Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2025: 37, Sunday 15 June 2025, Trinity Sunday

An icon of the Trinity in Saint Nektarios Church in Tsesmes, near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Since the 50-day season of Easter came to an end last Sunday with the Day of Pentecost or Whit Sunday (8 June 2025), we are in Ordinary Time once again. Today is Trinity Sunday (15 June 2025) and also Father’s Day, and on Trinity Sunday the liturgical colour returns from the Green of Ordinary Time to the white or gold of a festival. In the Orthodox Church, the first Sunday after Pentecost is celebrated as All Saints’ Day, and is also known as the Sunday of All Saints or the Synaxis of All Saints.

Later this morning, I hope to sing with the choir at the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford. 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.

The symbol of the Holy Trinity in the East Window in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 16: 12-15 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 12 ‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.’

The mediaeval fresco of the Holy Trinity in the south choir aisle in Lichfield Cathedral … severely damaged by 17th century Puritans (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

The Gospel reading today (John 16: 12-15) is part of the ‘Farewell Discourse’ at the Last Supper in Saint John’s Gospel (John 14: 1 to 17: 26), where Christ reminds his followers of his promise of his abiding word, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the creating and sustaining love of the Father.

This same Gospel reading was also provided as the weekday Gospel reading at the Eucharist two or three weeks ago (28 May 2025), as we were reading through the ‘Farewell Discourse’.

This year we are celebrating the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in the year 325 and the agreement that became the Nicene Creed. One of the most popular hymn choices for organists and choirs on Trinity Sunday is Reginald Heber’s ‘Holy! Holy! Holy!’ We sang it to the tune ‘Nicaea’ by JB Dykes in the New English Hymnal (No 146) at Evensong in Pusey House in Oxford on Friday evening, and we are singing it in Stony Stratford this morning as the processional hymn – although we are also singing it to a setting by Tchaikovsky as the anthem.

At Evensong on Friday, I was reminded too how often we add the Trinitarian doxolgy at the end the Psalms and Canticles. The opening words at Benediction in Pusey House also serve as a reminder that all our worship and liturgy, no matter what form it takes, should always be truly Trinitarian:

O saving victim, opening wide
The gate of heaven to man below,
Our foes press hard on every side,
Thine aid supply, thy strength bestow.

All praise and thanks to thee ascend
Forevermore, blest one in thee;
O grant us life that shall not end,
In our true native land with thee. Amen.

But, how do we explain, or even introduce, the topic of the Trinity in a way that people can understand without being theologically boring or wrapped up in our own liturgical tastes and styles?

As I have thought about the Trinity and Trinity Sunday in the past, I have spent time in prayer and reading and I have found those reflections have been helped by an image in a fresco on the wall of the south choir aisle in Lichfield Cathedral depicting the Holy Trinity.

This scene, showing the Trinity flanked by two censing angels, was painted sometime between the 14th and mid-15th century. It was damaged severely by the Puritans in the religious strife later in the mid-17th century. But it is still possible to look closely and to see how this fresco originally depicted the Holy Trinity.

As I look at it closely, I can just make out the representation of God the Father seated on a golden throne, clad in a red robe.

He is holding his crucified Son, God the Son, Jesus Christ, before him. Originally, this fresco would have shown a full depiction of the Crucifixion. However, all that can be seen today are the legs of Christ, with his feet nailed to the Cross.

God the Holy Spirit, traditionally depicted as a white dove, is now missing from this painting because of Puritan vandalism. But originally the Holy Spirit was placed in this painting between the heads of God the Father and God the Son.

What this fresco teaches me is that we can always catch glimpses of God. When we see the work of Christ, we see the work of God the Father, and so on. We may not always see how the Holy Spirit is working in us, or in others, but we still know that God is working in love in us and in others.

And the best way we experience that is being open to the love of God and in loving others.

The late Thomas Hopko (1939-2015), a renowned Orthodox theologian, has argued that if God were not Trinity, God could not have loved prior to creating other beings on whom to bestow God’s love … if God were not Trinity, God could not have loved prior to creating other beings on whom to bestow God’s love.

This love or communion of God as Trinity is extended to us in the communion of the Church. It is not just the Trinitarian faith into which we are baptised, but also the love or fellowship of the Trinity.

That message of love at the heart of what we believe and experience in the truth of the Holy Trinity was explained in a very non-dogmatic, non-doctrinal, non-philosophical way by three students at the Graduation Ceremony in Coláiste na Trócaire in Rathkeale some years ago when they read this:

I believe …

That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

That no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

That just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to doesn’t mean that they don’t love you with all they have.

That true friendship continues to grow even over the longest distance, same goes for true love.

That it’s taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

That you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

That you can keep going long after you think you can’t.

That we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

That either you control your attitude, or it controls you.

That heroes are the people who do what has to be done, when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

That my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and still have the best time.

That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you are down will be the ones to help you get back up.

That sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.

That it isn’t always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

That no matter how bad your heart is broken, the world doesn’t stop for your grief.

That you shouldn’t be so eager to find out a secret, it may change your life forever.

That two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don’t even know you.

That the people you care about in life are taken from you much too soon.

And I realised then that their teachers had taught them so much about the truth that lies behind everything we try to teach about why the doctrine of the Holy Trinity matters now more than ever in the Church.

The Trinity in an icon of the Heavenly Divine Liturgy by Michael Damaskinos, ca 1585-1591, in the Museum of Christian Art in Iraklion, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Sunday 15 June 2025, Trinity Sunday):

‘Crossing the Channel’ is the theme this week (15-21 June) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel). This theme is introduced today with reflections by Bradon Muilenburg, Anglican Refugee Support Lead:

‘My wife and I took the ferry across to the UK recently. We had no particular reason for our trip, but we noticed how we were able to make the crossing very easily. Once onboard, we spotted a much smaller boat just outside the window. I was happy to see that the people aboard were wearing life jackets as these are often confiscated by the police. Whether they would survive the crossing, however, is still not guaranteed.

‘2024 was the deadliest year on record for Channel crossings on the UK-France border since 1999. It's important to remember these people by name if we can. I'm thinking especially of seven-year-old Rula, seven-year-old Sarah, and 40-day-year-old Miriam. Remember that these are real people who lived and laughed and played and had dreams and hopes. All of this was sadly extinguished by current border policies.

‘Ahead of World Refugee Day, please join me in mourning the heartbreaking reality of the lives lost while seeking safety.

‘Over this week, I ask you to remember the families of those who have died. Please pray, mourn and, if you can, offer support. As people of faith, we must stand with families in their suffering.

The USPG prayer diary today (Sunday 15 June 2025, Trinity Sunday) invites us to pray in this way:

Read and meditate on John 16: 12-15.

Praise God for the beauty of the Trinity, reflecting on his nature as Father, Son and Spirit.

The Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God,
you have given us your servants grace,
by the confession of a true faith,
to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity
and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the Unity:
keep us steadfast in this faith,
that we may evermore be defended from all adversities;
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:

Almighty and eternal God,
you have revealed yourself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
and live and reign in the perfect unity of love:
hold us firm in this faith,
that we may know you in all your ways
and evermore rejoice in your eternal glory,
who are three Persons yet one God,
now and for ever.

Additional Collect:

Holy God,
faithful and unchanging:
enlarge our minds with the knowledge of your truth,
and draw us more deeply into the mystery of your love,
that we may truly worship you,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

The Church of Aghia Triada in the suburban village of Platanias, on the eastern fringes of Rethymnon, dates from 1959 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

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

Updated: 15 June 2025 (to take account of the hymns sung in Stony Stratford)

Daily prayer in Easter 2025: 42, Saturday 31 May 2025, the Visitation

The Visitation (Luke 1: 39-45) … a panel from the 19th century Oberammergau altarpiece in the Lady Chapel in Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Easter is a 50-day season, beginning on Easter Day (20 April 2025) and continuing through Ascension Day, which we celebrated on Thursday (29 May 2025), until the Day of Pentecost or Whit Sunday tomorrow week (8 June 2025).

The Church Calendar today celebrated the Feast of the Visit of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elizabeth.

I am back in Stony Stratford this morning after a day of tests in the John Radcliffe Hospital, with a Myocardial Perfusion Imaging Test in the Nuclear Cardiology Test in connection with my sarcoidosis, two long, three-stage bus journeys, a 24-hour period without coffee or chocolate, and all compensated for by Choral Evensong in Pusey House, followed by a sociable recpetion afterwards on the lawns in evening sunshine.

The Stony Live Festival begins today, and I am looking forward to a number of events in Stony Stratford throughout the day, including an promising programme of street music, dancing and entertainment. 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.

‘The Visitation’ in a stained-glass window in Saint John’s Church, Pallaskenry, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 1: 39-49 [50–56] (NRSVA):

39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’

46 And Mary said,

‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
48 for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
[50 His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

56 And Mary remained with her for about three months and then returned to her home.]

‘The Visitation’ in a stained-glass window in Great Saint Mary’s Church in Saffron Walden (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

The church today recalls the visit of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Saint Elizabeth, as Saint Luke’s Gospel records

The celebration of the feast first occurred at a Franciscan Order General Chapter in 1263 but quickly spread throughout Europe. Since it is a celebration clearly described in the Gospel, the churches of the Reformation were less inclined to proscribe it than they were other Marian feasts, particularly as it was the occasion for the Virgin Mary to sing her great hymn of praise in honour of her Lord and God.

Just as Saint Luke sees Saint John the Baptist as the last of the prophets of the old covenant, he uses Saint John’s leaping in Saint Elizabeth’s womb as the first time Saint John bears witness to Christ as the promised Messiah. In this way, he links the old covenant with the new. He seems to be saying that just as the old covenant clearly points to Jesus, so does its last prophet, yet to be born.

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

The words of the canticle Magnificat carved on the wooden screen at the west end of the monastic church in Mount Melleray Abbey, Cappoquin, Co Waterford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 31 May 2025, the Visitation):

We celebrated the Feast of the Ascension on Thursday (29 May 2025) and it has provided the theme for this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel). This theme was introduced last Sunday with reflections from Dr Paulo Ueti, Theological Advisor and Regional Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Saturday 31 May 2025, the Visitation) invites us to pray:

Lord, as Mary brought the gift of your Son into the world, help us to welcome Christ with the same openness and humility. May we, like Elizabeth, recognise your presence in those around us, and may our hearts be filled with gratitude and awe at the wonders you perform.

The Collect:

Mighty God,
by whose grace Elizabeth rejoiced with Mary
and greeted her as the mother of the Lord:
look with favour on your lowly servants
that, with Mary, we may magnify your holy name
and rejoice to acclaim her Son our Saviour,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion Prayer:

Gracious God,
who gave joy to Elizabeth and Mary
as they recognized the signs of redemption
at work within them:
help us, who have shared in the joy of this eucharist,
to know the Lord deep within us
and his love shining out in our lives, that the world may rejoice in your salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Easter VII:

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.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

The Visitation depicted in a window in Saint Ailbe’s Church, Emly, Co Tipperary (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

Part of my childhood fades as the last monks leave Mount Melleray Abbey near Cappoquin at the weekend

Mount Melleray Abbey … founded in 1833, 6 km outside Cappoquin, Co Waterford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Part of my childhood came to an end at the weekend when Mount Melleray Abbey, near Cappoquin, Co Waterford, closed its doors after Mass on Saturday morning (25 January 2025).

The abbey has closed almost two centuries after it was founded in the 1830s by an Irish-born monk, Dom Vincent Ryan, returned to Ireland from the Cistercian monastery in Melleray in France, first settled in Rathmore, Co Kerry, and then became the first abbot of Mount Melleray in West Waterford.

The monks decided to close the abbey last November and agreed to form a union with Mount Saint Joseph Abbey in Roscrea, Co Tipperary, and Mellifont Abbey, Co Louth. The group, known as the Abbey of Our Lady of Silence, began to relocate to Roscrea on a temporary basis yesterday (Sunday 26 January 2025).

Throughout my childhood years, I was very familiar with Mount Melleray, which was the neighbouring farm to my grandmother’s farm at Moonwee.

The abbey bells rang across the farm and fields throughout the day. As children, we regularly traipsed through the fields at Moonwee, across brooks and stiles, to the farm and monastery at Melleray, feeling free to explore the abbey churches, buildings and farmyard, and to silently listen to the monks singing the daily offices.

I remember Moonwee and Mount Melleray, the fields around them and the streets of Cappoquin as my childhood idyll. In fact, Mount Melleray was even part of our postal address. However, I have been back to Mount Melleray only a few times since those childhood days, and my last visit was in August 2020. Twenty years earlier, I had decided against the idea of a pre-ordination retreat there in 2000. So, it was emotionally moving to return to Mount Melleray that summer five years ago and to reconnect with a spiritual tradition and monastic buildings I had once been familiar with more than half a century earlier.

Inside the monastic church at Mount Melleray Abbey (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

For almost two centuries, Mount Melleray Abbey has been a community of Cistercian or Trappist monks on the slopes of the Knockmealdown Mountains, about 6 km north of Cappoquin, Co Waterford. It was founded in 1833 on land donated by the Keane family of Cappoquin House at a nominal rent.

James Joyce mentions Mount Melleray in ‘The Dead,’ the final short story in Dubliners (1914), in which the monks of Mount Melleray are noted for their exceptional hospitality and piety. The poet Seán Ó Ríordáin’s celebrated the abbey in his poem ‘Cnoc Mellerí’ in Eireaball Spideoige (1952).

The Cistercian order was founded as branch of the Benedictines by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux in the 12th century, and the Trappists date from the mid-17th century. After the French Revolution and the suppression of monastic houses in France, some dispossessed Trappist monks arrived in England in 1794 and established a community in Lulworth, Dorset.

The symbol of the abbot’s crozier in the choir stalls Mount Melleray Abbey (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Following the restoration of the Bourbons, these monks returned to France in 1817 to re-establish the ancient Melleray Abbey in Brittany. During the July Revolution of 1830, the monks were forced to flee France once again and were sent by Dom Antoine, Abbot of Melleray, to found an abbey in Ireland.

The monastery was founded on 30 May 1832 at Scrahan, near Cappoquin, by a group of Irish and English monks from Melleray who had come to Ireland under the leadership of Father Vincent de Paul Ryan.

After many efforts to locate his community, he accepted an offer from Sir Richard Keane of Cappoquin House to rent 500 acres of mountain land, and this later increased to 700 acres.

The high altar and the sanctuary in the monastic church in Mount Melleray (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

William Abraham, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, blessed the foundation stone of the new monastery on the feast of Saint Bernard 1833. The monastery was named Mount Melleray in memory of the mother house. It became an abbey in 1835, and Father Vincent was unanimously elected abbot. He received his abbatial blessing from Bishop Abraham, the first abbatial blessing in Ireland since the Reformation.

A small group of monks was sent from Mount Melleray to England in 1835 to found Mount Saint Bernard Abbey, near Coalville, Leicestershire. Abbot Vincent vigorously undertook the work of completing the abbey, but he died on 9 December 1845.

His successor, Dom Joseph Ryan, resigned after two years, and Dom Bruno Fitzpatrick became abbot in September 1848. Dom Bruno consolidated the initial work and the abbey and also devoted his energy to missionary work. During its earlier years, the monastery was directly subject to the bishop of the diocese, but in 1848 it came under the jurisdiction of the general chapter.

The life of Saint Bernard in a window by the Harry Clarke studios (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The seminary at Mount Melleray began as a small school formed by Abbot Vincent in 1843, and was developed by Abbot Bruno and his successors.

When the Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle visited Dromana House near Cappoquin in 1849, he also visited Mount Melleray and described the abbey in some detail, noting particularly the huge vats of ‘stir-about’ or porridge the monks prepared for the large number of Famine victims.

Abbot Bruno died in 1893, and was succeeded by Dom Carthage Delaney, who was blessed in 1894 and presided over Mount Melleray for 13 years. His successor, Dom Marius O’Phelan, was solemnly blessed by Bishop Sheahan of Waterford in 1908.

Dom Marius is credited with resuming the building programme at Mount Melleray in 1925. He bought the great cut limestone blocks from Mitchelstown Castle, 42 km west, after it was burnt by anti-treaty republicans on 12 August 1922. The owners of Mitchelstown Castle dismantled the ruins in 1925 and the stones were transported by steam lorry in two consignments a day over a five-year period.

The foundation stone laid by Cardinal McRory in Mount Melleray Abbey in 1933 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Dom Marius died as the abbey was being laid out, and his successor, Dom Celsus O’Connell, continued the monumental task. The monks ended up with far more stones than they needed and these were eventually stacked in fields around the monastery.

In March 1932, the community of English Cistercian nuns of Stapehill, England, moved to Saint Mary’s Convent, Lismore, which was bought and prepared for them by the monks of Mount Melleray.

The monastery celebrated its centenary in August 1933. Cardinal John McRory, Archbishop of Armagh, laid the foundation stone of a new abbey church on 17 April 1933, just 12 days after Dom Celsus was elected the seventh abbot and a few months before the abbey celebrated its centenary.

The public church and the monastic church are the main elements of the church building project undertaken by Dom Celsus, and building work began in January 1935.

The words of the canticle Magnificat carved on the wooden screen at the west end of the monastic church in Mount Melleray Abbey (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The monastic church, where monks of Mount Melleray celebrated the Divine Office every day until last week, was completed and solemnly blessed on 26 November 1940. Later, a high altar and some 20 lesser altars – all in marble and the gifts of benefactors – were installed, and a magnificent stained-glass window was erected behind the high altar.

President Séan T O’Kelly paid a state visit to Mount Melleray in June 1946. However, it was not until the 120th anniversary of Mount Melleray that the abbey church was solemnly consecrated by Bishop Coholan of Waterford on 20 August 1952. During the consecration festival from 20 to 29 August 1952, over 100,000 people visited Mount Melleray, including President Séan T O’Kelly.

The abbey church is Gothic in architectural style and cruciform in plan. Although extended, it follows mainly the lines of the original chapel built by the first community.

In the Cistercian tradition, a massive crucifix was suspended over the nave and contained relics of Saint Bernard and many Irish saints. However, this was removed during the post-Vatican II liturgical reforms.

The east window in the monastic church in Mount Melleray Abbey (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The east window is the work of the Harry Clarke studio. The central panel represents Christ the King crowning the Virgin Mary at the Assumption. Each evening at the Office of Compline, the lights of the Church were extinguished and, according to Cistercian tradition, the figure of the Virgin Mary was illuminated for the singing of the Salve Regina.

To the right of the central panel are Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Carthage of Lismore; to the far right are Saint Robert, one of the three founders of the Cistercian Order, and Saint Patrick of Ireland.

To the left of the central panel are Saint Brigid of Kildare and Saint Columba; to the far left are Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church and the founder of the Cistercians, and Saint Malachy of Armagh, who invited Saint Bernard to send Cistercian monks to Ireland, leading to the foundation of Mellifont Abbey in 1142.

At the west end of the church, the words of the canticle Magnificat are carved in large letters on a wooden screen.

Inside the public church in Mount Melleray Abbey, facing the east end (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The public church was consecrated at the same time as the monastic church, with Dom Benignus Hickey, Abbot of New Mellifont, consecrating the High Altar.

The public church was dedicated to the Assumption and Saint Philomena, and was once the National Shrine of Saint Philomena. Her statue was removed when her name was removed from the Roman Calendar.

The interior of the public church has five bays consisting of aisles on either side and double lancets above. The sanctuary is decorated in mosaic, both in the nave and the aisles. The walls surrounding the side aisles are decorated with angels.

The walls of the sanctuary have the instruments of the Passion in quatrefoils on the lateral walls, the east wall has images of the Sacred Heart on the north side and Saint Joseph on the south side, each with a monogram in the quatrefoil beneath.

Inside the public church in Mount Melleray Abbey facing the west end (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The east window of the public church is in two levels. Above, in the central panel is the Assumption of the Virgin Mary with angels. Below, from left to right, are Saint Brigid, Saint Malachy of Armagh, who introduced the Cistercians to Ireland, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, founder of the Cistercians, and Saint Patrick.

The seven main panels of this window were originally in the east window of the old monastic church.

Many of the stained-glass windows in the side aisles are also the work of Harry Clarke or the Harry Clarke Studios in Dublin.

Saint Peter and Saint Paul in a two-light lancet window by the Harry Clarke Studio in the public church in Mount Melleray Abbey (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

From its early days, the school at Mount Melleray educated both clerical and lay students until the boarding school closed in 1974. Another local landmark that is part of my childhood memories, the ‘Cats’ bar, also closed a number of years ago.

The Abbot of Mount Melleray, Dom Eamon Fitzgerald, became the first Irish Abbot General of the Cistercian Order in 2008. He returned to Melleray in 2022 after 14 years in Rome as abbot general.

The last abbot, Dom Richard Purcell, was elected the Abbot of Mount Melleray at the age of 33 in 2017. He had previously been Abbot of Mount Saint Joseph Abbey, Roscrea, and had already received the abbatial blessing in 2009.

In the past, Mount Melleray was involved in founding New Melleray Abbey, near Dubuque, Iowa, Mount Saint Joseph Abbey, Roscrea, Co Tipperary, and the Southern Star Abbey in New Zealand.

In recent years, the number of monks living in the community at Mount Melleray had dwindled from almost 60 in 1991 to six last week – and two of those six were away last week. Two had died within the space of two years, and another was living as a hermit near Saint Mary’s Abbey of Cistercian nuns in Glencairn, near Lismore, where he celebrated Mass once a week for the sisters.

The farm is now leased to a neighbouring farmer, while the monks hire contractors to fell trees from its extensive forestry. The monastery’s apiary, which once yielded an abundance of heather honey, has also disappeared, its hives long dismantled and the bees long gone.

The Lamb of God depicted in a Harry Clarke window in the public church in Mount Melleray Abbey (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Despite last week’s closing and move, the monks have not ruled out a possible return to Mount Melleray, according to Christina O’Flynn, who has been running the gift shop for the last 7½ years.

‘It’s not going to be a derelict building. It is not being sold … Some staff are being kept on to look after the grounds. It belongs to the monks. Anything else is just rumours,’ she told journalists. ‘They built a whole new wing that the order could walk right into it. Refurbishments are being carried out while they are away. If they do come back it will be different to how it was but we don't care about that. This is not about structures or buildings. What matters to us is having the liturgy back.’

‘We don’t see it as closing down,’ she said. ‘After 18 months they will make a decision about where they are going to live permanently. The hope is that it will be back here. All the monks want to come back.’

However, the present plans involve the monks from Mount Melleray remaining at the newly-formed Abbey of Our Lady of Silence in Roscrea for at least a year. The new community has 26 members, including three novices, with others interested in joining.

Meanwhile, the Cistercian order says its two other abbeys in Ireland – Bolton Abbey in Moone, Co Kildare, and Portglenone, Co Antrim – continue to operate autonomously.

The fields between Mount Melleray and Moonwee were my childhood idyll (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Greeks have a word for it: 48, ‘Απόκρυφα, Apocrypha

Ella Baron on the Trump-Harris televised debate (Cartoon © The Guardian)

Patrick Comerford

Donald Trump in his televised debate with Kamala Harris repeated apocryphal stories about Haitian migrants eating cats and dogs in the streets of Springfield, Ohio. But this exaggerated lie seems to have backfired and it has become one of the signature moments of their first – and possibly only – debate during this election campaign.

Halfway through the debate in Philadelphia last Tuesday night, Trump repeated the fable that migrants in Springfield were ‘eating the pets of the people that live there.’

The ABC News moderator David Muir interjected quickly to clarify that the network had contacted the city’s manager, who said that there were no credible reports of pets being harmed by immigrants.

Trump’s lies echoed apocryphal stories circulating worldwide on X (the wretched platform once known as Twitter) and other social media sites that Haitian migrants in Springfield were behind a wave of local crime and to blame for the disappearances of cats and dogs.

In the days immediately before the debate, Trump supporters, including Elon Musk, promoted and reposted these claims, regurgitating lies and conspiracy theories that never survive the light of day off social media.

This particular apocryphal story has become a focus of derision of Trump, and a reminder of everything that is crazy and weird about Trump.

But his claims appeal to the audience he intended: fans on X, who responded by generating memes of cats, dogs and geese pleading with voters to save them by choosing Trump. These unfounded stories about Haitian migrants in Springfield were also repeated ahead of the debate in posts on X by Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance.

About 15,000 Haitians have come to Springfield legally in the past several years under temporary protected status as they flee poverty and violence in their home country. But the Governor of Ohio Mike DeWine says, ‘Haitians who are here are hard-working people.’ He told a news conference in Columbus before the debate, ‘They came to Springfield, Ohio, for work, and many, many, many of them are working and filling positions in Springfield.’

It all reminds me of the saying attributed to Mark Twain but that is, in fact, apocryphal, ‘A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.’

But Trump wallows in apocryphal sayings of his own making, such as ‘The beauty of me is that I’m very rich.’ If he ever said that, what he ought to have said is, ‘The truth about me is that I’m a consummate and incurable liar.’

In her handling of Trump’s barbs and lies last week, Kamala Harris must have taken to heart another apocryphal saying ascribed to Mark Twain, ‘Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.’

One story about senior foreign dignitaries visiting England is the apocryphal story about one visitor who exclaimed, ‘I’ve never understood why they built Windsor Castle right under the flightpath for Heathrow. I’d have thought royalty would have wanted somewhere less busy.’

It wasn’t Trump … but it could have been.

He constantly repeats apocryphal stories about nine-month abortions and post-natal infanticide in maternity wards, he fantasises about ‘the late and great Hannibal Lector’, he lies about the size of his crowds, he is abysmally ignorant about solar and wind energy, and he refuses to accept that he lost the last election or to accept responsibility his role in the 6 January riots in Washington.

We normally use the word Apocrypha to label biblical or related writings that are not part of the accepted canon of the Bible, some of which have doubtful authorship or authenticity. The word apocryphal (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings that were to be read privately rather than in the public context of church services. Apocrypha were edifying Christian works that were not always initially included as canonical scripture.

The adjective ‘apocryphal’, meaning of doubtful authenticity, mythical or fictional, has been in use since the late 16th century. It took on the popular meaning of ‘false,’ ‘spurious,’ ‘bad’ or ‘heretical.’ It may be used for any book that might have scriptural claims but which does not appear in the canon accepted by the author.

The word’s origin can be found the mediaeval Latin adjective apocryphus (secret, or non-canonical), from the Greek adjective ἀπόκρυφος, (apokryphos, ‘private’), from the verb ἀποκρύπτειν (apokryptein, ‘to hide away’). It is formed from a combination of ἀπό (apó, ‘from’ or ‘away’) and κρύπτω (krúptō ‘I hide’), and so we have the word apocrypha, ἀπόκρυφα.

The word apocrypha has undergone a major change in meaning throughout the centuries. In its ancient Christian usage, it originally meant a text read in private, rather than in public church settings. Later, the word Apocrypha came to be applied as a name for a set of books often placed in the Bible, between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

The canonicity of many of these books is accepted by the Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Churches and other Churches in the East, and they are often described as deuterocanonical. Many other traditions reject them completely, but others regard the Apocrypha as non-canonical books with some undefined Biblical standing and that remain useful for instruction.

Origen, in his Commentaries on Matthew, distinguishes between writings that were read by the churches and apocryphal writings: γραφὴ μὴ φερομένη μέν ἒν τοῖς κοινοῖς καὶ δεδημοσιευμένοις βιβλίοις εἰκὸς δ' ὅτι ἒν ἀποκρύφοις φερομένη (‘writing not found in the common and published books on one hand [and] actually found in the secret ones on the other’). The meaning of αποκρυφος here is practically equivalent to ‘excluded from the public use of the church’ and prepares the way for an even less favourable use of the word.

In general use, the word apocrypha came to mean ‘of doubtful authenticity’. This meaning also appears in Origen’s prologue to his commentary on the Song of Songs: ‘Concerning these scriptures, which are called apocryphal, for the reason that many things are found in them corrupt and against the true faith handed down by the elders, it has pleased them that they not be given a place nor be admitted to authority.’

Augustine defined the word as meaning simply ‘obscurity of origin’, implying that any book of unknown authorship or questionable authenticity would be considered apocryphal. Jerome declared that all books outside the Hebrew canon were apocryphal. In practice, Jerome treated some books outside the Hebrew canon as if they were canonical, and the Western Church did not accept Jerome’s definition of apocrypha, instead retaining the word’s prior meaning.

The Council of Trent in 1546 reconfirmed the canon of Augustine, dating to the second and third centuries, declaring ‘He is also to be anathema who does not receive these entire books, with all their parts, as they have been accustomed to be read in the Catholic Church, and are found in the ancient editions of the Latin Vulgate, as sacred and canonical.’ The whole of the books in question, with the exception of I Esdras and II Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh, were declared canonical at Trent.

Lutherans and Anglicans retained the apocryphal books as Christian intertestamental readings and a part of the Bible (in a section called ‘Apocrypha’), but no doctrine should be based on them.

Article 6 in the 39 Articles in the Church of England declared that ‘the other books the church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners,’ though not to establish doctrine.

It is interesting that liturgically, many weddings in Roman Catholic, Anglican and Methodist churches have a reading from the Book of Tobit. Two traditional Anglican canticles also have sources in the Apocrypha: the canticles Benedicite and Benedictus es, Domine are based on the Song of the Three, a passage in the Book of Daniel that is generally regarded as apocryphal. In the American Prayer Book, one of the offertory sentences in Holy Communion comes from an apocryphal book (Tobit 4: 8-9).

Readings from the Apocrypha are regularly appointed to be read. In all, there are 111 such lessons in the revised American Prayer Book Lectionary, drawing on II Esdras, Tobit, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Three Holy Children, and I Maccabees.

The apocryphal books accepted as canonical by the Orthodox Church include the Psalms of Solomon, III Maccabees, IV Maccabees, the Epistle of Jeremiah the Book of Odes, the Prayer of Manasseh and Psalm 151.

Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Protestants all agree on the canon of the New Testament. The Ethiopian Orthodox have in the past also included I and II Clement and the Shepherd of Hermas in their New Testament canon.

At one time Donald Trump was Biblically illiterate. When he first ran for the Republican nomination, he was unable to name a single Biblical verse. Now he is touting his own branded edition of the Bible.

The God Bless the USA Bible being hawked by Trump for $59.99 uses public domain text from the King James Version. But its 1,350 pages also include some of America’s most sacred documents: the Declaration of Independence; the Pledge of Allegiance; and the lyrics to Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA’, a song which is played on repeat at Trump’s political rallies.

It gives a new but blasphemous dimension to Biblical Apocrypha.

Today, the adjective apocryphal is commonly used in modern English to refer to any text or story considered to be of dubious veracity or authority, although it may contain some moral truth. In this broader metaphorical sense, the word suggests a claim that is in the nature of folklore, factoid or urban legend.

Meanwhile, the people of Springfield, Ohio, are going to be remembered for a long time as the apocryphal home of so many lost cats and dogs that have been devoured.

Last word: 47, ‘Αποκάλυψις, Apocalypse

Next word: 49, Ἠλεκτρον (Elektron), electric

Previous words in this series:

1, Neologism, Νεολογισμός.

2, Welcoming the stranger, Φιλοξενία.

3, Bread, Ψωμί.

4, Wine, Οίνος and Κρασί.

5, Yogurt, Γιαούρτι.

6, Orthodoxy, Ορθοδοξία.

7, Sea, Θᾰ́λᾰσσᾰ.

8,Theology, Θεολογία.

9, Icon, Εἰκών.

10, Philosophy, Φιλοσοφία.

11, Chaos, Χάος.

12, Liturgy, Λειτουργία.

13, Greeks, Ἕλληνες or Ρωμαίοι.

14, Mañana, Αύριο.

15, Europe, Εὐρώπη.

16, Architecture, Αρχιτεκτονική.

17, The missing words.

18, Theatre, θέατρον, and Drama, Δρᾶμα.

19, Pharmacy, Φᾰρμᾰκείᾱ.

20, Rhapsody, Ραψῳδός.

21, Holocaust, Ολοκαύτωμα.

22, Hygiene, Υγιεινή.

23, Laconic, Λακωνικός.

24, Telephone, Τηλέφωνο.

25, Asthma, Ασθμα.

26, Synagogue, Συναγωγή.

27, Diaspora, Διασπορά.

28, School, Σχολείο.

29, Muse, Μούσα.

30, Monastery, Μοναστήρι.

31, Olympian, Ολύμπιος.

32, Hypocrite, Υποκριτής.

33, Genocide, Γενοκτονία.

34, Cinema, Κινημα.

35, autopsy and biopsy

36, Exodus, ἔξοδος

37, Bishop, ἐπίσκοπος

38, Socratic, Σωκρατικὸς

39, Odyssey, Ὀδύσσεια

40, Practice, πρᾶξις

41, Idiotic, Ιδιωτικός

42, Pentecost, Πεντηκοστή

43, Apostrophe, ἀποστροφή

44, catastrophe, καταστροφή

45, democracy, δημοκρατία

46, ‘Αρχή, beginning, Τέλος, end

47, ‘Αποκάλυψις, Apocalypse

48, ‘Απόκρυφα, Apocrypha

49, Ἠλεκτρον (Elektron), electric

50, Metamorphosis, Μεταμόρφωσις

51, Bimah, βῆμα

52, ἰχθύς (ichthýs) and ψάρι (psari), fish.

53, Τὰ Βιβλία (Ta Biblia), The Bible

54, Φῐλοξενῐ́ᾱ (Philoxenia), true hospitality

55, εκκλησία (ekklesia), the Church

56, ναός (naos) and ἱερός (ieros), a church

57, series to be continued.

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2024: 124, Wednesday 11 September 2024

‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you’ (Luke 6: 22) … the Battle of Cable Street mural in the East End, London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and the week began with the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity (8 September 2024).

Later today, I hope to be part of a meeting of local clergy at Saint Mary’s Church, Wavendon, and the choir in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford resumes its rehearsals this evening after the summer recess. But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

‘Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry’ (Luke 6: 25) … a full meal at a restaurant in Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 6: 20-26 (NRSVA):

20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said:

‘Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
‘Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.

22 ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

24 ‘But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
25 ‘Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
‘Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.

26 ‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.’

‘Blessed are you who weep now …’ (Luke 6: 21) … street art in Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

The typesetters’ decision to present much of the New Testament as narrative discourse has left us with little poetry in the New Testament compared with the Old Testament.

But there are poetic hymns throughout the New Testament, and Saint Luke’s Gospel has several poems that we continue to use as poems or songs in the form of liturgical canticles:

• The Song of Mary, or Magnificat (Luke 1: 46-55);
• The Prophecy of Zechariah, known as Benedictus (Luke 1: 68-79);
• The Song of the Heavenly Host, Gloria in Excelsis (Luke 2: 14);
• The Song of Simeon, Nunc Dimittis (Luke 2: 29-32), which inspired TS Eliot’s ‘A Song for Simeon.

Two of the best known poetic passages in the Gospels are the two accounts of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5: 3-10; Luke 6: 20-26). In this morning’s Gospel reading, Saint Luke then narrates his account of the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ (verses 20-26). He offers four beatitudes and four corresponding woes or warnings.

The word blessed (Greek μακαριοι, makarioi) also means ‘happy’ or ‘fortunate.’ Some people are blessed, happy, fortunate to be included in the Kingdom of God, others are warned of the consequences of their choices in life.

The paired blessings and warnings in today’s Gospel reading are:

• to the poor (verse 20), and to the rich (verse 24);
• to the hungry (verse 21), and to the ‘full’ (verse 25a);
• to those who weep (verse 21), and to those are laughing (verse 25);
• to those who are hated, excluded, reviled and defamed (verse 22), and those who are held in esteem (verse 26).

Saint Luke records the ‘poor’ without any qualification (verse 20), compared with Saint Matthew’s ‘poor in spirit’ (see Matthew 5: 3). In Jewish tradition, the poor and the hungry are not cursed or impure, but are deserving recipients of divine and earthly care (see Deuteronomy 11: 15; Isaiah 49: 10; Jeremiah 31: 25; Ezekiel 34: 29). The poor are to receive the Kingdom of God; the rich have their reward today in their comfortable lifestyles.

Those who are excluded are denied their right to worship in the Temple and in the synagogue. But in the past, the prophets – including Jeremiah – were hated, excluded, reviled and defamed (verse 23), while the people in power spoke well of the false prophets (verse 26; see Jeremiah 5: 31).

This Gospel reading is set within a large crowd of people who came to hear Jesus and to be healed, and that those who were troubled were cured. If the same people came to our churches today – if they came to me as a priest of the church today – would they know from how we behave – from how I behave – that Jesus cares for them, that he seeks to restore them to the fullness of life?

Poverty comes in many forms today. Exclusion and marginalisation are common experiences for many in our society today. Those who hunger and who weep are not just around us, but among us, in the Church, in our community, in this society.

If you feel you are excluded or marginalised, if you know you are hungry and you are often close to tears, do you feel the rest of us in the Church do enough to see to it that you know you are counted in when it comes to the Church being a a sign of the Kingdom of God?

If you think you are financially secure, that you have enough to eat, if you have plenty of good reason to laugh and be happy, if you know people respect you and treat you properly, do you see the rest of us in the Church as a blessing to you, as an opportunity to share your blessings, to share your joys, to share your Easter faith in the Risen Christ?

Poor and rich, hungry and ‘full’, those who weep and those who laugh, the hated, excluded, reviled and defamed and those held in esteem: in Oscar Wilde’s satirical play, A Woman of No Importance (1893), Lord Illingworth observes wisely: ‘The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.’

He was probably paraphrasing a quotation popularly attributed to Saint Augustine: ‘There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.’

‘The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future’ … Oscar Wilde or Saint Augustine? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Wednesday 11 September 2024):

Each year, on 14 September, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Cross, known as ‘Holy Cross Day’ throughout the majority of the Anglican Communion. The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘What does the holy cross mean to you?’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with a reflection by Rachael Anderson, Senior Communications and Engagement Manager, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Wednesday 11 September 2024) invites us to pray:

Alleluia, alleluia. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world. Alleluia.

The Collect:

God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit
upon your Church in the burning fire of your love:
grant that your people may be fervent
in the fellowship of the gospel
that, always abiding in you,
they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service;
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:

Keep, O Lord, your Church, with your perpetual mercy;
and, because without you our human frailty cannot but fall,
keep us ever by your help from all things hurtful,
and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Lord God,
defend your Church from all false teaching
and give to your people knowledge of your truth,
that we may enjoy eternal life
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

‘Woe to you when all speak well of you’ (Luke 6: 26) … street art in Dublin (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

Daily prayers in the Kingdom Season with USPG: (26) 30 November 2023

The Christ the King or Cooper Window in Saint Peter’s Church, Berkhamsted, is inspired by the canticle ‘Te Deum’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

In this time between All Saints’ Day and Advent Sunday, we are in the Kingdom Season in the Calendar of the Church of England. This week began with the Feast of Christ the King and the Sunday next before Advent (26 November 2023).

The Church Calendar today celebrates the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle (30 November).

Later today, I am travelling to Dublin for the launch of Christmas and the Irish, a new book edited by my friend and colleague Professor Salvador Ryan of Maynooth, and which includes three essays by me on the Christmas theme. But, before today begins, I am taking some time for prayer and reflection early this morning.

Throughout this week, I am reflecting on Christ the King, as seen in churches and cathedrals I know or I have visited. My reflections are following this pattern:

1, A reflection on Christ the King;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

The pet swan of Saint Hugh of Lincoln is an amusing detail in the Christ the King or Cooper Window in Saint Peter’s Church, Berkhamsted (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Cooper Window, Saint Peter’s Church, Berkhamsted:

I attended the funeral of a friend in Lichfield Cathedral yesterday, and earlier in the day I reflected on images of Christ the King in Lichfield Cathedral and other churches in Lichfield, including the reredos donated by the Cooper family to the former Saint Mary’s Church.

The Cooper family is also associated Cooper Window in the south aisle of Saint Peter’s Church, Berkhamsted, which depicts Christ the King at the centre of images inspired by the canticle Te Deum.

The window in Berkhamsted was made in 1885 by Nathaniel Hubert Westlake (1833-1921), a leading designer in the Gothic Revival movement who was also inspired by the Pre-Raphaelites. His work includes the East Window in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton, and many windows in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, and windows and ceilings in Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth.

Westlake worked under William Burges for a while before joining the stained-glass firm of Lavers and Barraud in 1868. He later became a partner and finally the sole proprietor of Lavers, Barraud & Westlake, established in 1855 by Nathaniel Wood Lavers (1828-1911). The firm changed its name several and was later known as Lavers, Westlake and Co, and then NHJ Westlake, London, before closing in the 1920s.

The perpendicular stone tracery in the Cooper window in Berkhamsted probably dates from the 15th century. The Victorian glass was installed in the late 19th century in memory of the sheep dip manufacturer William Cooper (1813-1885).

William Cooper should not be confused with the 18th-century poet and hymn-writer William Cowper (1731-1800), who was born in Berkhamsted and who is also commemorated in windows in Saint Peter’s. William Cooper set up a factory in 1852 on the east side of Berkhamsted that became famous worldwide for the production of sheep dip.

Westlake’s work in the Cooper window is a fine example of Victorian stained glass. The images and text are all based on the ancient canticle Te Deum, celebrating God’s great glory.

The three-light window depicts Christ enthroned surrounded by angels, saints and martyrs, including Saint Edward the Confessor, with ewelled 3D-like robes, and Saint Hugh of Lincoln, the 13th century bishop, accompanied by his pet swan.

In the window lights, images of angels and saints are shown surrounding Christ. The saints’ names are written faintly in their haloes. Several bear mottoes on scrolls of paper, a sort of mediaeval equivalent of cartoon speech bubbles, with Latin quotations from Te Deum:

Prophets and angels in the Cooper window (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

1, Top section: The small lights in the top contain figures of prophets and angels bearing the mottoes: ‘Tibi omnes Angeli (proclemant)’ – ‘To thee all Angels cry aloud’, and ‘Te Prophetarum laudabilis numerus’ – ‘The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise thee.’

Saint John the Evangelist and the Virgin Mary in the Cooper window (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

2, Left light upper, two kneeling figures: Saint John the Evangelist, motto: ‘Te gloriósus Apostolorum chorus’ – ‘The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee’. The Virgin Mary, motto: ‘Te per orbem terrárum sancta confitetur Ecclesia’ – ‘The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee’.

Christ enthroned in majesty in the centre of the Cooper window (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

3, Central light middle, the central figure: Christ enthroned in majesty. Christ is shown sitting on a throne in heaven after the Resurrection, his right hand raised in blessing. Christ’s hands and feet bear the scars of the Crucifixion, and above his head the hand of God the Father points down in blessing.

Saint Joseph and Saint John the Baptist in the Cooper window (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

4, Right light upper, two kneeling figures: Saint Joseph holding a wooden staff with lilies blooming from the top, a symbol from the mediaeval ‘Golden Legend,’ and the motto: ‘Te ergo quæsumus, tuis famulis subveni, quos pretioso sanguine redemísti’ – ‘We therefore pray thee, help thy servants whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.’ Saint John the Baptist, motto: ‘Te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus’ – ‘The noble army of martyrs praise thee.’

King Edward the Confessor and Saint Hugh of Lincoln in the Cooper window (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

5, Left light lower, two English saints: King Edward the Confessor was one of the last Saxon Kings of England before the Norman Conquest, He appears to be wearing exquisitely jewelled three-dimensional robes in this window. Saint Hugh of Lincoln is with the swan with whom he had a lasting friendship and who followed him everywhere. He was the Bishop of Lincoln from 1186 until he died in 1200, and he was canonised in 1220. It is sometimes said Saint Hugh of Lincoln installed the first Rector of Saint Peter’s in 1222, but by then he had been dead for 22 years, and the Bishop of Lincoln at the time was Hugh of Wells.

Saint Clement and Saint Catherine of Alexandria in the Cooper window (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

6, Central light lower, two saints: Saint Clement (Pope Clement I), a first century pope, is said to have been consecrated by Saint Peter himself. He is shown wearing the papal tiara and vestments and holding a papal cross. Saint Catherine of Alexandria, with the wheel of her martyrdom, the Catherine wheel, is carrying a palm branch, a symbol of martyrdom. The east chapel beside the south transept in Saint Peter’s Church is dedicated to Saint Catherine.

Saint Leonard and Saint Thomas Beckett in the Cooper window (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

7, Right light lower, two martyrs: Saint Leonard, according to legend, freed prisoners from their chains, and he is traditionally depicted holding broken manacles. Many churches in Sussex and the Midlands are dedicated to him. Saint Thomas Beckett was at one time in charge of Berkhamsted Castle, and was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral, on the orders of Henry II. He is depicted here with a sword piercing his bishop’s mitre.

The artist’s hidden initials ‘NHW’ are etched in the stained glass in two places, one at the end of Saint Joseph’s robes, above the pavement in the bottom left corner, the other on the end of Saint Clements’s robes, to the right of his papal staff.

William Cooper’s nephew, Sir Richard Powell Cooper (1847-1913), eventually became the sole proprietor of the business, and was given the title of baronet in 1911, associated with Shenstone Court, near Lichfield. Sir Richard’s son, Sir Richard Ashmole Cooper (1874-1946), inherited the family business and title, and donated the reredos depicting Christ the King to Saint Mary’s Church, Lichfield, and the Friary site to the City of Lichfield.

Coopers was bought by the Wellcome pharmaceutical giant in 1973. The Berkhamsted works eventually closed and most of the buildings have since been demolished.

Images of Christ the King can be seen in two other windows in Saint Peter’s Church, Berkhamsted.

The east window (1872) by Clayton and Bell is a memorial to the poet William Cowper. It depicts the Christ the King flanked by the women and disciples going to the empty tomb at the first Easter. The inscription at Christ’s feet is taken from Cowper’s hymn, ‘The Saviour, what a noble flame’: ‘Salvation to the dying man, And to the rising God.’ The original Chancel is now the vestry, and the window is not available to public viewing.

The south transept window (1873), also by Clayton and Bell, depicts the Resurrection of the Dead described in the Book of Revelation. It is a detailed, picturesque window, crowned by an image of Christ the King in the top section.

Christ the King is depicted in the William Cowper window, the East Window in Saint Peter’s Church, Berkhamsted (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 4: 18-22 (NRSVA):

18 As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake – for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’ 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Christ the King (detail) in the South Transept window in in Saint Peter’s Church, Berkhamsted (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 30 November 2023):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Preventing Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (30 November 2023, Saint Andrew) invites us to pray in these words:

Let us pray for a greater awareness of the prejudices we carry. May we be open to one another and change our way of seeing.

Christ the King crowns the South Transept window in Saint Peter’s Church, Berkhamsted (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Collect:

Almighty God,
who gave such grace to your apostle Saint Andrew
that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ
and brought his brother with him:
call us by your holy word,
and give us grace to follow you without delay
and to tell the good news of your kingdom;
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:

Almighty God,
who on the day of Pentecost
sent your Holy Spirit to the apostles
with the wind from heaven and in tongues of flame,
filling them with joy and boldness to preach the gospel:
by the power of the same Spirit
strengthen us to witness to your truth
and to draw everyone to the fire of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect

God the Father,
help us to hear the call of Christ the King
and to follow in his service,
whose kingdom has no end;
for he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, one glory.

Yesterday’s Reflection (Images of Christ the King in Lichfield Cathedral)

Continued Tomorrow (Church of Christ the Saviour, Ealing Broadway)

Saint Andrew (centre) among an array in the reredos in Saint Peter’s Church, Berkhamsted … today is Saint Andrew’s Day (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

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

Christ the King in the reredos donated by Sir Richard Cooper to Saint Mary’s Church, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)