A guide to some cathedrals, churches and monasteries visited in Greece over 40 years

Collecting my own Greek churches … a souvenir shop in Koutouloufari in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Over the past week or so, I have been sifting through photographs of and postings about cathedrals, churches, chapels and monasteries throughout Greece, putting together this guide to the churches and church sites I have visited, similar to those I have compiled for churches in Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire, Staffordshire and the Diocese of Lichfield, Oxford, Co Wexford, Co Limerick and Dublin.

I have been a frequent visitor to Greece for almost 40 years, since the late 1980s, when I first stayed in Rethymnon. In time, three churches have become, effectively, my parish churches in Crete: the Church of the Four Martyrs in Rethymnon, and the paired churches in Platanias and Tsesmes. As the list of Greek churches, cathedral, chapels and monasteries I have visited grows, I am surprised how many I have visited, and by this afternoon the number has grown to more than 130.

But I am also surprised by the number of churches I have visited in Greece but have never blogged about or have lost my photographs of.

I compiled a now-lost feature as a guide to the cathedrals and churches of Athens to mark the Athens Olympics in 2004. But over the past 22 years, all those notes and photographs seem to have been lost on old laptop, missing memory sticks, or on memory sticks that no longer seem to remember anything.

Gone too are photographs from my journeys throughout the Peloponnese and past visits to many islands on working trips and family holidays, including islands such as Halki, Ikaria, Kalolimnos, Kalymnos, Kephallonia, Kos, Patmos, Pserimos, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini and Zakynthos.

Missing are notes and photographs from many places in Athens and the Peloponnese, especially from Mystras, with its amazing hill-top Byzantines ruins and from islands such as Ithaka, Kephalonia –including churches that are part of the story of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Kalymnos, Kos, Leros, Patmos, Pserimos, Rhodes, Samos, Symi and Zakynthos. The photographs from Patmos included the Monastery of Saint John and the cave where he wrote the Book of Revelation.

Lost too are photographs from those early visits to Crete from the 1980s, including churches in Vai, Ierapetra and Paliachora, and monasteries such as Gonia Monastery (Μονή Γωνιάς), or the Monastery of Panagia Hodegetria (Μονή της Οδηγήτριας) in Kolymbari, about 26 km outside Chania, with the Orthodox Academy of Crete and its Patristic library – it was the venue for the Pan-Orthodox Synod ten years ago in June 2016, and I may try to recover some of those memories in a posting in the days to come.

To make it easier to find those memories and postings, or to download my photographs of Greek churches, I have put together this guide in recent days. It does not include Greek Orthodox churches and cathedrals I have visited outside Greece; nor are all the churches in this guide Greek Orthodox – some are Anglican and Roman Catholic.

As I recover some more of those lost photographs and memories, or find more of these postings lost in poor labelling, I intend to update this guide and to provide a link in the toolbar at the top of this site.

The tiny Church of Kapnikarea, stranded in the middle of Ermou Street in Athens (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Athens:

1, Agia Dynami Church, Athens (29 Spril 2024)

2, Church of Kapnikarea, Ermou Street (21 August 2017)

3, Saint Paul’s Church (Anglican), Philellenon Street, Athens (25 February 1997) and HERE (25 January 2026)

4, Church of Aghios Philippos (Apostle Philip), Monastiraki (21 August 2017)

Every visitor to Corfu wants a picture postcard photograph of Vlacherna, with its convent and church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Corfu:

Cathedrals:

5, The Cathedral of the Virgin Spiliotissas and Saint Vlassis and Saint Theodora, Corfu (5 September 2019) and HERE (1 August 2021)

6, Achilleion Palace chapel, Gastouri (4 August 2021)

7, (former) Church of the Annunziata (Roman Catholic), Corfu (29 April 2020)

8, Church of Saint Eleftherios and Saint Anna, Corfu 6 September 2019) and HERE (3 August 2021)

9, (former) Saint George’s Church (Anglican garrison church), Corfu (7 August 2021)

10, Saint George, Aghios Georgios (29 April 2020)

11, Holy Trinity Church (Anglican church), Corfu (4 September 2019) and HERE (7 August 2021)

12, Church of the Panagia Kassopitra, Kassiopi (4 September 2019) and HERE (5 August 2021)

13, Church of Panagia Mandrakina, Corfu (6 September 2019) and HERE (29 April 2020)

14, Church of Saint Spyridon, Corfu (25 August 2019) and HERE (2 August 2021)

15, Church of Saint Spyridon, Palaiokastritsa (6 August 2021)

16, Vlacherna church and convent (3 September 2019) and HERE (29 April 2020)

Saint Nicholas Chapel, on an islet off the coast of Crete at Georgioupoli (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Crete:

Aghios Nikolaos:

17, Saint Nicholas, Aghios Nikolaos (5 December 2022)

Argiroupolis:

18, Church of Aghia Dynami, Argiroupolis (8 July 2017)

Chania:

Cathedrals:

18, Cathedral of the Panaghia Trimartiri, Chania (19 June 2018)

19, Cathedral of the Assumption (Roman Catholic), Chania

20, Aghia Magdalini, Dagli Street, Chalepa (2 July 22017)

Élos:

21, Agios Ioannis Theologos, Élos (17 July 2016) and HERE (19 April 2020)

22, Aghios Nikolas, Élos (19 April 2020) and HERE (5 Deceember 2022)

Georgioupoli:

23, Analipsi Church, Georgioupoli (14 June 2018)

24, Saint Barbara, Georgioupoli (14 June 2018)

25, Chapel of the Prophet Elijah (16 June 2018)

26, Feriniki Chapel (16 June 2018)

27, Chapel of Aghios Nikolaos, Georgioupoli (9 July 2017) also HERE (20 June 2018) and HERE (5 December 2022)

Gramvousa:

28, Chapel of the Twelve Apostles, Gramvousa Bay (8 July 2016) and HERE (19 April 2020)

Hóra Sfakíon

29, Searching for the 100 churches and chapels of Hóra Sfakíon (17 June 2018)

Saint Minas Cathedral in Iraklion is one of the largest and most impressive churches in Greece (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Iraklion:

Cathedrals:

30, Saint Minas Cathedral, Iraklion (20 April 2025) and HERE (24 July 2017)

31, (former) Saint Mark’s Church (former cathedral), Eleftheriou Venizelou Square (25 May 2025)

32, Saint Titus Church (former cathedral) (18 May 2025)

Churches and chapels:

33, Saint Andreas Church, Nikolaos Plastiras Street (25 May 2025)

34, Saint Catherine of Sinai, Iraklion (8 May 2021) and HERE (3 September 2017)

35, Saint Dimitrios Church, Marineli Street (25 May 2025)

36, Saint Dimitrios Church, Ikarou street (25 May 2025)

37, Holy Cross Church (Roman Catholic), Iraklion (23 May 2026)

38, Church of Saint Matthew of the Sinaites, Iraklion (4 May 2025)

39, Saint Minas Church, Iraklion (20 April 2025)

40, Saint Peter’s Church (Saint Peter and Saint Paul), Iraklion (11 May 2025)

See also:

41, The Cretan School of Icons and its contribution to Western Art, public lecture (27 June 2009)

Kalamitsi Alexandrou:

42, Church of Aghia Triada, Kalamitsi Alexandrou (22 June 2018)

Kourtaliotiko Gorge:

43, Agia Kyriaki Chapel (not available yet)

The church bell in the Byzantine-style Church of Aghios Vasilios in Koutouloufári, in the hills above Hersonissos in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Koutouloufári:

44, Aghios Vasilios, Koutouloufári (4 July 2010), also HERE (7 May 2021), HERE (22 April 2023) and HERE (24 April 2024)

Maroulas:

45, Church of Aghia Anna (4 September 2016)

46, The double Church of Aghios Nikolaos and Aghios Antonios (4 September 2016)

47, The Despotiko, summer residence of the Archbishop of Rethymnon (4 September 2016)

Panormos:

48, (former) Basilica of Aghia Sophia (3 July 2017) and HERE (25 April 2025)

49, Church of Saint Agathopodos, Panormos (25 April 2024)

50, Church of the Ascension and Saint George, Panormos (5 May 2021) and HERE (21 April 2025)

51, Graveyard chapel, Panormos (25 April 2024)

The Church of the Transfiguration rises high above the village of Piskopianó (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Piskopianó:

52, Church of the Transfiguration, Piskopianó (24 April 2024)

53, (former) Church of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, Piskopianó (24 April 2024)

54, (former) Church of Saint Dimitrios (24 April 2024)

55, Graveyard chapel, Piskopianó (24 April 2024)

The Church of the Four Martyrs is the largest church in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Rethymnon:

Cathedrals:

56, The Cathedral of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple, Mitropolis Square (29 March 2021), and also HERE (4 May 2021) and HERE (27 April 2025)

57, (former Venetian) Cathedral of Saint Nicholas, the Fortezza (8 October 2021)

58, Aghios Anargyron, Koumoundourou Street (29 April 2024)

59, Saint Anthony’s Church, Mitropolis Square (17 January 2026) and HERE (3 October 2021)

60, Saint Anthony of Padua Church (Roman Catholic), Mesolongíou Street (11 January 2018) and HERE (10 October 2021)

61, Saint Barbara’s Church, Aghia Barbara Street (11 June 2018), also HERE (6 Seprember 2021)

62, (former) Saint Catherine’s Church, the Fortezza (6 October 20221)

63, Saint Constantine and Saint Helena Church (28 September 2021) and HERE (27 April 2025)

64, (former) Corpus Christi Chapel, beside the Nerantze Mosque (6 July 2012) and HERE (9 October 2021)

65, Church of the Four Martyrs, Tessaron Martiron Square (3 May 2021) and HERE (27 Apri;l2025)

66, (former) Saint Francis Church, now the The Archaeological Museum of Rethymnon, Ethnikís Antistaseos Street (4 October 2021) and HERE (27 April 2025)

67, Saint George’s Church, Aghios Gheorghíou Street (1 OHERE (23 April 2024)

68, Saint George’s Church, Egeou Street (23 April 22024)

69, (former) Saint Lazarus Church, Patelárou Street (8 July 2012)

70, (former) Santa Maria Church, Ethnikis Antistaseos (Nerantze Mosque), Rethymnon (27 April 2025)

71, Saint Mary Magdalene Church, Nea Magnesia (22 July 2017)

72, Mikri Panaghia (Church of Our Lady of the Angels), Nikifórou Foká Street (30 September 2019), and HERE (8 July 2012)

73, Saint Nektarios Church, Ioannou Melissinou street, Rethymnon (27 September 2021)

74, Saint Nektarios Church, Tsemes (19 April 2023)

75, Saint Nicholas Church, Priskosoridi street and Emmanouil Kefalogianni avenue (6 December 2023)

76, (former) Church of Aghia Sophia, Koronaíou Street, Rethymnon (6 July 2012)

77, (former) Church of Saint Theodore or Aghios Theodoros Trachinás, the Fortezza (7 October 2021)

78, Aghia Triada (Church of the Holy Trinity), Platanias (5 October 2021) and HERE (19 April 2023)

See also:

79, The former Episcopal Palace, the Fortezza, Rethymnon (8 October 2021)

80, The Bishop’s Palace, Mousoúrou Street, and the Diocesan Church Museum, Rethymnon (8 July 2012)

81, ‘The Bishop’s House’, Rethymnon (1 October 2021)

82, Greek roadside shrines (4 July 2016)

Spinalonga:

83, The Church of Saint Panteleímon (4 October 2010)

Kastellórizo:

84, Cathedral of Saint Constantine and Saint Helena, Kastellórizo (6 November 2011)

85, Church of Saint George of the Well, Kastellórizo (6 November 2011)

The blue-domed churches of Santorini in a poster … poster and picture-postcard images of Greek churches (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Santorini:

86, Saint Anastasis Church and the churches of Santorini (30 March 2014), also HERE (9 June 2017), HERE (4 September 2017) and HERE (30 November 2017)

Thessaloniki:

Cathedrals:

87, Cathedral of Saint Gregory Palamas (26 July 2021) and HERE (18 April 2020)

88, Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Frangon Street (18 April 2020)

Churches and chapels:

89, Church of Óssios Davíd (18 April 2020)

90, Church of Aghios Dimitrios (27 July 2021), also HERE (26 October 2020) and also HERE (18 April 2020)

91, Church of the Prophítis Ilías (18 April 2020)

92, Church of Saint Menas (18 April 2020)

93, Church of the Panagia Acheiropoietos (7 April 2018), also HERE (28 July 2021) and HERE (18 April 2020)

94, Church of Panaghía Chalkéon (29 July 2021) and HERE (18 April 2020)

95, Church of Panagia Deksia (31 July 2021) also HERE (18 April 2020)

96, Church of Aghios Panteleimon (18 April 2020)

97, The Rotunda Church, Aghios Georgios (25 July 2021) and HERE (18 April 2020)

98, Church of the Saviour or the Church of the Transfiguration (9 April 2018), also HERE (30 July 2021) and HERE (18 April 2020)

99, Church of Aghia Sophia (18 April 2020)

The Monastery of Arkadi, near Rethymnon, is the best-known monastery in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Monasteries in Greece:

Crete:

100, Monastery of Saint Anastasia, Tsesmes (30 June 2021) and HERE (4 July 2016)

101, Arkadi Monastery (5 July 2012), also HERE (11 July 2017) and HERE (1 May 2021)

102, Moni Arsanios (Saint George), Pagalohori (29 June 2021) and HERE (3 July 2016)

103, (former) Saint Barbara’s Monastery (Kara Musa Pasha Mosque), Rethymnon (1 July 2021) also and HERE (24 August 2014)

104, Capuchin Friary, Chania ()

105, Panagia Chalevi, near Chromonastiri (2 Seotember 2013)

106, Chryssoskalítíssa (the Golden Step) (19 June 2023) and HERE (30 May 2024))

107, Agia Irini, near Rethymnon (10 October 2013), also HERE (25 August 2014) and HERE (27 June 2021)

108, Gonia Monastery (Panagia Hodegetria), Kolymvari (not available yet)

109, Saint George, Karydi (21 June 2018)

110, Saint John the Theologian, Preveli (28 August 2014) and HERE (28 June 2021)

111,The monastic Church of Saint Paisios, Damnoni (19 September 2021) and HERE (7 November 2021)


112,The monastic Chapel of Saint Savvas, Preveli (not avilable yet)


113, Aghios Panteleimon, Adele (3 July 2016)

114, Agia Triada Tsangarolon, Chania (31 May 2024)

A monastery built on a rock top in Meteora (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Meteora:

115, All Saints or Varlaam (27 August 2019) and HERE (6 October 2019)

116, Great Meteoron (27 August 2019) and HERE (6 October 2019)

117, Holy Trinity (27 August 2019) and HERE (6 October 2019)

118, Rousanou or Saint Barbara (27 August 2019) and HERE (6 October 2019)

119, Saint Nicholas Anapafsas, near Kastraki (27 August 2019) and HERE (6 October 2019)

The katholikon or main church in the Monastery of Vatopedi on Mount Athos (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mount Athos:

120, Mount Athos on the Chalkidiki peninsula (19 June 2004), also HERE (2 September 2018), and HERE (24 April 2020)

121, Dionysiou (2 September 2018), also HERE (24 April 2020)

122, Docheiariou (2 September 2018), also HERE (24 April 2020)

123, Esphigmenou (2 September 2018) also HERE (24 April 2020)

124, Gregoriou (2 September 2018), also HERE (24 April 2020)

125, Saint Panteleimon (2 September 2018) also HERE (24 April 2020)

126, Saint Paul (2 September 2018), also HERE (24 April 2020)

127, Simonopetra (2 September 2018), also HERE (24 April 2020)

128, Vatopedi (19 June 2004), also HERE (24 April 2020) and HERE (1 April 2021)

129, Xenophontos (2 September 2018) also HERE (24 April 2020)

130, Xeropotamou (2 September 2018) also HERE (24 April 2020)

131, Zographou or Saint George the Zograf Monastery also HERE (24 April 2020)

132, The Skete of Mount Athos, including Kelli Ayiou Modestou, Skiti Monoxilites, and Metochi Chourmitsis (2 September 2018), also HERE (24 April 2020)

The Monastery of Vlatadon in the hills above Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Thessaloniki:

133, The Monastery of Vlatádon, Thessaloniki (9 April 2020), also HERE (18 April 2020), and HERE (29 April 2021)

See Also:

134, The offices of Mount Athos, Egnatia Street, Thessaloniki (2 September 2018) and HERE (18 April 2020)

135, The Greek word εκκλησία (ekklesia), Church (13 August 2025)

136, The Greek words ναός (naos) and ἱερός (ieros), Church (19 September 2021)

137, The Greek words μοναστήριον (monastērion), ‘a monastery,’ (21 August 2025)

A roadside shrine near the Sunset Taverna in Rethymnon, after sunset behind the Fortezza (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Daily prayer in Easter 2026: 50, Sunday 24 May 2026, Day of Pentecost (Whit Sunday)

The Day of Pentecost depicted in a fresco in the Church of the Transfiguration in Piskopiano in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Easter is a 50-day season, beginning on Easter Day (5 April 2026) and continuing through Ascension Day until today, the Day of Pentecost or Whit Sunday (24 May 2026).

Later this morning, I hope to be part of the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, singing with the choir. But, before today 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.

‘Come Holy Spirit’ … the holy water stoup in the Chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 14: 8-17 (25-27), NRSVA:

8 Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ 9 Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. 12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

15 ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

[25 ‘I have said these things to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.’]

Pentecost or the Descent of the Holy Spirit, by Titian, in the Church of Santa Maria della Salute, Venice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

Rabbi David Aaron opens one of his books with a story about the comedian Henny Youngman, the ‘King of One-Liners,’ who once said, ‘I tried being an atheist, but I gave it up. There are no holidays.’

There are three great holidays in the Calendar of the Church when canon law expects the Eucharist to be celebrated in every cathedral and church: Christmas Day, Easter Day and the Day of Pentecost, today.

Each of these holidays or holy days is a day that celebrates how God has come among us and how God invites us to be with him.

They are just like our own holidays.

How often do you remember a holiday as a time when someone came to visit you, or you went to visit someone special in your family?

I have fond memories of long, extended holidays spent on my grandmother’s farm near Cappoquin in West Waterford.

How many of us know Christmas would not be Christmas without visiting the homes of family members, or special people in our lives and families coming to visit us, or even stay with us?

We have had two family members visiting our small flat in Stony Stratford in recent weeks. Despite its size, we have tried to make this flat a place of hospitality, where people can come and visit us, and sometimes stay with, live with us, even if only for a short time.

These principal holy days or holidays in the life of the Church – Christmas, Easter and Pentecost – are holidays to celebrate how God comes to dwell with us.

1, At Christmas, we celebrate the Incarnation: God comes as Christ to live among us, as one of us.

2, At Easter, God invites to us to come and dwell with him, to become what we are truly made to be.

3, At Pentecost, God as the Holy Spirit comes and dwells with us.

In a typical American way of telling it, David Aaron in that book, Inviting God In (Boston and London: Trumpeter, 2006), makes a distinction between a vacation and a holiday.

He argues that a vacation is a time to get away, such as time on the beach, playing golf or going to a good concert.

A holiday, on the other hand, is a time to celebrate. ‘A holiday,’ he says, ‘is not an escape from everyday life to paradise. Rather, it is a time to infuse paradise into everyday life.’

Playing with the words celebrate and celestial, he says a holiday is a holy day in which we see the celestial within the terrestrial.

The Hebrew name for a holy day, moed (מועד), is used especially for the three great Biblical festivals of Passover, Shavout or Pentecost, which was celebrated over the last few days (21-23 May 2026), and Sukkot (Booths). This Biblical word describes special days set apart from non-sacred days. It actually means ‘date,’ ‘appointed time’ or ‘meeting.’ In other words, these great holidays are actually times to meet God, they truly are dates with God.

And a date with someone special, involves getting dressed up, going somewhere special, perhaps having a special meal together, all in the hope and with the promise of getting to know each other better, of enjoying each other’s company.

David Aaron points out that each of these holy days is a date with God and celebrates a critical ingredient in the recipe for a loving relationship with God and with our fellow human beings – freedom, responsibility, fallibility, accountability, forgiveness, spontaneity, integrity, wholeness, intimacy, anticipation, hope and trust.

Those great holy days are about recalling the great encounters, dates with God in the past, making them real in the present, and looking forward to the promises that they are imbued with, that they may become real in the future.

David Aaron points out that each of these holy days is a date with God. Each holiday is an opportunity to relive the dramatic events that occurred on those days – to remember and celebrate God’s timeless love for us.

In the Feast of Pentecost, we remember how God the Holy Spirit comes to dwell with us, and the Church is formed on the Day of Pentecost.

Until then, they were a small collection of followers of Jesus. Now they become one body. And the Holy Spirit is living in this body.

There is a wise old maxim that you do not really know someone until you live with them. As Sean O’Casey has Joxer say in his play Juno and the Paycock (1925), ‘if you want to know me, come an’ live with me.’

In the ‘reality television’ series First Dates, now in its eleventh series on RTÉ, when people have their first dates, they behave so nicely to one another. They put on their best clothes and finest perfume or aftershave, they are polite, they try to have the best table manners, show they know the best wine and food, and are oh so courteous, considerate and caring.

But when you live with someone, you get to know that person really. Their highs and their lows, their habits and their fads, what they really smell like, how short their fuses may be … even what they really think.

Pentecost celebrates how the Holy Spirit comes to dwell among us, how God wants to live with us and wants us to live with God.

This is the promise of Jesus to his Disciples at the Last Supper that we hear in the Gospel reading this morning (John 14: 8-17, 25-27):

He tells them first that he is alive in God the Father, and that God the Father is alive in him, and that he will ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit, who ‘abides with you, and he will be in you.’

It is the promise at our Confirmation, it is the promise at my ordination. But it is God’s promise to all, at Pentecost.

Because of Pentecost, God lives with us, and we live with God. We have been formed into one body, the Body of Christ. There are no more barriers, based on social class, gender, birth, job title, language, sexuality, nationality, ethnicity … or any of the other barriers we search for to separate us one from another.

The Holy Spirit breaks down all those barriers.

It sounds crazy.

It is crazy … by the normal pushy standards we see all around us. No wonder some people who saw what happened that first Pentecost in Jerusalem sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine’ (Acts 2: 13).

But then, God loves us, and wants more than a first date. God wants to live with us, and wants us to live with God.

Like a holy date, our Pentecost Eucharist or Holy Communion later this morning includes some of the elements we might expect on a date with God. We dress up nicely, we tell stories, we ask about one another, in our prayers we share our hopes and dreams and sorrows, we eat with another.

God has come to live with us, and now invites us to share his love, and to show this love in how we care for one another, pray for another, and how we now look at the world through the love-tinted glasses of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Pentecost breaks down the doors we lock and the walls we build to separate ourselves from God and from each other … a locked old door in the streets of the old town in Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Acts 2: 1-21 (NRSVA):

1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs – in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ 13 But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

17 “In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

The Day of Pentecost depicted in an icon in the Greek Orthodox Church in Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Sunday 24 May 2026, Day of Pentecost, Whit Sunday):

This week in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), from 24 to 30 May 2026 (pp 58-59), the theme is ‘Carriers of the Flame’ and is introduced today with reflections by Carol Miller, Church Engagement Manager, USPG:

‘At Pentecost we remember how the Holy Spirit came like fire, igniting the hearts of the first disciples and sending them out into the world. That same Spirit continues to inspire USPG supporters today – people whose faith has led them to champion mission, justice, and care across generations.

Some have served overseas: “I was a missionary in Zimbabwe from 1981 to 1985 … I keep USPG and the church in Zimbabwe in my prayers.” Others have shared professional skills: “I first volunteered in the USPG library in Tufton Street in 1980 and shortly after was appointed Librarian.”

‘For some, USPG is part of their heritage: “My mother was an SPG medical missionary in Delhi in the late 1930s and early 40s, so it has always been part of my heritage.” For others, it has shaped a lifelong vocation: “We went as missionaries to Southern Africa with USPG between 1983–1991 … later I joined the staff.”

‘At Pentecost we give thanks for this great cloud of witnesses - ordinary people carrying the flame of faith, passing it on to the next generation, and reminding us that the Spirit still calls, still sends, and still empowers us to serve God’s world.

‘USPG continues this mission today. You can be part of it; by praying, volunteering, becoming a parish contact or representative in your diocese, or giving to support life-changing projects. Together, we carry the flame.’

The USPG prayer diary today (Sunday 24 May 2026, Day of Pentecost, Whit Sunday) invites us to pray and to reflect by reading and meditating on John 20: 19-23, celebrating the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Collect:

God, who as at this time
taught the hearts of your faithful people
by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit:
grant us by the same Spirit
to have a right judgement in all things
and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort;
through the merits of Christ Jesus our 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:

Faithful God,
who fulfilled the promises of Easter
by sending us your Holy Spirit
and opening to every race and nation
the way of life eternal:
open our lips by your Spirit,
that every tongue may tell of your glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Holy Spirit, sent by the Father,
ignite in us your holy fire;
strengthen your children with the gift of faith,
revive your Church with the breath of love,
and renew the face of the earth,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

The Day of Pentecost depicted in the iconostasis in the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in London (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

Holy Cross Chapel near the bus station in Iraklion recalls the lengthy story of the Catholic presence in Crete

A cross on the wall of the Chapel of the Holy Cross, near the KTEL bus station in Iraklion (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Over the past week or so, I have been going through old photographs of and postings about churches, chapels and monasteries in Crete and throughout Greece, trying to put together a guide to those churches and church sites I have visited, similar to those I have compiled for churches in Milton Keynes and Buckingham, Lichfield and Staffordshire, Oxford, Wexford, Limerick and Dublin.

I have been a frequent visitor to Greece for almost 40 years, since the late 1980s, when I first stayed in Rethymnon.

As my list of Greek churches, cathedral, chapels and monasteries grows, I am surprised how many churches and church sites I have visited, and as I compile the guide the number has already grown to more than 130, of which almost 80 are in Crete alone. But I am also taken aback by the number of churches I have visited in Greece but never blogged about or have lost photographs of.

Although I wrote a now-lost feature as a guide to the cathedrals and churches of Athens to mark the Athens Olympics in 2004, all those notes and photographs seem to have been lost on old laptops or on memory sticks that no longer seem to remember anything. Gone too are my photographs from my journeys throughout the Peloponnese and past visits to many islands on working trips and family holidays, including Halki, Ikaria, Kalymnos, Kephallonia, Kos, Patmos, Pserimos, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini and Zakynthos.

But, as I was going through those photographs and blog postings over the past week or so, I also came across photographs of a church in Iraklion that I have noticed during recent stopovers when I have spent Easter weeks in Rethymnon and visited friends in Piskopiano or had dinner with old friends in Iraklion, and two other chapels that I had visited during treks across the mountains from Rethymnon to the Monastery of Preveli on the south coast of Crete.

The Chapel of the Holy Cross in Iraklion was built in 1893, five years ago before Ottoman Turkish rule in Crete came to an end (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

I have known Iraklion throughout all those 40 years since the 1980s. The old KTEL bus station was moved a few years ago from beneath the old Megaron Hotel about 200 metres east and a bit inland. The main bus station in Iraklion now stands on Ikarou Avenue, where it serves the long-distance intercity buses on routes along the north coast of Crete, including buses to Chania and Rethymnon to the west and Hersonissos and Agios Nikolaos to the east.

Without that move, Ikarou Avenue may have remained a back street in Iraklion and I might never have noticed the small 130-year-old Catholic chapel on Ikarou Avenue. The Chapel of the Holy Cross is at the old Catholic cemetery, close to the KTEL bus station and on a side road off Efesou Road.

The Chapel of the Holy Cross (Παρεκκλήσιο Τίμιος Σταυρός) was a built in 1893, five years before the expulsion of the Ottoman Turks in 1898 and the formation of an autonomous Cretan State headed by Prince George of Greece and Denmark. Crete was not fully incorporated into the modern Greek state until 1906, and this was not recognised internationally until 1913.

The Chapel of the Holy Cross (Παρεκκλήσιο Τίμιος Σταυρός) was a built in 1893 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

In the past, during Venetian rule, Iraklion had many Catholic churches, including Saint Mark’s Cathedral in the heart of the city or prominent monastic churches such as the Dominican Church of Saint Peter.

Pope Alexander V is the only Pope to have been born a Catholic in Crete. He was born Peter Phillarges (Πέτρος Φιλάργης) near modern Neapoli in 1339, under Venetian rule, and became a Franciscan. He was pope from 1409 to 1410, but is now regarded as an antipope.

The Catholic Diocese of Crete was re-established as a bishopric in 1874, initially as a suffragan of the Archbishop of İzmir. Today, the Bishop of Crete is a suffragan of the Archbishop of Naxos, Andros, Tinos and Mykonos, the Catholic cathedral is in Chania, and there are Catholic churches in Crete in Iraklion, Chania and Rethymnon.

Plaques on the wall of the Chapel of the Holy Cross recall the work of Father George Roussos and Father Petros Roussos in restoring the building (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The small, pre-independence Chapel of the Holy Cross near the new KTEL bus station was built at the entrance to old Catholic cemetery in Iraklion in 1893 by Italian priests serving the small remaining Catholic community in Iraklion.

Today, the main Catholic church in Iraklion is the Church of Saint John the Baptist at Antoniou Patros, near the old port. The church was first built in 1888. The church was severely damaged in the earthquake in 1959 and had to be demolished and rebuilt.There has been a long presence of Capuchin Franciscans in Crete and the pastor at that time, Father George Roussos, built the present church in 1961-1962. Father Petros Roussos, who was the pastor from 1980 to 2008, also refurbished the Capuchin monastery next to the church.

Despite its small size, the church has mass in six different languages and welcomes everyone to coffee afterwards. Daily Mass is usually in the evening, while the Sunday morning Masses are often multilingual to meet the needs of both tourists and expats.

Plaques on the wall of the Chapel of the Holy Cross recall the work of Father George Roussos and Father Petros Roussos in restoring the building. Today, the chapel is primarily a resting place for funerals in the old Catholic cemetery and it is seldom used for the celebration of public Masses. But I may never have noticed this chapel if the main KTEL station in Iraklion had not been moved a few hundred metres a few years ago.

As for that catalogue or index of the churches I have visited in Crete and throughout Greece over the past 40 years, I hope to have that ready within the next few days, as well as some of those other churches, chapels and monasteries that I have found in photographs that I thought I had lost.

The chapel is primarily a resting place for funerals and is seldom used for public Masses (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Daily prayer in Easter 2026: 49, Saturday 23 May 2026

‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!’ (John 21: 21) … Saint John with the poisoned chalice, a statue on the Great Gate of Saint John’s College, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Easter is a 50-day season, beginning on Easter Day (5 April 2026) and continuing through Ascension Day until the Day of Pentecost or Whit Sunday tomorrow (24 May 2026).

Before today 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.

Saint John in a window by CE Kempe in Saint Leonard’s Church, Wigginton, Staffordshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

John 21: 20-25 (NRSVA):

20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, ‘Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?’ 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, what about him?’ 22 Jesus said to him, ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!’ 23 So the rumour spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?’

24 This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. 25 But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

The symbol of the serpent and the chalice, a carving by Eric Gill in the capstone at Saint John’s College, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

The Gospel reading (John 21: 20-25) at the Eucharist today brings us to the last of the post-Resurrection appearances and the conclusion of Saint John’s Gospel. Today’s reading challenges us to consider whether we are going to follow Jesus to the end, no matter how, when or where death may come.

In this reading, we have an insight into the rumours that persisted in the community that the Beloved Disciple would not die (verse 23). But death comes to us all.

Over the past four years, I have spent a lot of time in hospitals in Oxford, Milton Keynes, London and Sheffield, following a stroke, and for tests, scans and consultations on my pulmonary sarcoidosis and the traces of sarcoidosis in my heart. Waiting between one set of consultations and tests and for further appointments, I have realised, time and again, how we all depend on the NHS here, and how vulnerable and fragile we are.

At 73, I may not quite be in rude health. But my distant ‘cousin’ Kevin Martin, who died three years ago (14 June 2023), would greet me on my birthdays with the traditional Jewish greeting of ‘ad meah v’esrim’, ‘may you live until 120!’ (עד מאה ועשרים שנה‎).

I may not live to be 120, despite everyone’s good wishes. I am certainly not going to live for ever. Are the other disciples in today’s reading engaging in humorous banter or hyperbole when they suggest the youngest among them is going to outlive the rest of them so that it appears as if he is going to live for ever?

Surely they realise everyone is going to die – including Lazarus who was raised from the dead after three days (John 11), including the son of the widow of Nairn (Luke 7: 11-17), the daughter of Jairus (Luke 8: 40-56), the centurion’s slave (Matthew 8: 5-13; Luke 7: 1-10), the official’s son in Capernaum (John 4: 46-54), Peter’s mother-in-law (Matthew 8: 14-15; Mark 1: 29-31; Luke 4: 38-39) …

Saint John too lived a life of service and suffering: he was exiled on Patmos, and although he died in old age in Ephesus, there were numerous attempts to make him a martyr.

Saint Paul names John as one of the pillars of the Church in Jerusalem (see Galatians 2: 9). Later, tradition says, he takes over the position of leadership Paul once had in the Church in Ephesus and is said to have lived there and to have been buried there.

According to a tradition mentioned by Saint Jerome, in the second general persecution, in the year 95, Saint John was arrested and sent to Rome, where he was thrown into a vat or cauldron of boiling oil but miraculously was preserved from death.

During the reign of the Emperor Domitian, it is said, Saint John was once given a cup of poisoned wine, but he blessed the cup and the poison rose out of the cup in the form of a serpent. Saint John then drank the wine with no ill effect. A chalice with a serpent signifying the powerless poison became one of his symbols.

Domitian then banished Saint John to the isle of Patmos. It was there in the year 96 he had the heavenly visions recorded in the Book of Revelation. After the death of Domitian, it is said, he returned to Ephesus in the year 97, and there tradition says he wrote his gospel about the year 98. He is also identified with the author of the three Johannine letters.

According to Eusebius, Saint John died in peace at Ephesus, in the third year of Trajan, that is, the year 100, when he was about 94 years old. According to Saint Epiphanius, he was buried on a mountain outside the town. The Basilica of Saint John the Theologian gave the later name of Aysoluk to the hill above the town of Selçuk, beside Ephesus.

The story of the poisoned chalice may be a pious myth, but it seeks to tell us that Saint John too took up the challenge to drink the cup that Christ drinks (Mark 10: 38-39).

For there is another poison that can damage the Church today – we can fail to love.

It is in sharing and serving with those who are most like Christ in his suffering that the world becomes united with the Christ we meet in Word and Sacrament, and there too we find eternal life.

Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!’ (John 21: 21) … Saint John the Evangelist with the poisoned chalice depicted in a window in Saint John’s Church, Monkstown, Cork (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 23 May 2026):

The theme this week (17-23 May 2026) in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) has been ‘Breaking Barriers: Gender Justice in Malawi’ (pp 56-57). This theme was introduced last Sunday with Reflections from Tamara Khismisi, Projects Coordinator, Anglican Church in Malawi.

The USPG prayer diary invites us to pray today (Saturday 23 May 2026):

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the partnership between USPG and the Anglican Church in Malawi. May this collaboration continue to provide education, health care, and advocacy that mirrors your transforming love and heart for justice.

The Collect:

O God the King of glory,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ
with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven:
we beseech you, leave us not comfortless,
but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us
and exalt us to the place where our Saviour Christ is gone before,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Eternal God, giver of love and power,
your Son Jesus Christ has sent us into all the world
to preach the gospel of his kingdom:
confirm us in this mission,
and help us to live the good news we proclaim;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Risen, ascended Lord,
as we rejoice at your triumph,
fill your Church on earth with power and compassion,
that all who are estranged by sin
may find forgiveness and know your peace,
to the glory of God the Father.

Collect on the Eve of Pentecost (Whit Sunday):

God, who as at this time
taught the hearts of your faithful people
by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit:
grant us by the same Spirit
to have a right judgement in all things
and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort;
through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

The site of Saint John’s tomb near Ephesus is marked by a marble plaque and four Byzantine pillars (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

£39 million owed by a Tory peer, 39 million people in California, $39m tax padon from Trump, and 39 million blog readers

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco … California has a population of more than 39 million people (Photograph: Rich Niewiroski Jr - CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org)

Patrick Comerford

The viewing and reading figures for this blog continue to overwhelm me. These figures reached the 39 million mark by late this morning (22 May 2026). These figures reached the 38 million mark last week (14 May 2026), the 37 million mark the previous week (8 May 2026), 36 million six days before that (2 May 2026) and 35 million at the beginning of this month (1 May 2026). The figures have now passed the million mark five times so far this month, and passed that mark four times last month also: 34 million (29 April), 33 million (25 April), 32 million (19 April) and 31 million (8 April).

These viewing and reading figures are overwhelming, to say the least, and this blog continues to reach a volume of readers that I never have expected when I first started blogging 16 years ago. Half the total hits (19.5 million) have been within less than six months, having reached 19.5 million hits just over five months ago (14 December 2025). The total hits in March 2026 were the highest monthly total ever (4,523,648), followed by 4,365,464 hits for last month (April 2026); so far this month the figure for May is more than 4.32 million.

At the end of last year, this blog had 21 million hits (31 December 2025). So far this year, there have been more than 18 million hits or visitors in 2026.

I first began blogging in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers. Throughout this year and last, the daily figures continue to be overwhelming on many occasions. Of the 12 days of busiest traffic on this blog, three were this month (1, 6 and 14 May 2026), three were last month (26, 29 and 30 April 2026), three were in March, one was in February, and two were in January 2025:

• 1,124,925 (1 May 2026)
• 525,719 (14 May 2026)
• 509,644 (29 April 2026)
• 344,003 (30 April 2024)
• 323,156 (27 March 2026)
• 322,038 (26 April 2026)

• 318,835 (6 May 2026)
• 318,307 (1 March 2026)
• 314,018 (28 February 2026)
• 301,449 (2 March 2026)
• 289,076 (11 January 2025)
• 285,366 (12 January 2025)

The daily average is about 200,000 so far in May, although that figure is distorted by the exceptionally high number of hits on three days so far this month. There were about 145,000 or more hits a day last month; ten years ago, in 2016, the daily average was around 1,000.

To put this latest figure of 39 million into perspective:

Donald Trump routinely grants access to businesses that pay money to his companies, PACs and pet projects, giving big business a seat at the table that most small businesses cannot afford.

Trump has enabled fraudsters and wiped out payments owed to fraud victims by pardoning his political allies and donors. One egregious example is the nursing home owner Joseph Schwartz pardoned just three months into his sentence for a $39 million fraud scheme. Schwartz admitted withholding from the IRS around $39 million in payroll taxes in his nursing home businesses, and court documents show the toll his fraud took on patients and workers, including small businesses left with unpaid bills. His debts include almost $19 million to a grieving family.

A PPE firm linked to the disgraced Tory peer Michelle Mone owes £39 million in taxes. The amount is on top of the £148 million the company already owes to the government.

It is estimated that bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR) will cause 39 million deaths between 2025 and 2050 – the equivalent to three deaths every minute. The figures warn that drug-resistant infections will claim millions of lives globally if current trajectories continue.

On the other hand, 39 million is the approximate population of California, Canada or Yemen.

39 million metres in 39,000 km: China has over 39,000 km of high-speed rail, the largest network in the world, and it is said to be a faster and more comfortable alternative to domestic flights.

39 million minutes is approximately 74 years, 1 month and 24 days. In other words, if this blog was getting only one hit a minute, it would take more than 74 years, from late March or early April 1952, just two or three months after I was born, to reach today’s figure of 39 million.

I retired from active parish ministry over four years ago, on 30 March 2022. These days, though, about 120-140 people on average are reading my daily prayer diary posted on this blog each morning. A similar number have been reading my recent series of postings on churches and local history in Staffordshire, and were reading my recent series of postings on the churches and chapels of Walsingham. I imagine many of my priest-colleagues would be prayerfully thankful if the congregations in their churches totalled 850 to 1,000 or more people each week.

This evening, I am truly grateful to the real readers among those 39 million hits on this blog to date, and in particular I am thankful for the faithful core group of 120-140 people who join me in prayer, reading and reflections each morning.

Joseph Schwartz, who admits withholding $39 million due in taxes, has been given a complete pardon by Donald Trump after only three months in jail (Source:Propublica)