Where do we hear the voice of prophecy in a world of oppression and injustice?

With Bishop Ellinah Wamukoya of Swaziland and the Revd Duncan Dormor, General Secretary of USPG, at High Leigh on the closing day of the USPG conference

Patrick Comerford

Who are the oppressed, the oppressors in our societies today? And where is the Prophetic Voice of the Church to be heard today in the midst of oppression and injustice?

The Very Revd Gloria Mapangdol from the Philippines was leading the Bible discussion this morning at the High Leigh Conference Centre, on the last day of the annual conference of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).

The conference theme this year is The Prophetic Voice of the Church, and this is linked to the USPG Bible study course with the same name.

Our Bible studies each morning have been led by Gloria Mapangdol. Her passage this morning [26 June 2019] was Amos 4: 1-3:

1 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan
who are on Mount Samaria,
who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
who say to their husbands, ‘Bring something to drink!’
2 The Lord God has sworn by his holiness:
The time is surely coming upon you,
when they shall take you away with hooks,
even the last of you with fish-hooks.
3 Through breaches in the wall you shall leave,
each one straight ahead;
and you shall be flung out into Harmon,
says the Lord.

She introduced us to how the Prophet Amos talks first about Israel’s neighbours and what they are doing, before pointing his arrows at Israel. Bashan was known for its fertile land, great oaks, and its livestock. But the poor were oppressed there, the rich were the oppressor, and the families of the rich abetted in the oppression, gaining from it.

Who are the cows of Bashan? Are they cult worshippers of the mighty bull of Samaria? Are they the greedy and the wealthy and pampered women? Gloria Mapangdol suggested they are all who exploit the poor, both men and women, and presented this passage a warning to all who would exploit the poor, both men and women.

Amos condemns them for putting economic prosperity above justice, preferring wealth to justice, ignoring their covenant obligations in pursuit of their own greed.

He spoke of the consequences, with people being led away as prisoners and captives, dragged out alive, and expelled to an unknown destination. But hope is found later in Chapter 9, with the promises of the Lord restoring the fortunes of his people.

She insisted our spirituality cannot be disconnected from the surrounding social circumstances. It must be incarnational, and the church must be faithful to its mission.

This is a challenge not only to clergy and church leaders, but to all of us, she said, as she left us with three questions for discussion:

● Who are the ‘cows of Bashan’ in your community?

● How does your government or church treat the poor and the marginalised?

● How can you become the modern Amos in your given context?

Later this morning, there was a moving presentation on ‘Speaking Truth to Power’ from Cathrine Fungai Ngangira from Zimbabwe, an ordinand at Cranmer Hall, Durham University.

She too asked where the prophetic voice of the Church is to be heard today. Who speaks truth to power today? Perhaps it is time for the church to speak the truth with power, she suggested.

The prophetic voice of the Church is not just in words, but in deeds too, she said. Action speaks louder than words.

Looking forward, Canon Richard Bartlett introduced USPG resources, planned events, including the USPG celebration at All Saints’ Church, Margaret Street, when the preacher is Bishop Michael Burrows of Cashel and Ossory (21 September), regional days this year and next year, next year’s ‘Rethinking Mission’ conference in Saint John’s Church, Waterloo (21 March 2020), and next year’s USPG conference in Swanwick, Derbyshire (20-22 July 2020).

We also discussed hospitality and USPG’s involvement in next year’s Lambeth Conference at Canterbury.

The celebrant at our closing Eucharist in the early afternoon was Bishop Calvert Leopold Friday from the Windward Islands. The preacher was Bishop Ellinah Wamukoya of Swaziland, who has had close links with USPG in Ireland and with the Diocese of Limerick and Killaloe.

These have been three days with inspiring speakers, interactive workshops and opportunities to meet old friends and hear new voices engaged in mission.

The weather has been hot and sultry since I arrived on Monday morning, with a heavy rainstorm throughout Monday night and early Tuesday. But it stayed dry today, and in the afternoon I decided to return to Cambridge to browse in some of my favourite bookshops.

I am booked on a flight from Stansted to Dublin later this evening, and I have a busy round of meetings tomorrow in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick.

At the High Leigh Conference Centre at Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, this morning (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

From Christ’s Pieces in the snow to Jesus Green and Paradise

Jesus Green, covered in a white blanket (Photograph © Patrick Comerford 2009)

Patrick Comerford

I never realised I was going to be stuck in Cambridge, or that it was going to be so difficult to get out of there.

It all started on the evening I was preaching in the chapel of Christ’s College, Cambridge, where the Revd Christopher Woods is the chaplain. It was here that Archbishop Rowan Williams was an undergraduate, as were four other previous Archbishops of Canterbury. Here too, one sits in the same chapel where Charles Darwin, William Paley, John Milton and Jan Smuts once sat and – presumably – prayed.

After wandering across Coe Fen and through the courts of Queen’s College and Peterhouse, I was walking back to Christ’s College to meet Christopher, the chapel choir and the musicians, when the snow began to fall.

First Court in Christ’s College ... before the snow fell (Photograph © Patrick Comerford 2009)

I paid little attention to the snow after Choral Eucharist as we wandered back through First Court, past the Master’s Lodge, where the wisteria vine and its elaborate Oriel Window date back to the time of the foundress, Lady Margaret Beaufort, and into the Hall for dinner as we sat beneath the portraits of Milton, Darwin, Smuts and Bishop John Fisher.

I woke in the morning to find Jesus Green had turned to white, Christ’s Piece’s were covered in a think blanket of snow, and Paradise had become heaven for small children but hell for anyone older with unsteady feet.

First Court in Christ’s College ... covered in snow (Photograph © Patrick Comerford 2009)

I have had a long fascination with the sacred-yet-strange names of the colleges, streets, colleges and public parks in Cambridge, which still make me stop and draw breath when I encounter them, and I find myself asking at times whether they are irreverent if not blasphemous.

Apart from enjoying Coe Fen, without ever singing a single note, let alone a whole hymn, it is possible in a short space of time to enjoy walking through Christ’s Pieces, to ignore Emmanuel, to stroll along Jesus Lane, to walk on the same path as Adam and Eve and still to be assured of ending up in Paradise. Since 1209, Cambridge has been a unique centre of education, and this year it is celebrating the 800th anniversary of its foundation. But this city is unique for its plentiful open green spaces, and – even as winter was forbidding spring to break through – I knew few cities can boast such a variety of flowers, shrubs, bushes and trees.

Christ’s Pieces

Snow falling on Christ’s Pieces in the early morning (Photograph © Patrick Comerford 2009)

On the north side of Christ’s College, Christ’s Pieces is an open area that some local people and visitors prefer to avoid. It faces the bus station on Drummer Street, and local people in Cambridge say it is a popular spot for hoodlums or decry its use as a pedestrian rat-run between the Grafton Centre and the main city centre.

This Victorian city centre park dates from 1884, when Jesus College decided to sell its interests in the area that had become known as Christ’s Pieces with the understanding that the space would be used as “a public garden or recreation ground and for no other reason whatsoever.” The original offer of £500 was refused by Jesus College, but two years later the land was brought for £1,000 by Cambridge City Council and the park was drained and planted in 1886.

Today, Christ’s Pieces is a well-maintained park, with tree-lined avenues, cut grass, large ornamental shrub beds and colourful flower beddings throughout the year. At times it feels like a piece of countryside in the middle of the city, with the changes in the seasons reflected in the flower beds with their year-round colour. When the snow is long gone, this is an ideal place once again for picnics.

Jesus Green

To the north of Christ’s Pieces, behind Jesus College, Jesus Green is another area of open parkland grass where the seasonal bedding area is planted each June and October for the coming seasons’ colourful displays.

Before 1496, this land was the site of the Nunnery of Saint Radegund, first founded in 1133. Jesus College was established on a large area to the south of that site during the early 16th century. Jesus College takes its name from Jesus Chapel, the oldest building in continuous use in Cambridge. But the official name of Jesus is “The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the Glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge.”

Until 1890, Jesus Green was part of an area now known as Midsummer Common. The two areas were separated in 1890 when Victoria Avenue was built. Soon after, grazing cattle were excluded from the land and it was laid out for recreation. As this new park was laid out over the decade that followed, its avenues were lined with newly-planted London Plane and Horse Chestnut trees.

When the Royal Agricultural Show was held on Jesus Green in 1922, the crowd was entertained to the first parachute jump as a man and his daughter suspended themselves from the net of a hot air balloon and then ascended and released themselves.

Paradise and Paradise Island

On the north bank of the River Cam as it enters the city, Paradise is a small, low-lying nature reserve that includes Paradise Island. This fragment of semi-natural habitat was once a common on the margins of Cambridge. Because it is still on the flood plain of the Cam, large parts of Paradise are frequently under water during winter, turning it into a wet and muddy wood. But this also guarantees that Paradise is safe from building development.

Extensive work was carried out on Paradise Nature Reserve a few years ago, so that overhanging trees were cleared from the footpaths, making access to the site unimpeded. Pollarding and coppicing – forms of pruning that allow regenerative growth – have increased the potential life span of the willows in Paradise, and in recent years 50 hazel whips were planted along with a rural hedgerow.

Parker’s Piece and Sheep’s Green

Other popular parks and pieces of open land in Cambridge with peculiar-sounding names include Lamas Land, Parker’s Piece, Petersfield and Sheep’s Green. Parker’s Piece in the centre of city, a short walk from Christ’s Pieces and the bus station on Drummer Street, was acquired by the city from Trinity College in 1613. Its name is taken from Edward Parker, a cook at Trinity when the land was bought.

In the past, Parker’s Piece has hosted several great festivals, including a celebration of the defeat of Napoleon, with 6,000 people taking part and 15,000 looking on, and a celebration of Queen Victoria’s coronation, with 15,000 guests and 17,000 spectators.

But for many the real fame of Parker’s Piece dates from the early 1800s, when a group of students agreed on a common set of simple football rules emphasising skill above force. These rules were pinned to a tree on Parker’s Piece, and in 1863 the “Cambridge Rules” became the defining influence on the Football Association Rules. These remain the fundamental of rules of soccer to this day.

Until World War II, Parker’s Piece was also used by publicans on Good Friday each year to mark their traditional annual day off.

Bordering the north-east corner of Parker’s Piece is Petersfield, which was used for allotments and grazing wild stock up to 1900. From April to October, cattle and horses can be seen grazing on Sheep’s Green to the west of Coe Fen along the west bank of the River Cam.

About half a mile south-west of Cambridge city centre, Lammas Land is bordered by the Fen Causeway and Newnham Road, and is a popular park during the summer. During World War I, the land was turned into allotments. The rights of common land were extinguished in the 1920s and the land was laid out for recreational use.

Coe Fen

Coe Fen (right), close to Peterhouse and the Backs, is an open space on the banks of the River Cam that has given its name to one of the outstanding hymn tunes of the 20th century. It was written by Kenneth Naylor for John Mason’s hymn, How shall I sing that majesty, which has been described by Bishop Edward Darling and Donald Davison as “a truly noble and majestic hymn with a noble and majestic tune to go with it!”

The tune was written by Kenneth Naylor (1931-1991), who was director of music at the Leys School in Cambridge. Mason had been an undergraduate at Clare College, Cambridge, while Naylor read music at Magdalen College, Cambridge.

Naylor, who was an organist of considerable repute was also known for his ability to persuade schoolboys to sing, and was the Director of Music at The Leys School in Cambridge until his death in 1991. His tune for this hymn is appropriately named – as the Leys School is only a few steps away from Coe Fen.

Irreverent and inappropriate

My feelings about the irreverence of some of these park names turned to flippancy as I saw a truck from Ridley’s delivering Carslberg to the Maypole, close to Jesus Green. I wondered how inappropriate this might have seemed to the martyred Bishop Nicholas Ridley, a former Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, who was burned at the stake during Queen Mary’s reign in 1555.

Little did I realise that as the snow deepened across East Anglia, I would spend the rest of the day hauling myself on and off buses and trains, waiting for hours as I was crushed in the icy weather and trudged through the slush and snow.

This was the same day that Michael O’Leary boasted that Ryanair was better placed than many of its rivals to weather the recession – yes, he actually used the word “weather” as Ryanair was cancelling my flight home from Stansted. They told me – plainly and simply – to go away, they couldn’t cope with this weather. Nor could I. I was facing a repeat performance of waiting for trains that never came, for buses that never arrived, and changing platforms, waiting, and waiting. It was dark, cold, and the snow was still falling when eventually I got back to Cambridge. There I was glad of the hospitality that was cheerfully offered once again at Christ’s College. Just then I felt that the chaplains and porters of Cambridge colleges are among the kindest and most generous of souls.

For all my awareness of irreverence and inappropriate names, I still prayed and hoped that I could get across country the next day on a marathon journey, hoping to catch the only remaining Aer Lingus flight available at Birmingham. That was another day, and another story. But by now I have seen more of England than I ever expected – and some of it still feels a little like Paradise.

Canon Patrick Comerford is Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute. This essay was first published in the March 2009 edition of the Church Review (Dublin and Glendalough), the Diocesan Magazine (Cashel and Ossory) and Newslink (Limerick and Killaloe).

‘The Ears of the Heart … Listening to Prayers from the East’

The Chapel of Christ’s College, Cambridge

Patrick Comerford

Sunday 1 February 2009, The Eve of Candlemas: The Chapel of Christ’s College, Cambridge

Solemn Orchestral Eucharist: Hebrews 2: 14-18; Luke 2: 22-40

May I speak to you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

It is wonderful to be back in Cambridge, in Christ’s College, and in this Chapel once again. Anyone who has loved the poetry of John Milton, who has been challenged by Charles Darwin, or who has delighted in the writings and insights of Rowan Williams, would be delighted to be here.

The Revd Christopher Woods provided wonderful hospitality last year when I was in Cambridge on a course, and I hope many of you will come to realise the wonderful blessing it is when a student becomes a friend, and a very welcoming friend at that too.

It is a particular pleasure to be here for this Eve of Candlemas. The snow today probably reminds us all of Christmas. This feast, also known as the Feast of the Presentation, is a festival in the Church Calendar that bridges the gap between Christmas and Lent; that links the joy of the Christmas candles with the hope of the Pascal candle at Easter; that invites us to move from celebration to reflection and preparation, and to think about the source of our hope, our inspiration, our enlightenment.

The theme of this Lent Term series of sermons is “The ears of the heart …” We are looking at and learning from different styles of prayer and different approaches to prayer, for Candlemas is truly a time of listening and hoping.

Over the years, in my spiritual growth and my pilgrimage through life, I have been shaped and enriched most of all by two traditions in the Church more than any other: Anglicanism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

Both traditions have much in common, and both have much to learn from each other. We share synodical government and an incarnational approach to life; we celebrate diversity in unity; we combine liturgical beauty and relaxed formality; and we appreciate the spiritual richness and value of stillness.

The Eastern Orthodox approaches to prayer can be a rich treasure and can shine a light for the Western Church. So let me share a few of these insights and gifts with you this evening.

In the Orthodox tradition, prayer is not about formulas. It is first and foremost doxology, praise, thanksgiving, confession, supplication, and intercession to God. Prayer is a personal dialogue with God, a spiritual breathing of the soul, a foretaste of the bliss of God’s kingdom.

“When I prayed I was new,” wrote a great Orthodox theologian, “but when I stopped praying I became old.” So prayer is the way to renewal and spiritual life; prayer is being alive to God; prayer is strength, refreshment and joy. Prayer lifts us up into that loving communion with God in which we experience everything in a new light.

There are six aspects of prayer life within the Orthodox tradition that I wish to introduce briefly and share this evening.

1, The Liturgy: The word Orthodoxy means, primarily, not right doctrine but right worship or praise. The beauty of the liturgy is impressive. The story is told that when the ambassadors from Kiev first arrived in the great Church of Aghia Sophia in Byzantium they were so in awe of the beauty and the splendour of the liturgy, they reported:

“We knew not whether we were on heaven or on earth, for surely there is no such splendour or beauty anywhere upon earth. We cannot describe it to you: only this we know, that God dwells there among humans, and that their service surpasses the worship of all other places. For we cannot forget that beauty.”

2, Daily and Personal Prayer: Orthodox prayer is not confined to Sundays and the liturgy. How many Anglican churches today continue the cycle of the daily offices? How many of us maintain a regular habit of daily prayer?

For the Orthodox, daily prayer in the church and at home sanctifies the times at which they are celebrated, from early morning to late evening.

3, Icons and iconography: In the west, we still see art, including religious art, in terms of beauty, form and statement. Orthodox icons are not meant to be beautiful – they are meant to provide a window into spiritual reality.

For the Orthodox, the church building, the whole edifice, is one great icon of the Kingdom of God. The frescoes, the icons and the icon screen separating the congregation in the main body of the church from the sacred mysteries behind the royal doors are there not to make the church look pretty or beautiful, but are central to understanding the worship and life of the Orthodox Church, its teachings, its liturgy and its prayers.

At the present Byzantium exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the final treasure, appropriately, is the 12th century Icon of the Heavenly Ladder of Saint John Klimakos. This icon is so well-known that visitors to the exhibition are amazed it is so small. Yet this one small icon is a reminder that at the heart of Orthodox spirituality and prayer is the ability to bridge the chasm between earth and heaven.

4, The monastic life: In the Orthodox tradition, the monastery is not a retreat from the “real world,” but is a fountain for nurturing spirituality and the life of prayer of all believers. Although some of the great writers on Mount Athos lived as hermits, they gathered many followers, and were particularly known for their practice of the Jesus Prayer.

5, The Jesus Prayer: The Jesus Prayer is one of the best known traditions within Orthodoxy. Its words say simply: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner” (Κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστέ, Υἱὲ Θεοῦ, ἐλέησόν με τὸν ἁμαρτωλό). This is what some of the Church Fathers knew as the Prayer of the Heart. It is a short, simple prayer, widely used and taught throughout Eastern Christianity.

For the Eastern Orthodox, this prayer is one of the most deep, profound and mystical prayers. It is often repeated, continually and throughout the day, as a part of personal ascetic practice. For all of us, the Jesus Prayer is a way of taking one of the most important first steps on the spiritual journey: the recognition of our own sinfulness, our essential estrangement from God and from the people around us. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner.

6, The Hesychast tradition: The practice of the Jesus Prayer is an integral part of Hesychasm (ἡσυχασμός), a tradition that values stillness and the quiet, not for their own sake, as some sort of comfort zone, but as leading to the contemplation and experience of God as light, what Saint Gregory Palamas was referring to when he spoke of experiencing the Uncreated Light.

The Hesychast, who by the mercy of God has such an experience, does not remain in that state for too long a time, but returns “to earth” and continues to practise the full Christian life.

To summarise: the life of an Orthodox Christian is one of prayer. In the Orthodox tradition, it is the person who truly prays who is a theologian and a God-seer. The goal of a life of prayer is living a life of active love for all people. And the result of a life of prayer is to be filled with mercy and forgiveness, to bind up wounds and to love.

Evgarius is quoted in the Philokalia as having once written: “If you are a theologian, you will pray truly. And if you pray truly, you are a theologian.”

To pray truly, we can learn from the traditions of others. The beauty of Orthodox liturgy, the insights provided by the Orthodox use of icons, the practice of the Jesus Prayer, and the rich treasures in the Orthodox monastic writings can help each of us to develop our own practice of prayer.

As you pray, may you learn from the insights of others. And may the light of Christ continue to shine in your hearts, in your souls, and in your eyes.

And now, may all praise, honour and glory be to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Canon Patrick Comerford is the Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, Dublin. This sermon was preached in the Chapel of Christ’s College, Cambridge, on Sunday 1 February 2009, at the Solemn Orchestral Mass for the Eve, with Ceremony of Light and Blessing of Candles.

The sermon was part of the Lent Term series, ‘The ears of the heart …’

The other preachers in the series include: the College Chaplain, the Revd Christopher Woods (18 January); Dr Katherine Dell, Lecturer in Old Testament, the University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Saint Catharine’s College (25 January); Father Alexander Lucie-Smith, Cambridge Theological Federation (8 February); Priscilla Slusar, Student Priest, Christ’s College Chapel (15 February); the Revd Anna Macham, Succentor of Southwark Cathedral and Chaplain of Guy’s Campus, King’s College, London (22 February); the Revd Canon Andrew Freany, Vicar of Little Saint Mary’s, Cambridge (1 March).

The Chapel of Christ’s College, Cambridge is at: http://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/college-life/chapel-and-choir/

Back in Cambridge once again

The Great Gate Tower at Christ’s College, Cambridge, looks as though it has been chopped off at the lower end (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The celebrations to mark the foundation of Cambridge University 800 years ago began in earnest two weeks ago when 7,000 people watched a light show that also celebrated the achievements of Cambridge alumni such as Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton, and the contribution of Cambridge to scientific discoveries in computing and genetics.

I’m back in Cambridge this weekend, having spent a wonderful time there last year at the course in patristic theology and spirituality at Sidney Sussex College, organised by the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies.

During last year’s visit, I was also a guest at dinner in Darwin’s old college, Christ’s College, where the chaplain is my friend, the Revd Christopher Woods, a former student at the Church of Ireland Theological College.

Now I’m back in Cambridge once again, to preach at Christopher’s invitation, in the chapel of Christ’s College at the Solemn Orchestral Eucharist for the Eve of Candlemas.

The college of Milton and Darwin

Christ’s College has a reputation for its high academic standards, consistently finishing in the top 10 colleges in the Tompkins Table – a good achievement for Darwin’s old college. Having celebrated the 300th anniversary of Milton’s birth last year, Christ’s College is marking this year the 200th anniversary of the birth in 1809 of Darwin, a grandson of Lichfield, my favourite place in England.

Christ’s also has its own Nobel laureates in Sir Martin Evans (1941). It is also the college of South Africa’s Jan Smuts, of South Africa, of Lord Mountbatten, of the novelist and philosopher C.P. Snow, of the jurist Lord Devlin (1905-1992), who was active in the campaigns to re-open the cases of the Guildford Four and the Maguire Seven, of the British historian and author Simon Schama, and of the comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.

Distinguished theologians

But with a name like that, I’m not surprised to learn that Christ’s has a strong reputation in theology too. Among its great theologians are William Paley and Charles Raven.

William Paley (1743-1805), the English theologian and philosopher, was also an undergraduate at Christ’s College. His great works included his Evidences of Christianity, while his Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy was one of the most influential philosophical texts in late enlightenment Britain. It was cited in several Parliamentary debates, and remained a set textbook at Cambridge well into the Victorian era. Even Charles Darwin was required to read Paley’s Principles when he was an undergraduate at Christ’s College.

The radical theologian, Charles Raven (1939-1950), was a controversial but committed pacifist throughout World War II and a friend of Teilhard de Chardin. He was the Master of Christ’s College from 1939 to 1950, and I remember during an interview for The Irish Times, how the late Archbishop George Simm recalled how Raven had been a strong influence on his ministry and how he had invited him to preach in Cork when he was Dean of Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral. In more recent decades, Raven has also had a strong influence on Susan Howatch as she was writing her Starbridge triologies..

With a theological reputation like that, I was interested to find out also that Christ’s College has given the Church of England at least five Archbishops of Canterbury: Edmund Grindal (1519-1583), Richard Bancroft (1544-1610), who organised the King James Version translation of the Bible, Matthew Hutton (1693-1758), Frederick Cornwallis (1713-1783), and – more recently – Rowan Williams (born 1950).

The Revd Christopher Woods is chaplain of Christ’s College, Cambridge

The past as God’s House

I suppose this is the least we could expect this from a college that first began life as God’s House.

God’s House was founded in 1437 on land now occupied by the Chapel of King’s College. God’s House received its first royal licence in 1446, and moved to its present site, which faces onto Saint Andrew’s Street and backing onto the open piece of land now known as Christ’s Pieces, in 1448 when it received its second royal licence.

God’s House was renamed Christ’s College in 1505 when it was endowed and expanded by Henry VII’s mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, and received its present charter. Lady Margaret had her own rooms in Christ’s College, which still opens onto the chapel.

The original college buildings date from those early days in the 15th and 16th centuries and now form part of First Court, including the chapel, where I am preaching this evening, along with the Master’s Lodge and the Great Gate Tower.

The gate facing onto Saint Andrew’s Street where it meets Hobson Street is a curious sight in itself. Looking at it from the street, the Great Gate Tower looks as though it is disproportionate, with its bottom part has been cut off to allow for a rise in street level. The same impression is given by the steps leading down to the foot of L staircase in the gate tower.

The college hall, designed by George Gilbert Scott the younger, was added in 1875-1879.

The lawn of First Court is famously round in shape, and there is an impressive wisteria that sprawls up the front of the Master’s Lodge.

Second Court is fully built up on just three sides, one of which is formed by the Fellows’ Building, dating from the 1640s, while the fourth side backs onto the Master’s Garden.

The Stevenson Building in Third Court was designed by J.J. Stevenson in the 1880s and was extended in 1905 as part of the college’s 400th anniversary celebrations. In 1935, Professor Richardson designed the second building, the neo-Georgian Chancellor’s Building (W staircase), completed in 1950. Third Court’s Memorial Building (Y staircase), was completed in 1953 and matches the Chancellor’s Building. Third Court is also noted for its display of irises in May and June.

New Court, which forms part of the northern boundary of Christ’s College, is a controversial tiered concrete building and is popularly known in Cambridge as “the Typewriter.” It was designed in the modernist style by Sir Denys Lasdun in 1966-1970, and in Lasdun’s obituary in the Guardian it was described as “superb”. The design critic Hugh Pearman once wrote: “Lasdun had big trouble relating to the street at the overhanging rear.”

Neighbouring buildings have been absorbed into Christ’s College, including the Todd Building, which once served as the Cambridge County Hall.

The Fellows’ Garden has two well-loved mulberry tress: the older mulberry tree was planted 400 years ago in 1608, the same year as the poet John Milton was born. Both trees have since toppled sideways and are now earthed up round the trunks, but they continue to fruit every year.

The Proctors of God’s House from 1439 to 1505 were succeeded by the Masters of Christ’s, among them Charles Darwin’s grandson, the physicist Sir Charles Galton Darwin (1936-1939). Professor Frank Kelly has been the Master of Christ’s College since 2006. But this Frank Kelly should not be confused with Father Jack … he’s a highly-acclaimed scientist.

A welcome in Chapel

The chapel of Christ’s College, where Christopher Woods has invited me to preach this evening, is a beautiful and ancient chapel, dating from the 16th century and offers members of the college community a space set aside for quiet reflection, prayer, meditation or worship. The chapel is inclusive in ethos where everyone is welcome, and it is used every day for chapel services, by members of college for private prayer, for stillness and also for music practice. The chapel is also a venue for many musical recitals and concerts during term.

The choir of Christ’s College Chapel is one of the finest mixed-voice choirs in Cambridge and there are three choral services per week coupled with many occasional services and events which demand a choral presence. The choir’s repertoire spans many centuries and it often performs, liturgically, works which have not yet been performed in England, and those involved say the quality of music allows the heart and mind to be open to the promise of the presence of God.

And in this heady mixture of science and theology, music and stillness, liturgy and reflection, it is wonderful to be back in Cambridge again.

Canon Patrick Comerford is Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological College, and is a contributor to the Cambridge Review of International Affairs.

Visiting Cambridge

The Church of Ireland notes in The Irish Times today (Saturday, 31 January 2009) includes the following items:

In the past few weeks, Cambridge University has started celebrating the 800th anniversary of its founding. An impressive round of events is planned, and the anniversary coincides with events marking the 200th anniversary of the birth in 1809 of the naturalist Charles Darwin.

Both Darwin and Archbishop Rowan Williams were undergraduates at Christ’s College, Cambridge, where the chaplain is the Revd Christopher Woods, a graduate of the Church of Ireland Theological College, now the Church of Ireland Theological Institute.

The Director of Spiritual Formation at the institute, Canon Patrick Comerford, is visiting Christ’s College Cambridge this weekend and is the guest preacher in the chapel tomorrow [Sunday] at the Solemn Orchestral Eucharist for the Eve of Candlemas tomorrow [Sunday]. His sermon is part of the “Sundays at Six” series on the theme The ears of the heart, exploring various aspects of prayer.

On Monday, Canon Comerford will be in the City of London, where he will preach at a Service of Light in Saint Botolph-without-Bishopsgate to mark the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Candlemas). The Vicar of Saint Botolph’s is the Revd Dr Alan McCormack, a former chaplain in Trinity College Dublin.