Patrick Comerford
We are in the last two weeks of Lent, and this week began with the Fifth Sunday in Lent (Lent V), sometimes still known as Passion Sunday. The Church Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers the life and witness of Harriet (O’Brien) Monsell (1811-1883), the Limerick-born founder of and first Superior of the Community of Saint John the Baptist or Clewer Sisters.
I have been on a 24-hour fast in preparation for an appointment this morning for blood tests as part of the continuing monitoring of my post-stroke condition, my sarcoidosis and my low levels of Vitamin B12. But, before the day begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:
1, reading today’s Gospel reading;
2, a short reflection;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
John 8: 51-58 (NRSVA):
[Jesus said:] 51 ‘Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.’ 52 The Jews said to him, ‘Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, “Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.” 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?’ 54 Jesus answered, ‘If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, “He is our God”, 55 though you do not know him. But I know him; if I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. 56 Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.’ 57 Then the Jews said to him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’ 58 Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.’ 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
Today’s Reflection:
The conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders in Jerusalem continues in the Gospel reading at the Eucharist (John 8: 51-58) today. Today’s reading opens with Jesus promising that ‘whoever keeps my word will never see death’ (verse 51), but ends with him being threatened with death himself as his interlocutors picked up stones to throw at him (verse 59), threatening him with the very same form of execution that faced the woman who had been caught in adultery and was brought before Jesus by scribes and Pharisees at the beginning of this chapter (John 8: 1-11), which we read about on Monday (23 April 2026).
That woman escaped being stoned to death when Jesus challenged her accusers, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her’, and then wrote on the ground (verse 7-8).
Jesus escapes death this time, hiding himself and going out of the temple (verse 59). But we know his death is inevitable, and we shall focus on his passion and his death, not by stoning but on the Rock of Golgotha, next week throughout Holy Week.
Harriet Monsell (1811-1883), who is remembered today, is one of the few Irish-born women in the Calendar of Saints in Common Worship in the Church of England. She was the daughter of Sir Edward O’Brien (1773-1826) of Dromoland Castle, Co Clare, and a sister of the Irish patriot William Smith O’Brien (1803-1864).
Harriet and her Irish-born husband Canon Charles Henry Monsell (1815-1850) were closely identified with the Oxford Movement. After he died in 1850, she began working in the railroad and army village of Clewer among former prostitutes and unmarried mothers at a House of Mercy. The house had been founded some years earlier by Mrs Mariquita Tennant, who was a Spanish refugee, a convert to Anglicanism and a clergyman’s widow.
Harriet Monsell moved to Clewer with her sister Catherine and her husband, Canon Charles Harris, later Bishop of Gibraltar. Harriet Monsell professed religious vows with two other women, and became Mother Superior of one of the first Anglican religious orders since the Reformation 300 years earlier.
The women lived according to a rule attributed to Saint Augustine of Hippo. At first, they were called the Sisters of Mercy. They later changed their name to reflect their inspiration from Saint John the Baptist’s call to penitence. During the order’s first five years, it expanded from assisting about 30 marginalised women to dedicating a building to serve about 80 women.
The foundation of the sisterhood was viewed with alarm, but the Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce, despite his misgivings, acted as Visitor to the Community until he moved to Winchester in 1869.
As the Community of Saint John Baptist, the nuns were guided by Mother Harriet, with her energy and humour. They extended their original mission to running about 40 institutions, including mission houses in parishes, as well as orphanages, schools and hospitals. Mother Harriet retired to Folkestone, Kent, in 1875 for health reasons, although she was occasionally able to visit the communities she founded.
She died in Folkestone on the morning of 25 March 1883, which that year was both the Feast of the Annunciation and Easter Day. Because of this coincidence, her commemoration in the Calendar of the Church of England has been moved to the following day, 26 March.
Today’s Prayers (Thursday 26 March 2026):
The theme this week (22-28 March 2026) in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Myanmar Earthquake: One Year On’ (pp 40-41). This theme was introduced on Sunday with a programme update by the Revd Davidson Solanki, the USPG Senior Regional Manager for Asia and the Middle East.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 26 March 2026) invites us to pray:
Lord, we thank you for those who have provided support over the past year; church workers, volunteers, aid workers, and faithful supporters.
The Collect:
Most merciful God,
who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ
delivered and saved the world:
grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross
we may triumph in the power of his victory;
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:
Lord Jesus Christ,
you have taught us
that what we do for the least of our brothers and sisters
we do also for you:
give us the will to be the servant of others
as you were the servant of all,
and gave up your life and died for us,
but are alive and reign, now and for ever.
Additional Collect:
Gracious Father,
you gave up your Son
out of love for the world:
lead us to ponder the mysteries of his passion,
that we may know eternal peace
through the shedding of our Saviour’s blood,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s Reflections
Continued Tomorrow
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
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