Daily prayer in Christmas 2024-2025: 11, Saturday 4 January 2025

‘Eleven pipers piping’ … the pipe organ by Paul Neiland in the Church of the Annunciation in Clonard, Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

On the Eleventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me … ‘eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four colly birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree’.

We are still in the season of Christmas, which is a 40-day season that lasts not until Epiphany (6 January), which some parishes may celebrate tomorrow, but until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation (2 February).

If the threatened snowstorm holds off this morning I may get to the Greek Café (Το Στεκι Μασ, ‘Our Place’) which is hosted by the Greek Orthodox Community in Stony Stratford every first Saturday of the month from 10:30 to 3 pm in the Swinfen Harris Church Hall beside the Orthodox Church on London Road. 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, 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 Call of the Disciples’ … a window designed by the Harry Clarke Studios in Christ Church, Spanish Point, Co Clare, depicts the ‘Calling of Saint Peter and Saint Andrew’ – although only one disciple is present (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 1: 35-42 (NRSVA):

35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ 39 He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed) 42 He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).

‘Eleven pipers piping’ … a lone piper busking at Waverley Bridge in Edinburgh (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

The Christian interpretation of the song ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’ often sees the 11 pipers piping as figurative representations of the 11 faithful disciples, counting out Judas: Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot and Jude.

It is interesting that when artists depict the pipers piping they seem to opt for Scottish pipers or pipers in military bands, but never draw on the pipes of church organs.

In this morning’s Gospel reading at the Eucharist (John 1: 35-42), immediately after his baptism by Saint John the Baptist in the River Jordan, Christ begins calling his first disciples. First, he calls Andrew and Simon Peter. Andrew is called first, but before responding to the call to follow Christ, he goes back and fetches his brother Simon and brings him to Jesus.

Andrew and Peter are brothers, but their names indicate the early differences and divisions within the Church. Andrew’s name is Greek ('Ανδρέας, Andreas), meaning ‘manly’ or ‘valorous,’ while Peter’s original name, Simon (שמעון‎, Shimon) is so obviously Jewish, meaning ‘hearing’.

It is the same again later in this chapter with Philip and Nathanael: Philip is a strong Greek name – everyone in the region knew Philip of Macedon was the father of Alexander the Great; Nathanael’s name is a Hebrew compound meaning ‘the Gift of God.’

It is as though we are being reminded from the very beginning, with the story of the call of the disciples, the diversity and divisions are part of the essential fabric of the Church. They are woven into that fabric, even in the names that show that the disciples represent both Jews and Greeks, the Hebrew-speakers and those who are culturally Hellenised.

In reacting to those false divisions in the early Church, the Apostle Paul tells us: ‘There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus’ (Galatians 3: 28; see Colossians 3: 11).

Christ’s call came to the first disciples as a diverse group of people, from diverse backgrounds, often – as with Philip and Nathanael – when they were least expecting it. But they responded to that call faithfully: Andrew went and fetched Simon Peter; Philip found Nathanael.

There are challenging times ahead in this new year, but this Gospel reading also offers us some challenges:

How do we recover the vision of the Church as a place of refuge and a celebration of diversity and difference that reflects our hopes for the kingdom of God?

Are we inspired with enough infectious enthusiasm to want to be like Andrew who goes back for Peter, Philip who goes back for Nathanael?

In the Kingdom of God, diversity and difference are not just a matter of tolerance, they are part of the very nature of Christ’s will for the Church.
In the Church, no brother – or sister – should be left behind because of diversity or difference.

How do we move beyond the tolerance of diversity to respect for diversity and then on to the point of rejoicing in diversity as a gift in the Church, so that truly, as the Apostle Paul tells us: ‘There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus’?

‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ (John 1: 36) … a detail in a window in Mount Melleray Abbey, Cappoquin, Co Waterford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 4 January 2025):

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), has been ‘We Believe, We Belong: Nicene Creed’. This theme was introduced last Sunday by Dr Paulo Ueti, Theological Advisor and Regional Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Saturday 4 January 2025) invites us to pray:

Father, in a time of climate crisis, may we act boldly and compassionately, living out the faith we proclaim by caring for your world. As we affirm our belief in Christ, let our actions reflect His love for all of creation.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
who wonderfully created us in your own image
and yet more wonderfully restored us
through your Son Jesus Christ:
grant that, as he came to share in our humanity,
so we may share the life of his divinity;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Heavenly Father,
whose blessed Son shared at Nazareth the life of an earthly home:
help your Church to live as one family,
united in love and obedience,
and bring us all at last to our home in heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

God in Trinity,
eternal unity of perfect love:
gather the nations to be one family,
and draw us into your holy life
through the birth of Emmanuel,
our Lord Jesus Christ.

Collect on the Eve of Christmas II:

Almighty God,
in the birth of your Son
you have poured on us the new light of your incarnate Word,
and shown us the fullness of your love:
help us to walk in his light and dwell in his love
that we may know the fullness of his joy;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

A traditional icon of the Twelve Apostles: Andrew is in the middle of icon as the first-called of the Twelve; Peter is second from the left in the front row, facing the Apostle Paul; Philip and Nathanael (Bartholomew) are in the middle row, first and second from the left

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 prayer in Advent 2024: 20, Friday 20 December 2024

The ‘angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin [whose] name was Mary’ (Luke : 26-27) … the Annunciation depicted in a window in Saint Mary’s Church, St Neots, Cambridgeshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

We are in the final days of the Season of Advent, and Christmas Day is less than a week away. The week began with the Third Sunday of Advent (Advent III, 15 December 2024), also known as Gaudete Sunday.

As we prepare for Christmas and our carol services, the choir of Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, is rehearsing once again this afternoon. 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, 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 icon of the Annunciation in the iconostasis in the Greek Orthodox Church in Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Luke 1: 26-38 (NRSVA):

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ 34 Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ 35 The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.’ 38 Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.

The Annunciation depicted in a window in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflection:

In the Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Luke 1: 26-38), we continue a series of readings before Christmas that draw on the two nativity narratives found in Matthew 1: 1-24 and Luke 1: 5-79.

During the week before Christmas, the great canticle Magnificat at Evensong traditionally has a refrain or antiphon attached to it proclaiming the ascriptions or ‘names’ given to God through the Old Testament. Each name develops into a prophecy of the coming of the Messiah.

O Sapientia, or O Wisdom, is the first of these days, and was marked on Tuesday (17 December). It was followed on Wednesday (18 December) by O Adonai, by O Root of Jesse yesterday (19 December), and O Key of David today (20 December), and then O Dayspring tomorrow (21 December), O King of the Nations, and, finally on 23 December, O Emmanuel.

In the old Sarum rite, these were sung one day earlier, beginning on 16 December, requiring another ascription for 23 December, this being O Virgin of Virgins. Since this was clearly apposite to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and not a ‘title’ of God, it was not adopted much beyond Sarum and, with the revision of the Calendar, Anglicans have adopted the more widely-used formulæ and dating.

The seven majestic Messianic titles for Christ are based on Biblical prophecies, and they help the Church to recall the variety of the ills of humanity before the coming of the Redeemer as each antiphon in turn pleads with mounting impatience for Christ to save his people.

The Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Luke 1: 26-38), tells the story of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, a feast we usually celebrate nine months before Christmas, on 25 March. This year, however, the Annunciation was transferred from 25 March to 8 April because it fell within Holy Week.

The icon of the Annunciation presents the joy of the announcement of the coming of Christ. It is an icon of bright colours, depicting the Archangel Gabriel (left), who has come from heaven, and the Virgin Mary, who has been chosen to be the Mother of God.

The Archangel Gabriel presents the good news of the coming of Christ to Mary. He is shown with his feet spread apart as if he is running to share the good news with Mary. In his left hand is a staff, the symbol of a messenger. His right hand is extended toward Mary as he delivers the message and announces the blessing bestowed on her by God.

On the right side of the icon, the Virgin Mary sits on an elevated seat, indicating that as the Mother of God she is ‘greater in honour than the cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim, who without corruption gave birth to God the Word.’

In her left hand she holds a spindle of scarlet or crimson yarn that depicts the task she is engaged in of making the purple and scarlet material used in making the veil for the Temple in Jerusalem.

Her right hand is raised in a gesture of acceptance in response to the Archangel Gabriel’s message. Her posture expresses willing co-operation with God’s plan of salvation.

The three stars on the garments of the Theotokos represent that she is a Virgin before, during and after the birth of Christ.

At the top of the icon, the segment of a circle represents the divine realm from which three rays emerge. This demonstrates the action of the Holy Spirit coming upon her. In other depictions of the same icon, Christ himself – as a man – is shown in this semi-circle.

Images of the Pieta might remind us that the Virgin Mary was a mother who knew the fears and lost hopes of so many women: the women who see the death of their own children; the women who hope to be mothers and grandmothers, but never are; the women who see, experience and feel violence and violation at first-hand in their own lives; the women whose own grief is hijacked by others for their own agendas; the women of Ukraine and Russia, the women of Gaza, Israel and Palestine, the women of Lebanon and Syria.

But the Virgin Mary’s ‘Yes’ at the Annunciation is her yes, is our yes, is the ‘Yes’ of humanity and of creation, not only to the Incarnation, but also to the Crucifixion on Good Friday, and to the Resurrection on Easter Day, and all the hope for the future that Christmas and Easter bring.

The Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary in icons of the Annunciation in Lichfield Cathedral (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Today’s Prayers (Friday 20 December 2024):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Joy – Advent’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with Reflections by the Revd Sonja Hunter, Priest at All Saints’ Anglican Church in Samoa, Diocese of Polynesia.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Friday 20 December 2024) invites us to pray:

God, we thank you that the Anglican Church in Samoa is investing in initiatives that tell people about who you are. Please bless their boldness and openness to people of other or no faiths, that many may come to know of your saving grace.

The Collect:

O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

We give you thanks, O Lord, for these heavenly gifts;
kindle in us the fire of your Spirit
that when your Christ comes again
we may shine as lights before his face;
who is alive and reigns now and for ever.

Additional Collect:

God for whom we watch and wait,
you sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of your Son:
give us courage to speak the truth,
to hunger for justice,
and to suffer for the cause of right,
with Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

The Annunciation depicted in a large window by William Earley in the Church of the Annunciation in Clonard, Wexford (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 prayer in Advent 2024: 11, Wednesday 11 December 2024

‘Come to me … for my … burden is light’ … evenings lights at the harbour in Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

We are more than a week into the Season of Advent, the real countdown to Christmas has gathered pace. This week began with the Second Sunday of Advent (Advent II, 8 December 2024). Later today, I hope to take part in a meeting of local clergy at Saint Mary’s Church, Bletchley, which promises to be a festive gathering, with crackers and sparkle. While I am without permission to officiate in the Diocese of Oxford, these meetings have provided spiritual support and sustenance, as well as being times of prayer.

In the evening, I hope to be involved in the choir rehearsals 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, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11: 28) … Station 3 in the Stations of the Cross in the Church of the Annunciation, Clonard, Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 11: 28-30 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 28 ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

Jesus falls for the first time … Station 3 in the Stations of the Cross in the Church of Saint Mary and Saint Giles in Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s reflection:

I lost my mobile phone on the train one day during summer. I tripped in the carriage trying to get off at Tamworth and found myself on my hands and feet between Tamworth and Lichfield, searching for it on the floor. Eventually, I decided I had to get off at Lichfield Trent Valley rather than risk travelling on not merely to Rugeley but ending up at the end of the line in Crewe.

For days after that, I spent hours on end trying to recover contacts and apps, and reload them onto a new phone. I had lost contacts and passwords, and it seemed that every time I try to upload a new or old apps, I come across barriers that became overwhelming burdens.

Who is so perfect that they have a different password for each app – and can remember each one in times of calm, never mind when we are stressed and under pressure?

Of course, I was worried that someone else would find my phone, guess my passwords and security codes, and gain access to all my contacts, my details and my savings.

As I bought a new phone and began to reload everything I still feared for what was lost, and I wondered all thast week why it all had to be so difficult.

Of course, as I was reminded time and again, it was all for my own good, for my security and for my protection.

Indeed, as I was reminded day after day in the week that followed, these are the terms and conditions.

The short Gospel reading in the lectionary this morning (Matthew 11: 28-30) is particularly short. But it is a very appropriate reading for many people as they try to balance their work and their lives, seeking a work/life balance.

But the offer and the promise in this morning’s Gospel reading hold out hope.

In the law of contract, there are two important elements … offer and acceptance.

This morning, Christ invites all of us who are tired, frazzled and bothered, weary and heavy-laden, to come to him – and, if we do, he offers us rest. That’s the offer.

What about acceptance?

He simply asks that we take his yoke and learn from him.

Ah, but many may ask, ‘What about the terms and conditions?’

As you know – as the banks and our mobile phone services constantly remind us – all contracts are subject to terms and conditions.

Well, the terms and conditions are quite simple: for his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

I still remember how the former Dean of Lismore, the late Bill Beare, once challenged a clergy meeting in the Diocese of Cashel and Ossory in words like: Who said you couldn’t dump everything at the foot of the cross?

In all of my befuzzlement and the frustrations that came with the burdens of losing phones and the yoke of setting up a new phone with all the apps and finding their passwords in recent days, I was reminded how I ought to dump everything at the foot of the cross and get back into the joys of the present moment.

‘Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

‘Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart’ … Station 9 in the Chapel at Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Wednesday 11 December 2024):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Peace – Advent’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with Reflections by the Revd Nitano Muller, Canon for Worship and Welcome, Coventry Cathedral.

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

Let us pray for an amplification of prophetic voices, calling out injustice.

The Collect:

O Lord, raise up, we pray, your power
and come among us,
and with great might succour us;
that whereas, through our sins and wickedness
we are grievously hindered
in running the race that is set before us,
your bountiful grace and mercy
may speedily help and deliver us;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honour and glory, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Father in heaven,
who sent your Son to redeem the world
and will send him again to be our judge:
give us grace so to imitate him
in the humility and purity of his first coming
that, when he comes again,
we may be ready to greet him
with joyful love and firm faith;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Almighty God,
purify our hearts and minds,
that when your Son Jesus Christ comes again
as judge and saviour
we may be ready to receive him,
who is our Lord and our God.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

‘Come to me … for my … burden is light’ … evenings lights at Stowe Pool and Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

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 prayer in Ordinary Time 2024: 70, Thursday 18 July 2024

‘Come to me … for my … burden is light’ … evenings lights at the harbour in Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church and this week began with the Seventh Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VII). The Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today (18 July) remembers the life and witness of Elizabeth Ferard (1883), first deaconess in the Church of England, and founder of the Community of Saint Andrew.

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.

‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11: 28) … Station 3 in the Stations of the Cross in the Church of the Annunciation, Clonard, Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 11: 28-30 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 28 ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

Jesus falls for the first time … Station 3 in the Stations of the Cross in the Church of Saint Mary and Saint Giles in Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

This morning’s reflection:

I lost my mobile phone on the train earlier this week, having tripped in the carriage trying to get off at Tamworth. I found myself on my hands and feet between Tamworth and Lichfield, searching for it on the floor, but eventually decided I had to get off at Lichfield Trent Valley rather than risk travelling on not merely to Rugeley but ending up at the end of the line in Crewe.

For days after, I have spent hours on end trying to recover contacts and apps, and reload them onto a new phone. I have lost contacts and passwords, and every time I try to upload a new or old apps, I come across barriers that become overwhelming burdens.

Who is so perfect that they have a different password for each app – and can remember it?

Of course, I am worried that someone else finds my phone, guesses my passwords and security codes, and gains access to all my contacts, my details and my savings.

As I bought a new phone and began to reload everything I still feared for what may be lost, and I wondered throughout the week why it all had to be so difficult.

Of course, as I was reminded time and again, it was all for my own good, for my security and for my protection.

Indeed, as I have been reminded day after day this week, these are the terms and conditions.

The short Gospel reading in the lectionary this morning is particularly short. But it is a very appropriate reading for many people as they try to balance their work and lives, seeking a work/life balance.

But the offer and the promise in this morning’s Gospel reading hold out hope.

In the law of contract, there are two important elements … offer and acceptance.

This morning, Christ invites all of us who are tired, frazzled and bothered, weary and heavy-laden, to come to him – and if we do he offers us rest. There’s the offer.

What about acceptance?

He simply asks that we take his yoke and learn from him.

Ah, but many may ask, ‘What about the terms and conditions?”

As you know – as the banks and our mobile phone services constantly remind us – all contracts are subject to terms and conditions.

Well the terms and conditions are simple: for his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

I still remember how the former Dean of Lismore, the late Bill Beare, once challenged a clergy meeting in the Diocese of Cashel and Ossory in words like: Who said you couldn’t dump everything at the foot of the cross?

This morning, in all of my befuzzlement and frustrations that come with burdens of losing phones and the yoke of setting up a new phone with all the apps and finding their passwords in recent days, I am reminded how I ought to dump everything at the foot of the cross and get back into the joys of the present moment.

‘Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

‘Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart’ … Station 9 in the Chapel at Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 18 July 2024):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Advocacy, human, environmental and territorial rights programme in Brazil.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by the Revd Dr Rodrigo Espiúca dos Anjos Siqueira, Diocesan Officer for human, environmental and territorial rights in the Anglican Diocese of Brasilia.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 18 July 2024) invites us to pray:

Father God, we pray for religious leaders who commit their ministries and lives to proclaim full life to all.

The Collect:

Lord of all power and might,
the author and giver of all good things:
graft in our hearts the love of your name,
increase in us true religion,
nourish us with all goodness,
and of your great mercy keep us in the same;
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.

Post Communion Prayer:

Lord God, whose Son is the true vine and the source of life,
ever giving himself that the world may live:
may we so receive within ourselves
the power of his death and passion
that, in his saving cup,
we may share his glory and be made perfect in his love;
for he is alive and reigns, now and for ever.

Additional Collect:

Generous God,
you give us gifts and make them grow:
though our faith is small as mustard seed,
make it grow to your glory
and the flourishing of your kingdom;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

‘Come to me … for my … burden is light’ … evenings lights at Stowe Pool and Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Daily prayer in Easter 2024:9, 8 April 2024

The Annunciation depicted in a large window by William Earley in the Church of the Annunciation in Clonard, Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

This week began yesterday with the Second Sunday of Easter (Easter II), sometimes known as ‘Low Sunday’ (7 April 2024). Those Easter celebrations are interrupted today by the Feast of the Annunciation, transferred from 25 March to this week because this year it fell within Holy Week.

Throughout this Season of Easter, my morning reflections each day include the daily Gospel reading, the prayer in the USPG prayer diary, and the prayers in the Collects and Post-Communion Prayer of the day.

Before this day 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 prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

The Annunciation depicted in a window by NHJ Westlake in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 1: 26-38 (NRSVA):

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ 34 Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ 35 The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.’ 38 Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.

The Annunciation depicted on a panel in the altar piece in Saint Mary’s Church, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Monday 8 April 2024):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is the ‘Certificate in Youth Leadership Programme in the West Indies.’ This theme was introduced yesterday by the Right Revd Michael B St J Maxwell, Bishop of the Diocese of Barbados.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (8 April 2024) invites us to pray:

As yesterday was World Health Day, let us pray for healthcare workers, nurses and doctors. May they be guided by the Holy Spirit in all they say and do.

The Collect:

We beseech you, O Lord,
pour your grace into our hearts,
that as we have known the incarnation of your Son Jesus Christ
by the message of an angel,
so by his cross and passion
we may be brought to the glory of his resurrection;
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.

Post Communion Prayer:

God most high,
whose handmaid bore the Word made flesh:
we thank you that in this sacrament of our redemption
you visit us with your Holy Spirit
and overshadow us by your power;
strengthen us to walk with Mary the joyful path of obedience
and so to bring forth the fruits of holiness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued Tomorrow

‘The Annunciation’ by Adam Pomeroy in the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Ennis, Co Clare (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 prayer in Easter 2024:1, 31 March 2024, Easter Day

The Resurrection … Station 15 in the Stations of the Cross in the Church of Saint Mary and Giles in Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

This is Easter Day (31 March 2024). Throughout Lent this year, I took time each morning to reflect on the lives of early, pre-Reformation English saints. This week, my morning reflections include the daily Gospel reading, the prayer in the USPG prayer diary, and the prayers in the Collects and Post-Communion Prayer of the day.

Later this morning, I hope to be involved in the Easter Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford.

But, before this day 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 prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

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

The Resurrection … a stained glass window in Saint Michael’s Church, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 20: 1-18 (NRSVA):

1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ 14 When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ 16 Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God”.’ 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

The Harrowing of Hell … the central panel in the processional cross in the Church of the Annunciation, Clonard, Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Sunday 31 March 2024, Easter Day):

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 ‘Easter Day Reflection.’ This theme is introduced today by the Revd Dr Carlton John Turner, USPG Trustee:

Read Luke 24: 36-48

‘This is Easter Sunday, and for our reflection, we have Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances to His disciples. The word ‘appearance’ is important here. Earlier in the famous ‘Road to Emmaus’ walk, Jesus is unveiled or revealed as risen and alive. The language is vivid – “Then their eyes were opened, and they recognised him, and he vanished from their sight” (Luke 24: 31). He then appears to his disciples, not as a spirit being, but an embodied risen Lord, showing them His physical body and eating with them.

‘Appearance can be understood in several ways. Firstly, those witnessing Jesus have their eyes opened. They got to see Jesus. However, deeper than seeing Jesus, they came to a deeper understanding of Jesus, as well as themselves. They had a radical shift in their experience – Jesus was not dead, but alive and present.

‘Secondly, it matters that Jesus was physically present. Luke goes to every length to demonstrate that Jesus was not a ghost. The resurrection of Jesus was about material change and transformation. He could be touched, held, embraced and eaten with.

‘This brings us to perhaps the deepest truth of all about Easter. The resurrection of Jesus is ultimately about concrete change and transformation in the world. Ministry and mission cannot simply be about conversation, but concrete action. Secondly, much of the change begins with our own perceptions. We have to change how we see the world, how we read the scriptures, and how we allow ourselves to recognise Jesus already in our midst.’

The USPG Prayer Diary today (31 March 2024, Easter Day) invites us to pray reflecting on these words:

‘Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have’ (Luke 24: 39).

The Empty Tomb … a fresco in Saint John’s Monastery, Tolleshunt Knights, Essex (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Collect:

Lord of all life and power,
who through the mighty resurrection of your Son
overcame the old order of sin and death
to make all things new in him:
grant that we, being dead to sin
and alive to you in Jesus Christ,
may reign with him in glory;
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
be praise and honour, glory and might,
now and in all eternity.

Post Communion Prayer:

God of Life,
who for our redemption gave your only–begotten Son
to the death of the cross,
and by his glorious resurrection
have delivered us from the power of our enemy:
grant us so to die daily to sin,
that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his risen life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

God of glory,
by the raising of your Son
you have broken the chains of death and hell:
fill your Church with faith and hope;
for a new day has dawned
and the way to life stands open
in our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Yesterday’s reflection (Julian of Norwich)

Continued Tomorrow

Saint Mary Magdalene at Easter Morning … a sculpture by Mary Grant at the west door of Lichfield Cathedral (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 during the 12 Days of Christmas: 11, 4 January 2024

‘Eleven pipers piping’ … a lone piper busking at Waverley Bridge in Edinburgh (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Today is the Eleventh Day of Christmas (4 January 2024). Before today begins, I am taking some time for reading, reflection and prayer.

My reflections each morning during the ‘12 Days of Christmas’ are following this pattern:

1, A reflection on a verse from the popular Christmas song ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’;

2, the Gospel reading of the day;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

‘Eleven pipers piping’ … the pipe organ by Paul Neiland in the Church of the Annunciation in Clonard, Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today is the Eleventh Day of Christmas (4 January). But, in liturgical terms, Christmas is a 40-day season that continues until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation (2 February).

The eleventh verse of the traditional song, ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’, is:

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me …
Eleven pipers piping,
ten lords a-leaping,
nine ladies dancing,
eight maids-a-milking,
seven swans-a-swimming,
six geese-a-laying,
five golden rings,
four colly birds,
three French hens,
two turtle doves
and a partridge in a pear tree.

The Christian interpretation of this song often sees the 11 pipers piping as figurative representations of the 11 faithful disciples, counting out Judas: Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot and Jude.

It is interesting that when artists depict the pipers piping they seem to opt for Scottish pipers or pipers in military bands, but never draw on the pipes of church organs. Perhaps I am stretching my imagination too much to suggest that could find inspiration for church-based pipers in the many stained-glass windows by John Piper.

‘The Call of the Disciples’ … a window designed by the Harry Clarke Studios in Christ Church, Spanish Point, Co Clare, depicts the ‘Calling of Saint Peter and Saint Andrew’ – although only one disciple is present (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 1: 35-42 (NRSVA):

35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ 39 He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). 42 He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).

Saint Andrew the Apostle (see John 1: 40-42) … a sculpture on the west front of Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 4 January 2024):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Looking to 2024 – Freedom in Christ.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by the Revd Duncan Dormor, USPG General Secretary.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (4 January 2024) invites us to pray in these words:

We bring before you our world leaders and governments as they make decisions around their countries, the environment and justice. May they work together with the understanding that all must be involved to create change.

The Collect:

Almighty God,
who wonderfully created us in your own image
and yet more wonderfully restored us
through your Son Jesus Christ:
grant that, as he came to share in our humanity,
so we may share the life of his divinity;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Heavenly Father,
whose blessed Son shared at Nazareth the life of an earthly home:
help your Church to live as one family,
united in love and obedience,
and bring us all at last to our home in heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

God in Trinity,
eternal unity of perfect love:
gather the nations to be one family,
and draw us into your holy life
through the birth of Emmanuel,
our Lord Jesus Christ.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

The first Christmas depicted in John Piper’s window in the antechapel in Magdalen College, Oxford (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

Praying at the Stations of the Cross in Lent and Easter 2022: 17 April 2022 (Station 15)

The Resurrection … Station 15 in the Stations of the Cross in the Church of Saint Mary and Giles in Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

Lent and Holy Week have come to an end and today is Easter Day (17 April 2022), bringing an end to all our fears and ushering in all our hopes and joys.

I am hoping to take part in the Easter celebrations this morning in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford. But, even before this day begins, I am taking some time early this morning for prayer, reflection and reading.

During Lent this year, in this Prayer Diary on my blog each morning, I was reflecting on the Psalms each morning. But during the two weeks of Passiontide, Passion Week and Holy Week, I was reflecting in these ways:

1, Short reflections on the Stations of the Cross, illustrated by images in the Church of the Annunciation, Clonard, Wexford, and the Church of Saint Mary and Saint Giles in Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the lectionary adapted in the Church of Ireland;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Station 15, the Resurrection:

Of course, traditional Stations of the Cross do not included a Fifteenth Station, However, in the Stations of the Cross on the north and south walls of the nave in Stoney Stratford, donated in memory of John Dunstan (1924-1988), Station XV depicts the Resurrection.

Beside the Stations of the Cross in the church in Clonard, a processional Cross has a central panel depicting the Resurrection.

The Crucifixion and Death of Christ is not the end.

Early on Sunday morning, before dawn on the first day of the week, the women come to the tomb with spices they have prepared. But they find the stone has been rolled away from the tomb, there is no body, and two men in dazzling clothes ask them ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen’ (Luke 24: 5). There is a similar greeting in the other two Synoptic Gospels: ‘He is not here; for he has been raised’ (Matthew 28: 6); ‘He has been raised; he is not here’ (Mark 16: 6).


Christ is still wrapped in his grave clothes, his hands, feet and side still pierced with the marks of the nails and the centurion’s lance. But this is the Risen Christ. His eyes are open, and below a bowed soldier sent to guard the grave symbolises the defeat of death.

The Harrowing of Hell … the central panel in the processional cross in the Church of the Annunciation, Clonard, Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

John 20: 1-18 (NRSVA):

1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ 14 When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ 16 Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God”.’ 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Today’s Prayer:

The theme in this week’s prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘From Death to Resurrection,’ and is introduced this morning by the Revd Dr Rachel Mash, Coordinator of the Environmental Network of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. She writes:

What is the message of Easter for us when the future of Earth is under threat?

On Good Friday we feel the pain of suffering, cruelty and death – we lament the devastation of the Earth, the loss of two thirds of the world’s species in a single generation, the dying of the oceans and the destruction of the rainforests. Teeming life has turned to barren death, millions are faced with hunger from drought, floods and sea levels rise.

Where then is our Easter hope? Jesus died to save the world, the ‘cosmos’, as the Bible tells us (John 3 :16). ‘All the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe – people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross’ (Colossians 1: 19-20, The Message version).

Jesus died not only to reconcile us to God and to one another, but also to bring reconciliation between humans and the whole of Creation. Believing in the resurrection does not point us to another world, it gives us hope and inspiration to work for the redemption of this one.

The prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (17 April 2022, Easter Day) invites us to pray:

Lord of All,
you defeated death so that we could live.
Guide us as we witness the power and
glory of the Risen Christ.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Praying at the Stations of the Cross in Lent 2022: 16 April 2022 (Station 14)

Jesus is laid in the tomb … Station 14 in the Stations of the Cross in the Church of the Annunciation, Clonard, Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

We come to the end of Holy Week and the end of Lent today, which is Holy Saturday. The prayer in the Parish of Stony Stratford with Calverton today (16 April 2022) is ‘For Faith in times of darkness.’

Even before today begins, I am taking some time early this morning for prayer, reflection and reading.

During Lent this year, in this Prayer Diary on my blog each morning, I have been reflecting on the Psalms each morning. But during these two weeks of Passiontide, Passion Week and Holy Week, I have been reflecting in these ways:

1, Short reflections on the Stations of the Cross, illustrated by images in the Church of the Annunciation, Clonard, Wexford, and the Church of Saint Mary and Saint Giles in Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the lectionary adapted in the Church of Ireland;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Station 14, Jesus is laid in the tomb:

In an unusual arrangement, the Stations of the Cross in the church in Clonard are set in the curved outer wall of the church in 14 windows designed by Gillian Deeny of Wicklow. In her windows, she emphasises the role of women in the Passion story.

Her windows were made in association with Abbey Glass, where she worked with the cut-out shapes of coloured glass, the pigment being a mixture of lead oxide, ground glass and colour. Each window is signed by the artist.

The Stations of the Cross on the north and south walls of the nave in Stoney Stratford were donated in memory of John Dunstan (1924-1988).

The Fourteenth Station in the Stations of the Cross has a traditional description such as ‘Jesus is laid in the tomb.’

In Station XIV in Clonard Church in Wexford, the Virgin Mary weeps inconsolably over dead son as he is placed in his hurriedly-prepared tomb. But there is hope: in the background is the Angel of the Resurrection, and, perhaps, we are invited to catch a glimpse of the Tree of Life.

In Station XIV in Stony Stratford, Nicodemus who came to see Christ under the cover of darkness, now prepares to bury his body before darkness falls.

Nicodemus who had questions and doubts, now holds the Body of Christ in his hands.

Nicodemus has become a full communicant member of the Church.

In death he knows what is meant by new birth.

‘The Body of Christ given for you.’

‘Amen.’

But this is not the end.

Jesus is laid in the tomb … Station 14 in the Stations of the Cross in the Church of Saint Mary and Saint Giles in Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

John 19: 38-42 (NRSVA):

38 After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. 39 Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. 40 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. 42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Today’s Prayer:

The theme in this week’s prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘Light in the Darkness.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by the Revd Anthony Gyu-Yong Shim of the Diocese of Daejeon in the Anglican Church of Korea. The prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (16 April 2022, Holy Saturday) invites us to pray:

Lord, may we be active members of the community and welcome the stranger into our churches.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Praying at the Stations of the Cross in Lent 2022: 15 April 2022 (Station 13)

Jesus is taken down from the Cross … Station 13 in the Stations of the Cross in the Church of the Annunciation, Clonard, Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

We are coming close to the end of Holy Week, the last and closing week of Lent. Today is Good Friday and the prayer in the Parish of Stony Stratford with Calverton today (15 April 2022) is that ‘We may not flee.’

But, even before today begins, I am taking some time early this morning for prayer, reflection and reading.

During Lent this year, in this Prayer Diary on my blog each morning, I have been reflecting on the Psalms each morning. But during these two weeks of Passiontide, Passion Week and Holy Week, I am reflecting in these ways:

1, Short reflections on the Stations of the Cross, illustrated by images in the Church of the Annunciation, Clonard, Wexford, and the Church of Saint Mary and Saint Giles in Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the lectionary adapted in the Church of Ireland;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Station 13, Jesus is taken down from the Cross:

In an unusual arrangement, the Stations of the Cross in the church in Clonard are set in the curved outer wall of the church in 14 windows designed by Gillian Deeny of Wicklow. In her windows, she emphasises the role of women in the Passion story.

Her windows were made in association with Abbey Glass, where she worked with the cut-out shapes of coloured glass, the pigment being a mixture of lead oxide, ground glass and colour. Each window is signed by the artist.

The Stations of the Cross on the north and south walls of the nave in Stoney Stratford were donated in memory of John Dunstan (1924-1988).

The Thirteenth Station in the Stations of the Cross has a traditional description such as ‘Jesus is taken down from the Cross.’

In the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke say Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the council, asked Pilate for the body of Jesus, took his body, and wrapped him in a clean linen cloth (Matthew 27: 28; Mark 15: 43, 46; Luke 23: 50-53); Saint John’s Gospel adds that Nicodemus helped Joseph with the preparation of the body for burial.

In Station XIII in the church in Clonard, a solider – for he is dressed in red, like one of the two men who nailed Christ to the Cross in Station XI – helps to lower Christ’s body, his head falling over, his arms and legs limp and lifeless.

Joseph of Arimathea waits to take custody of the body, while a woman, perhaps Saint Mary Magdalene with blond tresses and ringlets, watches the scene in distress. In the background two more women are looking on and another man, perhaps Nicodemus.

The Gospel writers say many women were present as Christ died on the Cross (Matthew 27: 55; Luke 23: 55), and they name his mother Mary (John 19: 25-27), her sister Mary, the wife of Clopas (John 19: 25), Mary Magdalene (Matthew 27: 56; Mark 15: 40, 47; John 19: 25), Mary the mother of James and Joseph (Matthew 27: 56; Mark 15: 40, 47), Mary the mother of the sons of Zebedee (Matthew 27: 56), and Salome (Mark 15: 40).

The only man at the Cross on Good Friday, apart from those who condemned Christ and the two thieves, is Saint John the Beloved Disciple (John 19: 26).

None of the Gospels, however, says that the Virgin Mary held the body of her son when he was taken down from the Cross and before he was buried. Yet this has become a popular image in Passion scenes, from Michelangelo’s Pieta to the statues that dominate Good Friday processions in Italy, Spain and Portugal.

In Station XIII in Stony Stratford, the Virgin Mary is alone as she holds and weeps over the limp and lifeless body of her Son.

Jesus is taken down from the Cross … Station 13 in the Stations of the Cross in the Church of Saint Mary and Saint Giles in Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

John 18: 1 to 19: 42 (NRSVA):

1 After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. 2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. 4 Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, ‘For whom are you looking?’ 5 They answered, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’ Jesus replied, ‘I am he.’ Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 6 When Jesus said to them, ‘I am he’, they stepped back and fell to the ground. 7 Again he asked them, ‘For whom are you looking?’ And they said, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’ 8 Jesus answered, ‘I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.’ 9 This was to fulfil the word that he had spoken, ‘I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me.’ 10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. 11 Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?’

12 So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him. 13 First they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for the people.

15 Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, 16 but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. 17 The woman said to Peter, ‘You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ 18 Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing round it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself.

19 Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. 20 Jesus answered, ‘I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. 21 Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said.’ 22 When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, ‘Is that how you answer the high priest?’ 23 Jesus answered, ‘If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?’ 24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, ‘You are not also one of his disciples, are you?’ He denied it and said, ‘I am not.’ 26 One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, ‘Did I not see you in the garden with him?’ 27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.

28 Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate went out to them and said, ‘What accusation do you bring against this man?’ 30 They answered, ‘If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.’ 31 Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.’ The Jews replied, ‘We are not permitted to put anyone to death.’ 32 (This was to fulfil what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.)

33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ 34 Jesus answered, ‘Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?’ 35 Pilate replied, ‘I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?’ 36 Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’ 37 Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’ 38 Pilate asked him, ‘What is truth?’

After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, ‘I find no case against him. 39 But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?’ 40 They shouted in reply, ‘Not this man, but Barabbas!’ Now Barabbas was a bandit.

1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. 3 They kept coming up to him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and striking him on the face. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, ‘Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.’ 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ‘Here is the man!’ 6 When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.’ 7 The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.’

8 Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. 9 He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, ‘Where are you from?’ But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 Pilate therefore said to him, ‘Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?’ 11 Jesus answered him, ‘You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.’ 12 From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, ‘If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.’

13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, ‘Here is your King!’ 15 They cried out, ‘Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!’ Pilate asked them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but the emperor.’ 16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus; 17 and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.’ 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, ‘Do not write, “The King of the Jews”, but, “This man said, I am King of the Jews”.’ 22 Pilate answered, ‘What I have written I have written.’ 23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 24 So they said to one another, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.’ This was to fulfil what the scripture says,

‘They divided my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.’

25 And that is what the soldiers did.

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ 27 Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfil the scripture), ‘I am thirsty.’ 29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

31 Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. 35 (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) 36 These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘None of his bones shall be broken.’ 37 And again another passage of scripture says, ‘They will look on the one whom they have pierced.’

38 After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. 39 Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. 40 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. 42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Today’s Prayer:

The theme in this week’s prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘Light in the Darkness.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by the Revd Anthony Gyu-Yong Shim of the Diocese of Daejeon in the Anglican Church of Korea. The prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (15 April 2022, Good Friday) invites us to pray:

Let us dwell with our Lord in the darkness of Good Friday, longing for Easter to arrive.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org