accommodate one to four people.

The proposals include communal spaces that could include a gym and co-working spaces, two rooftop terraces on the ninth and 29th floors, and commercial use at ground floor and mezzanine floor level. According to the planning application, this would be a car-free development and no car parking spaces are included in the plans.

The proposed tower block would be one of the tallest buildings in Milton Keynes. Reports say the planning application has prompted many objections from nearby residents, who have describes the proposal as ‘hideous,’ ‘unsightly’ and out of character with the area.

The site is beside the 10-storey Premier Inn hotel, with a ground floor restaurant and bar. The Premier Inn says the tower block would result in ‘direct adverse impacts and potential risks to the hotel, as well as lack of light and privacy for guests.’

Residents in neighbouring areas and estates say the development would impact on their roads and infrastructure – and would be a blot on the landscape at the city centre, changing the character of the area and the view.

The Jaipur building has been vacant since 2022 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

With its distinctive style, the Jaipur building has been well-loved locally and is still regarded as an architectural landmark. But the building has been vacant since 2022, and the application claims ‘there is little to no prospect of it being re-used as a restaurant.’

Conservation officers at Milton Keynes City Council say it is not officially considered to have special heritage value, and it has never been considered as a heritage asset. A report says this rules out any heritage objections to the redevelopment of the site.

Despite an original planning principle in Milton Keynes that no building could be higher than the tallest tree, a worrying precedent was set in 2021 when planning permission was granted for a 33-storey ‘vertical village’ block with 288 apartments as part of the redevelopment of Saxon Court, the council’s former housing offices.

Milton Keynes is fast becoming a city of skyscrapers, and may soon lose one of its unique architectural landmarks.

The Jaipur restaurant in Milton Keynes was said to be the largest purpose-built Indian restaurant in the world (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)