Daily prayer in Lent with early English saints: 31, 15 March 2024, Lanfranc of Canterbury

Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury in the window above the High Altar in the Church of Saint Dunstan-in-the-West, Fleet Street, London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

Lent began over 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.

Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury (left) with Saint Dunstan, Saint Anselm and Archbishop Stephen Langton in the window above the High Altar in Saint Dunstan-in-the-West, Fleet Street, London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Early English pre-Reformation saints: 31, Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury

Lanfranc (1089), Prior of Le Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury is remembered with a commemoration in Common Worship on 28 May. Lanfranc was born in Pavia, Italy, ca 1005. At the age of 35, he became a monk of the Benedictine Abbey in Le Bec, Normandy. There he founded the school that rose rapidly to renown throughout Europe.

William of Normandy appointed him Abbot of Caen in 1062, and then in 1070 Archbishop of Canterbury in 1070. Lanfranc was a great ecclesiastical statesman, overseeing administrative, judicial and ecclesial reforms with the same energy and rigour that the Conqueror displayed in his new kingdom.

Lanfranc did not forget his monastic formation: he wrote Constitutions for Christchurch, Canterbury, based on the customs of Le Bec, and appointed many Norman abbots to implement his vision in the English abbeys. He died in 1089.

The Church of Saint Mary-le-Bow, London, was built ca 1080 by Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury, who had accompanied William the Conqueror from Bec in Normandy (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 7: 1-2, 10, 25-30 (NRSVA):

7 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him. 2 Now the Jewish festival of Booths was near.

10 But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were in secret.

25 Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? 26 And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah? 27 Yet we know where this man is from; but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.’ 28 Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, ‘You know me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him. 29 I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.’ 30 Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come.

Archbishop Lanfranc depicted in a stained-glass window in Canterbury

Today’s Prayers (Friday 15 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 (15 March 2024) invites us to pray in these words:

We pray Lord for the mission of the JustMoney Movement and their vision of a world where money is used to shape a fairer, greener future for everyone.

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 Edward the Confessor

Tomorrow: Saint Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester

Archbishop Lanfranc depicted in a statue at Canterbury Cathedral

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

Could the plans for Grafton Park help to make Milton Keynes ‘the greenest city in the world’

Grafton Park is a quiet corner beside the former Jaipur Restaurant in the centre of Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

I was writing last night about the threatened demolition of the former Jaipur restaurant in the centre of Milton Keynes, and with that the loss of one of the architectural landmarks and unique buildings in the heart of the city.

The proposals to replace the Jaipur building, modelled on the Chandra Mahal, the palace of the Maharajas of Jaipur, and to replace it with a 33-storey high-rise tower block, would mean the loss of a unique building that has never been recognised for its distinctive design. But the plans have also raised concerns that Milton Keynes ‘is fast becoming a city of skyscrapers.’

Is it ironic, or a sign of hope, that at the same time, Grafton Park, a little-known and almost-hidden park beside the former Jaipur restaurant, is part of an interesting plan to make Milton Keynes ‘the greenest city in the world’?

Plans were announced last year (2023) to transform this hidden and overgrown site in the middle of one of the busiest areas in the centre of central Milton Keynes into an attractive urban park and a new haven for wildlife.

At the moment, Grafton Gate Park is a seldom-visited, little-used and overgrown space between Lower Second Street and Lower Fourth Street. It is to the left of the former Jaipur restaurant and the Premier Inn, a few hundred metres from Milton Keynes Central rail station and close to the former bus station in Elder Gate.

The park is a hidden gem with five ponds and a number of waterfalls. The ponds and waterfalls are prone to flooding, but work is being carried out to remedy this. Landscaping work is aimed at cutting back overgrown bushes and trees, removing ivy, clearing litter, and making the park a more attractive space for both people and wildlife.

Milton Keynes City Council is working on the transformation in partnership with MyMiltonKeynes and the landlord, MKDP.

The project is part of a longer-term aim to create a masterplan for Grafton Park and make the 9,000 square metre site a premium city park. It is also hoped that Grafton Park will achieve green flag status, recognising well-managed green spaces.

The bird tower is earmarked to become a central attraction in Grafton Park (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Councillor Jenny Wilson-Marklew (Labour) has said: ‘Grafton Park is a hidden gem in the middle of the city centre that deserves to be maximised to its full potential. She describes the development of Grafton Park development as a critical flagship project that will help Milton Keynes become ‘the greenest city in the world.’

The proposals include refurbishing public art and sculptures in the park – including the bird tower that is earmarked to become a central attraction – upgrading pathways upgraded, installing benches and bins and improving the signage.

Grafton Park is in the south-west quarter of Milton Keynes, between CBX and the former Bus Station. Its style contrasts with the more formal layout of the Fred Roche Gardens. To the north-east stand Witan Gate House, with more recent office developments to the north and south, while Premier Inn and the former Jaipur Restaurant are beside the south-west corner.

The park featured as a major green space in early plans prepared for Milton Keynes Development Corporation, and from about 2000 it was named on plans and maps as Grafton Park.

The long, narrow rectangular site slopes east to west and is surrounded by shrubs and hedging. The ground has been sculpted into interesting landforms and the north and south sides have been planted with birch and pines.

A large informal pool at the east end is surrounded by bamboo and birches. This feeds into a small stream or rill that flows down the site through waterfalls to a more formal, central round pond. From there, the stream flows gently to disappear at the garden’s west boundary.

The stream interconnects with the main path running east-west, with metal grids to act as pedestrian bridges. The path is lined with ornamental grasses and sedges and the garden is laid to lawns leading up to the boundary shrubbery.

If Grafton Park is successfully transformed into attractive urban park and a new haven for wildlife, is all that work going to be fruitless if it falls under the shadow of a 33-storey high-rise tower block on the site of the beautiful but fading and decaying former Jaipur restaurant?

Ninety seconds by a water feature in Grafton Park (Patrick Comerford)